A Shiny Red Bear

Its been over a year since I posted on this blog, so I thought I'd let you know what I've been up to. I've been playing World of Warcraft, I recently got this shiny red bear appearance for my druid. I am now maining her as a tank and its lots of fun! Also, last year I got the Loremaster achievement and title, I had most of it done, it only took a solid weekend to finish it off. Sometimes an urge to crochet comes over me, but I don't really have anyone to crochet for so I dismiss it and get back to WOW!

Uma is now a Shiny Red Bear!

Addon Bug Removes DH with Special Letters

ÃⱮßëŗŦħóřʼn is removed from the guild by Geminda

Its been found that an addon bug on Guild Master toons kicks any new Demon Hunters with special letters in their names. It is not known which addon causes the bug, but it is definitely there somewhere in the scripts and the HTML things. Special letters will be removed, we're going to build a wall that keeps those pesky letters out of the guild, mark my words, I'll never let you down.

How is it known that this bug exists? Well, we have our sources, reliable sources, like this article you are reading right now. Some guy recently said "Americans are tired of experts!" He was an expert on how much people are tired of experts. People elsewhere in the world are also probably tired of experts. We're going to make Bloodlust Great again, mark my words, etc etc.

The reason the bug addon exists is because those special letters, the ones you need to make your unique name because you are a special snowflake that can't stick to using the 26 letters of the alphabet the rest of us mere mortals are forced to use, is because they are damn annoying and inconvenient. They are the bane of my administrative existence. Following is a list of things that happen when you have a special letter in your name.

I can't find you in the roster. If you have a special letter your name does not sort in alphabetical order, and in a guild of over 700 toons that makes you hard to find. The worst is when the special letter is the 1st letter, I can not see you there at all. You are hanging out at the end of the list in a special club with all the other special snowflakes. If the 2nd or 3rd letter of your name is special and the 1st letter is very common, its also hard to find you.

I can't send you mail. Sometimes I get lucky and I can type in the 1st few letters and the game suggests a name from the roster, but usually I can't send you a letter.

I can't add you in the calendar. If we have an event in the calendar which is for Raider rank only, and you get promoted to that rank after it has been created, I can't then add your name to the event.

I can't invite your alt if you ask me from battlenet. Yes, I have a big bunch of peeps in my battle tag. Often these people whisper me from battletag for a /ginvite for their alt. I can't simply click their toon name like I can when I am whispered ingame. I have to open up battle tag, look at the name of your new toon and type it in. Some names are onerous, long with wierd spellings that are not easily pronounced. If these names have a special letter in it, I can't invite the alt. Please whisper me from ingame so I can just click you.

Why can't I just memorise the 5 extra digits for each special letter in your special name? You are expecting me to go find out how to write the letter and then add the extra 5 digits and enter them just so. It often doesn't work that easily. I then have to memorise this extra set of digits for your special name. I then also have to do that for every other unique snowflake in the guild with a different special letter. How about you do something for me, and just think of a name for your new toon that doesn't have a special letter in it? That actually sounds easier to me. A letter requires a single keystroke. That is how I type, I shouldn't have to pause and enter 5 more digits to write one single letter. That is horrible.

The reason you want to try and think of a name for your new Demon Hunter without special letters in it is because your GM is a volunteer, largely there to just help organise the funs for a bunch of strangers who are virtual friends that never meet IRL. If your GM asks you for help with something, its probably for a good reason, and will make their job a little easier while they are organising said funs. Please remember the past time is also suppose to be fun for everyone, even for the guild master.

Why are only Demon Hunters being removed by the addon bug? Because now is a new opportunity to avoid the annoying letters on a bunch of alts that are about to be made from scratch. If you find your Demon Hunter removed at level 99 or 100 and you really want it to be in the guild, it won't be too hard to delete and reroll. Now is the time to do this. I'd rather not ask people to spend real money getting name changes, or actually kicking old toons with the special letters. Because I'm actually not that much of a pyscho control freak bitch and won't do that to you, mark my words, I'll never let you down.

Hey, if you get this far and have actually read this, would you mind doing me another favour and adding a comment down below pretty please? Thanks heaps <3 <3 <3

The Prettiest Mount in World of Warcraft?

I just don't understand why there are some people out there that don't agree with me? I mean, come on! Ashes of Al'ar, the mount that drops 0.1% of the time from the last boss in Tempest Keep is the prettiest mount in World of Warcraft by far! I told my guildies so last night, when we decided to skip heroic HFC progression (we didn't get our usual heals online, we are up to 8/13H),  so we decided to get the guild achievement from Heroic Siege of Orgrimar. As it turns out, after spending over an hour in there, we have to do it on Mythic to get the Heroic achievement, d'oh!

The prettiest mount in WoW, by far, Ashes of Al'ar.

So my husband and I have the Legion beta, and someone at Blizzard had an absolute brainwave to decide to let the beta players access to ALL mounts. Yes. Including Ashes! So whenever I am on the beta, I fly my Ashes! So. Pretty. The. End. (lol!)

Female Orc Hunter Transmorg Sets

Having trouble finding something for your female orc hunter to wear? Here are some outfits I have put together. They are what I call modest and I think they have understated style! Perfect for a fashionable female orc!

trailseeker chest, gloves, belt, shoes, kilt of Pandaren promises, netherstorm shoulderguards

Oversized ogre hauberk, frozen forest kilt, nexus strider mantle, rift stalker guantlets, wild plains belt

Gatekeeper's embrace, netherstorm shoulerguards, gloves of the savage hunt, sovereigns belt

Here is the Bloodlust set, which got the most comments, but a bit too attention seeking for me!

White Female Hunter Transmorg for WoW

I was searching for a white outfit to transmorg onto my alliance female NE hunter, and had trouble finding it. I finally found out that the Impenetrable set is white, but its quite revealing! I was unhappy with her butt cheeks hanging out, so I found another pair of pants that are white, the bonelink pants. I think it looks good!

the Impenetrable set's legguards are a bit revealing ....

The impenetrable set with bonelink legguards looks better!

My Guild is 8 years old today!

As I've mentioned before, I tend to play World of Warcraft every now and then, and have done so on and off for 10 years. When I'm not blogging or crafting you can rightly guess that's where I am, in the virtual world created by Blizzard Entertainment. A few months ago a new expansion launched and we were all very excited to get into the game and check it out.

Geminda, healer and guild leader of 8 year old guild Bloodlust of Nagrand

Well, after finally getting to the end game I've found I just don't enjoy it. I levelled up my character and got into the dungeons, and just didn't love it like I used to. I used to love healing, I got a real buzz out of keeping my fellow gamer's characters alive. And as a healer, its great to be needed without being the one, the tank, who leads the foray into the instance. But I found the healing this time around to be too stressful, so I decided to level up my hunter as that is easier. But still on my hunter as a damage dealer, I just don't enjoy the end game, although it was slightly better than on my healer. And so I'm not sure what will happen to my old guild which turns 8 years old today, which is sooo old! The players in the guild seem content to do their own thing, and there is no pressure for me to lead raids, which are larger scale adventures into dungeons.

So instead of raiding, some of us have been working on an achievement called 'Stay Classy' that will award the guild some more space in the guild bank vault. Which would be fun, as I'm finding I enjoy sorting the guild vault now. In fact that's all I've been doing lately, logging in to check the guild vault and move donated items to where others have access, or to sell what we don't need. I levelled up a goblin death knight for the achievement, now there are only a handful of characters to level before our guild has levelled every class of every race in the game, for the horde side that is.

So that's where I've been for the last few months of 2014, plugging away at my virtual characters in World of Warcraft. I may choose to level up a new character just for the fun of it, but who knows? We shall see ...

Best Name for a Quilen Pet

My apolgies for not posting on my blog for a few months, I've been playing World of Warcraft! A few months ago I got a quilen pet for my hunter, and name it Brezzer! Don't you think that's the best name for a quilen pet? Its because they can resurrect a fallen ally during combat, otherwise known as 'brez'. Let me know what you think of my quilen pet name! But I've since gotten over my temporary WoW addiction and have got some up and coming blogs posts planned, especially with lots of cooking I have in mind, so watch this space!

My hunter Zye on the Timeless Isle, with her aptly named quilen pet, Brezzer



Sigora of Nagrand turns 90

While I wait to see a surgeon to find out what he'll do about my swollen ulnar nerve, I've been playing World of Warcraft. I wish I could post photos of crochet I've made, but this will have to do instead. I decided that my old main hunter Sigora needed levelling so I got her from 85 to 90 in less than a week. This game can be a bit mindless at times, but the reason I did it is because there's a chance to play with other people if the old gang returns when the expansion hits later this year. Here, Sigora is on the farm where she is working on Tillers reputation and wearing an Azure Serpent transmorg set, for which I found the shoulders on the AH for half price. I think she looks rather dashing, for an Orc!

Hunter Sigora of Nagrand has turned 90

Ladies of the Myst on Feathermoon

In case anyone is wondering where I've been lately, I've been playing World of Warcraft while I wait for my arm to get better. Unfortunately any crochet is out of the question for me right now as my left hand is so weak I can not hold the tension well enough for my satisfaction. So I've been playing on the Feathermoon server in an old guild I started in March 2005 called Ladies of the Myst.

Jadessa and Aylardawn in their Lunar Festival finery on the steps of Stormwind Bank

Because Feathermoon is an RP server, Ladies of the Myst was a light RP guild for female characters. At its most active we would meet every weekend, Sunday mornings for me, Saturday evenings for those in the US as this is an American server. We often held tea drinking ceremonies in the moonwell at Darnassus. I've kept the old guild roster as a historical document, not a single character has been removed from the guild, some names have been offline for 8 years. Its like a silent whisper in virtual reality, a memory of simpler times with beautiful friends.

Lately, my husband and I have been playing there and in about a week we have managed to get the guild level from 1 to level 6. Here are two of our characters, Jadessa a Night Elf monk, and Aylardawn a human hunter.

I Love My Guild

Earlier this year, I tried to give up my World of Warcraft guild but found out just how much it really means to me.

I've always felt a need to be productive in some way, I need to devote my passion and attention, and to these virtual friends whom I've never met irl, what we can achieve together is something meaningful. I know a lot of people scoff at these virtual relationships, but after hanging out there for the last five years I would have to suggest that those who criticise it don't fully understand what it involves.

After we strip away the facade we are forced to wear in reality, having to play sometimes superficial roles at work or for family, the avatar we choose to play ingame is, in part, a mere fantasy, this is true. But during our work together as a team striving to achieve group goals, and for some this is for years, the 'true colours' of a player always appear, sooner or later. Here you are in your pure form. The facade we wear for society is stripped away, and then what is left? Your real personality, your true self is always there, hidden under purple loot and boss kill achievements. So there we find true heroes, with strength of character that you might not see in the ordinary people around you, living ordinary lives.

And so I came to the conclusion that I love my guild, because to me it is meaningful, it gives me purpose. And at the end of the day, its all just a game, but so is the real world, and what all of us are really seeking is something meaningful to devote ourselves to with passion, to make our lives all the more richer.

Images are of the Bloodlust of Nagrand merchandise we recently ordered to celebrate my renewed passion for our guild! They arrived yesterday, and I've already ran the mugs through the dishwasher so the quality of these products looks great so far. And yes, you can see in the shot of the mouse pad, I do keep a bottle of port handy by my pc, complete with shot glass, for medicinal purposes only, mind you! Link to the BoN shop is on our guild website www.bloodustofnagrand.com

Adventures in Movie Making

One thing I have been up to over the last few weeks is to start fooling around with movie making software  so I can download some little videos to youtube! I feel terribly productive learning a new skill and having something to show for it in such a short time.

Windows Movie Maker was the first software I tried, and I found it very easy. I posted about the first video I made in Yulara and her horse, Whiteowl. It was heaps fun and very simple to make, that 5 minute video took me less than a day to do, including the time it took to work out how to use the software. But the downloading didn't work until I split it into half and downloaded it as two separate videos.

The second little video I've completed and downloaded to our Bloodlust of Nagrand page on youtube is called "One Dozen Wipes" and is only 1 minute long to avoid the troubles of  my first video. I'm not sure if the quality is actually any better, if it is it's only minimal. The intro has "welcome to Bloodlust of Nagrand" spoken by our co-guild leader, who is some guy we've been playing this game with for three years yet we don't even know his real name, which I think is pretty lame! All I know is he makes a great guild leader, so what if he doesn't want to tell us his real name? Virtual reality is like that, I suppose.

getsome says

These videos use footage from us playing World of Warcraft, but yesterday my new video camera arrived! Soon I'll be buying a data card for it and working out how to use it so I can make little movies using RL footage! FTW! lolzzz

Yulara and her horse, Whiteowl

[This is an RP story for the MMO I play, World of Warcraft]

He was not a white horse. Whiteowl was named for his strength, sturdiness and silence, and also wisdom. She would often talk to him, when he ignored her she imagined he replied.

Yulara is a spiritual name which means 'howling dingo'. A befitting name as she was rarely quiet herself, when in the company of only her horse she would still chatter away.

When Asandrian left, saying "you don't really know me", she took up the only thing left she could truly rely on, her trusty steed, and rode aimlessly, along the long, straight road.

The morning after Asandrian had said goodbye, Yulara received word her grandmother had passed away. It was all she could bare, spontaneously bursting into uncharacteristic sobbing, all the while people hushed and looked away. Atop her speedy champion, the wind whooshing past her eyelids and into her ears, his hooves clumping heavily, rhythmically, upon the cobbles, she yelled into the wind "I didn't really want it anyway!" Her pain fell discarded upon the side of the road, unheard and unnoticed.

So urgent was her desire to be gone, Yulara sped her mount without stopping right past the large rock she used to visit for meditation and prayer. Several months earlier she had already made the pilgrimage to the sacred place and laid her hand upon the red ochre, finding the monolith surprisingly cool in the midday heat.

She had never seen snow and neither had her elderly grandmother, having lived all their lives in a hot and humid climate. Yulara finally found herself in a cold place. Yulara climbed up on a perilous precipice, swallowing her own fears to reach a place as far away as she could possibly get. When she reached the summit, she lay her hand on the snow, remembering her grandmother and her lost love. 'Maybe this place is far enough away ...' she whispered, and she imagined even her horse had nothing to say.

The Journey, part one
http://www.youtube.com/user/MaryofNagrand#p/a/u/1/HHjpKqOePzI

The Journey, part two
http://www.youtube.com/user/MaryofNagrand#p/a/u/0/c_h4DIn0Pvg

Elder Uma Dings 80!

My druid Uma just dinged level 80, so now I have 5 x 80 toons on Nagrand!

For want of something better to do, it's been my plan to level all classes for a while now. The reason is to improve my understanding of all the classes so I can (hopefully) lead raids better. I don't think it's possible to play all classes exceptionally well at the same time, but good raid leaders must have a basic understanding of at least most classes. And of course, I was reminded by one of my kind guildies that 'didn't you get free levels?' referring to the recruit a friend deal David and I did a while back. Isn't it funny that when you do something that might be impressive, there is always someone there to explain how it possibly could have happened? I mean, it couldn't be because I can play well, right? There must be some reasonable explanation! The fact is, after a considerable about of planning together, there was only 5 of my characters that could take advantage of the deal, and they could only get to 60. And the R.A.F deal is a legitimate levelling aid, so it's not like cheating. It means we could plan well together to take full advantage of it, and that's smart gameplay.

Geminda, Blood Elf Priest, 80 - duo levelled with Hydde to 70 then Nathaniell to 80. (no R.A.F.)
Sigora, Orc Hunter, 80 - R.A.F. from level 1 duo levelled to 60 with Wolffish, solo levelled from 60 to 80.
Yulara, Blood Elf Paladin, 80 - duo levelled to mid 20s with Steelle, R.A.F mid 20s to 60 with ?, solo levelled 60 to 80.
Summonatrix, Blood Elf Warlock, 80 - duo levelled with Avastin to 70 then Nathaniell to 74, solo levelled from 74 to 80 (no R.A.F.)
Uma, Tauren Druid, 80 - solo levelled to mid 20s,  free R.A.F levels from mid 20s to 60, solo levelled to 80

And before I forget, I may as well write down how my other 4 Nagrand toons levelled...
Swiftmyst, Blood Elf Rogue, 70 - R.A.F level 1 to 60 duo levelled with Amberthorn, duo levelled with Hexlord from 60 to 70
Maryrose, Undead Warrior, 76 - solo levelled to 50 ...  solo levelled from 60 to 65, JC Dailies with Nathaniell to 70, duo levelled with Wolffish 70 to 76 (no R.A.F.)
Darkmystress, Blood Eld Death Knight, 62 - R.A.F. with Hexlord 55 to 60, then solo levelled
Zye, Troll Shaman - solo levelled to 45 (no R.A.F.)

Elder Uma's "What to Wear" Dilemma

Oh no! What to wear?? That is the Question!!! Here is a gallery of all the Chinese New Year outfits you can get in WoW.  Seeing as Uma had a truckload of coins to spend after getting the title, what else was she to do but to go and get every single one???
[gallery columns="4"]

Elder Uma celebrates Chinese New Year

One of my most favourite World of Warcraft seasonal festivities is the Lunar Festival, which celebrates Chinese New Year with fireworks, cookies and beautiful costumes.

I've always loved the special dresses you can get with the Elder coins, they are the most pretty in the game imho. In my old RP days, I had one of these outfits on each of my Feathermoon characters in a different colour (which was colour-coordinated with their other outfits!). At one point, I was logging them out in their RP gear so they looked nice at the starter screen. Aaaahhh, what you do when you are bored!

I've figured I would get one title for each of my 'main' toons, rather than trying to get all seasonal titles on one toon for the special mount. My druid Uma just Had to be the Elder, right? This is one of the few dresses that actually suits the tauren females! Also, I figured "Elder Uma" was a funny play on vowels which sounded right, much like how "Sigora the Explorer" suits my hunter. But I couldn't get the Elder title on Uma last year as she was only level 60 and you need level 77 to get to the Elder in Utgarde Pinnacle. I thought she had to be 80, so was aiming for that, but realised she didn't need to level all the way, so didn't. No point in levelling yet another toon if I don't actually feel like it.

Uma is an interesting character, pretty quiet,  supposedly stately and composed, so her personality seems well suited to the Elder title. But get her around Amberthorn and her impulses to /udderflash can be quite embarrassing! Now she is an "Elder", perhaps she will conduct herself with more decorum, even while in the company of handsome tauren males!!!

My three year old baby, Bloodlust of Nagrand.

I look over all of the craft projects I could do, things started but not finished, and wonder what I might have achieved if I started this in earnest 5 years ago. But I can't begrudge the time I invested in a virtual reality known as Azeroth. I've learnt so much, about myself, my limitations and strengths, and about people generally. Those who don't dabble in MMOs of any kind would be surprised and bemused to know I have to say it's been a life enriching experience!

"To wake in the morning with an energy and passion .. makes any cloud seem surmountable and frivolous."

Three years ago today, while David was at work, I created my second guild charter on a raven haired rogue named Mary. I had made it the day before on my warlock, Zalise, but decided I wanted the GM to be a toon with an honourable and stately name (years later a young officer would tell me that name was too religious!) I also decided to do it on the 1st of  February which would make it an easy to remember birthday. When he got home I said 'Darling, I've made us a guild! We're just waiting for your signature' as I'd easily managed to get 8 other names signed up straight away. It was called Bloodlust simply because with the launch of the Burning Crusade, I had fallen in love with Blood Elves. I had no idea that it was not an original guild name, we would later find there were many, many guilds called Bloodlust, and ironically it was also the name of Nagrand's battlegroup.

Since then, so much has happened, so many trials and tribulations, so many adventures and misadventures! I started out with such different views on the game and the role of players, as it was my first MMO. But the experience of trying to lead a guild has made me make a complete turn around in attitude. It's been very, very hard and now I look back and wonder what the hell was driving me so passionately. The only explanation I can find is that it replaced another great passion of mine, something I full heartedly believed in with all my soul, yet irreplaceably lost. To wake in the morning with an energy and passion for the tasks you are about to undertake that day spurs you on and makes any cloud seem surmountable and frivolous. It's quite an astonishing miracle, that the guild took on this mantle, that I was able to re-devote my attentions so self-assuredly to an abstract concept so that it would survive to this day. I actually gave up on it three months ago and made David's toon the guild leader, a token gesture as I'm still involved with it, but I did it all the same. The passion has died, I no longer know with complete confidence what is best for the guild, to have that spirit and energy to virtually fight with other personalities that would interfere and take advantage of our work and take it for their own. It is a very abstract concept, and now the fire to fight is hard to find within me. But for the guys that are left, as long as they are happy with the direction it goes now, I'm content we've had fun with it and it achieved something great. Now I am a passenger on a ship I built, I give myself up to trust and the gentle rocking of waves not of my own making!

Happy Birthday, Bloodlust of Nagrand, my amazing baby, may you continue to grow without me holding your hand wherever you go!
Much love from Mary, the Rose. xoxxox

Short and Sweet Raid Leading

Explaining how we will tackle a boss needs to be succinct. No one can retain more than a few pieces of new information at a time. Its meaningless for someone who is seeing a boss for the 1st time to prattle off a long list of things for them that they have to remember. Likewise, if we launch into a lenghty dialogue of information we will loose them.

Expect them to have done the research. True, most of us only get so much out of it, but it does set the foundation for learning the fight. As raid leaders, our job is to direct how this particular class-mix of raiders will tackle this fight, not explain the whole thing from scratch.

Consider what is the single most important thing they must remember. Limit extra information. Try to avoid including information that's only relevant to a few, eg. tanks or healers, while explaining to the whole group. Try typing info for healers/tanks in party chat.

If seeing a boss for the first time, expect a couple of wipes. For the 1st time they see the boss, tell them the single most important thing, and go right in so they get their head around that. If possible, give short info on the fly eg. 'get out of that fire' as it happens. Our raiders are experienced, getting out of fire isn't hard, and telling them as it happens will make the intro shorter.

Also, if you stand around too long at the start, the best moment can pass. Pregnant pauses need to be avoided when you have everyone captured, standing around ready to go. It's like having athletes poised on those starter blocks ready for a running race, they are just waiting for the starter gun. If you make them wait too long it can wear thin on the athletes nerves and the best moment to strike can be lost, or erroded.

It is about finding the balance between just rushing in with no thought and standing around contemplating the upcoming fight for too long. Our raiding should be measured, but also swift and sure.

* the above is an excerpt from a post I wrote for our officer forum, Bloodlust of Nagrand
http://www.bloodlustofnagrand.com/index.php?topic=352.0

Accidental Achievements

Like I lot of WoW players, I'm really enjoying the relatively new achievement system implemened about 12 months ago. I particularly like how you can earn achievements through the normal course of the game, incidently bringing up achievement spam just because you are on an old toon  who has been many places and done many things. That would be particularly more special if you only had one main, but I have several alts, so my game time is spread across several toons.

The guy in our guild who has the most achievement points just has the one toon, and because of a new baby can't come on our raids as he often has to go afk, so spends his time clocking up achievements. I wonder how many points I have across all my toons and if it would measure up ....

While doing a random 5man this morning on my hunter, who is my current main toon as she out geared my priest a month or two ago, she got the Northrend Dungeonmaster and Northrend Dungeon Hero achievements without actually planning to. Just by doing a random 5man nearly everyday, she eventually did all of them. I did plan to get that achievement on my priest, but not my hunter, as she has the 'of the Nightfall' title and doesnt need the Champion of the Frozen Wastes title, imho! My priest needed it though, as we tried to raise the standard in our raiders at the start of Lich King and had to set the example. Our guild has come a hell of a long way since Karazhan ....

Last night, while our guild was in Icecrown Citadel, our retadin got the Master of Arms. When I moused over it to see what it was, I saw that my hunter actually already had it and I didn't even know it!  Just like getting the Epic and the Superior achievements, or the Needy or Greedy ones. Some people ask if we can need or greed stuff so they can get it, but I think that misses the point of accidental achievements.

Only one of my toons has the World Explorer achievement, but I did plan to get that one and methodically went about to get it. Very straight forward to do, of course, but a bit time consuming. And it just had to be Sigora, don't you agree? Sigora the Explorer has a nice ring to it, and its a poke of the tongue at those who scoffed at the achievement system when it first came out, with their jibs about people wanting things like the "Dora the Explorer" title. Siggie just collected herbs while she was out and about getting it, so I really don't think it was a waste of time at all.

For my other toons, if it occurs to me and I see on their maps a few pieces missing of a zone, if its convenient I'll just make a little detour, but that's it. I don't think my other level 80s with need to go back to the low levels zones so much that they will happen to explore it all, but you never know!

Easiest Classes to Level

The only class I haven't really levelled is a mage (my highest is 24). Apart from my level 45 shaman and a 64 death knight, I have levelled all other classes to at least level 70. Out of the other classes, these are the one I think are the easiest and why.

Things that make levelling easy ....
They have a pet that can tank mobs.
They can regen health or heal themselves during combat.
They can regen mana during combat, if they use it.
They can self-rez.
They can take on multiple targets at once and not die.

For those reasons, these are the classes I think are easiest.

1. Warlock
Has a tanking pet, can heal the pet, can regen both mana and health during combat, can self-rez.

2. Paladin
Can regen both mana and health during combat, hardly ever dies so doesn't miss the self-rez, can take on multiple targets at once.

3. Hunter
Has a tanking pet, can heal the pet, can regen mana during combat.

4. Druid / Death Knight / Shaman
Druids as kitty will have mana to heal when they need it. Can also escape mobs quickly if needed.
Death Knights can regen health and take on multiple mobs at once.
Shamans can regen both mana and health during combat, as well as self-heal and self-rez. They can also escape quickly from mobs if needed.

5. Shadow Priest
Can regen both mana and health during combat, and can self-heal.

Most annoying to level.
In my experience, and it may be because for the last 5 years my mains have been casters and healers, the most annoying classes for me to level have been the non-healing melee classes Rogue and Warrior.

WORST
1. Rogue and Warrior !

edit: I wrote this for our guild website, Bloodlust of Nagrand
http://www.bloodlustofnagrand.com/index.php?topic=373.0

10 Ways to make your own Gold

An important part of being a successful raider is having enough funds to cover the costs of raiding and keeping your toon in top condition.

There is a lot of information on the net about how to make your own gold in WoW. Everyone has their own way of managing their virtual money, but this is my take on it.

1. Always Loot
No matter how junky and how little the reward, picking up loot will give you a few extra coins, and it all adds up. Be in the habit to always stop to loot. Always vendor the junk whenever you get back to town.

2. Manage Bag Space.
Have big bags to carry junk while you are out in the field. Only destroy something when you really have to, eg. if you're not near a vendor and need the space to pick up something more valuable. There is an option in the default UI that allows you to see the value of the vendorable items in your bag. That way, you can destroy the least valuable item 1st if you need space.

3. Always Roll on Greed Items.
When the guild started, some us donated Everything we picked up to the guild vault. Over time we realised this was not a good thing, as we didn't have funds to pay for what we needed when the vault had run out of stock. Good raiders are well funded, and that is what is good for the guild, not an overstocked vault. Please do not pass on greed items on guild runs, especially 5mans. You're not doing yourself, or the guild, any favours. The guild loot rules are currently being rewritten, so it should be clearer on how to deal with loot in raids etc, but rolling greed on greens in 5 mans, even if it is a 100% guild run, is a good thing to do.

4. Don't donate too much to the guild vault.
That might sound contrary to other things I've written at this website, but the fact is, nobody should be donating to the vault that which they can not spare. The system is meant to be convenient, not a burden or a hassle. Always keep at least 50% or more of what you pick up and gather for yourself.

5. Don't buy over priced stuff from the AH.
If you don't spend your money you will have some to spend when you really need it. If you can farm it yourself, don't be lazy if you are not well off financially, go out and get it yourself before spending the last of your money buying something from the AH. Likewise, if levelling an alt, don't buy levelling gear, especially over priced blues, you just don't need it. A levelling toon is well enough geared by what they pick up and wearing quest rewards.

Good raiders are well funded, and that is what is good for the guild, not an overstocked vault.

6. Limit Crafting.
For many, crafting is one of the most fun parts of the game. I should know, I've maxed every crafting profession except smithing. But it is very expensive. If you craft, you must also gather. No one can afford to craft without gathering at least most of the materials. Do not ever imagine you will be able to only craft and sell at a profit so you can buy all the materials you need to level your crafting skill without gathering anything. There are literally hundreds of others on your server trying to do just that and they are your competition. There are lots of players who change their minds about trades, unlearn them and start crafting another trade. You can make money by taking advantage of this fickleness and sell raw trade mats, not the crafted items.

7. Gather, gather, gather.
Feeling too 'lazy' to get out for a farming session? I rarely have time to go out for a few hours and fly around just to farm. I usually only gather during the normal course of the game, always stopping to gather when I see it while I'm doing other things. I always skin the drakes in OS, I always mine the ore in H UK, my druid always herbs when she sees some while she is out levelling. I have 3 miners, and whenever any of them are standing in the north bank in Dal, sometimes I will see some ore down below appear on the map. I usually go get it! Basically, always find time to stop for one moment and gather, it's not going to hold up the dungeon that much. It's worth it, especially if you don't have time to spend hours on sessions devoted to just farming. While levelling any gathering trade you can sell the low level trade mats for quite a bit on the AH, to those rich players too lazy and too rich to get it themselves. And it usually only takes a couple of days to level a gathering trade from 1 to Northrend. After you have levelled your own mining, sell ores unsmelted as it is used to level mining.

8. Sell, sell, sell.
I rarely vendor anything that is not grey named, unless it's a BoP on a non-enchanting toon. If I had my time over, I wouldn't have invested so much money in virtual space to stash stuff away and I would have sold more. Now I have nearly finished my goal of levelling every trade I know which trade mats I no longer need and I'm selling them on the AH. I always sell just below the competitor selling at the lowest price, to maximise my profit while increasing my chances of getting a sale. Sometimes, the cost of the deposit and the low chance of a sale mean it's just not worth it, so I do on the rare occasion vendor things that are not worth the space of storing while waiting for a better price. Sometimes a blue BoE of any level can sell at a nice price, but sometimes the price you might get is not worth the deposit and its better to DE it on your enchanting toon. I access each blue to decide if it's worth selling or sharding.

9. Do quests for gold.
Questing has got to be one of the most straight forward ways to make gold in this game. If you need some rep for something, do a daily or two, or three a day. Most don't take long and reward you with gold, and are easy to get into a routine. Levelling alts make a lot of gold in Northrend by just questing. Its a quick way to level and make gold, as long as you don't buy silly blues from the AH!

10. Cook and Fish
Cooking your own buff food from the raw food you pick up is cheaper than buying the cooked food from the AH. Cooking fish you have gathered yourself is even cheaper and you will have all you need, plus some. It doesn't take long to fish and you can do it while you're waiting for friends before a raid. Vendor the junk and AH the non-junk. There is some food that only cooks into non-buff food but it's valuable because it levels cooking. Once you have levelled your own cooking, sell that raw on the AH.

I hope this has helped anyone still having trouble managing their virtual gold. If anyone can think of other ideas that can help, please add them here.

Happy Adventures!

edit: I wrote this for our guild website, Bloodlust of Nagrand
http://www.bloodlustofnagrand.com/index.php?topic=378.msg2298;topicseen#new