The boys!

(well, most of them – there are a couple missing from the photo)

“When’s dinner?”

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I don’t often write RL stuff in this blog. I’m a fairly private person.. but also I don’t want to clutter up the blog with stuff that most people probably don’t care about. But this one has pictures of baby animals!



Anyway – apparently, I have high blood pressure.

When I was told that, I immediately though (fondly) of my guild.

These days, I don’t get much time to do the stuff in WoW that helps me to relax. I’m a bit of a weirdo – I love doing daily quests, grinding for rep, flying in circles for hours and farming herbs or ore. Or just wetting a line, fishing up some food for the bank.

With two jobs, progression raiding, blogging (I’m trying hard to be more consistent this year!), looking after the guild forums and website, selling our BOEs and restocking the gbank, attending to messages and requests, trying to get my heroics done and whatnot.. I often just don’t get the time. I miss it, and I think it’s probably starting to take its toll on me. I don’t have much time to myself anymore.

So I’d like to introduce you to my de-stressing companions: my ratties.

I have 26 rats. Not really by choice; I bought 3 lovely girls from a very friendly but very ignorant pet store, who must have kept the girls housed with boys (before I bought them). A week later, I had 3 lovely girls plus a litter of 11; a week after that, 3 lovely girls plus a litter of 11 plus a litter of 12.

3 + 11 + 12 = quite a few.



My own horde


Note: please, no comments about snakes, I will delete them. It’s not original and it’s not funny.


I’ve had rats since I was about 15. I had a break from them for about a year, but missed them too much (and so went to buy the three girls). They are just fantastic little pets – they each have their own personality, their own little quirks. No two are the same, and I love them. Whenever I feel stressed or sad, they are always there to cuddle. Or to distract me from my work or WoW stresses by destroying something. Bless them. Stress dissolves when I play with them, or when they curl up in my collar and sleep.


Meet Peg

Now, don’t tell the others I said this.. but I have a favourite. Her name is Peg.

When she was a few days old, her mother (being a new mum, and inexperienced), picked her up awkwardly and bit her hand by accident (or so I assume, because she’s not a mean rat). I didn’t notice this bite at first, and sadly it got infected. I did a daily head count to make sure they were all there and had full tummies.. and I found poor little Peg with a grey hand.

To cut a long story short, being too young for medication or surgery, all I could do was treat it with antiseptic, soak it a little, and see if she survived the infection. I wasn’t at all concerned about her having only 3 legs, because I’ve had rats with missing limbs (or tails) before, and they learn to adapt – especially if they are young. I was much more concerned that being only a few days old, such a nasty infection could easily kill her.

But she survived that night, and the next, and the next. She would womble around on her swollen leg just fine. Eventually the hand just kinda shrivelled up like a little peg leg (hence the name).



YARRRRRR.


One day when she was a few weeks old, her peg leg wiggled like a loose tooth, and then dropped off, leaving a little rounded pink stump.



Peg today, at 4 weeks


Now she’s 4 weeks old, and she’s a gorgeous little thing – but trouble. She plays the sympathy card all the time, looking up with those big wet eyes and you can tell she’s saying “…but I only have one hand! (sadface)” to try to sucker you in. Don’t be fooled.


So there you go – these are the guys who keep me sane when raiding is crazy and life is stressful.

If you see me getting around in-game with Whiskers or my giant sewer rat out, and maybe wearing my pirate outfit, it’s because I’m totally RPing RL – probably with a Peg on my shoulder.

<:3, ,)~


PS: Sindy tips coming soon - I just can't post them yet because our rival guilds are still trying to get her down, and I want to keep our head start on Arthas. Don't want to give them insider secrets!

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I’m not sure why I subscribe to Gevlon’s blog anymore. Lately it provides fewer and fewer insightful posts on making money in WoW, and instead just seems to be post after post about how he considers a lot of players to be morons for having a different definition of the word “fun”. There are actually a few blogs on my blogroll that annoy the heck out of me because I read the posts and think “wow, I can’t believe you’re so far off the mark”, but I can’t bring myself to unsubscribe. I’m going to put it down to morbid curiosity.

Gevlon has snatched hold of the $10 vanity pet concept and decided that only morons would spend tangible cash on intangible in-game rewards. He now seeks to understand why people want to own them (although I suspect he has no real desire to understand, he just wants to reiterate that it is folly.)

He refuses to accept that some people want these pets purely because they are “fun” or “cute”. To him, there is one main reason why people purchase these pets: to show off, to have a status symbol, to keep up with everyone else who buys a pet. Fun/cute is an unacceptable explanation. There must be more to it.

Do we really have to question why people enjoy things, why they consider something to be fun? Is “because I like it” not good enough? Is it really necessary to delve deeper?

I like things that make me happy. Do we really need to psychoanalyse that?

It’s his blog, of course, and if he WANTS to psychoanalyse – that’s his project. But what really annoys me is when he simply slaps labels on people because they do not conform to his idea of what is productive and what is wasteful or pointless. People are not automatically morons because they choose to do activities that they consider to be FUN.


Digital items are worth less because you can’t hold them in your hands

I think people are getting too hung up on the idea that it’s bad to use real cash for digital items. That somehow, you’re a moron if you pay good money for something that you can’t hold in your hands and “own”.

Do you ever buy songs from iTunes or similar? I do. That’s a digital download. Whatever you buy digitally, you do it because you like the product, and it brings you enjoyment. The only difference between an iTunes song and a Pandaren Monk is that we know that after a number of years, WoW will close down, and your panda will cease to exist (whereas your iTunes song should endure). So the pets are more like a rental than a purchase – one day you’ll no longer own them.

So why are these two minipets such an enormous waste of money? $10 for some giggles and fun, why not?

Have you ever bought someone a surprise gift, just to make them smile? What about a bunch of flowers? Flowers die after a few days, they serve absolutely no purpose other than to make someone smile and feel nice. Pandaren Monks have been popular pets for people in the last few days – to make people smile and laugh.

A few pots of beer or a bunch of flowers will cost you $10 and can make you feel good for a short time, then they are gone. A pandaren monk will cost you $10 and makes you feel good for a short time, then he’ll be gone (when you get sick of him, or when WoW shuts down).

$10=$10.

But a $10 bunch of flowers or a few drinks with friends is “normal”, while a digital minipet is for morons.


I don’t subscribe to the idea that pointless = moronic

I spent hours one day grinding Gelkis Centaur rep. Remember those two centaur clans in Desolace – that you have to collect their ears and whatnot to become friendly with one clan and hated with the other? I wanted exalted with one of them. Why? Something to do – something silly. So I could laugh and say “haha, I’m exalted with a pointless faction.” Hardly an achievement or anything to show off, but a bit of harmless fun. Doing something incredibly tedious and long-winded, purely to say I’d done it, and laugh.

(by the way, you can’t get exalted with them – it caps at 11999/12000 Honored – but I didn’t find that out until I actually got capped. Heartbreaking!)

By Gevlon’s standards, I’m a total moron. I spend hours of my time doing achievements, farming, grinding, fishing (for fun, not for money), and all of those other dumb things that non-goblins like to waste their lives on. But I enjoy it. Call me crazy (but not a moron, thanks), but I love doing laps of the basin, mining and herbing. I love fishing for hours and hours. I enjoy mindless grinding.

Am I a moron?

No. I “simply like” grinding.

Why is it fun? Why do I like it? Because it makes me happy. I enjoy it. Why do I enjoy it? WHO CARES, I JUST DO. You’re just gonna have to take my word for it when I say “because I like it”.

Evidently the very subjective idea of what various people find to be “fun” is just really hard for some people to grasp.

Gevlon spends his time making money for the sole purpose of making money. He never EVER buys anything that isn’t absolutely necessary – no mounts, no pets, nothing frivolous, ever. So apart from a time when he was paying for a spot in raids, he pretty much does nothing with his money except pile it up in a corner. Pointless, right?



Figure 1: Morons collect these because they are stupid sheep
and like to waste time collecting shiny things.

Figure 2: Intelligent and sensible people collect these
because they like the challenge of collecting shiny things.
(Note: This is completely different from collecting pets and other worthless pixels)



Is he a moron for collecting gold? No. He “simply likes” making money for the sake of it.

Why is it fun? Why does he like it? Because he enjoys it.**

If someone with 100 vanity pets is a moron, then Gevlon himself is just as much of a moron for collecting gold for the sake of it (it would be entirely different if he had a specific purpose for the gold – but generally he just stockpiles it).

I don’t understand how people can be so judgmental and short-sighted, labelling other people as idiots for displaying a particular behaviour, but almost duplicating it themselves without even realising that it is exactly the same kind of thing. Collecting for no particular reason. Collecting because it’s just “fun”. Something to do. A milestone to strive for. 214k gold, 100 mounts, 100 vanity pets, 40 exalted reputations – they’re all “pointless” goals. But why is the vanity pet collector a moron compared to the gold stockpiler?



Figure 3: Waste of time vs Not a waste of time.



One of us

Honestly, I feel sorry for people like Gevlon, who are so hung up on judging everyone else’s idea of fun, constantly feeling the need to label and judge. The saddest thing is that he is exactly the same as any other collector who collects something for the sake of having a collection, but either doesn’t see it, or decides to rationalise his behaviour as “better”.

I collect vanity pets, Bob collects bottletops, Gevlon collects gold. He spends his time and his subscription money on his minigame of hitting the gold cap. I spend my time and subscription seeing how many pets I can jam into my knapsack. Sorry Gevlon, but there is no difference. We’re all wasting our time here, if you think about it – everything you do in the game is “pointless” except for two main things: a certain sense of accomplishment (however warped it may be), and whatever enjoyment you get out of what you do – whether it be raiding, RPing, grinding, playing the AH, collecting pets, fishing, racking up achievement points, PvPing, or dancing on the Ironforge mailbox in a Lovely Black Dress.

As long as someone else’s idea of “fun” doesn’t interfere with my idea of “fun” then frankly they can spend their subscription any way they like, who the hell am I to dictate to them what’s fun? Who am I to tell them they’re a moron for buying a minipet, or spending weeks grinding for The Insane, or spending 5 nights a week raiding for server firsts? Where do I get off making those calls?

In the end, when they switch off the servers, we’ll each of us have nothing to show for our time – so the only thing that matters is the enjoyment that we get out of our monthly subscription (and, if you consider it worth the purchase, any add-on products that you might like to buy). That enjoyment and “value” is entirely subjective, and does not have to have any kind of in-depth analysis to discover the “truth”.

Sometimes, “I did it for fun” is exactly the explanation. It does not need to be investigated or extrapolated. There is not always a shady hidden agenda. Not everyone buys shiny things to show off on the Dalaran steps. Sometimes, useless vanity items are just fun to look at or play with – even if nobody is around. Just for fun.

Pandaren Monks are fun and they make me smile and laugh. And in my case, it not only made me happy, but it made my friend (who gifted it to me) happy as well.

All for the low, low price of a few beers, a couple of coffees, or a box of widgets.


That’s 10 bucks well-spent, right there.





**Edit: Gevlon has clarified that he in fact does NOT enjoy making money, he does it only to prove that his methods work:

“PS: I don’t know how many times I explained why did I gained goldcap but people still keep asking. I’m fully aware that anything over 10K is useless. No, it wasn’t fun at all to grind that money. I did it as a proof that my goldmaking tricks work. Imagine that I’d say “this and this would work, though I never tried it as I don’t need more gold”. Yes, by saying this I also mean that others who gained lot of gold without any plan how to use it did something irrational.”

My brain just might explode. It’s NOT ok to do pointless things that you enjoy, but it is fine to do something that you DON’T enjoy and (by your own admission) is utterly pointless – except to be able to say “and here’s how I did it.”

How can anyone scoff at another person’s 100 minipets – that they enjoyed collecting – while they themselves are mindlessly grinding for 214k gold that they neither want, nor need, and even DISLIKE doing? At least I’m enjoying my time-wasting – you don’t like what you’re doing at all. /boggle. I especially liked the last part – which I take to mean “If you copy what I did, but you don’t have a purpose for your money, then you’re an idiot.” (but remember – don’t buy vanity items – because that’s dumb.)

Yet we’re the morons…

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Got bored. Went to Wailing Caverns to farm raptors, despite having earlier said something to the effect of “screw Wailing Caverns, I hate that place, I’ll just buy the pet.”

But I was bored, and an instance is the one place that you can farm by yourself without five billion other people camping the mobs that you need – so I figured I’d give it a shot and see how easy it was to do. As much as I LOATHE this instance, I discovered that the part in which you farm the raptors is right inside the instance door, and you just run in a big, straightforward circuit. You don’t need to go deep into the bowels of the instance (as I had feared). The whole thing takes around 5 minutes per run and is actually FUN.

I know – I was shocked, too.

Without further ado, here’s my ultra top secret method for farming Deviate Hatchlings:



• Ignore all of the raptors outside the instance portal – they don’t drop the pet. The ones you want are immediately inside the instance.

• Turn thorns OFF.

• Remember: nothing in an instance will leash. Run through every raptor you see. The room is basically a big rectangle – just run right around the whole thing, gathering every mob.

• When you have them all, Hurricane or kitty Swipe as appropriate.

• Loot the sparklies.



Result:



Now, I may just be crazy lucky, but those three came from just two runs, out of 5 runs total (I got two on my fourth run, and another on my fifth run). I kept one (that makes 87 pets) and I am going to sell the other two while the prices are up. Obviously these are one of the easier raptor pets to farm, so the price of them probably won’t stay very high for long (at the moment – 2000g to 4000g). I suspect they will plateau somewhere in the low hundreds – it’s still annoying to have to go to WC in the first place, after all.

I don’t really intend to farm for the ones that drop from elites.. too many people camping them already, and it’s too stressful to sit there and watch the spawn point for hours, waiting to mash your moonfire button. I’d rather do a few days of dailies and buy them at inflated prices, to be perfectly honest.

(If you’re on Cael and you have one to sell, drop me a line. I buy and trade!)


Isn’t he cute?




Aww, bless.



DISCLAIMER: I cannot be held responsible for any raptor-related maulings which may result in injuries ranging from feelings of mild discomfort to death. Raptors are wild animals and should be respected (I recommend paying particular respect to their pointy ends).

Remember: raptors run at 10m/s and they do not know fear.

Boy howdy are they cute though! /chin tickle



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I’ve started my quest for a Whistle of the Venomhide Ravasaur. Horde characters can do this quest, it is basically the equivalent of the Alliance Wintersaber – but nowhere near as grindy, contrary to what many people assume.

I’ll sum it up:


• Go to Un’goro Crater, speak to the trainer to get the quest.

• Take off your clothes and go aggro a handful of Venomhide Ravasaurs. Being naked helps the mobs stay alive for longer.

• The raptors’ skin is full of poison – and you have to get splashed by it by hitting them over and over (you can’t just stand there). Keep hitting them until they have splashed poison on you 20 times. Note: if you are grouped, you will get credit for other people in your group getting splashed – so group up!

• If you go with a friend and aggro a handful, it will only take 5-10 minutes. If there are lots of people competing for spawns, it may take longer.


• Hand in the quest and get your baby raptor. He will give you a random daily quest each day for 20 days – for example, go kill 20 dinosaurs and feed him the meat. Very simple.

• At the end of the 20 daily quests, return to the trainer with some extra materials (80g 20 Runecloth, 20 Rugged Leather), and you get your mount.



That’s it!

Note: if you are soloing this quest, you’ll need to be at least around the level 50 mark, to be able to kill the appropriate mobs. However, this mount can be used from level 40 and up – so if you have some higher level friends who can save you from being eaten by things in Un’goro, you can let them do all the poison-soaking while you get credit too. (I can’t find anything that suggests there is a level requirement to accept the quest, so I assume a level 40 can do it)

As an aside – have you bought an Obsidian Hatchling from Breanni in Dalaran? He’s adorable. But the little Venomhide hatchling is even TINIER! Of course, he won’t be tiny for long; only 20 days if you quest for him every day – then he’ll grow up and let you ride around on his back.

Aside from Breanni’s, There are also a number of other baby raptors that you can adopt as pets. They are BOU (bind on use), which means you may find them on your local AH.




Keeva keeps a watchful eye over her new charge.


Now, as cool as it is to ride around on raptors and have them as baby pets.. frankly I’m slightly perturbed. Did we learn nothing from Jurassic Park? These animals are SMART. They learned how to open doors. I think we need to ask ourselves – are they just biding their time until they can rise up and eat our faces?

You won’t be cooing, “aww, cute” when that happens, will you?



Non-combat pets my foot.

In the meantime, if you’re happy to be lulled into a false sense of security, here are some resources to help you:

Wowraid’s quick guide to the Ravasaur quest
MMO-Champion shows you which raptors drop the BOU pets

Enjoy!



(but when your new pet eats you, don’t come crying to me about it.)




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