The Huntress Returns in Cataclysm

Back in the very beginning of WoW, I made a night elf Hunter named Peppermint. She was my first character, and got to around level 46 in vanilla before I realized I was just one of a million identical night elf Hunters on my realm, and dungeon groups were always full on Hunters. I placed her on the back burner and rolled Toque, my pink pigtailed gnome Warlock that later became my official online alias and the face of my gaming presence when it came to WoW and all of the other games I played. I still wrote for the Azeroth Advisor for years and contributed to their Hunter columns, later becoming a Hunter Content Editor. I kept going back to Peppermint every now and then, but when I went Horde and rolled a Druid, I though I’d never look back.

At some point in my WoW past, I felt like I was on top of the Hunter class and how it functioned. Then Peppermint was abandoned for years. Then the cataclysmic sundering of  Azeroth took place, and everything changed forever. The Hunter class got a huge overhaul. Some friends of mine rolled and moved Alliance toons to a new server and I decided to join them there, and give Hunter another try. The changes intrigued me. Try as I did to re-roll a new Hunter, even a worgen one to check out the new race, my heart just wasn’t in it. Not that the newly redesigned Hunter class wasn’t fun, but something wasn’t quite right about the whole thing. I couldn’t put my finger on it. Then it hit me: worgen just wasn’t for me.  I didn’t feel right being a worgen Hunter, I needed the comfort of my original huntress. I needed Peppermint.

About this time, an old WoW Hunter friend of mine returned to the game to experience the Hunter changes in Cataclysm, too. Peppermint was realm-transferred to the new server where we were all gathering and even though she was unable to keep the name Peppermint due to it already being taken on the new realm, it didn’t matter… all felt right in the world again. Being back on my night elf Hunter with such a rich, old history felt right. And I was questing and leveling with my old Hunter buddy, and it felt like the “good old days” of vanilla learning it all for the first time again.

I haven’t decided 100% how I feel about all of the new Hunter changes since Qiviut (Peppermint’s new name) is only level 70 right now and happily leveling fishing and reconnecting with my familiar old pets, (I missed Waddles the crocolisk!) but I can’t complain. I see so many “fix Hunters!” threads on the forums, but you know what? I’m too busy having fun learning the changes to notice “broken” things. Maybe it’s because there has been such a gap in time since I’ve actively played a Hunter that I don’t remember the “old” mechanics well enough to notice? I am leveling via Beast Mastery currently, and I love that I can have several pets with me at once to swap through for different needs on the spot. I am working to get a “rotation” down that allows me to make best use of my focus bar, but I suspect that’ll get easier when I get Cobra Shot, so I don’t mind. Like mana, I just have to learn some efficiency. I’m really just enjoying Hunter for now, and not worrying too much or getting hung up on the little things. It’ll all come in time.

My Druid and my Warlock are still hanging out on my Horde realm and they’re not abandoned forever, just not getting played right now. Playing the Hunter class again with the new changes and being with some old friends is refreshing and is what’s keeping my interest right now, especially with all of the “fun” I’m hearing about healers in the 85 endgame right now. (Poor Druid.) I’m not even sad that I’ve not done any of the 80-85 content yet with Amoo or Tuque; it’ll all come in time. I’m in no hurry.

On a personal note, my geeky small business of creating GEEKSOAP has flourished amazingly well, and I had record breaking sales and success this holiday season! I opened a second store back in October specifically for my crochet Cthulhu accessories (hats, scarves, etc.) and that took off this winter, too. With the holidays behind me I have a bit more time to play WoW in my free time, but gone are the days of hardcore for me; I really am content just enjoying the time I do have and having fun with friends. Besides… in other personal news, my husband and I are expecting our first child in June 2011! I’m going to be a mama! As I’m sure you can understand, once the summer rolls around I’ll be a little busy and WoW will most likely be the first thing to go for awhile. Priorities! But don’t worry, I’ll be raising the geekling to be a gamer girl or boy and will never be gone forever ;)

Hope you and yours had a merry holiday season – Happy New Year! <3

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WoW and Geeky Soap + Gen Con!

Weeeeeeee!

So not only am I still making lots of handmade geeky soap (GEEKSOAP! See my previous post(s) for more info and go check out my geeky soap store here.) but I’m back in WoW! You all knew I couldn’t stay away that long, right? I blame my lovely guildmade Alyxx for it – she kept telling me how much I was missed on Facebook ;) Amoothyst is a little behind in the gear department since I haven’t been around since the WotLK Naxx was THE big end-game raid, but I’m loving randoms and badge gathering and so Amoo is already in full Tier 9, lol. Good luck getting me into Tier 10 without having more time to get into some bigger raids, though – currently I get bits and pieces of time to play here and there which works well for gathering Emblems of Triumph in randoms, but being back towards the east coast now means my beloved guild raids too late for me and/or I’m struggling to find consistent time for raiding that fits with my busy work schedule. But that’s ok – gear was never THE big thing for me in WoW. I enjoy a lot of other things, too, such as exploring and achievements, and am just happy to be messing around again in-game.  So be sure to say hi! I doubt I’ll do much on alts until after Cata comes out so you’ll probably just find me on Amoothyst for now.

GEEKY SOAP! So I’m still plugging away with my successful small business handcrafting geeky and gamer themed soap over at geeksoap.net and prepping for Gen Con Indy in less than a month. (August 5- 8, 2010!) If you’re going to Gen Con, be sure to stop by booth 2732 and see me! My most recent new soap is WoW themed in honor of coming back to the game yet again – the Soapstone! Read more about the adventure of making it over on my craft blog.

See you in-game and/or at Gen Con! <3

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Time Out!

My Orgrimmar Baby Toque of Awesome

I have put myself in time out until I finish knitting all of my Christmas gifts. The list feels huge, and running my usual dailies and heroic badge farming runs leaves me too little time to knit in the evenings. You can follow along if you so desire on my craft blog, though I’m not posting a lot of things until after gifts have been gifted so as not to spoil the surprise to the recipients who may or may not read it. However, one knitted gift I finished and shipped off last week is WoW-related and therefore fitting to mention here, and that’s my Orgrimmar Baby Toque of Awesome.

Clever stats, hey?

Some in-game friends were expecting their first child and I wanted to knit them a little something. I whipped up a striped baby hat in Orgrimmar colors (orange and red) and added an epic WoW item tag to cleverly share the stats of wearing the hat in your head slot. Sorry about the poop crit rating, you guys. At least there’s a boost to cuteness along with it. Congratulations and all the best!

I’m looking forward to a little break at the holidays to get some more WoW time in, but for now I’m limiting myself a bit so that I have half a chance to get all of my knitting complete in time for Christmas. Stay tuned!  Happy holidays :)

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Happy Turkey Day!

Or Pilgrim’s Bounty… or Thanksgiving… no matter what you call it in Azeroth or beyond, hope you enjoy a thankful day with friends and family!

Amoothyst and her Plump Turkey

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I Pity the Fool.

There are some who do not believe in the legendary Night Elf Mohawks.

I pity the fools.

Legendary Night Elf Mohawks have come to Azeroth.

For whatever reason (I dunno, just go with it) Mr. T… erm, I mean, Night Elf Mohawks are stationed outside of every starter city starting today, November 16, for an undetermined amount of time. What goodies do the Night Elf Mohawks have for you? Grenades! And not just any grenade… a Mohawk Grenade.  They have 5 charges and their blast gives its targets a Night Elf Mohawk mask. Read all about it on the official site and get out there and start pitying the fools already!

My only complaint in this seemingly weird “event” is the disappointment of clicking on the Night Elf Mohawks and hoping to hear some sweet Mr. T voiceover.  Instead you get the generic random night elf greeting. At least the chat text box said “Well met, Mohawk Sister.”

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