Heroic Dragon Sorrows

I've mentioned before how much I hated when I clicked the button on Ultraxion, got the cooldown, and still died (presumably from latency issues).

It's still happening, and this time I got pic proof:

We were sitting on 4% as our best attempt for the night on heroic Ultra.... and tomorrow night it'll be nerfed at the reset. Tad disappointing not to get the kill before then :(

Dragon Soul Challenge

Vodka and Method are facing off in a race to clear Dragon Soul: http://athenelive.com/dschallenge

I love watching things like this - not only is it fun to see the top guilds in the world competing, you can also pick up some great tips scrutinizing their gameplay.

I always pay special attention to the hunters, of course - it's amazing how much you can improve. I only wish Blizzard would organize more of it - I know watching Arena games always helped me a lot; why not PvE-based competitions?

And yes, I know I could always watch boss kill vids... but really, it isn't the same. People doing boss kill vids tend to either be comfortable playing, showing the strat, or showing a messy-ish first kill. This Dragon Soul challenge will be challenging enough for the players to push themselves, but will also rely on excellent execution.

/popcorn time :)

Ultrafun

Of all the bosses in Dragon Soul, I didn't expect heroic Ultraxion to be so much fun compared to normal mode.

I've always viewed Ultra to be a rather boring fight - DS's Patchwerk; the obligatory tank n' spank.

However, making Fading Light a variable time - plus the added bonus of having to stay out for Hour of Twilight every now and then - somehow makes the fight a lot more interesting.

No, I don't know why either - possibly the extra adrenaline from almost missing Fading Light occasionally when it's on a short timer? Who knows! In any case, I'm a fan and can only hope that the other heroic fights improve on the normal modes as much as this one :)

Swiftest Springstrider Ever

Yeah, I really couldn't believe I'd got it that fast either. Very glad I didn't have to camp for ages this year - it gets a bit old when someone standing next to you has better latency! :P

Bit of a Beta Breather

I finally got my MoP beta pass and am currently waiting for the setup to finish.

Last time I did beta testing, I didn't do the quests or anything that people usually do in betas; after all, I rather enjoy the process of discovering new quests and items at launch and don't bother reading many spoilers besides talents and spells.

Besides, I figure there must be enough people testing quests, talents, spells, PvP and the like - no need for me to join the bandwagon.

This time I plan to do much the same - find quirky things to test that probably aren't necessary... but at least it'd be unlikely that others would be testing the same things.

Testing plans:

1. Pet strength - DPS and tank pets vs lvl 90 and 90 elite mobs
2. Gear strength - Normal DS level gear (which is what I'm wearing, mostly) vs no gear
3. Talent gauge - Determine which talents look promising for levelling, PvP and raid
4. ???

If anyone has any suggestions as to what to test in MoP, feel free to fire 'em at me... I'm not a theorycrafter or number cruncher by any means (I tend to leave that to the rest of the great hunter community), but hey - I'm sure Blizzard wants some "average" people testing their game and not just the elite few :)