Apologies and an update

I know it’s been a while since I made a post.
I blame this thing called ‘Real Life’. It’s this new MMO that’s been kicking my ass lately, and has been driving me insane, to boot. I’ve also been working rather hard on some stuff for role-play on a MUSH I’m at.

Anyway, I rolled a Paladin a while ago named Kheymish. Once again, Armory is down, so I can’t link to him there. Alas and alack. Blood Elf Paladin, whom I affectionately call my ‘gay elf’. Because, let’s face it. He’s an elf. One of his flirts is ‘Don’t you wish your girlfriend was hot like me?’. He pirouettes when he jumps. He’s a gay elf. Like a gay fish, only no fish sticks.

I’ve never played a Pally before, so I’m having a hard time learning, but I made it to 40 last night, and got my ‘Death Unicorn’ and my Pink Chocobo Hawkstrider. Because I love the birds more than the horses, man, seriously, though I’m thinking of hitting up Undercity rep for skeletal horses instead of the pally steeds.

On the note of Paladins, I found a nice add-on for them that I want to let everyone else know about:
•Sealbar – It creates a bar, not unlike zhunter does, only this action bar floats the Paladin’s seals, freeing up space on the actual action bars for other things.

Another add-on I’ve stuck in my listings is:
•Alice’s Anti-Duel – It auto-cancels any duel not from someone in your group or guild. This is VERY helpful for places like Goldshire. Or when playing as my paladin, any place that is around higher level players.

Why do I dislike dueling? I just do. It gets in the way of (my) having fun, and a lot of times if you decline someone once they go around hating you for not fighting them even if you aren’t there for fighting. Before you say it, no, /DND doesn’t work. Believe me, if it did, I’d be using that. It only seems to work for people pestering me to DPS for them in PUGs at instances. This has been happening since I hit 35 on my paladin. People in the Eastern Kingdoms will /tell me to come help them in SM when I’m running around in Dustwallow (in Kalimdor) or, like today, /tell me when I’m hitting Bloodscale Pirates in Stranglethorn Vale (EK) to come DPS for them in Razorfen Downs (Kalimdor). This makes no real sense to me. If I want to run an instance, I’ll just use the LFG option, since that is what it’s there for.

I’ve found that posting auctions on Fridays gets me more attention. Possibly because these are the days most people are playing because of school, work, etc. So on my Alliance side (since I have been concentrating on Horde Side for a while) I do a couple of dailies, then mine a little ore, and send that to the AH on Friday, relist it on Sunday if it doesn’t sell, and then pick it all back up again to sell again on Friday the next week.

A Cow That Skins And Makes Leather

Audio Book of the moment: Ella Enchanted.

Hit 70 on Maggyn a few days ago. Since Saturdays are my designated NO COMPUTER days, this can be a bit of a slow process, and, admittedly, I haven't blogged much in a while, mostly because June is always a busy month, what with THREE BIRTHDAYS in a row in the house in a single month, mine coming in the middle.

Anyway, since the fire festival is going on I've found hitting fires to be very profitable. And with the next patch looming, I've been collecting Titanium whenever I can find it. Ore mostly, since that's going to become prospectable. Which is where a hint comes in for you folks out there who might be reading this-- GET ORE NOW, any way you can, though mining it yourself is most profitable. When the next patch hits there are going to be several changes that will make people want to become miners, and most miners just smelt their way to levels instead of mining levels. Because they are lazy. Because people are always lazy when they can be.

Titanium Ore, as I've said, is going to be made prospectable, and will carry more blue gems than green. So people are going to want to prospect the hell out of titanium. (Myself included, but I have the patience of a Mouse God when it comes to farming things on my own.) Which means they're going to buy as much titanium as they can. Where's this going to leave Saronite? Well, it's still going to be needed for levelling Mining and mining-related professions, as well as needed for things that sell well that can be made from it, so don't forget to collect saronite as well.

Now, for Leatherworking-- I've FINALLY gotten Maggyn's skills up enough that she can use all this Borean Leather she's been getting while I farm for chiton off Nerubians outside Honor Hold. I've found though that making Borean Armor Kits is much more profitable than a lot of the armor I can make at this time-- People apparently like adding armor to their gear by padding it or something. Weirdos. I've also been working rather hard on trying to turn her into a PROPER hunter but I'm admittedly not a raider, and my guild is still small. So I'm buying most of my gear off the AH for now, though blessed be, I've found some things from quest rewards to be delicious when applied to her. I'll never be a l337 hunter, but I don't expect to be, I just want her to be on par with Shannae and able to withstand Northrend!

Her current pet is a bear. (Black bear tamed in Doorf lands because it's the bear skin I like most after the polar bear skins.) He's not exactly a massive tank, but he does what I need him to-- Kill spider and bug people I can skin while I spend half the time trying to make money on her and the other half doing quests to level.

ATM I'm in debt to a Guild mate for 16 stacks worth of adamantite shells, which are the strongest thing I can afford for now. (Cows begin with guns. I LOVE Cows with guns.) I'm going to repay him with 16 stacks of Borean Armor Kits, which sell for more than the bullets do. (1 stack of 1000 Adamantite shells sells for 13g, while one stack og 10 armor kits sells for 20g.)Slow going though it is, it's still less work than, say... Leveling up a mining skill to get the ore myself. Especially if I farm Nerubians for the scraps/leather. You get 1 - 3 scraps from nerubians and the occasional chiton and arctic fur can sell for yes on the AH as well. So it's profitable either way I go at it. One arctic fur alone is 49g.

At the moment, Leatherworking is at: 387/450 while skinning is at: 444/450. Skinning, admittedly, climbs faster and easier than leatherworking but leatherworking is getting there. And an added bonus of all the greens I get (I AM the Green Magnet, after all) gives me money from the AH sales of things I can't use.

Addons that have updated since my last post:
• Fishing Buddy
• Ackis Recipe List

Current Auctions:
Alliance - 244
Horde - 10
Current Gold:
Alliance - 635
Horde - 128

Confidence isn't Really Everything

So, as a side note to everything, even though Saturdays are my heaviest days of sales on the AH... They are also my desiganted day of Do Not Log On To Computer. This was a little rule set by me months ago that I've finally hunkered down on: I will take one day off from the week to spend off the computer, reading, sitting outside in the sunlight, or talking to the house people for conversational stuff, so I will not become just some abnormal little freak glued to a computer.

Anyway, this recent week, I bought a pet for Shannae. Vanity pet. Because between it and the Battle-Bot, I'm only one pet away from my eventual goal of getting the Fawn's Salt Lick. Was this a stupid thing to do when I'm saving up for that Bike? I suppose so. But every once in a while I get a little closer to a goal I've been working on like mad, and I get impatient, you know? And that Little Deer pet is one of them. So maybe I made a newbie mistake, but that's okay. I'll work on bouncing back.

Anyway, some useful links for today involve the following:

• 21 tips in 21 days - JMTC is making a bunch of posts that give tips for making gold. Some of them I'm trying myself.
• Bank Alt Math - Speaking of JMTC here's another one from them about the proper care and feeding of a bank alt.
• Ding 80's Levelling Guide - Completely free guide to levelling to 80 in a week or less. For those of you in need of help.

No other updates so far with earning money. For a test of something new, I've set all my auctions to cut price by 30.5%. If they sell, I'll keep doing it. Because frankly, all this stuff only takes me a few hours to make and crank out and I can keep my stock of things to sell going nigh infinitely, you know? I'll try it for a week, and then try something else.

Current Gold: 325A | 71H
Current Auctions: 346A | NAH
Current goal: Get Maggyn to Lv. 68

Well, it's June now. Thanks to IRL Bling aquirement (birthday money) I'm paid up till November, which means I can continue to try and make Gold for my bike in the AH. Unfortunately, the Glyphs and Gems market seems to be down. Which is horrendous for me, since that's how I make my money right now. I think I might have to resort to simple herbalism and ore sales if this keeps up.

Anyway, this week's goal is to get my Cow up to level 68 for Northrend fun. I want the leather there because there is good things to be said about the leatherworking there. Seriously good things. As in, parts sell on the AH wonderfully, and several things you can skin come with leather needed for things like THE BIKE. So, here I sit, grinding and questing away to level 68. Audiobook time.

Today's Audiobook is All-Of-A-Kind Family. Very interesting, amusing book, even if it's a juvenile fiction book.

ATM I'm Lv. 66, and have 152969/527000 to go. Long way off, sure, but, I think I can do it if I keep going. It's not that hard to get out of Outland, and by goodness I want to do that soon because the place is boring.

Anyway, the following Add-ons have updated recently:
• Lil' Sparky's Workshop
• Ackis Recipe List
• Fishing Buddy

Still looking for good add-ons to use but for now that's what's updated since my last post.

Going Down To Cow Town...

Well, folks, it's Wednesday, and I know its been a while since I wrote in here. I should say now I don't plan to be anything 'regular' at all here. Not to mention it's raining outside (Oh my gawd, a WoW person who actually looks at the real world? Blasphemy!) and that's making me a cranky mouse.

I'm currently taking a break from my Ore and fish farming on Shannae to work on trying to level another alt of mine, a Horde-side Hunter named Maggyn. Tauren, Level 64 ATM. Leather/Skinning with Dragonscale Leatherworking as her main profession. Yes, I prefer to go the old skool way of saying it. Maggyn is part of a guild recently started by a friend of mine for the purpose of entertainment and RP. I'm, once again, highest level character in the guild. I'm also the one trying to get us more money for the guild.

Anyway, since I'm not paying much attention to my alliance alts except to check auction returns, resell things, and sometimes make more jewelry to stick up on weekends, I thought I'd list a few more interesting links I've found recently.

• Kungan in Orgrimmar - This blog post is from a fellow who recently went into Orgrimmar, stood around, and made 1000+g (gold) just standing around doing nothing. Now that takes balls, man. Or a lot of luck. I know I'd never pull it off.
• Bad Trade Recovery - How to recovery from a bad trade. Very good advice, and something everyone should read about.
• The Top Ten Gold Maker Types - Amusing read. Which one are you? I'm something a mix of 2, 3, and 7. Sometimes a 1.
• Just My 2 C - Yeah, another blog with tips on gold gathering. Well, let's face it, a lot of my friends who play the game are broke, and I'm still trying to get money for myself, so, there's going to be a lot of links on that subject.

Now, back to my cow. My Tauren (Armory is down, so no link to her for now.) is currently going it solo with a Beast/Marks spec that's halfassed since I can't really make full advantage of it till I'm Level 80. I picked up a bear (black bear for skin ref) for soloing and as a change from my usual Ravager. GrumpyBug is getting a nice vacation while Mainebar and I work on levelling the big hairy bastich up for solo fun.

As I said, she's Leather/Skinning. I haven't really done much to raise her recipe count because, well, at the moment the most money I've had on her in several months is 4g. We are working on fixing this, of course, don't you worry. I'm just taking a long time because it's slow as ass.

Anyway, I've been noticing that the closer it gets to a new month, the more certain things start to sell like mad on the AH. Namely, Rugged Armor Kits, Thorium Widgets, and the various other things that can be given for rep at the Darkmoon Faire. This is a hint, folks; if you can make things that the Faire takes in for rep, you can sell them too. (Except for Darkmoon Cards, no one ever wants those for some reason.)

Here is a list of the various things you can turn in at the Faire that also net you money on the AH. It also explains WHY these things are so sought after, and what you get yourself for turning them in. (WoWWiki saves a lot of time if you just read it.)

That's about all I have for now. Thanks again to anyone who reads this, and y'all are welcome to anyone who's getting hints and tips from this.

Going Postal; More economy links.

So, thanks to a friend making a suggestion, I have a new add-on to post about today.

Postal.

This add-on is much like Mailget, except that there are more options to be had, including an address book option to allow you a drop down menu from which to select names to add to the send mail address slot, as well as documenting everything you get from an auction return. It also allows for selective mail opening, meaning you can select which letters you want to open and which you don't. As a bonus, auto blocks trades from others while you're at the mailbox.

Mind you, I've got trades blocked normally anyway and I've yet to find an add-on that allows for selective trade blocking (i.e. for those only on your friendslist) but once I do, you can bet it'll be linked to here.

Also, another helpful link for those like me who want to make gold because they have addictions in game or goals to satisfy. (I want that darn bike, I don't care if it's a frivolous expenditure, it's a goal I want.) Warcraft Econ.net. I've been looking it over and it does offer some good pointers and insights. It's sister-site, Warcraft Econ.com allows one to look at graphs detailing what things have sold for over a period of time on the AH based on your server and the item.

Also, a recent entry on WoW.com (Time is Money: Saronite) talks about farming for saronite in Sholozar Basin. I'd like to show you all a picture of my mini-map for Sholozar Basin, showing all the ore nodes there. (Thank you, Gatherer, for allowing me to tract this!)

http://tinyurl.com/sholozar

The Green Dots are Saronite. The White are Titanium. The yellow are locations for Loque'Nahak, who is my hunter alt's current White Whale of a pet. I'm sticking this in as a link because the original image is way too big to simply post here. As you can see, there's a reason many people call Sholozar Basin 'Saronite Basin' as a nickname. With that many nodes, it can be amusing to hear the talk on the general channel sometimes, since on my server there tend to be a lot of people arguing about who got to a node first. (We have one fellow who's infamous for trying to claim all nodes in the basin are his and he once spent a day reporting everyone in the basin, myself included, for taking them.)

Now, as an example, I can go to Sholozar, spend a few good hours mining things, and make about 100, 200 bars of Saronite, as well as about five or six of Titanium, or, if I'm extra lucky, one of Titansteel. On top of this are the numerous gems I can get from prospecting, and on top of that the numerous stones I can cut or make into jewelry, which I can then either sell on the AH, or, for the jewelry items, give to my guildmate for a Disenchant for free, and then sell the mats from the disenchating. (We have a deal; she disenchants for free c'os she's a friend, and any dream shards that come up she gets to keep c'os I'm a friend.)

'But Mouse, this is boring!' you say. This would be why I usually pop in an audiobook, or turn on the TV and watch TV shows in the background. (Law and order: SVU is my current favorite.) I listen as I circle the basin and collect. I do the same thing for when I'm 'mining fish' (fishing for fish to sell on the AH is also profitable.) except that I do it with the sound on my WoW turned on so I can listen for the bobber. (Vista may be painful for many reasons but I do like that the sound mixer allows you to select what programs are muted and what aren't.) I can easily collect ore, fish, what have you this way and keep entertained.

Does this work for everybody? Maybe, maybe not. Works for me. It's a suggestion you can use to try and make your time less boring as well.

Weekends, by the way, as said in Greedy Goblin, are always a very good time to post auctions. For some reason, on weekends, everyone and their brother is out buying in force. Probably because weekends are when those pore schmucks with jobs or school (be it summer or regular) are out for two days of fun and sun, and instead are spending it on Raiding and Lewt. Sales go up fast from Friday to Sunday, but seem to peter out on Sunday Nights, possibly because peoplea re going back to bed at a sane time.

Current Auctions: 326
Current Gold: 2044

Sent 200g to my main to make up 400g on Shannae to buy the Moonsaber from the tournament grounds. Because I'm that sadly addicted to mounts. Been eying a mechanopeep in the AH but will be good.

Another Tuesday, Another Matinence Day.

Imagine my surprise when Matinence ended exactly when they said it would, and the patch was amazingly painless to get for once. Wow! WoW indeed, man.

Of course, patches mean that no matter how small the hot fix, that some of my add-ons are going to stop working right, which of course means, once more, time to update things. Wheeeee.

Of course, with updated add-ons comes more wonderful things to download and things to update and investigate. And not every add-on will be updated right away, either. Which ones have updated so far?

* Ackis Recipe List
* Auctioneer

Which is pretty good though I do wish others would update. I'm getting tired of continuously having to set my game to load outdated add-ons whenever the patches come.

In other news, WoWInsider is now WoW.com . Spiffy, I suppose, though I always kinda liked the old layout better. Still, WoW.com looks like it will have spiff in and out of it, so. Eh.

Current Auctions: 300
Current Gold: 2249

No items tempting me today what with articles to read and more money to get.
Oh, wait... Swift Moonsaber, from Argent Tournament... Hmmm. *whap*

Links, Add-Ons, Bears, Oh My.

Okay, so, today's post is a list of links and add-ons I use and find useful. Like I said in my last post I am nowhere near the ideal of 'OMG Gamer extreme' so please don't go all 'you suck' on me for someone who's still just casual player style, and who isn't trying to aspire to anything great.

First off, the links:

Useful Stuff --
WoWhead, Thottbot, Allakhazam - Three generally good sites to go to for in-game data on items, mobs, quests, etc. These are also linked at the side of my blog, hence why no link to them here.
Curse Gaming - A good site to get add-ons. VERY useful. Also has add-ons for other games, but, really, I think paying attention to the WoW side is better.
Greedy Goblin - A good guide for everyone who wants to make a lot of gold for whatever reason. ** I DO NOT ADVOCATE GOLD FARMING TO SELL GOLD FOR $$. This is a link suggested for people like me, who are obsessed with getting a super-expensive item like the Mammoth mounts or the Chopper Bike.**

Community Stuff --
WoW Insider - Articles, guides, updates, news, and all manner of fu for WoW.
Warcraft Home - The first and formost place for Warcraft news. Blizzard, woo.
WoW Wiki - A wikipedia of WoW. Quest info, stats, yadda.

Now, down to add-ons that I use. I'll include links where I can, and otherwise you can usually find them on Curse Gaming, linked above.

Feedmachine - For hunters. Pops a button with food of choice every time your pet needs to be fed for maximum happiness near your cursor or the middle of the screen. Makes it easier to keep your pet fed.
ZHunter - A good add-on that allows the hunter to have separate action bars for the various things like tracking, traps, pet skills (feed, tame, dismiss, feign death, etc.). I also use the tracking bar for other classes to keep track of the track minerals or herbs or fish or etc. skills.
Mailget - a MUST for anyone who has Auction returns in the number of many. This allows you to get all your mail in one button click, automating the returning of items to you and the claiming of AH money. VERY useful.
Fishing Buddy - Makes Fishing easier by allowing you to easy-cast with just two right clicks of the mouse, keeps a list of all the fish you find in a water area, and also automatically lets you switch to track fish if you have the skill.
Friendshare - Allows you to sync friend lists for all your alts on a server as long as they're same faction. Very useful for people who have altchar-itis like I do who want to keep the same friends list on all chars.
Auctioneer - Allows one to post auctions in batches, handle the Auction house with less problems, and is generally an all around time saver. I love this add-on.
Gatherer - The Gather-Skill User's lover. Seriously, I don't know what I'd do with this. It marks down where others have gathered things in your guild, marks where you have gathered things, and shows you a list of locations for find things, be it herbs, ore, or treasure chests.
Ackis Recipe List - This Add-on allows you to keep track of the recipes you need for your various professions, from cooking, to jeweling (etc), to First Aid. Very useful when you're trying to complete your list of recipes for your profession but don't know what you need.
Selljunk - Gives you a button on all vendor panels allowing you to sell junk items all at once, and also tells you how much money you made from doing it. Good way to keep track of your income from vending.
LilSparky's Workshop - This addon is one of the best of them all. It works with Auctioneer, and when you open a profession window, will list the prices that various crafted items you can make will sell for on the AH. Can be very good for deciding what you're going to make in bulk for listing to try and get money.

This is the list of what I'm using now. I'm always on the lookout for new add-ons to help me out though, so if you have any suggestions, feel free to make them. Now on to the first record post of the blog.

Current AH Listings: 341
Current Gold: 1710

Thing I wanted to buy but didn't: Dun Morough Cub. Yes, I managed to conquer my obsession with Vanity pets for 1 day!

Opening Thoughts

Well, I don't really know where to start with this kind of thing, so here's hoping I do well.

My name is Typomouse, and I'm a WoW addict. I've been playing since January '05, which is more than 4 years now. And let me tell you, I'm still learning how to play the game properly.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure I'll never be as popular a blogger in the WoW scene as some bloggers are, but I'm going to try and give as accurate an account as I can of what I do, how I do things, and see if that gives people help any. So, let's get down to business.

For starters, these are my characters:
Shannae - Lv. 80 Hunter, Earthen Ring, GUILD: Sock Drawer Pirates
Narasumas - Lv. 65 Death Knight, Earthen Ring, GUILD: Sock Drawer Pirates

These are the two main ones I will be covering for now. Yes, I've got many others. (Afflicted by Alt-charitis.) But for now, let's start with two.

Shannae, as you can see, is Lv. 80. I don't PuG, so I don't Raid or Dungeon much, I'm what you would call a semi-casual player. I don't PVP much, either. Yes, my gear sucks, yes, I'm always trying to find new ways to outfit myself better. Shannae is my main.

Narasumas is the alt I'm working on at the moment, trying to raise her to Lv. 80, and use her for business purposes. Y'know, to earn money to fund my main. And my addiction to getting mounts and pets. Which, yes, I admit I have. Like I said, I'm a casual player who's obsessed with a few things.

That's a good run down on me and my characters, good enough for a first post I suppose. Next one I'll work on tossing up some links to some websites with good infor for WoW, suggest some of the addons I use that I find useful, and make a mark of what my current project is.