Let the (Blizzcon) games begin

We found three extra tickets and we’re watching the opening ceremonies

Greetings from Blizzcon

Well, we finally made it.  We’re on scene at Blizzcon and looking forward to heading in first thing in the morning.  I have a feeling the there won’t be anything as exciting as the WotLK announcement last time, but we could get lucky

More soon!

The brick wall at level 71

So Pwnshop is up to level 71.  Blizzard has said they’re making adjustments in the 60-70 leveling speed and it definitely shows.  Pwnshop went from level 55-70 in day 22 hours played, by the end averaging about 3 hours a level.  The only problem is, then you hit the brick wall.  Getting from 70 to 71 took 9.5 hours of /played time, so it’s a pretty sudden transition.  I’m sure it’s all still being adjusted, but it sure feels weird to have your leveling time triple in just one level.

Pwnshop’s off to Northrend!

Well I finally did it. Pwnshop hit level 68 on the Beta server last weekend and I’ve been off playing in Northrend ever since.  In an earlier post I mentioned I bought a new 1TB external drive so I could make some more interesting movies for everyone, so I’ve just been letting the recordings run while I play.  I finished up this compilation and got it uploaded to YouTube late last night, and I’m super excited to share it with everyone.  As usual, don’t forget to watch it in high quality mode (the link right below the view count when you click through to YouTube).

Gigantic New Patch

Earlier today when I set my son up to play WotLK there was no new patch, but when I logged in tonight to test a new 1TB external drive I bought to make some additional movies, I was greeted by an enormous 668MB patch (build 8820).  No official patch notes yet, but I’ll keep you posted.

Making Progress

I was able to get some decent play time in this weekend and ended up at level 64-1/2.  Only 3-1/2 more levels and I’m into the new content…  Unfortunately this is going to be the week from hell at work, so I’m not convinced it will be the week I hit 68.  We’ll just have to see…

In the process of gaining two more levels I shed some old gear as well, but I’ll have to update you all on that next time…

One other random patch feature

The speed at which quest text is written to the screen has been dramatically increased as of the last patch (8770).  This is a welcome little tweak to the game since I always used to have “instant quest text” turned on.  The new speed is slow enough that you notice the effect, but slow enough that you’re not waiting around impatiently for the quest text to appear.

Level 62 and Counting

In an earlier post I mentioned I was a little worried about just how far into Outland the starting gear for the Death Knight would last before being replaced.  I’m happy to report that after questing through Hellfire Penensula and moving on to Zangarmarsh (now at level 62) I’ve only replaced one piece of gear.  There were plenty of other “close calls” that might have resulted in ever-so-slightly better stats, but I’d prefer to keep the “Death Knight Look” going just a little bit longer.  As I head out into Zangarmarsh I’ll keep you all updated as usual on any gear changes that head my way, but for now here’s the one change:

Keleseth’s Signet Ring was replaced by Amaan’s Signet for a gain of one hit rating.

Another day, another patch

I haven’t had any decent play time at all this week, so I jumped up early this morning to get started on some weekend fun, and was greeted by a 490MB patch.  There are no official patch notes updates yet, but a thread has started on the Beta Forums to track all of the changes.  The most exciting thing appears to be that the dedicated PvP zone Wintergrasp is now open, and includes some playable siege weapons.  Since I’m concentrating mostly on the Death Knight class (and am still stuck at level 62 after nearly a week with no play time) it will be a little while until I hit these new zones, but we’ll get there!

Death Knight Ghoul Gameplay Gone Wrong

One of the most interesting aspects of the new Death Knight class is the ability to raise dead humanoids to fight by your side.  An even cooler feature is that if you raise the corpse of a friendly player that has died, that player can control the Ghoul as if it were their own character.  I tried this out with my son today (also in the beta) but it turned out comically and horribly wrong as the first ability button he hit was his last…

As usual you can watch a higher quality version if you click through to YouTube and hit the appropriate link below the video.