I’ve lately had a hankerin’ for some more time in World of Warcraft (WoW). So a few nights ago I went to the WoW Web site to restart my account.

I typed in my information, clicked Continue, and got nothing. The same page just reloaded with the information fields blank. So I typed everything in again, clicked Continue, and got nothing again. Well that was aggravating. Oh well, I gave up.

Then tonight (August 5) I had the urge strike again to go into WoW. I went to the Web site again.

I typed in my information, clicked Continue, and got nothing. The same page just reloaded with the information fields blank. So I typed everything in again, clicked Continue, and got nothing again.

I grabbed the phone and called the WoW customer service line. Customer service is closed Sunday evenings.

I stared at the computer screen for a minute, thinking, they sure make it hard. I wondered if upper/lowercase makes a different in the fields. I hit the caps lock key and retyped in my information again. Clicking Continue worked this time. My account was reopened and I was ready to start up the game.

I found the game icon in my files, and started it up. The auto-launcher opened and had to download some updates—it’s been a few months since I last played, so I expected there might be an update. The update downloaded and automatically restarted the game. Then the launcher had to download another update. The update downloaded and automatically restarted the game. Then the launcher had to download another update. Oh come on! The update downloaded and automatically restarted the game.

This time, though, I actually got the game screen, not just the launcher. I had to accept the license agreements for the updates, and then I finally made it to the login screen. I typed in my name and password, and clicked Login. My whole computer locked up. I waited a few minutes to see if it would unlock on its own, but no luck. I had to turn off my whole computer (losing the blog post I was writing in the process—so I wrote this one instead).

The computer came back up, and before I started WoW again, I started writing this post. And I saved it at this point before I went any further with WoW, just in case things locked up again.

I logged into WoW. Well, it didn’t lock up this time. I made it past log in. But then the application started downloading a patch for the game.

So far it’d taken about thirty minutes of my time, and I wasn’t in the game yet.

The software downloaded, and then automatically started updating. Once the update was complete, the launcher restarted—I was losing ground. And then began another download. And then automatically started updating again.

Then the launcher restarted, stopped, and restarted again. Then restarted again. I clicked the Play button, and it took me to the game login screen again.

Well, wonderful. I’d at last, for real, finally made it to the actual game. I could see my characters ready to play.

If I lost you through all of the above, then you feel pretty much like I did. It took me about 45 minutes to get into the actual game, through numerous downloads and updates and restarts. I typed this post as it was happening. If I hadn’t been typing this as it happened, I’d have no idea how many times the game downloaded and updated—and even having typed it all, I have to go back and read and count to figure it out.

Geez. I’ve kind of forgotten what I was getting back into this game for, now.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com

I canceled my WoW account. I’ve gotten pretty busy lately and just haven’t played in several weeks.

Fortunately, WoW keeps character information safe when you cancel your account, so if I get the time to play again, I can reopen the account and continue where I left off (level 68).

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com

My friends and I were talking about using mules in WoW. One of my friends has never used one.

In the Outlands, you almost must have a mule. It saves a lot of time having to go back and forth for the bank and Auction House. My mule scans the AH daily, and then receives loot from my main to sell on the AH. She can store stuff in the bank, too. Probably saves me 20 minutes of travel time each time I play. Let’s my main stay close to the action areas.

Last night, I was on with my mule (now level 10) and had a guy ask me to sign his guild charter. Said he’d give me 1 gold to do it. I was curious if he would actually give me a gold, so I said yes.

He and his friend came to me and I signed the charter. A moment later, he opened a trade window and put in a gold. Honesty! Great. I didn’t take the gold and told him to keep it.

He said, “Umm, okay.”

I said, “I’m a mule, and I’ve already got 680 gold on me. I don’t need it.”

He said, “?? How did you get so much gold?”

I had to log off right after he asked that, so I didn’t get to answer. I didn’t notice what level he and his friend was. I imagine he’s probably telling people I he found a gold buyer.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com

I haven’t been doing much xp grinding like I usually do. But I have ridden around Nagrand a bit to look around. My god, but there are a lot of quests in Outland! Walk into any little post and you’ll stumble into at least three quests. Hell, I got five quests from just one tauren, standing all alone, in Terrokar Forest.

I found the Ring of Blood in northern Nagrand. It’s a gladiatorial arena run by a goblin. Making it even more interesting is that it is in the middle of an ogre town. There are always at least a few PCs in the area, either killing ogres or going into the ring, or just spectating the fights.

The goblin gives you quests to fight elite enemies in the ring. He pays well—around 11 gold—for the fights, but they are tough and require a team of five characters.

When I first found the Ring, I picked up the quest from the goblin and he goaded me to get into the ring. I stood at the edge of the ring and looked in. Blood is splattered everywhere. A tauren PC whispered to me, “Don’t go in there. You’ll die quick.” So I backed up and watched a team go into the ring (including that tauren). Whoa nelly! Yeah, I would have died quick.

I haven’t yet fought in the Ring, though I joined a group to do so. I’ve been there a few times, and more than once saw a fight spill out of the Ring in into the spectators around. Plus, you have to watch out for the ogres in the town.

One time a giant void walker devastated the Alliance team that went in to battle it. A couple of the Allies tried to escape the ring and so brought the void out with them. Spectators, ogres, and the void all formed a chaotic melee—people running from the void, aggroing ogres, the void running back and forth through the area killing PCs, etc. In the end there were about 15 dead PCs around the place, and the void walker wasn’t killed. (I and my pet were both also dead.) That was freakin’ hilarious! I really like that place. :-)

Last night I found Aeris Landing — a Consortium base. Pretty cool; kind of a techy-like place. The Consortium are just cool, anyway. They’re sort of humanoid wind creatures in mummy wrappings.

I also went into Halaa. Another cool place, especially with the enemy fire bombing the area. Funny to see the guards standing around during the bombing, not seeming to care that they are on fire! I’m surprised at how often and how long the Horde manages to get and hold Halaa. Not at all like the Eastern Plaguelands towers. I’d say the Horde has the town about half the time I’m on.

Now that my hunter is level 66, I went back to Hellfire Peninsula to kill Azarius the Cruel, a 63 elite. I wanted to finish up that quest chain, and get honored reputation in Thrallmar. I figured I could take him now that I’m 3 levels higher than him. Nope. Son of a gun is TOUGH! I tried twice: both times my pet died and I had to Feign Death. I never got him below 75% health. I think he heals himself.

And on a general note: I don’t know how non-hunters get around and survive in WoW. The tracking ability is worth gold! Every time I play one of my other characters, I feel blind for not being able to see creatures on the mini map.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com