Meandering Monday 2/23/26

 Oof! What a terrible post title. Get used to it, though.  In order to meet my monthly post count, a key is having regular post topics.  For this blog, I'll have Meandering Monday (think realm travel rather than fuzzy brain stuff) and for my spouse, Screenshot Saturday.

There are five Mondays in March, and four Saturdays.  Boink!  9 posts sliding right in toward the monthly goal of ten.  It's almost too easy.

The most regular feature of Meandering Monday is

Goals for the Week

Level Khaz Algar Tailoring and Leatherworking to 80 to get:

Tailoring 80

Undermine Bean Bag Chair

Leatherworking 80

Zhevra-Striped Rug

Well Lit Incontinental Couch

I have a tiny obsession with Undermine furniture.  This is just me getting the recipe.  I can't look at the recipe's ingredients yet, because of course they will be something obnoxiously hard to get.  Not as bad as the infamous  8 Black Lotus needed for the Classic era Alchemy Table, but, ya, the ingredients for things are a challenge.  This makes it extra sweet to place these in your home.

My Quest Logs Runneth Over

I'm finding more and more with my level 80 characters that their quest logs are full.   I blame part of this on the many auto accept quests the game throws your way.  You just can't get rid of them, they pop back in as soon as you make any in game move.  It feels like at least ten of them involve Xal'atath.  Grrr.  Also, I seem to be holding onto a few quests from old eras where I got really far in the quest line and I plan to finish it sometime.  

A goal this week is to prune whatever I can from my Midnighters quest logs.

Clear My Bags

I have such odd things in my bags I'm not sure I should get rid of.  It would be smart, and of course I will do it--to stick the stuff I really can't let go for fear I'll need it in my bank.   Nut, nut.

This Stuff Practically Writes Itself

All for this week's edition of Meandering Monday, see you Saturday for scintillating screenshots of decor and other adventures.   Up to 5 posts already.  

Wow Classic Rolls On

 Tsk it's the last week of the month and I only have 3 of my intended 10 posts up.  What to do?

More than ever, I realize the classic versions of the game aren't for me.  In Anniversary Classic, for instance, my highest level character is, I believe, a level 43 Retribution Paladin.  I had a real struggle to get her that far.  As Burning Crusade Classic arrives on these servers, I've no plans to check in.  

As it turns out, in my previous run through all of the classic eras, The Burning Crusade was not a favorite expansion for me.  The only thing I recall really liking about it was getting an astonishing two gold for every quest.

Pre-Midnight Blues

 

 I've been looking at the previews of the new Midnight areas, and, while I am excited for a fully fleshed out housing system, the expansion, the quest areas, the stories, and the new main characters such as Arator (a badly done Anduin wannabe) and Liadrin Pfft.  

Last time around, buying the Epic edition of the expansion gave players a few days head start, and it bugged me somewhat, because I was looking forward to The War Within.  Now I'm dreading Midnight, and I don't mind those poor suckers going in first at all.

My mood is tempered also, not in a good way, by several days where the warband bank was inexplicably unavailable.  I don't have much money set there, but all the shared resources my characters now depend on being to use anytime anywhere were just gone.  I noticed on the forums people fearing it would be like the guild bank fiasco where people just lost everything, and that was it.  Eep.

It's back, but I don't trust them now, and I will have individual characters hang onto things until needed, then they can swap things in.  

Since nobody in my family group has been playing much on the guild servers, I've neglected the guild banks this expansion, but, I'd best do what I've been meaning to do anyway and stock them with all the essentials, particularly for whatever the current expansion requires, potions and armor wise.

In another pre-expansion bummer, since the reset this week, the remaining characters I was sending to the Twilight Highlands aren't going to go, as they aren't earning coins to buy armor.  There is in fact in their Currency tab no spot for this currency.   Here are two of my characters, one who had done all she needed in the Highlands, and she still has a whopping 8 Twilight's Blade Insignia, which the next character could use, as it is shared.  However, when I sent that next character in and did the beginning quest sequence (which awards at least 40 Insignia), she had no Insignia rewarded, and in her Currency tab, not even a spot for the Twilight sequence.

Warlock one with Currency

  

Warlock 2 with No Currency

 

I might as well toss in the ability pruning for classes as a sad panda item.  My Mage and Warlock each lost several skills, they're just gone.  It's as if they want your character to go into the expansion as weak as possible to create an illusion of challenge, whereas with the Stat Squish and the tuning and pruning, you're just going to enjoy getting pounded for awhile.   Probably not how it works but it's how I feel as I write this.

 

Screenshot Saturday February 7, 2026

Welcome to another edition of Screenshot Saturday.  I've been trying to get more screenies but, some of my play time is spent on a shiny new laptop that won't play nice with screenshots, and it's a bit cumbersome to get them.  Even so!

 

Endeavors

Imagine my surprise when my Horde BE got a series of weekly Endeavor quests in her neighborhood!  I've only ever seen the Architect Riddles in the Alliance neighborhood.  I can find only the smallest mention of these, saying that they go with having the Valdrakken Accord as your monthly assigned Endeavor theme.   In case they make these available more widely (as they should), here are the Weeklies in Razorwind.

 

Alternative Skinning 

 

Farm To Table

 

Reverse Herb Farming

 

Magical Touch

 

Smelting For Two 

 

On the Alliance side, I filled my Endeavor bar for the month completely.  This is supposed to open up more options from the vendor.  I didn't see anything new.  I do believe on the right you should be able to see who contributed to the neighborhood Endeavors, but it's all Atherne and her Warband.  Go team warband!

 

 I got a community endeavors chest reward that had coupons and something else I didn't pay attention to.  Zzzzzzz.

 Also, I think we earned some lights adorning the town center for our efforts (me and me and me).

 

Mechagon is the assigned Endeavor theme for my public Alliance neighborhood.  I swapped my Gnome Warrior Engineer in to finish up the questing there, and I just can't get her to leave.  I hated Mechagon so much when it was originally offered I only sent one character there.  It should have been my Engineer, clearly.  I'm going to let her try to complete everything before Midnight arrives.

 

 

Hunter Love

With my BE Hunter, I saw this adorable toad-like beast  called a Fussy Swoglet and wanted it.

 

 

 

It turns out, you need to get a special book in Valdrakken city from the Stablemaster to train a dragon pet (he doesn't look like a dragon to me).

 

No problems! The flight to Valdrakken is short, and with book in hand, I got my Swoglet. 

 

Despite my Transmog whine, I have been buying from the Trading Post anyway.  I have a thing for the guns for Hunters, which are often elaborately steampunk-ish in design.  How about this BAG?

 

  

Atheren's Gaming Goals for February 2026

 Here are my main goals for the month:

Prep for Midnight 

 

It's crunch time! March 2 the WoW world descends into darkness with the coming of Midnight.  Or so it would seem.  Can our heroes, with the supposed help of the Army of Light overcome Miss Twinkle Toes?

Level up!   

My Rapscallion Blood Elf.  I've got the Mysterious Winds buff plus the ongoing 25% xp for having 8 max level characters.  Eek will that go away in Midnight once there's a new level cap?  Yikes. Just thought of that.   My Blood Elf also wants to do Endeavors in her neighborhood but they haven't been available to her.  Maybe now she's out of the Burning Crusade Time Loop the neighborhood will be kind. There's a watering can   (10 coupons each) available on the Endeavors Vendor and a little garden trowel (5 coupons each) that I need for both of my houses.  I mean REALLY NEED.

 

 

I have replaced my squishy main Tailor/Enchanter who is a Mage in the Midnight Runners with a currently level 77 Warlock.  Need to get her to 80 in a trice.  Warlocks never really get nerfed, in my opinion, so she should be viable in the new expansion.

 

 

Gear Up!  

I have to get all the Midnight Runners through the new pre-patch gear up area of the Twilight Highlands.  My main is a druid and before the Squish she could easily handle five mobs at a time.  Now two or three have got her on the ropes.  I've only done one session with her in the Highlands though and zero gear dropped, plus two of the world quests seemed buggy.  I think these problems were addressed  in last weeks patch?

 

 

Continue hunting down tradeskill recipes and ingredients for decor with all of my crafters.  Hot tips:  Dark Runes drop from Corrin's Crossing Dark Casters and Vile Tutors while I got none in two Scholomance runs.  The Firelands Raid in Hyjal is, in fact, a simple place to get your Living Embers, and the only place you will find them.

In Before The Lock

 I always loved that phrase, from way back in my Forum Rat days.  Here is post ten for January, putting me on course for squeaking out ten posts a month this year.  Yay me.

I chose The Dragon Isles for my Blood Elf Paladin.  I felt a little guilty leaving the Ghostlands unfinished, but these feet were made for flying through the air.

 

 

Beloved Raptor Plushie and The Dark Portal Decor I Didn't Know I Needed

 My Tailor made a new Plushie for the House.  I had to gather and mill a fair few Dreamleafs to get Roseate Pigment with my Inscriptionist, and Prospect also quite a bit of Leystone Ore and Felslate Ore with my Jeweler, but ta da!

 

Here's the Raptor in his original size, next to the embiggened Elekk Plushie.
 

And here I set both plushies to their maximum size, which I think I will keep.

 

Free for owning Midnight and logging into the game, your own personal Dark Portal.  After sneering at my neighbor who had an ugly green round portal in his yard (of course I didn't actually sneer), I am going to rearrange my furniture and find a spot for this bad boy.  I didn't realize I was fond of the Dark Portal, but it pleases me to no end to have it.