On top of that, I haven't posted screenshots in two weeks and I discovered that I was exactly 65 screenshots behind, so there are some extras this week to catch up (and will be double the usual for the rest of the month). So, yeah, monster post today.
Partners in CrimeSeeing as Cataclysm hits next Tuesday, this is a pretty relevant topic, but really applies to 'all the time'. WoW is a social game, by simple fact of being an MMO. Even when playing exclusively solo, you will find yourself interacting with other players. They may be brief interactions, yet there they are.
Sometimes it's a matter of mutual benefit (two people killing the same spawn take less time than each person individually), but others it's just fun to play with a friend.
Which is somewhat like saying water is wet, but I'd like take this to the next step for the more hardcore: Having a grinding buddy.
That Sounds Dirty
wink
But no seriously.
While a grinding buddy isn't a definite necessity, and of course everyone values time alone from time to time, a good partner in crime makes a looooong slog (like, oh, the Insane, perhaps?) that much more bearable.
Good qualities for your grinding buddy include:
- A shared goal - Even if it's a really heinous one, like all your reps ever to 999 exalted. Having someone to share the pain with is quite nice. Now, your goal can be 'shared' but doesn't have to be 'identical' to what your buddy wants.
- Shared gain - 'Shared gain' is actually more vague than it sounds. What I'm pointing at is that both parties should log off feeling like they've done something worthwhile. It doesn't have to be a tangible item. If you're helping a friend farm something without any interest in material gain, then you should end the night satisfied that your effort is appreciated. This is a responsibility for both (or 'everyone' if there's more than two of you) involved. If someone is resentful, you have done it wrong.
- An understanding of effort given - While ideally, your buddy and you are able to give in equal time, this isn't always the case. This doesn't mean that you've found the wrong friend, rather that you need to come up with a plan that works for both parties. There may be unequal amounts of effort put in, and that's fine, so long as everyone involved understands as much.
- Have some goddamned fun - I'm not even sure why this needs to be said but it's something that people need to be constantly told. Quite similar to the old joke of 'Doctor it hurts when I do this' 'So stop doing it', if you aren't having fun playing your goddamned game, stop. If you're angry and sick and tired of what you're doing, step back and do something else.
Why the Above is Important
What the entire list boils down to is a mutual respect for each other's time. You want to enjoy your game, and make sure your friend does too. It's such a simple, easy concept, yet finding people that grasp it can be quite difficult.
If you want to share a goal with someone, be honest about it. Don't say 'Come reroll to raid with us' when you mean 'Come waste time in guild chat and never expect an invite'. I've had WoW-friendships destroyed over this. Unfortunately, these past occurrences made me decide I'm never moving off my server to 'play with friends' again, because without fail 'play with friends' has always meant 'oh but I didn't mean it' some time after the character is level 67 (and while I'm not laden with regret, I am constantly annoyed over the loss of time that I could have spent with people who do respect the effort I put in).
And so, but then
Beyond butthurt whining, how does this apply to me?
Well, my boyfriend was my grinding buddy long before he was my boyfriend. Take from that what you will. wink
We have our hands in many soups at the moment, so here's some basic application of the above.
- The Insane - Is a slow, slow thing. Even though 25% of it was removed in 4.0.3! He's also closing in on finals week, so hasn't been able to play that much.
I've completed grinding out all the lockboxes for Ravenholdt rep (my Real-ID status, in response to whispering to me about how ~*~awesome~*~ the world is post-shattering, has been 'Wow, LBRS looks exactly the same!). But I still make a short, daily trip back every day on my rogue so I can send him lockboxes. It's not a huge amount of time, and compared to what one needs it seems a rather pitiful amount, but it's progress, anyway.
I've had him sit stealthed and occasionally hit a space bar nearby while I grind out Steamwheedle rep for both of us. It's a little depressing on my own - when he's able to help it's about 4000 rep an hour for Booty Bay compared to my pitiful 1.5k alone, but it's still better to work on it slowly than not at all, and in a manner where he can study while I work is fine by me.
I'm slowly accumulating Darkmoon cards on the side. This is a bit tougher because the inscription vendor in Dalaran changed, so he doesn't accept Northrend ink for lower ones anymore. He only accepts Cata ink. Which doesn't exist yet. What this meant is farming herbs is currently not worth the amount of cards I get out. In Cata it will be, but not now. So I stalk the auction house constantly and pick up cards for the both of us, using the money the guild bank has accumulated from selling excess materials we've had all expansion.
- Thundarfurry - His rogue accidentally a binding. There was only one thing for it - put the damn sword together. He's able to farm for the second binding on his own. To keep me occupied in the time that he can't be on, I was sent on a quest to make 100 arcanite bars (in other news, transmute spec still hasn't procced enough to justify the 5 primal mights that went into it at the beginning of BC). The guild bank is now full of thorium that I haven't been able to sell (like, had to finally buy the last tab amounts of full).
We're also doing weekly BWL runs for ingots (4 so far zomg).
- For Cataclysm - I actually have to wait a week before I make my journey to 85, because he has to focus on finals, and I'd rather not dash off ahead. I'll still play, most likely try out a Worgen while I wait. And, of course, farm goblin rep (with my Real-ID message set to 'Wow, Grizzly Hills looks exactly the same, too!' the whole time). I don't mind waiting, as a week really doesn't matter that much (several guildies are also holding back for finals, so it's very likely I'll have a pool of people to drag around in instances and heroics anyway).
I also found out I still have two paid weeks of vacation left this year, so indeed, a lot of time to catch up :D
- RARF - Between the $20 deal for vanilla through lk and RAF, it seemed worthwhile to start a second account (my stupid character slots are full anyway! grr!). Right now it's a lot of sitting on one's hands until finals are over, but we were able to play a pair of night elf mages over Thanksgiving and discover that RAF combined with the new questing is pretty damned ridiculous. Like, 4 levels gained in Wailing Caverns ridiculous.
We hit 20 and set foot in Darkshore and I felt a bit guilty. It does feel a bit stupid to be 5+ levels over the quests, but you still want to do them because it's 'new'. We talked about it a bit and decided that at least some of our other characters would probably level together, but not in a party, to slow things down a bit.
I came to the conclusion that even through the bit of buyer's remorse with RAF, it's still not the end of the world. He gets a free month and a rocket, and I wanted the second account anyway. He also wants the night elf mage to level fast, to replace the draenai one he deleted to make room for it - and I generally can't stand leveling mages so having it go extremely fast is great.
The point was also made that, as soon as we hit 60 (which will be fast!), we can sit down and quest normally. All is well.
Ultimately, it doesn't matter that the quests are blowing by. The quests will always be there and they're not usually memorable. What is worth remembering is the fun we've had doing them - which we can do if they're 5 levels below or 5 levels above us. We'll remember that I died to standing in a green cloud of 'What is this' and then ran the opposite direction from my corpse because I followed the gold arrow pointing out a quest instead of the red on pointing at my corpse within viewing distance of the graveyard. Ah, and we'll cherish it.
Screenshots
Most of these were taken from a laptop on vacation which can't handle some of the new graphics.... but they're still pretty on the inside ;_;
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