Sunday, April 24, 2011

20 Days of...Bad Habits and Flaws (Day 11)

By this point it seems like my participation is no longer 20 Days of..., it's more like 20 weeks of. For those of you hoping that I'd simply give up on this challenge, too bad so sad, I'm still going to finish this!


This time around Miss Saga is asking us about our bad habits and flaws. I have a fairly healthy portion of both of these. I consider myself to be a pretty flawed person, but then again I am human and I'm more or less in the middle of some massive life transition. At least I hope it's a transition and not some state of permanent being. Right. So what exactly is it that makes me the flawed person I am? I suppose it's list time, because I like them and that's probably the best way to go about this.

Over Analysis - I over analysis and over rationalize everything. Myself, other people, situations that I'm in...you name it, I'll probably over analyze it. I tend analyze and rationalize things until everything seems okay to me, even when I should probably be seething in rage. I also have this horrible habit of thinking about "if/then"scenarios. This habit unfortunately often detours me from doing a lot of things.

Procrastination - I am a horrible procrastinator. If I don't want to do something, I will drag my feet until the last minute unless someone really manages to motivate me. This habit to procrastinate often leads me to have much more stress than I really need, but I tend to do my best work under horrible pressure. Definitely not healthy, but somehow effective.

Motivation - If it's not an activity that I love, I have a very hard time motivating myself to get into the activity. I have a really hard time forcing myself to do things I do not enjoy.

I know I have many more flaws and bad habits than this, but I'm drawing a blank right at this moment. So yeah, for once a short post is short! Oh, another bad habit - having the intent of making a short post and turning it into a giant wall of critting text. Gotta love last minute additions!

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Of Time and Bunnies

It's Saturday. I'm wanting to do a Friday update but it's Saturday already. All week I've had this warped feeling of "What day is it...I don't even...what?" and the weekend has completely crept up on me. Weird. Let's just assume that Doctor Who swung on by and made us all a nice little portal back to Friday, shall we? Okay!


Site Updates and Junk
- The poll on the right hand side of my blog has seven days left on it. Please get your votes in now! Why? Because I'm nosy and I like seeing the results!

- My User Interface page has been updated. My UI is now mildly shinier than the turd that it was. Still not quite as pretty as I want, but much better than what it was!

- New photos to the Photo Gallery should be coming soon! Like in the next week or two.

- If you're looking for easy access to the 4.1 PTR Patch Notes for both Shamans and Druids, check out my Guides tab. If I happened to miss anything (I'm sure I did somewhere) please alert me. I'll do my best to keep patch notes updated and all that jazz, but sometimes I get into that farming mode and end up oblivious to some of the changes.

- I need some reader participation for a future Hoarders: Azeroth Edition post(s). I'd like to compile a list of "neat trinkets that do neat things" and I'm in need of some help from you all. I already have one friend in on this and she's sent me her list of all the neat trinkets she has stored away, plus I have a nice little pile of my own, but I'd very much like to make as complete of a list of possible. Credit and blog link love shall be given if you participate! If you'd like to help out in this, either list your trinkets in a comment on this post, or pop me an email at serenitysaz@yahoo(dot)com. If you email me and would like to be credited/given link love, please let me know who you are and what your blog is! Much appreciated ^_^


Friday, April 22, 2011

Darkmoon Faire Friday

They're quirky, they're fun, they're Darkmoon Faire Fortunes! Every Friday you will see a different Darkmoon Faire saying featured here at World of Saz. Enjoy!


Sayge's Fortune #16: The time will soon come for you to make a choice in a pressing matter.



Hoarders: Azeroth Edition - Mixology

       1 WITCH.  Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd.
       2 WITCH.  Thrice and once, the hedge-pig whin'd.
       3 WITCH.  Harpier cries:—'tis time! 'tis time!
       1 WITCH.  Round about the caldron go;
    In the poison'd entrails throw.—
    Toad, that under cold stone,
    Days and nights has thirty-one;
    Swelter'd venom sleeping got,
    Boil thou first i' the charmed pot!
       ALL.  Double, double toil and trouble;
    Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
       2 WITCH.  Fillet of a fenny snake,
    In the caldron boil and bake;
    Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
    Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
    Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,
    Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing,—
    For a charm of powerful trouble,
    Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
       ALL.  Double, double toil and trouble;
    Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
       3 WITCH.  Scale of dragon; tooth of wolf;
    Witches' mummy; maw and gulf
    Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark;
    Root of hemlock digg'd i the dark;
    Liver of blaspheming Jew;
    Gall of goat, and slips of yew
    Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse;
    Nose of Turk, and Tartar's lips;
    Finger of birth-strangled babe
    Ditch-deliver'd by a drab,—
    Make the gruel thick and slab:
    Add thereto a tiger's chaudron,
    For the ingrediants of our caldron.
       ALL.  Double, double toil and trouble;
    Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
       2 WITCH.  Cool it with a baboon's blood,
    Then the charm is firm and good.


~ William Shakespeare, Macbeth
Taken from PotW.org




Welcome to another week come and gone Hoarders. This particular week has seemed to have passed unusually quick; perhaps I should lay of the haste potions. The following are the obtainable Alchemy recipes that are not learned via a trainer, but are either gained through either reputations or drops. Since I blew all of your minds with some Shakespeare already, I shall keep this intro short. On to the list!


Thursday, April 21, 2011

Who's the Boss?

Wednesday (alright, it's Thursday now...) is once again upon us ladies and gents, and that means that we have ourselves another shared topic from Blog Azeroth. This week's topic of interest is brought to us by Nube.

Since Cata started Guilds, matter more. In order to recieve Guild beneffits. everyone most work for them. In Wotlk, Leaving a Guild meant, changing Guild Tags, in Cata means TIME.

Does a Guild belong to those who lead it?. Should we check Guild Etiquette?

Cataclysm has indeed changed the value of a guild to a hard working member. No longer are you simply there under some guild tag to come and go as you please, but now your time and efforts are actually put towards something (ie rewards such as BoAs, mounts, pets, and recipes, among other things), and thusly it now takes some actual thought prior to jumping ship.

With that said, even prior to guild reputation and the perks that come along with it I personally believe that a guild belonged to its members, and that management is simply there to keep the environment healthy. A guild isn't a guild without its members; a guild would potentially run amuck without some sort of management system in place to weed out those personalities that do not fit with the general tone of said guild. Now-a-days this is further emphasized in a way via guild reputation. Someone in your guild who has managed to get themselves revered or even exalted with your guild has obviously put in quite a bit of time and effort. Either they were gathering their butts off (which in turn gives the guild an achievement after a time), crafted their butts off (again, eventually gives the guild an achievement and may unlock some perks), quested like mad, did their dailies, and/or has been a faithful raider to the guild. Obviously this person should be seen as a valued member on some level.

What this basically means is that guild kicking or guild quitting now requires a bit more pause. Sure, a brash player should be tossed out on their bums if they're causing issues within the guild, but I'm sure that hardcore raiding guilds may now keep a few more socials around instead of kicking those players out of their environment once they retire from raiding, just because there are the perks of said players still possibly farming/questing/etc. Likewise, a retired player may not feel the need to leave a guild once they are retired, for they may like the guild perks for leveling alts or what have you. With enough time both you and your guild essentially grow together. Reputation is earned for the player and the guild "levels" through the effort of its guildies.Essentially the new guild perks/reputation system has basically created a certain secure environment for a lot of folks. On the flip side this is semi problematic for those of us who have banker guilds, or perhaps a dead guild that is still used to store alts, but that's a slightly different beast all together.

What all this babbling boils down to is balance. While a guild master technically has the "ownership" of the guild, the guild members are the yin to the guild master's/management's yang. One does not live without the other in a successful guild (your definition of successful may vary), thus I believe that both "teams" have a sort of equal ownership of the guild in question. While I believe that the management team should have the final say, I think that they should always listen to their guild members prior to making decisions on what is best for the guild as a whole. Again, there should be a balance. The guild is a garden, management teams are the gardeners, the guild master is much like an overseer to ensure that everything is tended to properly. While that overseer may hold the deed to the garden, one can never truly own the grass, the flowers, and the bushes. You cannot own the squirrels and the birds. Everything will go if they so please, and if the overseer and the gardeners do well in their job, they shall generate the interest of other animals and plants.. Sure you can remove some of the aspects of the garden, rearrange them, but you cannot go "This is my land! You shall do as I command!" Okay, perhaps you could, but at what rate those pesky squirrels will listen may vary.

Even prior to the guild changes, everyone put time into a guild. From the lowliest alt to the guild master, whether it was a few seconds choosing a name and getting /ginvited or spending twelve hours a day for six years tending to the guild's needs, time has always been a valued thing. I think many folk tend to forget that, and the new systems simply emphasize the time factor instead of allowing it to fall to the wayside. The time spent, the memories earned, the friendships forged, the bosses killed, the loot gained: all of these belong to the guild. No one person can make that happen alone. If they can, they're probably half insane : P

Friday, April 15, 2011

Darkmoon Faire Friday

They're quirky, they're fun, they're Darkmoon Faire Fortunes! Every Friday you will see a different Darkmoon Faire saying featured here at World of Saz. Enjoy!


Sayge's Fortune #6: Be cautious when landing in unfamiliar territory.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Hoarders: Azeroth Edition - The Chef's Cookbook

Hello and welcome to Chef Saz's Kitchen of Exotic Food and Drink! Today we shall be opening up the Master Cookbook of Azeroth to explore the many types of different foods and beverages that players are able to obtain and consume within World of Warcraft.


Once upon a time many years ago a friend and I came with a hair-brained idea that we'd move to California or Hawii and buy a shop on the beach. The shop would be called "Tubas and Tacos" and would essentially be two businesses in one. The tuba part would be an instrument repair and retail shop ran by yours truly, while the taco part would be a taco stand/general Mexican themed place of tasty goodness run by my friend. This idea was so epic that a third friend said she would come along and help out with both parts of the shop. Unfortunately like all brilliant hair-brained ideas, this one was simply not to be. I never got that degree in instrument repair and the three of us have all gone our separate ways both in location and seemingly in close friendship (they're still good people, we just don't keep in touch to often).

In real life I'm more or less a fail cook. Sure I can make some decent tacos and can cook a pretty mean frozen pizza, but don't ever expect me to whip up a fancy turkey dinner or anything. I tend mess up Ramen when I have to cook it in a pot (I'm a master at the microwave though!) so if I didn't have others to cook for me I'd basically resort to eating cereal from the box. However my pixelated counterpart, Saz the epic enhancement shaman of uberness, has earned her "Chef" title. You name it, she will learn it and whip it up for you in a jiffy. Through her I am vicariously an awesome chef.

I'm sure by this point dear reader you are wondering about what types of recipes you could potentially learn within Azeroth and what kind of bonus they carry when their products are consumed. Well there are 208 different recipes currently active in game, so let's get to the list. Shall we?


Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Fidgety McGee

Hello Humpday, we meet again. What's that? Oh, it's time for another shared topic from Blog Azeroth, and it's by Akabeko? Well then, let's get to it!

Most everyone has a routine for when they play WoW, but do you have any habits that are particularly eccentric? Do you always log out in the same place, try on other's gear when inspecting, or obsessively spam a macro or trinket at weird times? Out of game, do you have to crack your knuckles every time you take a flight path, put on your PJs in order to really get into the game, or tab out immediately upon wiping?

I've definitely developed a few little "ticks" over the years with my in game behavior. I don't always log out in the same place, but I do tend to have hang out spots. From the time I rolled Saz until Wrath of the Lich King came out, I was one of those who always sat on the Ironforge bridge (side closest to the bank, left hand side looking at the bank itself). When Wrath hit my first hang out was by the mailbox nearest to the Alliance "inn" place, then it was Southbank and the mailbox near there, and towards the end of that expansion my friends and I ended up lurking by the bank in the sewers most of the time (it was slightly easier on the dinosaur computer to load there). Now-a-days I find myself pacing in the Dwarven District of Stormwind, since that's where all the cool kids hang out.

Now, in real life I'm kind of a twitchy person. If I'm not actively engaged in something I have an incredibly hard time sitting still. I'll attempt to crack my knuckles, I'll drum, I'll fidget...I have to more often than not have something occupying my mind otherwise I go a bit bonkers. I'm much the same in game; if I find myself simply sitting in game without anything to do, I will start to bounce around in circles. I was one of those people who circled Dalaran, and lately I've taken to making figure 8s around the Dwarven District on my new Raven Lord mount. Happy feet, I haz dem. If I'm waiting for a raid to begin I will either pace, harass fellow raid members with emotes (I do it out of love, I swear!), or I will sit my character down and find something to fiddle with in real life. Yes I actually sit my characters down quite often when I'm forced to wait. I tend to do this more so while in wolf or kitty form; I always run way ahead with my Shaman and Druid and sit at the last moment before getting to whatever mob or boss we're going to tackle next. I like to make my tanks nervous some days : P

I'm also a chronic screen shot taker. I have it hot-keyed to the ' button since the print screen button hasn't always been available or accessible to me through the years on various different machines. I am always tapping that damn screen shot button. Every achievement, every time I see something that makes me go "woah", whenever I'm feeling pretty that button is hit. The last time I checked I had over 17k screen shots since late BC and I yet to factor in all of the shots I've taken in the last couple of months. I'm honestly a bit concerned about being back on a Macbook because of the whole built in record feature. Yeah it's not that great (certainly doesn't hold a candle's flame to the bonfire that is Fraps), but I have a feeling that my hard drive space is going to hate me in a few months. The obsessive need to record everything because I'm so forgetful strains my storage space greatly.

I think I have a few other quirks as well, but I'm currently drawing a blank on them so I shall end this post here.

/lick

Friday, April 8, 2011

Friday Updates - I Have the Coolest Friends

What's up ladies and gents, I hope your Friday is treating you well. Here's just a little update on things and stuff pertaining to myself and this little blog that you happen to be reading.


Thanks to a few incredibly generous folk I am now back to officially playing World of Warcraft. I've been pretty busy this week with getting Saz recapped and that giant quest, along with trying to get reacquainted with all of the new changes that have gone down since the last time I've been in Azeroth, essentially caused me to forget to put up today's Darkmoon Faire Friday quote. That's my story anyways and I'm sticking to it. My apologies to those of you who enjoy that segment, I'm sometimes horribly scatter-brained and I'll do my best not to repeat this situation. DMF Friday should be up next week as per usual.


As I said, I'm back and leveling my way through Cataclysm. I must say that I am absolutely loving it. The quests are engaging, the vehicle quests are for the most part fun, and the cut scenes actually help me pay attention to the story line. From what little I've seen so far I am absolutely smitten with this expansion. Also, Uldum? Epic. This evening as I was leveling through that zone my father actually turned on Indiana Jones and within five minutes the scene that played out on our television happened in game. I geeked slightly.

I don't really have any WoS specific updates this week for you all. I also sadly don't have a nice list of blogs, podcasts, or forums to pimp out to you all this week. Again, I'll blame the pre-occupation with getting back into WoW for my slackerisms. I do however have a link to this week's Storm, Earth, and Fire podcast. Episode 2 comes with 100% less white noise and is rather enjoyable. I suspect that their episodes will only get better in time. Also, I'm fairly certain that they have conscripted me into some sort slave labor or something . Not quite sure yet, and quite frankly I'm a touch concerned. Or scared. Mostly just scared.

I may have a few projects coming up in the near future, so if I accidentally disappear and give your feed readers (and your eyes) a break for a few days, don't worry! I will return at some point with tales of near epicness, or something along those lines. Chances are I'll still continue to crit all of your faces off with useless walls of text : P

So yes, nearly useless update is nearly useless. Go listen to the SEF podcast.

Saz over and out. (For now)

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Hoarders: Azeroth Edition - Skulls in My Closet

Hey hoarders, welcome to another installment of Hoarders: Azeroth Edition. This week Hoarders is going to take a turn for the weird. I know that there's some strange folk out there and this particular installment is aimed just at them (or you, if you're one of those strange folk who happens to read this blog). What exactly will we be talking about? Well, we'll be covering skulls.

Yes, skulls.

Now skulls are collectible for many different personality types. Perhaps you're really into Archaeology, or maybe you specialize in bone recognition to help solve the crimes of the world like the tv show, or maybe you are just a freak that likes to collect skulls who makes chairs out of them. Regardless of why you like them, here is a list as to which skull-type items are collectible in World of Warcraft.


Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Behind the Faces

Shared Topics. Blog Azeroth. Perhaps you've heard of these things? If you haven't, you should check them out. Every Sunday (or near every Sunday, depends on the participation) Twisted Nether does a round-up of all the participants. You should check out all those as well.

This week's topic is brought to us by Kamalia from Kamalia et alia.
Whether you have many alts or just a few, do they know each other? Do they have some sort of relationship as people living in Azeroth, or is sending materials and money between them just a game mechanic for you? If your characters do know each other, what kind of relationships do they have, and how did those relationships come into being? If they don't, what functions do your different alts serve?
Outside of my incessant need to use /emotes, I don't even remotely consider myself to be a role-player. My characters live on a strictly PvE server and generally they live to destroy and/or heal other players and NPCs. However, I have been as of late thinking about story lines and backgrounds for some of my characters for writing purposes. I mean, I have spent how many hours over the past three years vicariously living in this fantasy world wearing the names and faces of these characters? At some point I'm bound to think of a story about why they do what they do. I'm a crazy writer after all, my brain tends to do off the wall* things sometimes.

I think my characters know each other in a very general sense. Most of them are simply co-workers for missions or general contractors simply hired to make my main character's life a tad bit easier. Many of them simply trade their skills between each other. Some of my characters are very close, others simply live on the fringes on each other's lives. Perhaps I should just do a break down on all of my characters and their relationships to each other. Hopefully this isn't shooting myself in the foot with giving away how everyone interacts by writing this, messing up vital "a-ha!" moments for potential future stories. Oh well, here we go!

WoS Search Words

Anyone who has a blog knows that more often than not you get new traffic to your site though random searches. Sometimes these searches are incredibly random indeed. I think that every couple of weeks I shall highlight some of the most common of hits (complete with explanations in case someone didn't find what they were looking for) as well as some of the more bizarre. Amusement and cake for all!


1) i cannot brain today - It's okay! I can never brain. I'm sure that this post and image is to blame for this particular word combination bringing in so many views. We all have our brainless days.

2) Saz Aggramar/World of Saz/Serenity Saz - Hi, you found me! *Gives cake*

3) Sprite Darter Hatchling 4.0.6 - I'm sure there's a few collectors out there who are wondering how to now get their hands on this little guy since Blizzard blew up the old way to get it. It is now an incredibly rare zone drop in Feralas and is available to both factions. [source] Warcraft Pets - Sprite Darter Hatchling, page 5 of comments

4) does healing stream totems stack cataclysm - Yes, Healing Stream totems will stack, but the effects of this totem are restricted to the party of the Shaman (5 people, not a whole raid). However, the resistances that come with glyphing for that totem will NOT stack, but the effects are raid wide. Hopefully those of you who have searched for the answer to that question and have landed on this site got the answer you were seeking from the water totem portion of my totem guide.

5) Michelle De Rum - This NPC is currently only available on the PTR realms, but should be joining us soon (4.1 if I recall correctly). She will be the vendor which will give us the ability to purchase the new Wintersaber Cub. To read up on this NPC and her origins, please visit this link.

6) cata shaman mounts - I'm afraid that Shaman do not get mounts in Cataclysm, nor can you mount us while we're in puppy form. Riding a ghost would be difficult after all.

7) draenei tail - Yes, Draenei have tails. I certainly hope that you weren't looking for some "Draenei tail" though, for I'm afraid that I do not cater to the pixel porn industry...unless you're a personal friend. If that's the case you *might* get a live show. I mean...what?  No, I'm an angel and my armor stays fixed on my person at all times, I promise.*ahem* Moving on...

8) How to make a Saz - Well, you see...once upon a time my parents loved each other very much. I was bestowed upon them by a stork and 24 years later I magically sprouted this wacky personality, became completely obsessed with the game World of Warcraft,  and learned how to blog. Okay, so I've been obsessed with WoW for the past three years and have had the smartass personality since I was little. I'm sure you're not really asking how to make a clone of myself though, but instead you're asking about the instrument. My apologies for not being able to help on that one.

9) does warrior need intellect gear - While our Warrior brothers and sisters may crave something more in the intellect department, they should stick to schooling to better their knowledge. Intellect gear does not help with their ability to generate rage; only getting smashed in the face or swinging a big axe or two can do that for them. Please leave the intellect gear for your Paladin brothers and sisters.

10) Does Cataclysm have totems? - Despite the fact that Blizzard took away quite a few of our totems, yes many still do exist! Matter of fact our Restoration tree will soon be getting the fabled Spirit Link totem. If you're wondering about those old totem quests though, I believe those have (thankfully) been removed from the game.


Epic search terms are epic. Many thanks to those of you who stumbled across my little corner of the blogosphere by them, they have entertained me greatly! Now please, keep searching. There's nothing more to see here!

Monday, April 4, 2011

20 Days of...First Blog Post (Day 9)/Blog & Website Favorites (Day 10)

Another 20 Days of... post? Why of course! This one is a double post though. With the rate that I've been going with this blog challenge it will take me months to finish it sooo...double the challenge, double the fun!


Day 9
Right, so the first portion of this post asks about our very first blog post. Now, my very first post is simply a "Hi! Just testing this thing out. Kthx bai!" or something along those lines, so I present to you my first actual post with some substance.

Fall is here...

It almost seems a bit emo to me. There I was, all wishfully toiling away my time...6.5 months later, I'm finally coming out of that phase thanks to the kindness of some of the amazing people I know. I'm a big dreamer who sometimes has a lot of trouble getting the ball rolling, what can I say?


Day 10
I've been trying to pimp out my favorite sites on my weekly update posts. This isn't to say that those sites featured, or the ones I'm about to feature are my absolute most favorite in the world, quite frankly there's too many amazing sites out there to simply choose a small handful. I'm also going to refrain from mentioning blogs simply because I cannot choose favorites. If you're curious about which blogs I read, please check out the "Resource/Blog Roll" tab that's located up at the top of this site.

WoW Insider - Where else am I going to get my news from?
MMO-Champion - Updates, data mines, forums that are fun to troll...gotta love it!
GamebreakerTV - Awesome talk shows about WoW/Rift/Star Wars: The Old Republic and then some. My personal favorite is of course Legendary (the WoW show) but they're all excellent.
Learn to Raid - Love the Circle of Healing podcast, love the forums, love getting to watch Vodka raid.
Blog Azeroth - This site has been a tremendous help to me with all of my blogging newbiness.
Twitter - This medium has introduced me to some wonderful personalities. It took me 6+ months to figure it out, but I'm glad I did.
Youtube - The parody/machinima artists/musicians that can be found on this site are a true inspiration. (Yes I'm lazy and linked my own channel. No I don't have anything worth watching on there yet. Definitely check out some of the awesome machinimas and parodies I have favorited though and give those artists some lovin'!)

Honorable Mentions:
Wowhead - Hoarders: Azeroth Edition and The Rack would be semi impossible without this site. It get's much love from me.
Warcraft Mounts/Warcraft Pets - These two sites help me keep track of what I do and do not have collection wise. Saves me many a headache when trying to figure out what I'm missing.
World of Saz - What? Am I not allowed to be completely smitten with my own site? The coding has fed on my TEARS MAN. So yeah, giving myself some self love right there 'cause sometimes it's necessary. Right? Right.

I'm sure I've missed a few sites whilst writing this list up, but as I said everything that I dig is listed up in the Resources/Blog Roll tab.

Mmm yep.

*Ends this post awkwardly.*

Sunday, April 3, 2011

I'm back! Kind of...

What's going on everyone, I hope you all are having a great weekend! I know that I said that I was going to talk about any site updates I have on Fridays or something of that sort buuuut given all the fun stuff that was going on with it being April Fool's and all, that update got pushed to whenever it is that this will be going up. Along with the WoS updates I'm also going to pimp out a few different sites I think you all should check out and catch you all up on what's going down on my side of things, both irl and in game...yes, I said IN GAME!!


Blog Updates
- There is a new poll up on the right side of the page, please click as many buttons as your little hearts desire. I thoroughly enjoyed the results from the last poll. Many thanks to those of you who participated! Here's the final tally:


- My "Recent Achievements" feature is no longer a giant white blob! I'll get into why that is in a bit. Apologies about the temporary eye sore.

- As I said last week, if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or anything else of that nature that relate to World of Saz or even just something random to ask, please don't hesitate! My email is under the About/Contact tab and I keep a close eye on my Twitter account for those of you who would prefer to contact me through that medium (the button is up top).


Things You Should Check Out
- Storm, Earth, and Fire (@StormEarthFire2) is a new podcast dedicated to the ways of the Shaman. It's run by Malozing (@Malozing) and Druzza (@Totemictimes). They're both still rather new to the world of podcasting, so please bear with them while they find their feet. Definitely look forward to some great things from this podcast!

- Learn to Raid is one of my favorite haunts. Not only is this site home to the Circle of Healing podcast, which is run by Dawn Moore (you may recognize that name from WoW Insider) and Kinaesthesia (from Vodka), but it also contains some excellent strategy videos plus and contains some very fun and still growing forums. Give 'am a look-see and if anyone asks, Saz sent you.

- Gaming Zone Forums are rather new, but I must say these guys have spunk. The goal of this forum is to provide a place for gamers of all types to come together to hang out. The fellas over there are super friendly, so feel free to swing by, make an account, and say hi. I have a good feeling about those forums, so go help make them epic!


Saz Updates
First things first, I must state that I have some of the best damn friends a girl could ask for. They're also my WoW friends, so all you folks out there who think real friendships via the internet are impossible, I'd really like to beg to differ. With that stated, I'll now proceed to go down my list of awesome (please bear with me...I'm not attempting to brag at all, I'm just incredibly excited about these updates and at the same time incredibly grateful).

- My Priesty friend who I've mentioned a few times here on WoS has done one of the most sweet things I think that anyone has ever done for me: she has sent me her old Macbook. This means that as soon as I get my mits on a new power cord, I'll be able to play WoW semi-smoothly...or at least well enough that I won't quite suffer from as much motion sickness that I currently do with my current poor quality machine. So. Freakin'. Excited! Also some love must be sent to Mrs. Priesty's husband, since he relinquished his hold on said computer, enabling her to send it to me. : P

- Along with that "new" Macbook came a prepaid WoW card, enabling me to play WoW for the next two months. While I may not have Cataclysm as of yet, I have managed to wiggle my way back to Azeroth. Seriously, my Priest friend is completely and utterly made of awesome.

- Due to the fact that I am now back to playing WoW, my Armory page will now show up. I've gotten a few messages from folks wondering why my Armory page wasn't showing, and here's why: after about three months or so Blizzard considers your account idle. Idle accounts are "hidden" and will no longer show the character's profile despite their name still showing up in the general search list. I'm sure it somehow saves server space for them in the long run or some such, quite frankly I'm not 100% sure why characters "disappear" when they're idle, but that's just my guess. Saz is back though, so please fret no longer! Hopefully soon she will be a sexy level 85 like the rest of you ; ) 

- Earlier this week (or was it last week already?) WoW Insider had a contest on both their site and on Twitter. The contest they held on their site was that of a random drawing for a D.I.S.C.O. loot card, and on Twitter they had entries explain why they thing they should win a Goblin Weather Machine. I entered both on a whim, and apparently they rather liked my answer on Twitter, and I won the Goblin Weather Machine! Thanks to the previously mentioned prepaid WoW card I was able to hop on and redeem this code last night. I kind of really geeked. I mean, not only is it a random item to use (I absolutely love random things that I can use whenever!) but it's also my first ever loot card. Soooo excited! So many thanks to WoW Insider for making me one very happy Shaman!


 - Another note of major thanks may need to be added here, but first I must scold two little Shamans quite thoroughly. More on this later.

 - I feel like I'm missing something. If I remember it later you all may have to suffer through a double or maybe even a triple post for Sunday. My apologies for the excessive amount of me. I hope you survive the encounter.

If any of you all try to get a hold of me in game and I don't respond right away, I apologize in advance. Currently I'm sporting some terrible FPS (at least until the Mac is up and running) and sometimes it takes quite a bit for things to load. Also, in the rare event that I have a DND up it's because I have let my little brother muck about on one of my characters. He's rather fascinated by the game you see, and his new favorite pastime is to take my Shaman and jump her off of cliffs (I have yet to expose him to my Druid and the wonders of bird form). He also rather likes taking adorable screen shots for me, which I will end this post with. I hope that you all have a wonderful week! <3


Friday, April 1, 2011

4.1.11 Shaman Changes

Well, Blizzard went and changed up Shamans again. Here are the new patch notes along with explanations as to wtf they mean.


A healing tree has been added for shaman.

What this means: LOOK MA! I CAN HEAL! *Splashes water on the Fire Mage, making them unable to cast anything ever again*

Pros: Shamans now have more role utility.

Cons: We will never DPS again.

Flame Shock, Earth Shock, Dot Shock and Frost Shock have all been combined into a new spell called Bus Shock. This ability is less exciting, less powerful and harder to use than equivalents of comparable classes, but it has a new icon.

What this means: They removed Dot Shock! Shamans let loose your tears, for today is a terrible day! Oh well, at least we can hit people with school busses now, even if it is only traveling at 2mph. BEEP BEEP!

Pros: Less shocks to track.

Cons: Doesn't look like this new ability will live up to its name.

Maelstrom Weapon, Unleash Elements, and Spiritwalker’s Grace have been redesigned as Maelstrom Totem, Unleashed Totem, and Spiritwalker’s Totem, respectively.

What this means: Everyone is going to QQ about this change, but what do you expect? We're bloody Shamans! We're the most rootin'ist, tootin'ist totem slingers around! All abilities must come through our totems. Still waiting on my "Summons many spirits, handle it!" totem.

Pros: Less abilities to hit.

Cons: More totems to manage.

The Elemental tree is now the Elementary tree, and allows use of new abilities Eat Paste, Nap Time, and the Macaroni and Glitter Totem.

What this means: The Elemental tree just got a huuuuuge buff! Now it's so easy a caveman (or a very ill-informed child who has poor eating habits) can do it.

Pros: Everyone can now relate to the Elementary tree.

Cons: You may find that you have kindergartners lurking in your raid.

The shaman now have a Totem Belt, allowing them to carry their totems with them at all times.

What this means: This can be seen as a slight nerf, as now Shamans are highly weighed down in combat. Our movement speeds can be expected to be slowed by this addition. The female Shamans (especially Draenei) should also expect a rather hefty nerf to their ability to seduce random strangers. At least we can readily squirt folks with our water totems now. "PUT 'EM TO THE SKY!!!"

Pros: Easy access to your totems at all times.

Cons: Makes you look fat.

All totem ranges reduced to 1 yard.

What this means: Well, those in the raid who wasn't a Shaman never fully appreciated the presence of totems anyways. Now we just buff ourselves. Huge buff IMO.

Pros: Shamans are now more win.

Cons: There are none! Only Shamans matter.



This entry has been posted on both World of Saz and on Saz's alternative blog, Feral Spirit. You can find Feral Spirit on the Learn to Raid website.

Darkmoon Faire Friday

They're quirky, they're fun, they're Darkmoon Faire Fortunes!  Every Friday will feature a different Darkmoon Faire Fortune here at World of Saz. Enjoy!


Sayge's Fortune #22: "An answer in blue is always true."