Fan Out!

 

Housing has completely changed my strategies for playing the game.  Everything centers around how I can get all of the decor treasures available and upcoming everywhere.

 

No More Wow Classic For Me 

This was already in the cards. I started playing the Classic version of the game when it was offered because I was not in the game at the beginning.  The Classic "progression" servers are now up to Pandaria.  I had already largely slid back to the modern version of the game by the time this came out.  Pandaria is the first of the expansions where I actually had already done everything I was going to do in the expansion.  I did not need to re-play the Classic version.   Besides...

 

Fan Out! Cover Each of the Expansions with 7 Crafting Characters 

My new plan, my even better plan (Start the Revolution Without Me), is to play through every expansion with a set of seven characters who cover every tradeskill.  Note: I only need seven characters because I always combine Tailoring and Enchanting in one character. I've been going through my character lists and am assigning them to a particular time period.  Just as my "Midnight Runners" will move ahead into the Midnight Expansion, I have Draenor and Shadowlands (so far) characters who will do everything, and get every bit of reputation in those eras.  No possible decor source left unturned!  Well developed characters.  If you're going to relive former eras, get all the resources and rewards offered.  Share it with Warbandies.

Because I'm old school as well as new, I have four by six index cards for each expansion and the characters covering them.  For Example:

Shadowlands 

Alchemy L62 Monk

Inscription L33 Priest

Leatherworking  L28 Rogue

Engineering L28 Hunter

Jewelcraft  L 30 Shaman

Tailor/Enchant  L28 Warlock

Blacksmith  L49 Warrior

In this case, I tried to keep everyone near the same level. They aren't all on the same server, but again, via the magical Warband Bank, they can operate together.  I like that some characters who haven't gotten played for a long time will have a purpose.  

 For the Horde? 

Here's where you see just how far down the decor rabbit hole I've gone.  I created a Horde Blood Elf Death Knight  specifically for the upcoming really lovely Blood Elf furnishings that are on the way.

My plan for her was that I'd power level her via dungeons to level up. I gave her Herbalism and Mining.  She could go everywhere and grab any Horde specific things I might want.  Also lumber! (sidenote bizarrely the Horde Starter area lumber is Olembra Lumber which belongs to the Outlands expansion.)

I must briefly complain that as an Alliance player, I spent an inordinate amount of time lost in Orgrimmar (worst city layout ever), Lordaeron, and the vaunted Silvermoon City.  They don't want you to get in, they don't want you to get out.

I got her to level 21!  My highest Horde character ever.  Then I noticed I had stuck her on Scarlet Crusade where I have a set of characters I call my "Draenor girls".  They are all low level, so I actually briefly considered poofing them but they were too cute. 

Sadly, the DK died.  In her place, I created a Blood Elf Paladin.  I put her on Area 52 after looking up servers with large Horde populations as I wasn't getting any bites on dungeon finder on Scarlet Crusade most times.  She landed in the Blood Elf starter area, yay, which I have played through some of, a few times.  No tormenting Orgrimmar for her, until I have to go to find Chromie there to pick Catalcysm as a timeline for Classic era dungeons.  So much complication for a few tables and chairs!

 

House Poor

 

I've been in decor acquisition mode for about a month.  I stopped adding rooms.  All I do is hunt vendors, look for recipes, use my Draenor Herb gardens for Dyes (which I've made no dyes from yet, I'm just stockpiling), and I go all over to get needed Reputation to buy stuff.   All of a sudden, I noticed my main character had a rather alarmingly low (for her) amount of money.  I might have spent 25k with her alone buying decor and related items.  

So, I decided I needed to clear my quest log anyway, and I sent her to the Undermine, an area where I'd finished the main quest line and scooted, because the music made me buggy and the cartel blah blah annoyed me.   I've done every quest now (except the golf course one), did the delve, which I liked a lot, and have been World Questing for money, and you guessed it, decor!  Much of the decor is awarded from completing quests, some requires Reputation (working on it), and the price is in Resonance Crystals generally rather than gold.  Filling my pockets with all the things. 

I'm charmed by these flamingoes.

 

I don't know why, but I spent a great deal of time trying to catch enough Gold Fish to buy this insanely adorable bathtub.

There are three fishing bobbers I'm fishing my way to getting as well.  So. Cute.

 

I've been on a rather fiendish hunt lately for foods that I can place on my table.   I hate fish in real life but spent an inordinate amount of time getting the reputation, cooking skills and ingredients for the Boralus Style Lobster Platter.

 

This is my Mage, who had the highest Battle For Azeroth Cooking skill to begin with, so I could level her to get that recipe.   I spend quite a bit of time digging around in various character's banks for ingredients for old recipes.  Here's where being a sort of pack rat pays off, because almost always, someone somewhere has the goods.

 

I like my kitchen. It's cozy. After having had characters in various time periods and expansions starving for food, I just like for any of them to walk into the house and voila!  Food, food and more food.  Welcome home, babies.

 

 

Outside, I'm just getting screening between myself and my neighbors.  To my surprise, when I was taking screenshots, I saw my closest neighbor was gone!  Poof!  Sorry guy, but all that green glowy ugly stuff was an eyesore anyway.

 

I'm waiting for the housing upgrade coming soonish that will show you the border of your property so you can place and plan the space better.  In the meantime...

 

And per my spouse's request, here's the view out across the bay from my plot.

 

Beloved Elekk Plushie

 I have never collected toys in World of Warcraft, but love them in the real world. Now that I can have them in my virtual house, gimme the toys!  I enlarged the Plushie so it would show up better on my bed.

 

 

Midnight Runners

 

Welcome to the New Year!  Thanks to World of Warcraft's Housing Early Access, my plans for sitting out the Midnight Expansion altogether, or only sending my main through have changed. Everything has changed.  I completely see the game through the lens of my cozy house and what decor I can get for it.

 My all new plan, my even better plan, is to send one crafter of each tradeskill through so I can get any recipes and decor available in any way.  Except PvP and Raids, lol. Nope nope.

I have two Blacksmiths going, because one specializes in weapons and one in armor.   I'm replacing my highest level Tailor who is a Mage with a Warlock, and my Priest Jeweler with my shiny new Druid from Legion Remix.

The Jeweler and Tailor have some catching up to do, but they'll be fine. 

All the Midnight Runners are going through the Prologue.  I read today you can complete it in 30 minutes to an hour.  I'm still rolling on the floor laughing and it's so hard to type.

I've mentioned I struggle with Ka'resh.  The Prologue softens you up by giving you a painting almost right away near Dornogol, then they send you to Ka'resh!  Agghhh!  Even worse, there's a second part of the prologue that sends you the (insert bad word) Maw to find Sylvanas.

I have to say, compared to Xal'atath, Sylvanas is a purring smoothie who doesn't seem so bad.

My third character is doing the Prologue.  She's about to enter the Maw, which I can only take for small sessions.  Smaller than half an hour! 

Head down. We got this. 

It Took All Day To Make!

 It took me all day to level an Engineer to 60 Northrend Engineering, then to find the materials to make it.  It's great, but once I set it down in my house, I see you need to place two together to get the full train run.  Yoikes.  Love love love it anyway.

 

 

 

 

World of Warcraft Housing: It's Fantastic!

 

I didn't have much time to play yesterday evening, but I did snare a house overlooking the sea.  I have a couple of neighbors I'll be screening out of my sight lines with trees, once I figure out how to place objects outside.

Despite all of the videos and posts I've seen about housing, which made me think it might be buggy, everything was smooth, and I'm in my home sweet home.   Everything about this introduction to housing, and how easy it is to use, plus the potential for more of everything is just so impressive.  I'm in love.

 

I had a base set of furniture to work with, but then I went into town and hit all the decor vendors.  I bought lights, chairs, all the bookcase styles, all the books, a few trees and flowers for outside.  I can see I'm going to be a fiend for housing and collecting furnishings.  

Ha! See me log into Legion Remix later today because the housing vendor there will be open for business now. Although, I looked at Wowhead to see what you can buy from Remix and there are a lot of ghastly green kind of ugly things there. Maybe grab a few for Halloween decorations.

 The initial neighborhood offered had most of the plots taken, it seemed. Looking at Other Options, I picked Weary Wind Point and found a nice plot.   You get an initial tour of the neighborhood, and there are some variations in what the environs are.  The one that stood out and that I would not want to live in was one near the cemetery which atmospherically is much like Duskwood.  Great for those who want it to be Halloween year round.  It was nice to come back out into the sunshine.  

Here is my initial quick decorating of my cottage.  You can dye your furniture but need inks from your inscriptionist to make them.  Though the dye vendor said you can make dyes with Alchemy (which Atherne has) or Inscription, all the dyes used Inscription.  Very nice, actually, as Wow ruined Inscription as a Profession with Draenor, in my opinion.  My Inscriptionist is about to get very busy.

I have a tendency to place furniture around the edges of the room, and that's no good.  I look forward to enlarging my house, getting more furnishings, living the life :)

 

Steam Library Picks

 Yo, I'm IN.   

Yesterday, while I was waiting for the endless maintenance for World of Warcraft, I looked at a few potential purchases on Steam.  While I wait for the next Steam Sale, I decided to just go for it, and reinstalled from my Library:

 

Call of The Sea

 I am in a mood for something that has puzzles.  This moody, immersive story is just the thing.

 

Dragon Age II

 This is the game that started it all for me.  It's what I think of when I think Dragon Age, though I have a couple of other versions.

 

Mass Effect Legendary Edition

 

Mass Effect 2 is really my game, but I did play some of Mass Effect 1, and the tiniest bit of Mass Effect 3.  The game is cinematically in my head. When I have replayed any of the versions, I can see the scenes playing out in advance and know what to do.  It is so familiar, yet still spectacular to play and be in the Mass Effect universe.