Background Downloader and Other Stuff

I had always been one of those people that did not use the background downloader.  I have a fast connection and I wait until patch day to download all I need.  Worst case, it takes 30 minutes for me to download things.  If I know the patch is that day I just change my routine a bit.  I'll log on as soon as I get home from work to start the download and then go about life as normal.  By the time I get to the game to sit down and play it is ready to roll.

This time around that is not going to work.  After downloading the PTR and seeing how long 16 gig took me and knowing that I would need to download that to play I decided to enable the background downloader.  I am glad I did.  When the time comes in, most likely, 8 days, I will be ready to roll and not have to wait 12 hours or more for a 16 gig update.  So far I have received 2 patches of roughly 1.5 gig and 4 gig each.  I am expecting more to come.  Most likely it will end up being the full 16 gig that the PTR required us to download.

For many people this will come as a huge surprise.  They will log on the Tuesday following next and not be able to play until the download finishes and depending on their connection that could be quite a long time.  Lets not even mention all those college students and others who have a download limit on what they are allowed.  It could end up taking them weeks, if not months, depending on how much they are allowed to download.  If you have a really crappy connection or one that only allows 100 mb per day it is going to take you damn near forever to get this patch.

So assuming you are not limited by download limits and time is your only issue I suggest you enable the background downloader now and get to work.  That way when the time comes you will be able to play the same night and not have to wait.  Even a fast connection like mine would make it impossible for me to download 16 gig in enough time that I could have waited and still played the same day.

Meanwhile back at the ranch...

I played a bit more on the PTR, took a pass by ZG and a few other places to find things I needed to know about.  ZG has not been removed yet, which I didn't think it would be, but it was worth looking into.  I need roughly 1 1/2 clears more to reach exalted and it looks like I will have the time.

I checked the conversion for honor to whatever the new PvP points are called to see what I would need for my last PvP mount that I put off getting while trying to finish off some PvE things first. Seems like this will be a non issue.  The fact that the mount is still around is really all I care about.  I will get it sooner or later.

Meanwhile back at the ranch...

Last I did an update on my leveling my Shaman was still only 76 and now it is 80 with both skills maxed.  This weekend was more about my Warlock however.  Last I updated my Lock was only level 22 but I had gotten it to 30.  My intention is to get 35 before the Thanksgiving holiday event so I can level cooking using that as much as I can.  Love that even for leveling cooking. However, once I reached level 30 I got the quest for my Felhunter.  Being I am leveling affliction, from the guides I read, the Felhunter is the way I want to go.  So my goal this weekend was to at least get that done.  Easier said then done.

Warlock quests are ridiculous.  Not ridiculous hard just ridiculously long.  The had me running all over the freaking world.  To some places I have never even been to before to boot.  Oh well, I had time.  I put myself in query for a random dungeon and started my quest to go to the barrens.  I had to find someone in the middle of nowhere it seemed.  First off, as alliance I never quest in the barrens being there is not much there for me to begin with, secondly, the sting of quests it sent me on was as if they looked at my log and said, lets send him everywhere he has never been before.

Each time the dungeon popped up I entered and did my dungeon then came out and continued on my quest to see the world for this stupid quest.  I worked my way through to grab the path at the Loch, then the Harbor on my way to Southshore.  Once there I grabbed the murloc quest, I figured I would have to kill them to get to the book anyway, might as well do the quest at the same time.  More dungeons popped up, I took them, and finished that part of the quest in time.  Now I had to head to Thousand Needles for the other book.  Woohoo, with all sarcasm I can fit into it.  I could go to Ratchet and work my way down from there but I am closer the The Harbor which will get me more flight paths going from that way.

I am all about trying to make the most of things.  While dungeon after dungeon pops up I make my way from the Harbor to the Marsh and grab that flight path and then swim the long way to Tanaris where I grab that flight path, go through Thousand Needles and get my book then continue along past the great lift, grab the book from the dead guys hand, for the quest of course.  Even if it is a low level quest I am walking past it and going to where the turn in is anyway.  Always grab quests that are along the way and you do not need to do anything for.  It is stupid to ignore free experience for doing nothing.  I turn in the quest, grab that flight path and fly off to Ratchet in route to Ironforge to turn in the quest.

The dude in Ironforge gives me a quest to go get some rods.  I know where that is, get on a bird to the harbor and grab the low level quest to get the banners from those guys.  Remember, never turn away a quest that is where you are going to be anyway.  I figure I need to kill them to get rods so why not get banners too.  I kill, kill and then kill some more.  These suckers where not rod friendly and they granted no experience being my level so it was a waste.  Oh, BTW, just from doing dungeons while trying to finish this stupid quest I am now 33.  I get the rods and make my way back to Ratchet to turn in the quest.  That brings me to 34, I do the next quest and get my Felhunter.

So all in all, if it were not for the dungeon finder I would have wasted nearly 4 hours doing nothing getting not even one level just to get my Felhunter.  At least with the dungeon finder I was able to grab 4 levels along the way as I did it.  Who in Blizzard thought that something like this would be fun?  Are they sadistic?  Lets say you are the average Joe, the type of person that can play an hour here and there and do not spend a decent amount of time on the game like freaks like me do.  This quest alone would take them a week to do just from all the traveling.  Where in their right mind did anyone at Blizzard come up with the idea that this would be fun?  If it were not for the dungeon finder I would have never gotten the damn pet.  I would have respeced to a spec that uses a pet that does not waste 4 hours of my life to get.

Meanwhile back at the ranch...

Speaking of the sadistic nature of the coders at Blizzard we move on to the Rogue.  Last we saw the Rogue he was level 63.  He is now level 67.  As much as I hate the little bastard I keep working on him.  It is still the most useless class in the game as far as their complete lack of ability to solo anything elite or anything that is more then two humanoid mobs.  You get two beasts on you of the same level you are kiss your ass goodbye.  The put out dismal DPS in randoms to the point where if you see a Rogue in your group just consider it as you are 4 manning it.

I've gotten to the habit, being I know I can not contribute as well as any other class, a healer can out DPS me, of kicking casters.  That is what I spend 80% of dungeons doing.  I round up the caster mobs for tanks that can't handle them and trust me, that means nearly all tanks.  It is partly because tanks do not have a great deal of ability to deal with them at that level and that most of the tanks at that level are DKs that are not tanks at all but just query as one for the faster query time.

People tell me that once Rogues get to end game they really shine.  I'll find out.  I guess I take leveling this piece of crap as a challenge.  I will get it done sooner or later.  They really do suck on a level of suck that no other class comes close to.  Even a hunter with no pet has dozens more tools then a rogue does when it comes to PvE.  I guess I should get into PvP with the Rogue.  That is where they shine.

One other thing about my Rogue that will become an issue soon.  I need to up my lockpick skill.  At level 67 now I will be moving to Northrend shortly and I am still behind on my skill.  I need to start running around pick pocketing just to get some boxes but again that is something Blizzard likes to torture you with.  I can pick 200 pockets and get 1 damn box.  Blizzard really loves to waste the players time doesn't it?

I know I am new to the game but was "annoying as hell" considered "hard" back in the day?  The warlock quest was not hard, it was annoying as hell.  Getting pickpocketing up is not hard, it is annoying as hell.  How did this game get to be so popular if the designers thought that annoying meant hard.  I do not mind hard games.  I do mind annoying.  I am doing it now because I am a completest and I like the challenge a bit but if I had started this way I would have given up.  I would not want to spend hours and hours on end picking pockets to up my skill.  As least now with the dungeon finder it is not as bad.  I query up and go about my thing.  Gives me time to get some experience and break up the grind of pickpocketing.

Meanwhile back at the ranch...

Last we saw our lovable Paladin she was wondering around level 40.  Now she is sitting pretty at 43 with the greatest dungeon finder story in the world.  It is short but cool.  I was heading to the Marsh to turn in a quest to Tabitha while, as always, I was queried up in the dungeon finder.  I make my way to Tabitha and click her to turn in one quest, then the second, oddly both where from different people telling me to talk to her. The exact second I am about the compete the second quest my dungeon finder screen pops up.  I finish the quest and see the explanation mark over her head.  I knew what quest it was, I figured, lets grab it anyway.  I am still too low for ZF but I figured I might as well pick it up while I am here.  I grab the quest, enter the dungeon, get ZF.  How awesome is that?  I do the dungeon, loot the tiara and leave the dungeon and turn it in at the same exact spot I was standing before I entered the dungeon.  Now that was fantastic.

Meanwhile back at the ranch...

My only other leveling update to give is from my Warrior which is now level 55, up from 52.  Nothing much to report there.  Just wondering how to go about doing him in the future.  I am not sure I want to tank randoms at a low level without anyone to quest with.  Tanking is more fun when it is with someone and much more fun when it is with a pocket healer.  I'll wait until the update on him now most likely and dual spec so I can do DPS as well for soloing.  Being they are lowering dual spec to 100 gold, down from 1000, I will wait on that.  No reason to waste 900 gold.