MTC 2.0

You've probably already noticed my latest monstrosity on the right (unless you own a mac and think flash is evil). The fact that I can't code worth a damn is slowly dawning on me, but I won't give up yet!

All of the Meet The Crew images have been updated too. If you're not fond of your new image we can always change it back :P

Don't forget, the Cataclysm digital preorder is available (check post below)!

-Ahzae, Lord of the Trifling Gnome

Cataclysm Digital Preorders Available Now!

Preorders are available on battle.net - it'll set you back USD$39.99 or AUD$41.03 (give or take half a cent).

The big upshot to this is that you can download all of the Cata content before the launch. Naturally, you won't be able to access it until the launch - instead it will save you from rushing home at midnight and frantically installing a few discs worth of expansion.


As soon as the servers go live those who have downloaded the data can log in straight away! The servers are scheduled to go live for Cata at12:01am on Dec 7th, PDT - which translates to 6:01pm on Dec 7th, AEST (possibly 5pm if Blizz switch to PST in November).


Also, no queuing for a copy :D


Ahzae, Lord of the Trifling Preordered Digital Content

Rocking Your Face

---

Q u o t e:


Dude, Z...

You just fell down a notch on my "favorite blue person" meter.

Hate gnomes.

---

"I refuse to continue this discussion if the Alliance don't even accept one of their own! 

I'm telling Metzen to write in a truce between gnomes and goblins for the next expansion.... we will join the Horde and see how you like dem apples. Little creatures everywhere rocking your face."


-Quoted response from Zarhym, Blizz community manager, regarding Alliance crybabies.

Gnomes and Goblins, rocking faces... For the Horde!

If only it were true... *sigh*


-Ahzae, Lord of the Trifling Gnome

The Makeup Gun

One of the things I learned very quickly on my return to Azeroth is that druids had collective forgotten how to bear... very embarassing when signed up to tank the Horseman.


It's also occurred to me that novelty events (ie: Sadistic Sunday) aren't enough to cure burnout alone. Thus, being the massive defeatist that I am, I'm putting off all the novelty events until Cataclysm. Events can still be organised by request (ask myself or any officer), but Sadistic Sunday et al won't be back until December.


In the meantime, I think we would all feel better pursuing other... pursuits. Some people are saving their cash for the big bang, others are getting trade skills ready or saving up justice points.
Personally, I'm planning on helping guildies score any unearned achievements (Call NOW!) and working towards enhancing guild features - to make Cata feel a little more special.


For example, I've updated the MTC artwork:

A special one for Sporran
 because I know how much
 he likes gnomes.

Apologies to Kerreck (I got lazy) and anyone I may have missed (I've forgotten how many MTC's we've done, despite the archive section). I've got big plans for these :D


Update:


More pics (happy now Kerreck?). I'll put bigger ones up this time.

Also, any member who wants to have their own snazzy artwork (yeah, I said snazzy) needs to whisper me in-game or email me at tobiasmasters@gmail.com.


-Ahzae, Lord of the Trifling Sleep Deprivation.

Sadistic Sunday: Feedin' the Trolls

Sadistic Sunday is back! I suspect todays SS won't be quite so grand as some of our previous outings (Alliance Pub Crawl, anyone?) but I've been wrong before.


On with the trolls!

Not Ahzae (Ahzae doesn't have access to natural light).

12pm: Charity Run - Zandalar Edition


Zul'gurub will be gone in a matter of weeks... possibly even days. If you wanted to hit exalted with  the Zandalar tribe or just get your raid achievement, now's your chance.


Standard auction rules apply:

• 4 positions available. Top 4 silent bids get the positions - Ahzae will match the highest bid (as far as my wallet will allow :P). Whisper Ahzae in game to make your silent bid.
• All green-to-epic loot will be automatically looted by the Auction Leader. Anyone who wants dropped loot must open a bid (including the AL). All unwanted loot is vendored and added to the pot.
• At the end of the run the pot is added to the guild bank to help fund guild repairs, new tabs, etc.

Itinerary:

• Zul'gurub right off the bat - full clear (Two rare mounts, up to 11k rep - all coins and bijous auctioned at the end of the ZG run).
• Karazhan (Rare mount, some Violet Eye rep).
• Heroic Sethekk Halls (Rare Mount, Lower City rep - must be at least honored).
• Heroic Magisters Terrace (Rare Mount, BABY PHOENIX pet, Shattered Sun rep).
• Anywhere else we feel like going :D

2pm: Trollin' Raids

This time it won't just be me being evil! *cackle*

Here's the plan: We group up to take on all the vanilla raids for any missing achievements and fill up any empty spots with as many pugs as we can find - level/gear/etc is a non-issue. The primary goal here is to get any raid achievements we (and they) might be missing. We'll burn through as many raids as we can, starting with level 60 raids and working our way up.

Of course, it wouldn't be Sadistic Sunday if we left it at that!

The twist is that whenever possible, we must refer to any mobs or bosses as "trolls". Especially effective when we're not actually fighting trolls. This rule will change slightly if we need to refer to an actual troll (Zul'Aman springs to mind) - all trolls will be referred to as "GNOMES!" (case sensitive).

I don't care if I'm the only one online, I'm makin' the Troll Raids happen!

BONUS GAME: Spewer - Prize 100g

I couldn't find any games about trolls (I actually found two, but they sucked harder than a gnome in an elevator... hmm, that came out sounding dirtier than I intended. Sorry.), so in order to keep your spirits up while you're candy-gorging your way around Azeroth, I present to you a game about vomiting! Yay!

Seeing as Kerreck keeps winning these I'll be forcefully donating half of his prize money into the Gbank should he win it again - I'll keep doing it until someone beats him too >:D

In order to win, you need to be the first to answer the following question in the comments section below:

How does the Spewer escape the experiment?

Happy trollin' :D

-Ahz

That's Telekinesis, Kyle. (Updated - 2pm)

Blizzcon 2010 is underway! There's a special time that comes once per year where all the power-nerds like me sit up and take notice in a single collective motion... that time is now.

All the best new info (usually) gets dropped during Blizzcon. MMOchampion.com has been covering the news quite well, keep an eye on them over the next 24 hours or so for all the latest.


Ordinarily I'd try not to favour a certain site or source too heavily, but MMOchamp really is doing a marvellous job so far.


Current highlights:

• In-game bestiary for instance/raid bosses (loot, abilities, etc.).
• Enhanced raid UI for new mechanics, eg - sound gauge vs. blind dragon. No more staring at the debuff corner :D
• For the lore-nerds (what has two thumbs and is a massive lore geek?) there's loads of new info. BEWARE OF SPOILERS!
• More fiery death, less ToC raids, NO MOOSE!

I'll try to keep new, exciting info published here as it's announced.


UPDATE:
Day 1 has wrapped up for now - the Day 2 events will begin at around 4am AEST tomorrow.


I should also point out that Blizz will be offering Cata as a digital pre-purchase; this means that we can download and install Cata before release and be ready to go the very moment it launches! I guess I owe Sporran a Coke now...


More updates tomorrow, and SADISTIC SUNDAY RETURNS!

-Ahz

Horseman Crash Workaround

Big thanks to AdamS at Blizz for this:

• Disable Hardware Cursor (Video options > Advanced)
  
• Create a new macro (/macro) called "TT OFF" and use this code:
  
  /script GameTooltip.Temphide = function() GameTooltip:Hide() end; GameTooltip:SetScript("OnShow", GameTooltip.Temphide);
• Create another macro called "TT ON" using this code:
  
  /script GameTooltip:SetScript("OnShow", GameTooltip.Show);
• Place both somewhere on your actionbars (out of the way).
  
• Before entering/queuing for the event, click "TT OFF" (turns ToolTips off).
  
• Smash pumpkins.
  
• Click "TT ON" (ToolTips on) after the event.

Essentially, your tooltips are likely what's causing the crash. These macros disables/enables tooltips easily. Let me know if you're having trouble with it :D



-Ahz

1 Helluva Bang

Hooray! My first HW-focused flash project is complete!
Sure, it took all of twenty minutes to create (and another 40 to find a damn host) but it's a start :D


I'll begin designing raid guides in flash soon enough, so let me know if there's anything, flash or otherwise, you'd like to see put up. I wonder if I can do MTC's in flash... *ponders*


News wise, there's very little to report. Blizz has been focus testing the new raids all week, but MMOchampion has the Tier 11 model previews to tide us over in the meantime.


-Ahzae, Lord of the Trifling Over-excitable-boy-with-a-new-toy Syndrome

The Return

Forgive me father for I have sinned. It's been roughly three weeks since my last blog post.

To be fair, I got a little sidetracked down in Mulgore:

Ah, I'll miss her the most...

Back to reality now; I've actually spent this time learning to animate and code in Flash (AS3). I'm hoping to be able to use it to help with raid guides etc, but more on that later on.

Hopefully (unfortunately?) you'll all be seeing more of me in-game now that the holiday is over, and as we draw closer to Cataclysm we should see many other familiar faces returning too.

Also, I'll be posting here regularly once more, so watch this space!

-Ahzae, Lord of the Trifling Blue Bal... Erec... Flash Coding Skills.