Halfway through my month

[Lewis]

Well, I have 14 days left of my 1 month sub and am at ilvl 192, renown
39 (well, in a few minutes), and have "crafted" a ilvl 210 piece.
Trinkets and Rings are still in short supply and I had to do some PVP to
get a viable neck piece, but all told the progess is pretty good.

I have spent a LOT of anima on upgrading gear instead of unlocking
anything beyond the shroom network and the table (both level 1), doubt
full I will spend any anima on unlocking anything else. I still have
one piece of gear to move from 190 to 197, but that is only 300 anima
which I should have today. Should hit renown 40 tomorrow.

I am enjoying the heroics, they all have a mechanic or two you need to
know/read/learn so none of them are just tank and spank, though some of
them do go pretty fast.

Still hating Torghast which seems pointless and dull. either you are
completely OP, or you are squished immediately, there doesn't seem to be
a middle ground, and it is largely dependent on what powerups drop.

<shrug>

--
"Are you pondering what I'm pondering?"
"I think so, Brain, but me and Pippi Longstocking -- I mean, what
would the children look like?"

[Catriona R]

On Wed, 31 Mar 2021 14:37:11 -0000 (UTC), Lewis
<g.k...@kreme.dont-email.me> wrote:

>Well, I have 14 days left of my 1 month sub and am at ilvl 192, renown
>39 (well, in a few minutes), and have "crafted" a ilvl 210 piece.
>Trinkets and Rings are still in short supply and I had to do some PVP to
>get a viable neck piece, but all told the progess is pretty good.

Nice, that was a lot quicker gearing than I got lol, you're already
way ahead of me on Renown too as I got bored and stopped playing back
in the low 30s... was actually thinking of picking it up and
progressing a bit nearer 40 soon so I can be ready for 9.1, but, eh,
that's not even on the PTR yet so no rush!

>I have spent a LOT of anima on upgrading gear instead of unlocking
>anything beyond the shroom network and the table (both level 1), doubt
>full I will spend any anima on unlocking anything else. I still have
>one piece of gear to move from 190 to 197, but that is only 300 anima
>which I should have today. Should hit renown 40 tomorrow.

I should upgrade a few pieces for anima soon, still got some that
would be beneficial to take to 197, but the speed of getting it was
such a drag. I put basically all my anima into the upgrades, maxed my
transport network so I have the portal to Oribos (so I moved my hearth
to my sanctum, seeing as the innkeeper is right next to the Oribos
portal), the rest are lvl 2 and not moving particularly fast, none
interest me enough for the grind so I might go for gear next.

>I am enjoying the heroics, they all have a mechanic or two you need to
>know/read/learn so none of them are just tank and spank, though some of
>them do go pretty fast.

Ah cool, I did enjoy the one dungeon I did with my bf, might have a go
at some of the others whenever he next resubs, especially if we get
some better gear in 9.1, we're of a lvl where it's rather challenging
right now (to the point where awkward mechanics would wreck us),
another 10-20 ilvls would help there.

>Still hating Torghast which seems pointless and dull. either you are
>completely OP, or you are squished immediately, there doesn't seem to be
>a middle ground, and it is largely dependent on what powerups drop.
>
><shrug>

Yep! I actually enjoy it for gameplay, when I get good powers (and
when I'm NOT in Mortr'gor, that one just sucks, tiny platforms which
contain 2 elites plus a load of non-elites, cmon... I can do anywhere
else on lvl 8, while that place has me cursing the unfairness of
fights on lvl 5) but the rewards are just not worth the time spent, so
once I maxed my legendary I got bored.

Sort of sums up Shadowlands for me so far, "got bored". Partly me I
guess, but also partly the expansion, shame this is the 3rd expansion
out of 4 where I was bored waiting for the .1 or .2 patch to hit
though, at least it usually gets more interesting for me in later
patches.

Meanwhile, I resubbed to Elder Scrolls Online last week and am having
fun there, they have a double exp holiday event at present (actually 2
holidays in a row = 3 weeks of it), which I'd avoid during ordinary
levelling, as outlevelling my gear makes fighting anything somewhat
painful, but as I'm past that stage and just wanting champion points
for the recently changed max lvl talents system, it's great! One day
I'll run out of content there but that won't be anytime soon, I'm only
about halfway through the original game, never mind all the expansions
and DLC.

[Lewis]

In message <7q5n6ghcdp1dssfe8...@4ax.com> Catriona R <catriona...@totalise.co.uk> wrote:
> On Wed, 31 Mar 2021 14:37:11 -0000 (UTC), Lewis
> <g.k...@kreme.dont-email.me> wrote:

>>Well, I have 14 days left of my 1 month sub and am at ilvl 192, renown
>>39 (well, in a few minutes), and have "crafted" a ilvl 210 piece.
>>Trinkets and Rings are still in short supply and I had to do some PVP to
>>get a viable neck piece, but all told the progess is pretty good.

> Nice, that was a lot quicker gearing than I got lol, you're already
> way ahead of me on Renown too as I got bored and stopped playing back
> in the low 30s... was actually thinking of picking it up and
> progressing a bit nearer 40 soon so I can be ready for 9.1, but, eh,
> that's not even on the PTR yet so no rush!

>>I have spent a LOT of anima on upgrading gear instead of unlocking
>>anything beyond the shroom network and the table (both level 1), doubt
>>full I will spend any anima on unlocking anything else. I still have
>>one piece of gear to move from 190 to 197, but that is only 300 anima
>>which I should have today. Should hit renown 40 tomorrow.

> I should upgrade a few pieces for anima soon, still got some that
> would be beneficial to take to 197, but the speed of getting it was
> such a drag. I put basically all my anima into the upgrades, maxed my
> transport network so I have the portal to Oribos (so I moved my hearth
> to my sanctum, seeing as the innkeeper is right next to the Oribos
> portal), the rest are lvl 2 and not moving particularly fast, none
> interest me enough for the grind so I might go for gear next.

You've gotten a lot ore anima then I have. I have a level 1 mushroom
and a level 1 table and 3400 anima banked. If I get to 5000 before the
month is over (very unlikely unless I find another quest that rewards
1250 anima) I will upgrade the table.

> Ah cool, I did enjoy the one dungeon I did with my bf, might have a go
> at some of the others whenever he next resubs, especially if we get
> some better gear in 9.1, we're of a lvl where it's rather challenging
> right now (to the point where awkward mechanics would wreck us),
> another 10-20 ilvls would help there.

I cannot begin to imagine the tedium of trying to 2-man instances. They
are designed for 5 players.

>>Still hating Torghast which seems pointless and dull. either you are
>>completely OP, or you are squished immediately, there doesn't seem to be
>>a middle ground, and it is largely dependent on what powerups drop.
>>
>><shrug>

> Yep! I actually enjoy it for gameplay

It's very same-y looking, the traps are just annoying and not
interesting at all, and your effectiveness is entirely random based on
the powerups that drop. In short, it is everything I dislike about MMOs
in general.

Sadly, the entire end game at this point revolves around grinding the
tower over and over.

> when I get good powers (and when I'm NOT in Mortr'gor, that one just
> sucks, tiny platforms which contain 2 elites plus a load of
> non-elites, cmon... I can do anywhere else on lvl 8, while that place
> has me cursing the unfairness of fights on lvl 5) but the rewards are
> just not worth the time spent, so once I maxed my legendary I got
> bored.

I created a legendary to complete that achievements and quest line, but
have no interest in doing anything else right now. I assume some of this
will be less annoying in 9.1. Though I hear some people who like Torg,
mostly I hear lots of complaints.

> Meanwhile, I resubbed to Elder Scrolls Online last week and am having
> fun there, they have a double exp holiday event at present (actually 2
> holidays in a row = 3 weeks of it), which I'd avoid during ordinary
> levelling, as outlevelling my gear makes fighting anything somewhat
> painful, but as I'm past that stage and just wanting champion points
> for the recently changed max lvl talents system, it's great! One day
> I'll run out of content there but that won't be anytime soon, I'm only
> about halfway through the original game, never mind all the expansions
> and DLC.

I've been thinking about playing FFXIV.

--
'A man like that could inspire a handful of broken men to conquer a
country.' 'Fine. Just so long as he does it on his day off.'

[Catriona R]

On Tue, 6 Apr 2021 00:07:43 -0000 (UTC), Lewis
<g.k...@kreme.dont-email.me> wrote:

>In message <7q5n6ghcdp1dssfe8...@4ax.com> Catriona R <catriona...@totalise.co.uk> wrote:
>> I should upgrade a few pieces for anima soon, still got some that
>> would be beneficial to take to 197, but the speed of getting it was
>> such a drag. I put basically all my anima into the upgrades, maxed my
>> transport network so I have the portal to Oribos (so I moved my hearth
>> to my sanctum, seeing as the innkeeper is right next to the Oribos
>> portal), the rest are lvl 2 and not moving particularly fast, none
>> interest me enough for the grind so I might go for gear next.
>
>You've gotten a lot ore anima then I have. I have a level 1 mushroom
>and a level 1 table and 3400 anima banked. If I get to 5000 before the
>month is over (very unlikely unless I find another quest that rewards
>1250 anima) I will upgrade the table.

Yeah, I was farming anima quite a bit, at least, doing the 250 anima
WQs every time they were up, so over 4-5 months it added up a bit,
just now, everything is10k+ and when I get max 2k a week... eh, it
doesn't make for great motivation to carry onlol.

>> Ah cool, I did enjoy the one dungeon I did with my bf, might have a go
>> at some of the others whenever he next resubs, especially if we get
>> some better gear in 9.1, we're of a lvl where it's rather challenging
>> right now (to the point where awkward mechanics would wreck us),
>> another 10-20 ilvls would help there.
>
>I cannot begin to imagine the tedium of trying to 2-man instances. They
>are designed for 5 players.

I find it more fun, seeing as I don't have 4 friends to run with.
Challenging ourselves to defeat content designed for more players is
fun! Actually I really like soloing instances, justthat takes rather
more outgearing, and generally being a tank or pet class, my priest
main is too squishy until next expansion.

>>>Still hating Torghast which seems pointless and dull. either you are
>>>completely OP, or you are squished immediately, there doesn't seem to be
>>>a middle ground, and it is largely dependent on what powerups drop.
>>>
>>><shrug>
>
>> Yep! I actually enjoy it for gameplay
>
>It's very same-y looking, the traps are just annoying and not
>interesting at all, and your effectiveness is entirely random based on
>the powerups that drop. In short, it is everything I dislike about MMOs
>in general.

I agree about the sameeyness, had hoped for more variety and more
interesting puzzles to solve. It's fun to play with good powers for
me, but could be better with more detail.

>Sadly, the entire end game at this point revolves around grinding the
>tower over and over.

Does it? I found there was basically no reason to even go there which
was the disappointing bit, didn't take very long to upgrade my
legendary if I just did like 1-2 runs a week and then... zero point
going back. I'd be happy if there was a reason to go there more!

>> Meanwhile, I resubbed to Elder Scrolls Online last week and am having
>> fun there, they have a double exp holiday event at present (actually 2
>> holidays in a row = 3 weeks of it), which I'd avoid during ordinary
>> levelling, as outlevelling my gear makes fighting anything somewhat
>> painful, but as I'm past that stage and just wanting champion points
>> for the recently changed max lvl talents system, it's great! One day
>> I'll run out of content there but that won't be anytime soon, I'm only
>> about halfway through the original game, never mind all the expansions
>> and DLC.
>
>I've been thinking about playing FFXIV.

I've heard good things about that, but I already play more MMOs than I
can keep up with so I'm at my limit now... erm, I said that when it
was only WoW and GW2, then again when it wasWoW, GW2 and Classic
WoW... but ESO will be my last addition! Maybe... :-P

[Lewis]

In message <7apr6g1rh5dgkft6r...@4ax.com> Catriona R <catriona...@totalise.co.uk> wrote:
> On Tue, 6 Apr 2021 00:07:43 -0000 (UTC), Lewis
> <g.k...@kreme.dont-email.me> wrote:
>>Sadly, the entire end game at this point revolves around grinding the
>>tower over and over.

> Does it? I found there was basically no reason to even go there which
> was the disappointing bit, didn't take very long to upgrade my
> legendary if I just did like 1-2 runs a week and then... zero point
> going back. I'd be happy if there was a reason to go there more!

Well, nit sure it is WORTH going, but you sure get a lot of quests
sending you back over and over and over. And there's not a lot of other
quests. Rescue Jaina,. Rescue Thrall, Rescue anduin. Etc. Go power up
the cahined guy. on and one.

--
OK OK! Ready? OK. Dynamics with tension, fun and laughter for all.
Honky Rock. A one, two, a one, two, three, four.

[Catriona R]

On Wed, 7 Apr 2021 20:49:04 -0000 (UTC), Lewis

<g.k...@kreme.dont-email.me> wrote:

>In message <7apr6g1rh5dgkft6r...@4ax.com> Catriona R <catriona...@totalise.co.uk> wrote:
>> On Tue, 6 Apr 2021 00:07:43 -0000 (UTC), Lewis
>> <g.k...@kreme.dont-email.me> wrote:
>>>Sadly, the entire end game at this point revolves around grinding the
>>>tower over and over.
>
>> Does it? I found there was basically no reason to even go there which
>> was the disappointing bit, didn't take very long to upgrade my
>> legendary if I just did like 1-2 runs a week and then... zero point
>> going back. I'd be happy if there was a reason to go there more!
>
>Well, nit sure it is WORTH going, but you sure get a lot of quests
>sending you back over and over and over. And there's not a lot of other
>quests. Rescue Jaina,. Rescue Thrall, Rescue anduin. Etc. Go power up
>the cahined guy. on and one.

Ah, fair point! I finished those ages ago so have been wishing I had
some reason to go back, if they'd made it like Island expeditions,
with tons of fun collectables, I'd spend so much time in there, I had
really hoped that's what Twisting Corridors would be, especially if
there were more puzzles to solve and more variety in general, could've
been a fantastic feature for my solo-exploration-collecting playstyle
(maybe not so much for you :-)).

[Catriona R]

On Wed, 07 Apr 2021 18:10:42 +0100, Catriona R
<catriona...@totalise.co.uk> wrote:

>On Tue, 6 Apr 2021 00:07:43 -0000 (UTC), Lewis
><g.k...@kreme.dont-email.me> wrote:
>
>>In message <7q5n6ghcdp1dssfe8...@4ax.com> Catriona R <catriona...@totalise.co.uk> wrote:
>>> I should upgrade a few pieces for anima soon, still got some that
>>> would be beneficial to take to 197, but the speed of getting it was
>>> such a drag. I put basically all my anima into the upgrades, maxed my
>>> transport network so I have the portal to Oribos (so I moved my hearth
>>> to my sanctum, seeing as the innkeeper is right next to the Oribos
>>> portal), the rest are lvl 2 and not moving particularly fast, none
>>> interest me enough for the grind so I might go for gear next.
>>
>>You've gotten a lot ore anima then I have. I have a level 1 mushroom
>>and a level 1 table and 3400 anima banked. If I get to 5000 before the
>>month is over (very unlikely unless I find another quest that rewards
>>1250 anima) I will upgrade the table.
>
>Yeah, I was farming anima quite a bit, at least, doing the 250 anima
>WQs every time they were up, so over 4-5 months it added up a bit,
>just now, everything is10k+ and when I get max 2k a week... eh, it
>doesn't make for great motivation to carry onlol.

Wow, Blizz finally did something about anima, not a big buff but
anything helps...
https://www.bluetracker.gg/wow/topic/us-en/935772-anima-rewards-increased/

"With hotfixes that have just gone live in all regions,

Three new Achievements have been added for upgrading all four of
your Covenant Sanctum features to tiers 1, 2, and 3.
Anima rewards now scale upward when you earn each new Achievement
for unlocking a tier on all four of the features in your Covenant
Sanctum.

Now, when you upgrade all of your Covenant features (the Adventures
system, transportation network, Anima conductor, and Queen’s
Conservatory/Ember Court/Path of Ascension/Abominable Stitching) to
tier 1, you’ll receive an Achievement and see all uncommon and rare
Anima rewards increase by 1 Anima item. This means that after you hit
tier 1 on all four structures, a World Quest the previously rewarded 4
Anima items worth 35 Anima each (for a total of 140 Anima) will now
reward 5 items for a total of 175 Anima. When you upgrade all four
Covenant features to tier 2, that same World Quest will reward a total
of 210 Anima, and with the tier 3 Achievement, it will reward 7 Anima
items, for a total of 245 Anima."


So, I've now discovered that I'd actually only upgraded 3 out of 4 to
lvl 2 :-P Only about 1.2k anima short of number 4 but with how much
I'm not playing right now, that'll take a month or so... still, even
the lvl 1 buff is a help, was a load of 4 and 5 item WQs up on the map
when I logged in to check just now.

My general rule is if I'm in a mood to do them I'll do all 4s that
aren't in really silly-to-reach spots, and any 3s that are easy to
reach, 1s and 2s are only worth it if they're incredibly easy. Now 5s
are in the mix, that's more worthwhile, although I do still have to
actually be in the mood to even log in, and I've got rather into
ESO/Classic mode at present so yeah... tonight was the first time I
did anything in 2-3 weeks, and that was just because there were two
callings in the same zone, which both rewarded a renown lvl, so it was
a relatively easy catchup (plus one WQ actually had an item upgrade on
it)!

[Lewis]

Well, that is something, but two of the features seem pretty useless to
me. One lets be get pogs that let me buy pets and mounts and
appearances, and the other seems to give me a Pandamania style from I
can plant and tend and farm. Sounds almost as dull as fishing.

> Now, when you upgrade all of your Covenant features (the Adventures
> system, transportation network, Anima conductor, and Queen’s
> Conservatory/Ember Court/Path of Ascension/Abominable Stitching) to
> tier 1, you’ll receive an Achievement and see all uncommon and rare
> Anima rewards increase by 1 Anima item. This means that after you hit
> tier 1 on all four structures, a World Quest the previously rewarded 4
> Anima items worth 35 Anima each (for a total of 140 Anima) will now
> reward 5 items for a total of 175 Anima. When you upgrade all four
> Covenant features to tier 2, that same World Quest will reward a total
> of 210 Anima, and with the tier 3 Achievement, it will reward 7 Anima
> items, for a total of 245 Anima."

that increases the majority of WQs from 70 to 105, which is a lot more
impressive. But still suuuuuper weak.

The only reason I was able to upgrade my table to level 2 was 1250 anima
from the LFR final boss. Now I have about 1000 because killing him again
gave me 750.

> So, I've now discovered that I'd actually only upgraded 3 out of 4 to
> lvl 2 :-P Only about 1.2k anima short of number 4 but with how much
> I'm not playing right now, that'll take a month or so... still, even
> the lvl 1 buff is a help, was a load of 4 and 5 item WQs up on the map
> when I logged in to check just now.

Interesting. I see 11 anima WQs up right now, one of them is 4 tokens,
the rest are 2 or 3. No, wait, 12, 2 of which have 4 tokens. Perhaps you
are already seeing the effect of getting the bonus?

4 are 1 or 2 tokens, the rest are three.

Sub expires on Thursday.


--
'It's vital to remember who you really are. It's very important. It
isn't a good idea to rely on other people or things to do it for
you, you see. They always get it wrong.' --Sourcery

[Catriona R]

On Tue, 13 Apr 2021 06:15:27 -0000 (UTC), Lewis
<g.k...@kreme.dont-email.me> wrote:

>In message <f4s97g99r4gt48a3v...@4ax.com> Catriona R <catriona...@totalise.co.uk> wrote:
>> Wow, Blizz finally did something about anima, not a big buff but
>> anything helps...
>> https://www.bluetracker.gg/wow/topic/us-en/935772-anima-rewards-increased/
>
>> "With hotfixes that have just gone live in all regions,
>
>> Three new Achievements have been added for upgrading all four of
>> your Covenant Sanctum features to tiers 1, 2, and 3.
>> Anima rewards now scale upward when you earn each new Achievement
>> for unlocking a tier on all four of the features in your Covenant
>> Sanctum.
>
>Well, that is something, but two of the features seem pretty useless to
>me. One lets be get pogs that let me buy pets and mounts and
>appearances, and the other seems to give me a Pandamania style from I
>can plant and tend and farm. Sounds almost as dull as fishing.

I'd rather have the farm than my covenant's special feature! Control a
soulbind character to do various difficult bossfights... so vehicle
fights where my own gear and abilities can't help. Tried and failed
the first one a few times, never went back...

>> So, I've now discovered that I'd actually only upgraded 3 out of 4 to
>> lvl 2 :-P Only about 1.2k anima short of number 4 but with how much
>> I'm not playing right now, that'll take a month or so... still, even
>> the lvl 1 buff is a help, was a load of 4 and 5 item WQs up on the map
>> when I logged in to check just now.
>
>Interesting. I see 11 anima WQs up right now, one of them is 4 tokens,
>the rest are 2 or 3. No, wait, 12, 2 of which have 4 tokens. Perhaps you
>are already seeing the effect of getting the bonus?
>
>4 are 1 or 2 tokens, the rest are three.
>
>Sub expires on Thursday.

Yep, this was after the hotfix that I looked, was a noticeable
increase in 4 token WQs plus a couple of 5s, so at least it works,
just not that big an upgrade until I get another lvl of it.

[Peter T.]

Den 31-03-2021 kl. 16:37 skrev Lewis:
> Well, I have 14 days left of my 1 month sub and am at ilvl 192, renown
> 39 (well, in a few minutes), and have "crafted" a ilvl 210 piece.

Are the prices on the craftable items still through the roof?

I haven't played since january so I'm not updated. I asked Blizzard to
suspend my sub as I stopped playing 2 weeks after paying for another 6
months. :)

--
Peter T.

[Lewis]

In message <s56jfq$1pmb$1...@gioia.aioe.org> Peter T. <pin...@hotmail.moc> wrote:
> Den 31-03-2021 kl. 16:37 skrev Lewis:
>> Well, I have 14 days left of my 1 month sub and am at ilvl 192, renown
>> 39 (well, in a few minutes), and have "crafted" a ilvl 210 piece.

> Are the prices on the craftable items still through the roof?

Um... depends on your definition, I suppose. In playing pretty casually
for a month, I netted an increase of 122,000 gold.

I did dump all the cloth leather and ore I got in the Auction house, but
that's the only thing I did that specifically generated cash, and I
mostly did that to clear bag space.

--
Are you allowed to impeach a president for gross incompetence?
---Donald J Trump

[Catriona R]

About as slow as I expected, with my current playtime, but I unlocked
it tonight :-) WQ rewards ranging from 3-6 tokens feels a lot less
annoying, I even upgraded a piece of gear now it feels less of a chore
to get it!

Also nice to see it buffed the mission table tokens too, those are
less effort than WQs to do... although they'd be even better if the
app didn't keep crashing, I prefer sending them from my phone but last
update I guess made it use too much memory as it crashes to desktop
before I can get a mission sent, sigh. Ok, so my phone is old, but
it's not THAT old... it's newer than my pc anyway, so a pity they
don't extend the making WoW work well on old pcs to the app working
well on old phones.