nothing like waiting

until the last minute. From Monday evening:

morning brew achievement

Despite earlier protestations to the contrary, I logged on to Wara this morning while I finished my morning Diet Coke. In my mailbox was the last new brew of the year:

still alive

Wow. I haven't written in...what? A month? Fail.

I'm still playing WoW, but far less obsessively than I did a year ago. Or six months ago, for that matter. I no longer feel that burning need to log in before work and run a few dailies, so that the evening is free for more "serious" adventuring. I'm in a great guild, full of people who are fun to hang out with, but my /afk schedule has been so hectic that I haven't been able to raid on a regular basis and am feeling rather left out. And I'm seriously tired of just doing dailies every day, for my entire play session, so Wara just doesn't get played.

I'm still leveling alts, and enjoying being able to pop in for an hour or so and make progress. My death knight is at 80 and is just sitting, for many of the reasons mentioned above. The former poxic warlock has been getting most of my time these days; she hit 70 last week and is pushing through Borean Tundra. The pally and hunter are both in the low 40s, questing in Stranglethorn, which has been hella-confusing at times. I keep forgetting which toon has done which part of which quests and, as they're both blood elf females, there's a lot of deja vu.

I think I'm having the most fun with my mage in the static group. The group is very much in the old poxic tradition, where these characters are essentially only played together. Also, as with the purple poxers, we're leveling almost exclusively through dungeons. Passing through Uldaman and Zul'Farrak was fun but distinctly bittersweet. Seeing Maraudon for the first time was a blast and completing the Sunken Temple was very satisfying. We're about to hit a series of dungeons I haven't run much, if at all, and I'm looking forward to each of them.

All that said, I'm getting a strong case of wanderlust. I've joined Beau and the gang at MMO Voices, where there's a nice community developing, including a rotating "Game of the Site". When I joined, the game was Runes of Magic, so I have that sitting on the laptop for exploration this weekend. The current game is Ikariam, a browser game that I'm actually familiar with. Come say hello to Waradwen, on the Iota server!

new forms

Like every druid and his brother, one of the first things I did last night was to select my new forms. Unlike every druid and his brother, however, I did not pick either the white or black forms, which were everywhere in Dalaran. I may give in to peer pressure later, but for now I'm digging my new furs.

Patches?

We don't need no stinkin' patches!

Actually, this one sounds good. I'm really looking forward to the new boomkin spell twisting mechanic...perhaps that'll help my mediocre DPS. It sounds like heroics are the order of the day!

another sweet hat

new hats!

favorite new achievement

Cooking With Style. MMO Champion has a screenshot of the hat, too. I've been doing the cooking daily pretty religiously and have a bunch of tokens stored up, and almost two full stacks of spices in the bank, so you know I'm all over this as soon as it drops.

straying

I just wish I had noticed that the trial through Steam is 21 days, instead of the 14 day regular trial. It probably doesn't matter, though...I'm a week in and am seriously considering trying it for a while. I'll probably buy the box and use the game time that comes with, then make a decision if I can afford two games or not. As a friend pointed out, it is less than a daily coffee, so maybe I'll cut that out. Wait, I don't drink coffee...hmm.

/delurk

/em pokes his feathered head out of the brush.
/s Howdy, strangers!
/s Your fine, alternately feathered and furry friend, here!
/s My /afk ego has had some computer issues but claims he misses y'all.
/s So, he sent me to say hello and let everybody know he's not dead.
/s And promises he'll be back soon, to help me talk with you guys.
/wave