SWTOR Update: Lazy-man Edition

My blogspot is full of unposted blogs about all my SWTOR adventures. There's one about some interesting lore I've come across. There's also my struggle to find a Legacy name. Then there's a more complete detailed story about why I switched classes and how I find Sage Healing. (the short version?  <3<3<3<3<3<3) Finally, I think there's one about the different Flashpoints I've done and my thoughts. But instead you just get this giant super post where I copy'd and paste'd a good portion of all those posts together, before editing them in and adding some tie in sentences. This may be my biggest post to date! :)

Ding! GRATS MON!
I reached level 50 about 3 days ago, and it was a bit anti-climatic. Your Class storyline and level don't necessarily line up or go hand in hand, so even after I hit 50, I still had to hack away at a few more Class quests before I felt real achievement and closure. While I love the game play of the Jedi Sage, and have recently just discovered DPS Sage (>.< AWESOME), I was extremely disinterested in my companions, the storyline, and the ending. But in an interesting twist, that disinterest, and dissatisfaction makes me want more. Playing a character who I am more personally tied to, via the actions and choices I make, etc, might actually have made me more attached to her. I have only played her for a month and a half, and I feel close to the same attachment as I do with Covington/Aenerys, who I played for 3 years.

Companions: The Epic Love Story (Possible Spoilers)
Speaking of disinterest...
Words cannot describe my biggest disappointment with SWTOR: Female Romance Companions. The fact that companion romances have been slimmed down to one per a class is already frustrating, but making the companion romance option a disagreeable bafoon doesn't help much either. Then there's the disappointment of having a companion who I would more then willingly romance, but I can't. Meanwhile the men get interesting female companions, and some of them not even human. Doesn't seem quite fair. Why can't I romance Zenith? At least with Khem Val, who I love for Sith Inquisitor, I can understand him being a Dashade, and altogether more alien then humanoid. But Zenith is a Twi'lek. I should be allowed to romance him. I also don't quite understand the personality of Felix, and how it is at all attractive to the character I have cultivated through the Consular storyline.
"'SUP JEDI!"
Okay, I'm paraphrasing, but that's basically how I was introduced to him. When he's in combat, he's also really excited, saying things like "Did you see that? I hope you saw that." Then, when I click on him, he'll say, "Look, I know the armors nice, but the staring is creepy." Considering my companion interactions with him include him throwing himself at me within two companion missions, and telling me I'm enchanting and interesting, but then having him quip those lines, just pisses me off. And confused. But mostly annoyed.   
Even though I was simply not amused by him, I thought I'd try romancing him after I got him a more attractive customization look. Yep, make a guy pretty and everything that comes out of his mouth is prettier too, or at least not too bad. Unfortunately for me, I made a wrong decision and the budding romance ended very quickly, faster then I could hit ESC. At first, it distressed me that I messed up, and pinpointed a more troubling problem for me that the romance storyline was so linear; the relationship could not be complex in any manner. Considering I was a Jedi, I am forbidden to romance, so I thought it strange that the answers to jump into a romance with Felix were very straight forward. Shouldn't I be allowed some time, or uncertainty. I was hoping I could step back and say no, with the option of maybe changing my mind. You know...drama...romance...complexity. No. I wasn't getting soap opera. I guess I shouldn't expect things to be too complex-not everyone is looking for a long drawn out, dramatic romance like me. But the linearity of it all made it feel impersonal to me.
In the end, I watched movies on youtube about what I had missed in the romance department with Felix, and I was not disappointed; in fact I was quite relieved it worked out this way. My character is very professional and closely adheres to the Jedi code. So seeing my character fall out of her set character to flirt with a homeboy Lieutenant would've been too inconsistent for me. The videos I watched weren't necessarily what I would've said (but I mean, there are only THREE options, couldn't be that much different) nor did the character look like mine. But the voice was the same, as would've been what I would've said. And it was like watching a completely different person then the one I had cultivated.

Changing Classes
It's been a while since I blogged about SWTOR in general. I mentioned before that I switched classes after gaining my legacy title, but didn't really explain why. Most of the switching had to do with combat style. Over the course of some time leveling a Consular, I realized that the decision was a good one. I'm still leveling as a healer, but dpsing feels smooth. Commando felt clunky to me because I was unable to find a way to make things flow, rotation or situational. While I did enjoy the healing and the handling of the power source (Ammo) and it's regen mechanics, I was beginning to find leveling slowing down exponentially. Battles were taking too long, unless I simply AOE'd everything down. I also simply died a lot. But as you go into higher level content, the mobs get harder. You no longer face just a few weak mobs, or one weak and one strong. Now there are groups of two strongs, three or more weaks with strongs. Elites are no longer saved for the final level of bonus quests, but a normal mob group. While the leveling difficulty curve has been ideal and refreshing, I found myself dying exponentially and my companion no longer a decent battle partner.
Consular healing is a lot more suited to leveling for me. The shields help me toss out some damage before I need to heal. In this way, Elite battles no longer take 10 minutes, but a couple. I also received my tank early in the game, and although harder to gear, he is much more reliable. I also have a good 1 min CC, which helps with the extremely crazy crowd control I've started to engage in. Force regen can sometimes be a problem if unforeseen circumstances come around. Extra mob groups pull or the fight is much longer then expected, and I can easily find myself in a bind.
I really enjoy the animations for the casting of all the spells, from simple two-fingers-in-front-of-the-forehead, or picking up chunks of ground or droids and tossing them out. I recently respec'd into Telekinetics, and discovered the joys of pulling up two chunks of ground. The simple extra detail to the animation by having me use both hands is a gift. My super aoe heal definitely brings the term "BE CLEANSED IN FIRE!" with it (Man, I miss macros). Overall, I am very happy with my class change, if only for the playstyle.

Choosing a Legacy Name: Ranting Edition
So I thought choosing a name and a character look was hard. And a class in general. Then I got my Legacy surname. Yeah, f*** this crap. Talk about spending 20 minutes figuring out what I wanted to choose for a name for ALL my characters on the server I'm on. Whoever thought of this needs to go die. I don't want all my toons, including my Sith toons to be related to each other. I am not another Skywalker. No Twincest here.  Yes, you can hide it, but I don't like having everyone secretly tied to one another.
Anyways, so I eventually went with Winter as my Legacy name. For one, it's not a horrible last name. Leda Winter. Not bad. Second, it does sound cool with The ---- Legacy. The Winter Legacy. Not bad either. I wasn't really gonna go for a well known name, or some kind of clever name for only one of the characters (ie. Peach Cobbler. Yeah they do exist). I wanted something that was easily used by everyone. I do like the name because its a small hint at A Song of Fire and Ice, for my toon Daenerys. Winter is coming. ho ho ho....Speaking of which, someone named Targaryen whispered me saying, Daenerys, I am your father. I think I /facepalm'd five times. I also saw someone named Khaleesi and really just wanted to be like "IN YOUR FACE!"
Haha...
Speaking of stealing people's names,  my boyfriend took Strife as a Legacy name. And no he does not have Cloud as a character name. So I bet whoever Cloud is, is going to get to his Legacy achievement, and want to go kill my boyfriend. Maybe he'll reroll Sith just to slaughter him. hahahahaa....it totally makes me laugh.

Lore and Flashpoints: Possible Spoilers
The very first Flashpoint for both factions, The Black Talon (Sith) and The Esseles (Rep) where what I call story driven Flashpoints. They have a specific storyline that pushes the Flashpoint forward. As far as I can tell, these two are the only ones, where story is a key factor in progression. These are different from other Flashpoints, which still have stories, but aren't progressed through the Flashpoint with cut scenes. Most of them consist of a.) going to Satele and getting back story, then b.) completing said Flashpoint, then returning to Satele who says "woot..." and ends the story with a little update. This is what Flashpoints are. While this doesn't bother me much, I was disappointed because I thoroughly enjoyed the Black Talon and the Esseles. Having an actual storyline, that progresses throughout the Flashpoint was a lot of fun. And racked up Social Points. :) 
Well, this all changed when my guild and I did the two Flashpoints: Taral V and Maelstrom Prison. I have to admit, these two Flashpoints, while not story-driven like the first two, were a ton of fun and pushed the entire story forward in a way I wasn't expecting. I was so excited at seeing what had just unfolded that it made me fall in love with the game all over again. I admit that some things lately have been strenuous. The leveling is a lot different then I have had to deal with in a long time. And I admit that sometimes, I wish I was Sith just because, they win PvP 80% of the time, or because I want cool looking gear instead of these dumb head pieces, or I wish my companions weren't so uninteresting or annoying. But these Flashpoints took the cake for me, and I can't wait for the rest of you to enjoy them (if you haven't).

Major SPOILERS (mainly KOTOR goodness; Don't read until you've done Flashpoints: Taral 5 and Maelstrom Prison)

Counterproductive

Current story of my life.
I've been sick for a week or so now. It wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that it's, well, bronchitis.
Last Thursday, I had early signs of a slight cold, mostly in the sinus region. Except for one day, I continued my hectic work schedule.
On Sunday, my slight cold turned into uncontrollable coughing, and on Monday, I woke up with my ear bleeding, thanks to a small blood vessel popping from all the coughing. Yesterday I went to the doctor's, seeking some drugs solace. She diagnosed me with bronchitis and ordered some prescriptions cough syrup and antibacterial pills.
I was excited to get the cough syrup because the coughing is by far the worst part of this entire deal. My entire chest is achy and my throat is sore and swollen. And sometimes, I go into these uncontrollable coughing fits that rack up my entire body for minutes on end. So finding some relief was my entire hope.
Last night, I was flat out miserable. While the coughing during the day manages to stay under control, as soon as I hit the pillow, I can't stop coughing. Even if I manage to fall asleep, I tend to jolt myself awake every 30 mins or so, coughing like crazy. The only time I seem to find relief is when I am sitting up. And trying to sleep sitting up fails horribly.
My doctor also forbade me from going to work for a couple days. Not only am I contagious, but I'm also susceptible to other sicknesses, and considering my line of work, I don't want to get sick.
But sitting home all day, isn't very productive. It could be.
SWTOR
I've been working on my Sage, but for some reason, my leveling speed has incredibly slowed down. Yesterday, I literally played all day, in Balmorra, yet, I only accrued about a level and a half. Meanwhile, many of my fellow guildies have been catching up with me. I feel so unproductive!
It didn't help that I switched classes halfway through, from Commando Trooper to Sage Consular. To be honest, the main reason I decided to switch was that I wasn't very happy without a lightsaber. Yeah, I really wanted a lightsaber. Big guns were good and fun for a while, but nothing beats a lightsaber. Leveling is much more easier on my Sage, mainly because having a tank companion earlier helped me take on the harder quests.
The healing is a bit more, normal, for me, then Commando. I like having the shields and Rejuvenate. Focus is much more normalized in regen, and reminds me more of mana, which may be another thing that feels more comforting. I also like Telekinetic for leveling. Many people have compared it to an Elemental Shaman, and I agree.
Hopefully
Real life gets better. I wonder if being sick just makes me level slower, even though I feel like I am going as fast as I can. Hopefully, I can get my framerate better so I feel like everything is running smoother. No matter how many tips and stuff SWTOR Devs keep offering, it's still not quite running right. 

So you want to be a Trooper! (pew pew pew)

Here's a quick overview of the class I am currently playing in SWTOR. I have been leveling Medic Commando, so this is mostly from that viewpoint.
Troopers are a hybrid class. Their storyline involves being part of the Havoc Squad, an elite trooper squad within the Republic. That's all I'm going to say for now. The storyline is the best part.

Power: Troopers use Ammo as their main resource. Ammo is an interesting power source. The more Ammo you have, the higher your regeneration. At full Ammo, your regeneration is about 0.6 per a second. Here's a full look at regen rates.
Betwen 8 and 12 ammo: 0.60 ammo per second
Betwen 3 and 7 ammo: 0.36 ammo per second
Betwen 0 and 2 ammo: 0.24 ammo per second

When you hit 10, you get to choose between two Advance Classes. While both AC's offer DPS specs, your choice affects whether you'll be able to heal or tank.
Vanguard: The Tank AC. I don't know much about this AC. I believe the dps spec in this tree focuses more on closer combat. The Tank spec relies on activating shields to fend off damage.
Commando: The Healing AC. This is also a full on range DPS class spec too. This is Leda's AC. Medic Commando's excel in single target healing, as well as longevity thanks to our unique system of Ammo and regen. We are limited as healers by two things-we do not have an in-combat rez (think Rebirth), and we do not have a powerful AOE. Our largest AOE is a 3 person one. Still. Commando's excel where they are strong. With proper Ammo management, Commando's are competent healers.

Weapons and Armor
A trooper uses Heavy Armor, with primary stats of Aim and Endurance. This does not change when you pick Commando or Vanguard, but the stat priority might change (tanks probably want Endurance more)
Troopers use big guns. Woot! GUNS!!!!
Okay. Vanguards use Blaster Rifles.
Commandos get to use Assault Cannons.

Hammer Shot
This is the ability you need to know. It is free of cost, and allows you to regen your ammo, but continually do damage or heal. It's important to work this into your rotation so you can be giving a constant dps or heal.
As a Commando, at level 14 you will get Combat Support Cell, that changes your Hammer Shot to heal if targeting a player. It's the green beam. :) You use Hammer Shot, and eventually Medical Probe, to charge your weapons. When you hit 30, you use Supercharge Cells, which increase heals and Ammo regen, as well as enhance your healing spells. It's like Tree Form, except a little less powerful but all the same awesome.

Strengths

•  Heavy Armor: allows you to take more hits then normal. Aim is our primary dps/healing stat increasing ranged damage. Endurance is Stamina and Health Regen.
• Strong AOE: I have found that I can easily, at level 25, take out a group of mobs with just two AOE moves. Simple, effective, easy and fast. I can't do that on my Consular. 
• Ammo: I love Ammo. I think it is a really neat power source. The regen mechanic works well, and if your manage it properly, you can never run out of Ammo.
• Companions: We share gear with the first two companions we get, allowing us to easily hand down our gear instead of having to worry about making sure to find or purchase different gear for them. I find this a positive.

Weakness

• Companions: Unless you're a tank, the companion choices in the beginning are kind of meh. As a Commando medic, I would've preferred a Tank right away, but instead got a range dps and a healer. It's not much of a problem, but I wish it was different. If you let your companion run in first to hold onto threat, you risk him being gunned down quickly, while if you end up getting aggro from all the mobs, especially Strong mobs, it feels like
• Lack of AOE Heals: We only have one AOE heal, Kolto Bomb, and it's not nearly that strong, nor does it cover a lot of players. It's also an area spell, so hope everyone is next to each other, or use it on Melee. If Commandos are more tank healers, then I think this won't be a big deal, since Kolto Bomb can be talented to help stave off damage, making it effective for Tank/Melee combos in Operations. But for Flashpoints, it can be a hit or miss. 
• Early Levels: In the beginning it feels like you gain abilities slowly, and you're basically just Explosive Round-ing your way through combat for a while. Hammer Shots, while effective in management,is a weak attack. Of course, once you get AOE dps and the like, you'll start bum rushing your way through mobs. 

Leveling Experience (1-25)
Leveling feels a tad slow because you don't have many attacks in the beginning. While Explosive Round is pretty neat- it knocks down weak mobs in a small radius around the target, it's kind of boring. The only other move you have is Hammer Shot, which is fairly weak.
Once you get your AOE moves-Pulse Cannon, Mortar Volley, and Hail of Bolts (Commando)-leveling becomes a bit easier. While longer fights require you maintain a steady amount of Ammo, you can blow through your Ammo in short fights because you have Recharge and Reload (basically free water and food) to recover quickly afterwards.
For Elite mobs, it's pretty easy to solo them with the right tactics. I mainly send Aric (DPS Companion) in and load the heals onto him. It might take a bit of time, but it's easily doable.

I hope this helps for anyone starting out as a Trooper. I'll probably post some thing about Medic Commandos as I learn how to heal. It's been fun learning something different then the usual. I purposely avoided the HoT healing class (Sawbones Scoundrel Smuggler) so that I could do something different. My next class to post will be the Sith Inquisitor, which is basically a Jedi Consular. But with lightning. Thus cooler. Mwahahahahha.....

Holiday Update: SWTOR Edition

Happy Holidays everyone! I hope you are all having a good one.
I've been really busy, clocking in 40 hours of work this week, and spending that extra free time running around doing holiday things, as well as traveling to a galaxy far far away. That's right people,
SWTOR is FINALLY HERE!
I absolutely love this game. It's everything I want from a MMO: Great lore, quality single player experience and opportunities to do MMO stuff too. Call me a product of the WoW casual age. But it's a game worth checking out.
I can't believe the details in this game. Storylines, little tidbits that allude to KotR. Space Missions are epic and fun!
Class Selection
So I had played a couple beta weekends, and from reading, I had the sense I wanted to be a Sith Inquisitor. I still do. Zap! Anyways, but we're playing Republic, so I ended rolling the equivalent, Jedi Consular. It was fun, and I liked throwing rocks and pieces of buildings at people. For the length of the beta weekends, I focused on these two classes.
Then I was given Early Access on the first day, in the second batch of email waves. I was originally going to play a Jedi Consular, and that is who I stuck with until level 10. Then I saw some Trooper shooting green lazer beams at me, and discovered they could heal to, so off I went to roll a Trooper. There were a few reasons for my class switch. First, was the storyline. I wasn't really into the Consular storyline. It's an interesting story, but I found the Trooper storyline far more interesting. Second was the companion choices. I kind of wanted to romance someone, and I found Aric to be more interesting then the Consular choices. I kind of liked that he acted like a jerk in the beginning. Yeah go figure. I'm THAT girl at heart. Finally, I liked the prospect of shooting big guns far more appealing then throwing bits of rock at people. And thus, Leda was born. I will eventually return to my Consular. Despite my misgivings, nothing beats wielding a lighsaber. Flat out amazing.
Character Creation
So despite the vast amount of character customizations available for all classes, ALL my characters look the same. Yep. I don't really want to be an alien, so I opt for human. I like being thin. lol. And I love this one hairstyle. There are no long hair hairstyles, which is a disappointment. I love long hair. So I opt for this pretty up-do with curls on the side. I use the same head, because the other heads are kind funky looking. I tend to choose between two different eyebrow choices. The only real difference is the eye and hair color.
It's kind of depressing. I wish I was more inclined to add some spice to my life. But considering the role looking at your character plays-I mean they are present in every cutscene, I can't completely blame myself. I also, for the first time, prefer to roll female toons instead of males. I find flirting with girls weird as a male. Maybe when they offer same-sex relationships, I'll feel less odd about it.
Leveling 1-25
I've only been able to reach level 25 on my toon. Leveling has been an overall enjoyable experience, with some frustrations here or there. The number one problem for me has been queue times. Bioware put us on a server that is usually Full, so I spend at least 25 mins during high traffic times, the times I can usually play, in a queue. Lately, the queues have been better, but I'm not entirely sure what Bioware has done to alleviate the problem. Did they add more instances, or are people just changing servers.
Sometimes, I find myself overwhelmed by Strong mobs, and my companion isn't much help. The AI is kind of meh. If I hope to keep them alive the entire fight, I have to make sure they aren't standing in fire and have to keep a good heal on them. That being said, they do allow me to solo Elite mobs, and as a healer, I can just pour heals onto them while they tank. They do a decent amount of damage and tank pretty well. I haven't used a healer yet, so I'm not sure how well the heals are. I've read somewhere that companions are about half a real player. The half that is missing is the half that gets out of fire.
The leveling speed itself is sloooowwwwww. It's not a bad thing. There are so many areas and planets to discover, I am okay with this pace. However, it probably feels slower thanks to WoW's super leveling on crack.
Crew Skills
Crew skills are amazing. It seems kind of slow in the beginning, with a 1+ minutes to create items. But once you have more then one slave companion, you can send them out to do your crew skills while you continue doing your thing. It's an amazing system. No more standing in Org crafting for 20 mins. They do it for you.  Absolutely genius. Where has this been all my gaming life?
Flashpoints
Flashpoints are fun. The boss fights have just the right amount of challenge to them. I like that some of the flashpoints are heavy story-wise. Although groups once again rely on the trinity (tank/heal/dps) I still find the entire experience epic, not normalized. Again, lightsabers change everything.   
Bugs
There have been some weird bugs. My lazer on my ship is bugged out so I can't complete the first space mission. I think they fixed it, but I have not tried it since I failed like 5 times.
My companions do some really weird crap ie-lie on the floor, a lot. Guild chat will randomly stop working. But still, overall a very clean, smooth launch. Except for the long queue times. Those suck. :(
Blog-ee Stuff
So obviously, WoW has been put on hold. I was willing to raid, as long as I was informed of times and people showed up, but raiding never happened. Our SWTOR guild has slowly been growing. I think a majority of people will be getting the game sometime after Christmas, so I am looking forward to being reunited with everyone again. I've still been messing around with Transmog, so I'll probably keep adding outfits when i have time. But to be honest, every single free moment has been spent leveling in SWTOR.
Love this game. You should all go play it.

Quick Updates

Finals
It's finals time, which means I'm not around. My free time is usually spent not studying, and raiding. 
Anyways...
Transmog
Since 4.3 hit I have been OBSESSED with transmogrification. I'm still desperately trying to figure out an outfit I really like for my Cursed Vision of Sargeras, which has ended up with me and headaches for many nights. I really should just pick some dumb rogue look-alike set and go for it. I did do an Ulduar 25 run the other night and was lucky enough to win The Lifebinder. Speaking of getting phat loots...
Dragon Soul
I got a bunch of gear raiding last night. My t13 hands dropped from the new BH boss and I won the roll for the One-handed mace, Vagaries of Time from the first boss of DS. The one who looks like Stonecore's boss...Ozruk...yeah...
It's a neat looking mace, with gears turning. Yeah. I've noticed a theme with the weapons, in particular. They either, look like we ripped a piece off of Deathwing and decided we'd use it as a weapon. Or, they have a Bronze Dragonflight flare to it. So I'm hoping to make with a Bronze Dragonflight theme to go along with it.
Early Access
I am SUPER EXCITED because early access for SWTOR starts next week. And guess who pre-ordered hers the first day and put in the code ASAP. ME! :D So hopefully I get a super early. 12/20/11 12/13/11!

Oh yeah! the whole reason for this post.
I updated my transmog page to include resources and separate pages for my outfits. I will be adding more soon! I hope you enjoy it!

Make it work!

So sadly, as I logged in to do my transmog (which was one of the very few things I was looking forward to), I discovered that in my excitement for finally gaining my tier 12 shoulders, I de'd my Passive Resistor ones. That means no more shiny blue falling feathers for me. I probably won't be raiding anytime soon, especially the lower instances, so I just had to improvise. My set was a mixture of the tier 5 set i wanted to use, and the extra pieces from tier 9 that I liked. The overall outcome was actually pleasant, and I like the way I look.

 The coolest part about transmog is that your enchants on your current weapon show on your transmog weapon. So that beautiful staff is glowing with Power Torrent. :)
Feral by Night
My feral outfit is horrendous. Like depressing. It's such a bad mixture of rogue tier, druid tier, and heroic dungeon sets that it makes no coherent sense. Well that's okay because I have transmog to fix it :D
In case your curious, this is what I look like currently. The helm looked so stupid that I just transmog'd my Ruthless Gladiator helm over it just to have a better look. I still don't match at all though.

I decided to stick with the main idea of using the tier 9 chestpiece which I love. I think it looks...well hot, which my boyfriend points out is because my boobs are showing. <.<
In general, I think of robes, skirts, kilts, dresses as a caster thing, so I choose the T9 legs to match the bluer chest, the crafted Knightbane Carapace. I added some tougher looking boots, and a shady looking helm, that is simply a high collar. Finally, to add that druid touch, I added the green version of the Thunderheart shoulders. I think they add just the right amount of druidism to the outfit without making it overwhelming.
The perfect staff ended up being an old PvP staff, the Brutal Gladiator's Staff, which is a recolour of similar staff in Mt. Hyjal. I like that the blues create unity between the staff and the outfit.

I'm a rogue druid!...and here's a better look at the staff.

Who do you wanna be?
My current WoW Transmog project will be putting together prominent druid NPC outfits together. I tried Broll Bearmantle at first, but there are some odd discolorations between the chest that is perfect and the legs. However, I was able to successfully create a Hamuul Runetotem,-post Leyara attack/Molten Front. This is an exclusive Alliance only outfit because some pieces are are the t9. It's kind of weird considering Hamuul Runetotem is wearing them. But hey! He's cool like that.

I forgot to take a pick of the side with the staff. I will put all the details of each outfit in my transmog page. I hope you liked them. I'll get Broll fixed up and do a few others; maybe Malfurion pre-man/bird/chicken form, and some other NPCs, like the Molten Front guards.

super uber update rant extravaganza

oh Tyrael's mount, you elude me.
I have been really dragging (read digging) my heels about the annual pass. I really really want the mount. But lately, I just don't feel like devoting 15 dollars of my monthly pay check to the Blizzard's cash cow. Yes, I will be obtaining a free Diablo 3 copy, but I was thinking about buying the collector's edition anyways. And then there's the looming giant of Star Wars: The Old Republic, which, after a weekend of beta testing, I near wholeheartedly agree "... that people seem to find it hard to go back to other MMOs once they play The Old Republic." 
800,000 +....er...-
It does not surprise me that WoW has lost a significant amount of subscriptions in this last quarter. Considering it's the holiday season, games are raining down on us, and some of them are highly anticipated. I know multiple people who are leaving WoW for a few months while they bask in COD, Skyrim, and other games. Then with SWTOR looming overhead, I bet Blizzard might be squirming. I think the annual pass was an attempt to try and slow down the inevitable subscription downhill that Blizzard will eventually meet, as do all games. I mean, WoW is almost 7 years old. That's amazing in itself.
I have notoriously taken a lot of "breaks" from WoW. I always feel defeated when I return, tail between my legs, mainly because I miss my class, the friends I play with, or get just damn bored. Something that has been changing is the time I take in between return and break. It's getting smaller. I've only been "back" for a couple months and I'm already considering leaving again. Even with the promise of new content coming soon, I'm just not buying the same song and dance anymore. I was incredibly excited about Mists of Pandaria, but now all I do is watch SWTOR movies and wait for the next beta weekend eagerly.
What's your game?
Information overload has really affected how I feel about druids, and being one. The more I learn about the plans of evil Blizzard, the more I find myself walking away from druids. And I'm so dedicated to being a druid that becoming a "switcher" isn't appealing anymore. And I'm an altoholic. I hate MoP and 4.3 so badly.
The Trinity does not allow for Hybrids. 
Even as a druid, I'm really not buying this hybrid path. I am completely miffed that while other classes got cool new moves and exciting, OP talents in the MoP previews, we were given "hybrid" talents that really don't help us in our desired role. I can't understand how this is going to help a class in a game that's entire battle system is based around the "trinity"-Tank, Heals, DPS. It's entirely situational, and unless Blizz gives us opportunities (all the time), druids are looking at an interesting future. And it is a future I am not okay with.
There are other problems too, with druids being a "hybrid class" We're a hybrid class that needs to be in a narrowing, restrictive form, to play another role. Unless Blizzard has a plan to remedy this problem, I can't really see this working out at all. Of course, that being said, there's plenty of time until 5.0, so lots of time to figure out this stumping block.
4.3 can suck it
The other annoyance is the 4.3 changes looming over me. The nice thing is that by the time 4.3 comes out, I can jump ship into the warm arms of The Old Republic...
My GM, whose this lovable dude (and I am not saying this because he reads this ...hi Ish!), keeps telling me that everything is going to be okay.
I DO NOT THINK IT WILL BE OKAY!
Numbers don't lie. Blizzard's refusal to release or show any sign of helping druids continues to dishearten me. I don't know how long I can keep telling myself "It can all still change," before I sound like an ignorant idiot.
And it's not just the WG nerf. It's the glyph thing too. I hate that they keep trying to make us "choose" glyphs, but they give us no real viable options. How does that give us a choice?
Facing the truth
If I can't even be excited about my class, than how can I be excited about this game. It's tiring being so devoted to a game, and I don't mean just game time. I mean watching Blizzard's moves, and feeling like they affect me personally is getting to be too much.
I'm also just over the lore. That was the major draw for me, but at this point, I'm just irritated with it. Thrall annoys the hell out of me, Aggra can go die in Deathwing's flames, and the new Jaina story is something I really could careless about to speculate. Garrosh has lost my interest simply because I am sick of watching Blizzard drag his character through the scapegoat mud. I will always be a loyal Horde fan because of him, but I can do without watching him spiral downward.
So maybe it's time to move on. I am at another point where I want to step away from WoW again. There is very little I can say about how long it will be. Even without SWTOR or other games to keep me interested, I still don't log on. some good side affects from not logging on include going to bed earlier and not procrastinating on homework. And by the time I'm officially on Winter Break, I will have SWTOR in my hands.
Black Friday Plans
I've been working retail for over 5 years now. This will be my 6th Black Friday (x_x). I'm never really after the big deals: TVs or Computers. I can't. First, don't need them, but even if I wanted them, I'm working, usually in the morning. I do however, stock up on TV on DVD and movies. This year, I'll add music to the list.
The best thing about Black Friday for me is grabbing the TV on DVD that I want. These DVDs usually go for 40 dollars and upward, and every year I can expect to grab what I want for 7-15 dollars a piece. I'm excited to finally get Vampire Diaries 2 and Mad Men 4 for only 20 dollars total together. I'm probably going to travel to Walmart and Best Buy to see what's in their bargain bins as far as DVDs and CDs. I know Target has Lungs by Flo+ the Machine for 6 bucks or something which I am excited about.  The best thing to do on Black Friday is to look.
Games wise, I would love to ad the Diablo II battle chest to my collection, but I have not seen it on sale anywhere. I'm looking for the best Skyrim deal since I'm thinking this will be the game I'll go for if I finally leave WoW in the dust.
Also, once I get off of work, I'm racing home to log onto SWTOR. Can't wait for Beta Test this weekend. I think they also lifted the NDA too. Can't wait to read all the information pouring in. I am so excited for this game, and am 100% behind it.
So...new blog title? Force-casting? :)
Happy holidays everyone!