About Author: Lufitoom

Posts by Lufitoom

Burn Out

– February 6, 2012Posted in: Moonkin

I have been experiencing a case of the WoW Burn-Out Blues. I have had to force myself to log in, and didn’t even do that very often over the past few weeks. Even though I kind of wanted to play, other things like reading, photography, gardening, cooking, etc. just seemed so much more appealing.

I’m really not sure what caused it. Maybe it was the funk I was in from the RBG team changing the days of games to days and times that I just can’t make. Maybe it was the feel of the guild with all the changes (not all bad). Maybe it is just the fact that I am enjoying real life so much.

There is no question that I have fought growing up. Although I am a pretty responsible adult, I always had that kid-like outlook on everything. Playing games is one way that I have always kept young. Now, with the career and the house and the cars… I just see myself more as a grown-up than I ever have before. I love World of Warcraft. It has been a big part of my life for years and to be honest, it scares the shit out of me that I might be outgrowing it. I just don’t get that same feeling that I used to when I log in. I guess some of the magic is gone.

It kind of reminds me of stories you hear about heroin addicts. That first high is so intense and new. They spend forever trying to chase that high again but it never comes. I kind of feel that way about WoW.

When I started playing (in BC), I was amazed by everything. I was challenged at every turn and each level was a milestone. I had to run everywhere until level 40 and getting that mount was cause for celebration. Now, everything seems to be handed to me. The sense of accomplishment just isn’t there. I feel sometimes like I am playing some shitty game on Facebook. I am hanging on until Pandaland, hoping that some of the excitement will come back, but I’m not going to hold my breath.

My guild is pretty active so that has helped, and the Twitter community always keeps me motivated.

Now if I could only get the pink rocket mount… that would seal the deal.

Tags: Lufitoom, Moonkin, World of Warcraft

Back in 2012

Lufitoom

– January 1, 2012Posted in: Moonkin, Out of Character, PvP

After many months of inactivity, I have decided to cast a Rebirth on this blog and get back into the swing of things. What better day to start than on January 1st?

I thank so many of you for the emails and personal notes on Twitter. It is humbling to know that people actually enjoyed my little bit of writing here and I hope that I can step up to the plate this time and keep it going with fresh content, more RP and a lot of Moonkin talk.

Looking into the new year, I have some personal goals for the game. First and foremost, I want to get to at least 400,000 honorable kills before the expansion. I am not sure if they are going to add another title/achievement for honorable kills but I sure hope that they do. There has been some speculation that it will be for 500,000 but I am hoping they stick with the gap of 150,000 and move it up to 400,000 for the next one. That is well within my reach. As of today I have just under 357,000 and with my active guild and good friends (HI SNOWY), I am always in a battleground having fun!

Next, I would like to do a little more PvE. I know, I know… that is very uncharacteristic of me but I actually had some fun doing it. Just wish that I had a little more time to devote to it. With work and PvP, there just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day. Not to mention that I enjoy the social aspect of WoW tremendously and love to spend time just hanging out and RPing.

Lastly I would like to hit 2200 in RBGs or arena. I have come close but always have the team break up or some other silliness happens. My own lack of persistance hasn’t helped. Hopefully, that will change.

To all of you, I wish you a very safe, happy and prosperous new year! Please check back often, because I already have some posts ready for publishing.

Tags: 2012, Lufitoom, Moonkin, World of Warcraft

Lufitoom And Barexx Do Firelands, Conquest Vanguard Gank Style!

Lufitoom

– August 14, 2011Posted in: Ganking, Moonkin, Ner'Zhul, Pictures, PvP, Rogue, Screenshots

So after all the drama about when it is appropriate to gank in the questing area and should there be camping/no camping, I was annoyed enough just to say “fuck it” and go balls to the wall (or tits to the glass in my case) and just start spending my time making Horde lives miserable. I do not care at this point if they have 8 children and only have 5 minutes to do their dailies. I am going to do everything in my power to prevent my enemy from being successful.

I am very glad my friend Barexx (Rogue) shares my passion for WPvP. We are usually found together, although we do gank apart as well. We decided early on Saturday that we would spend the day ganking with absolutely no mercy. This was after I was privvy to some comments in Horde general chat the night before as you see below:

Broken English but yeah...

Please note the name “Icyvenom” because he makes another appearance later!

Gotta love it!

Nothing like some raging to motivate us! Anyway, we started our day early and found a Shaman named Grommie that was a glutton for punishment. After the fourth or fifth gank, he decided that messaging Barexx using a level 1 Alliance would be the way to plead his case. His anger was apparent.

Anger and tears feed us!

This was a win! Yes! To get this reaction means we’re “doinitrite”. I guess he felt that this game, on a PvP server was serious business so he followed up with this… an actual death threat! SCORE!

Pixels on a Screen is SRS folks!

After this, Grommie logged out, without reclaiming his body and was not seen again.

Now we decided to make our home “The Furnace”. It is a large hole in Firelands where you go down after a “boss” fight during a daily and then when you are done with the dailies down there, you catch a hot air vent back up to the top. The hole is always there.

The Furnace as seen after you have done the dailies.

It is quite menacing! Once you have done the dailies, if you jump in the hole (without the benefit of a parachute/levitate/slow fall etc.) you will die and take durability damage. There is a rappelling rope on the side tho that allows you to descend safely (see below).

See the rope?

Can you see where I’m going with this? Do you know the temptation that a Moonkin feels when there is a ledge or a cliff around? Not only that, but when the questers come back up from the depths of The Furnace, they are placed on the edge where a nice, refreshing Typhoon is waiting courtesy of yours truly, Lufitoom, the Bloodthirsty.

Game on! Victim after victim plummet to their deaths, not once but multiple times. Barexx was on hand for the rare times that the Typhoon did not work or was on CD. It was more satisfying than you could imagine. Please enjoy some screenshots of the fun that was had at the expense of the dirty Horde!

Tauren Mcsteve gets naked to avoid any more durability damage after the 6th fall back in the hole!

Arianna enjoys her trip back south.

But with no better results! GG!

Oh boy! Here comes another customer….

Well dressed Druid tries his luck!Still failed...

Still failed...

This continued on and off all day. Some made it out, most ended up doing what this Warrior below did… Hearth!

The only way out?

Now before anyone goes ragey on me, remember… I too have been on the receiving end of this. You have outs. Someone can summon outside the area in Hyjal, you can use many abilities to get out (Mages blink for instance). People were smart and took advantage of my 20 second cooldown on Typhoon. This is not a situation where you just can’t get out. I have been held hostage by a rival guild before (mind controlled and healed back to health and then chain cc’d for over an hour). It’s a game. Be clever and cunning and you can get out of anything!

We didn’t just stay there though. We caused murder and mayhem all over the area. While Barexx was taking his lunch break, I found my friend Icyvenom once again (remember him complaining in Horde General Chat?). I took the opportunity to teach him a lesson about whining.

So, leaving the original screenshot name so you can see the times: Poor Icyvenom gets mad!

The rage continued during the evening hours and into the morning.

I know that many of you don’t approve of ganking but this is how I view it. I am Alliance (Night Elf at that) and I hate EVERYONE. I am going to fight against those dastardly Horde and prevent them from being successful. I will utilize every tree, rock, hole, spell, ability, pie, frog or rubber band that will help me. Case closed.

At the end of our ganking day, we had gotten over 300 honorable kills by ganking in the Firelands alone. No battlegrounds. This brought my lifetime total to over 329,000. I am proudest of the screenshot below. Before we arrived, this path was clear and clean. It is now littered with the bones left behind. Oh, and HI NER’ZHUL! Barexx and Lufitoom love your moxie and thanks for all the good times and good fights tonight.

Tags: Alliance, Balance, Barexx, Cataclysm, Conquest, Dailies, Druid, Gamer, Gaming, Ganking, Honorable Kills, Horde, Lufitoom, Moonkin, Ner'Zhul, Night Elf, PvP, QQ, Rogue, Subtlety, The Furnace, Vanguard, World of Warcraft, World PvP, WPvP

Lufitoom’s Recommended Add-on’s and UI Mod

Lufitoom

– July 29, 2011Posted in: Addons, Battlegrounds, PvP, Screenshots

People often ask me if I use any addons or UI mods and the answer is most definitely yes. I am not a fan of the Blizzard stock UI and it took me a long time to find something I did like. This is my UI. I use ElvUI and I love it. It is fully configurable and it comes with some fantastic features like the actionbars, tooltips, unit frames, nameplates, chat and oh so much more. I actually love the nameplates that come with it, but I use an addon in PvP (which I will talk about later) that isn’t friendly with the ElvUI nameplates so I use Tidy Plates instead. Out of all the custom UI packages that I have tried, this one is the easiest and lightest to use. Highly recommended!

On to the addons. I use a couple that are what I call “epeen” addons. They serve no other purpose than to stroke my epeen and that makes me happy. Might as well get them out of the way before we get into the meat of PvP addons.

Honor Kill Tab This is exactly what it says. As you all know, I am obsessed with Honorable Kills, and Blizzard made it so annoying to try and check your totals. Instead of having to go to your achievements, then statistics, then kills, etc… you can simply hit H (pulling up the same panel as your battlegrounds/arenas) and there will be a tab at the bottom, just like all the other tabs. This one will show your kills for the day, total, battleground, world and more.
Female Announcer This woman will make you feel like a true stud. With every killing blow, she moans out the Unreal Tournament killing spree sayings, getting more excited up to 10 in a row where she reaches the climax with “Holy shit!”. If you don’t die, she screams “Holy shit!” over and over. Very motivating and mucho epeen stroking.

Now on to arena. I am more of a WPvP/Battleground nerd but I have been known to dabble a bit in arena.

Arena Unit Frames Most people use Gladius, but I really prefer Arena Unit Frames. It does pretty much the same thing, with one major bonus… it talks! You can set it to use sounds or speech to alert you along with text when something important is happening. I just love the fact that it will say audibly things like ”Shaman is drinking!” and “Warlock, trinket used!”. It really helps in arena when things can get very intense and where text can be missed.

For general PvP, including Rated Battleground, I like the following:

Healers Have to Die Although I usually have no problem with picking out healers from a crowd, this is an exceptional addon. This is also the one that doesn’t work with the ElvUI Nameplates as I mentioned before but it works superbly with Tidy Plates. The addon will place a cross above the nameplate of an enemy healer in red, and they seem to glow. Also, it will identify your friendly healers and announce when they are being attacked and what is attacking them. They also get crosses above their nameplates as well. Also, there are two sounds. One when you happen to mouseover an enemy healer and then another when you actually target them. This is a must-have for larger battles, not as needed in arena but it can be used and works well there too.
Battle Herald Just replaces the normal text in battlegrounds with a little more information, as well as audible alerts and announcements. Mouseover in CTF games to see the EFC. Lighter than Deadly Boss Mods in BGs.
MikScrollingBattleText Seeing those numbers of hits, heals and damage (and more!) scrolling around you is not only fun, but helpful. One of my personal favorites.
SaySapped Let the folks around you know when you have been sapped by a pesky rogue.
Stealth Alerter Just what it says. Lets you know who and what stealths near you. Very handy!
Spy This also shows when someone stealths, but it gives you a clickable list of all enemies near you. This is by far one of my favorites but I worry it is a little heavy on resources. I am still testing it now that it works well with 4.2.

Druid Specific Addons:

PowerShifter I have my forms bound but there are times I find that this right clicking of my bar gets me out of some sticky situations. Try it out… and if you are a clicker (gasp) this is a must have.

I am currently testing BGGlad which is supposed to be like a Gladius for Rated Battlegrounds. I haven’t had a chance to really give it a go but it sounds promising. I will certainly let you know when I check it out.

As a Moonkin in PvP, I need all the help I can get thanks to Blizzard and their Moonkin nerfing. These addons help a lot, and in many cases just make life a lot more fun.

Tags: addons, Advice, Battlegrounds, BG, BGs, Druid, Gamer, Gaming, Moonkin, Opinion, PvP, Rated Battlegrounds, RBG, RBGs, Screenshots, ui, World of Warcraft, World PvP, WPvP

Ganking in Firelands… Making Kids QQ Since 2011

Lufitoom

– July 26, 2011Posted in: PvP

This Moonkin got her feathers in a ruffle recently over this post over at MMO Melting Pot. Since then, they have stopped comments from being added to the post stating:

Hugh Hancock July 24, 2011 at 2:13 am

OK, I’m closing comments on this one. I think everything useful has been said.

Thanks for all your opinions. I’ve just spoken to Rebecca about this, and I can say with some confidence the Melting Pot’s stance on this issue won’t be changing.

I have contacted Dan O’Halloran and Chase Christian and asked if they wish to reply – neither of them have accepted as of this writing.

Now I return you to your regularly-scheduled FailPUGs,arty LoTRO events, nerf QQing and excited waiting for Guild Wars 2…

I read this as they were just tired of seeing the majority of the people call them out for being PvElitist crybabies and they were stomping away to pout. They repeatedly confused ganking with griefing and if they had done any research at all, none of what they were whining about this post that was posted at WoW Insider is even considered griefing by Blizzard standards.

One of the comments made by Hugh (which actually was directed at my GM who I don’t think owns anything with resilience on it) really got me thinking:

Hugh Hancock July 21, 2011 at 6:03 pm

@Matticus – I really can’t see how you can consider someone in full PvP gear tearing apart a clothie in greens with her back to you “defence”. There’s another word for that, and it’s not a nice one.

And whilst you may have the flexible schedule to simply log out and wait for a better time, many people don’t. When you gank, you might be ruining someone’s only chance to relax for the day. That’s actually fairly serious. I’ve seen people close to tears after being repeatedly ganked whilst they’re just trying to have fun. This stuff has actual effects on real people.

First, if you are in greens and doing your dailies there, you are going to be pretty much globaled by the mobs. So, GTFO. Second, if someone is close to tears after being repeatedly killed in a game where you rez moments later, then they should be spending their $15 a month not on a game but on some therapy because that is just not mentally healthy.

I know I might sound mean but I look at ganking and WPvP as an important part of the game. Although I didn’t RP much in events on my old server but I had a back story and I played (and still play) as my character. We are at war. My enemies are near. They must die.

Last night as I realized that I am approaching my 326,000th honorable kill, I sat back and thought about how much I enjoy WPvP. The randomness, the improvisation, the fact that it is always changing and always challenging. I got all reminiscent over the Sunwell Plateau days and I applaud Blizzard for bringing back an area that can be fun and frustrating from both PvP and PvE standpoints.

MMO Melting Pot kept stating that the post at WoW Insider was bad because it was part of “a community”. So, those of us who enjoy and participate in WPvP are not allowed to be part of this community? Wanting them to censor part of the community because it doesn’t go well with their playstyle? Come on now!

What they have done it just motivated me to become even more Bloodthirsty than I already am. I am now showing no mercy when the person I just ganked rezzes and I bomb them again. Sometimes, my friends, being the squeaky wheel gives you more grease than you can handle.

Tags: Dailies, Firelands, Gamer, Gaming, Lufitoom, MMO Melting Pot, Opinion, PvP, QQ, World of Warcraft, World PvP, WoW Insider, WPvP

My Moonkin Tattoo

Lufitoom

– July 22, 2011Posted in: Moonkin, Pictures, Tattoo

I know that people have been wanting me to talk about getting my wonderful Moonkin tattoo designed by http://magicalmelonball.com and tattooed by Rick at Solid Ink Tattoos in Tallahassee, Florida. Well, here it is after healing a bit:

Here is a shot a day after I got it so you can see the details a little better, although it was still puffy:

Yes, my Moonkin is wearing a pink bow. She is yelling “Bandu thoribas!” which is Darnassian for “Prepare to fight!”

People have laughed at the fact that I have a World of Warcraft tattoo but I find it no more odd than people having Yosemite Sam or any other cartoon character. I love Moonkin and this has been a big part of my life for many years now.

Next… my Druid bar will be tattooed on me. Somewhere.

Tags: Alliance, Balance, Druid, Gamer, Gaming, Lufitoom, Moonkin, Night Elf, Photo, Screenshots, Tattoo, World of Warcraft

So, You Wanna RBG….

Lufitoom

– July 20, 2011Posted in: Battlegrounds, Out of Character, PvP

Last week we had a few open spots on our RBG team due to our regular team members dealing with computer meltdowns, Harry Potter and I think even some sort of infection. This left us with the desperate move to PUG the spots. Ok, so filling them with guildies might not be “PUGging” to some people, but in my opinion it still was. I do prefer to go with guildies over the regular random scrub PUGs though so I was happy to see some new names and fresh faces helping out the team. It became quickly apparent that they had limited PvP experience (which is fine with me if they have a willingness to learn) and were unsure of their abilities outside the relative safety of a PvE instance. So, that is where the idea for this post was born. Just some helpful hints for newbs to rated battlegrounds, with an emphasis on Balance and Restoration Druids.

Come appropriately geared. Blizzard makes it stupidly easy to get decent PvP gear if you just put in the effort. Showing up to my RBG with low resil/blues/greens (yes, someone had a green on) is like me showing up to your progression raid in the same equivalent and under hit. Get the gear before you step into the battle.
Just because you are Resto in PvP, doesn’t mean that all you are supposed to do is heal. This is why Resto Druids have to get the 4% spell hit as well. Your heals are fantastic but you must be aggressive in addition to healing. Anything that can stealth should have a Fairie Fire on it. Insects should be a swarming. Cyclones and roots galore. Hunter pets… hibernate. If you see someone low, don’t be afraid to Moonfire/Wrath.
If you are not aware enough in PvP yet to be able to identify what is happening to you, get an addon that shows you the spells etc. that are affecting you or keep you combat log up. I have some PvE addons and when I am going to PvE I turn them on. When I am going to be PvPing, I turn them off. No excuses. Personally, I don’t like the idea of required add-ons. I just know that in some situations I need the extra help for the betterment of the team. You should be able to tell immediately that you are being mana burned and calling it out will help us help you.
Communication is the key. There are many things to remember during a match in regards to communication. First and foremost, don’t be shy. Although vent/mumble should be as clear as possible, silence is a bad bad thing. Don’t be shy! Call out your CC’s. Call out a low target. Call out the direction of the EFC. (Don’t use left/right. Always use directions such as North/East/West/South or landmarks like Waterworks or Graveyard side. Remember, left and right depend on your perspective. Inevitably, half your team will be facing the other direction and will run to the wrong side.) If you are Resto, call for peels. By peels I don’t just mean melee, it’s anything that is making it hard for you to heal.
The only person calling out for heals should be the flag carrier. Our healers should be aware of the damage being done and if you are dying they should know about it already. If you do die (it happens), call out how many seconds to rez and where are you rezzing.
Focus fire. Seriously. When a target is called, GET ON IT. Make it dead.
If you see a healer running around with no mana, keep it in combat but don’t make it a priority to kill it. Kill the other healers or DPS first. They are helpless/harmless and can be blown up after.
If you are low on mana, call it out. Chances are there will be a druid with our nerfed and weak innervate ready for you. It might not be much, but it’s something.
Rogues. Tricks the Moonkin at will. Thanks.
Last, have respect for your teammates. Coming into an RBG with a bad attitude and a PvE elitist demeanor will not be received well. PvE/PvP rivalry will always be there and even I joke around about it but like it or not… when you are in an RBG, you ARE a PvPer.

Oh, wait. The most important thing is…

HAVE FUN!

People forget that sometimes.

Tags: Advice, Balance, Battlegrounds, BG, BGs, Boomkin, Cataclysm, Druid, Gamer, Gaming, Moonkin, PvP, Rated Battlegrounds, RBG, RBGs, Resto, World of Warcraft

Moonkin PvP in 4.2

Lufitoom

– July 10, 2011Posted in: Battlegrounds, Moonkin, PvP

Even thought I had been dreading the changes to Balance Druids, I wanted to wait and see what actually happened in 4.2. I was accepting my fate of nerfage. Sadly, this has been one nerf after another since Cataclysm dropped. Before you start saying “but but but you have 23% moar damage in your Starfire and Wrath!!!!11!11!!!” let me say that even though that’s nice, it still is a nerf from my PvP perspective.

As a PvPer, I can’t just stand in one spot until the predictable fire/green shit/frost/etc. drops onto the same places it does every time in a PvE encounter. I have to be on the move, avoiding the blender and staying at ranged from some annoying melee classes. My moonfire/sunfire spam allowed me to do that. Now if I had some sort of defense (like the instant roots they took away) I could agree with this change. As it stands now, I cannot be offensive or defensive. I have been reduced to popping everything and hoping the other player(s) are weak enough to go down. That’s it.

I am a firm believer that Blizzard really has not had a knowledgeable person on the staff when it comes to Moonkin PvP. It’s not their fault, we are more rare than you would think in the grand scheme of things. I don’t want to be OP or faceroll (see Mage lol). I just want to be competitive.

So here are just two suggestions:

Provide Balance Druids with a serious cc/escape mechanism. Instant roots/cyclones (on a cd of course). Would give us a chance to get back at ranged, but with a good cd, it couldn’t be spammed.
Buff starsurge again for pvp. If it procs, we have an opportunity to win. Still running on RNG it wouldn’t be completely controllable and not like the current Pally and Warrior 1-click I win buttons.

Why only two? Because I am a realistic sort of gal. I am not trying to become overpowered. I just would like to be able to have the escapeability that so many (most) of the other classes have. I mean come on, Pally/DK/Warrior/Mage/Priest/Rogue/Hunter/Warlock all have the OSHIT buttons to at least give them a chance. They are instant and powerful. Shaman too, but in a lesser degree (not gonna even talk about healers really… that is as it should be).

So, how ’bout it Blizz? Can a feathered friend get just a little love? You have really broken us.

Don’t make a Moonkin cry.

Tags: Balance, Druid, Gamer, Gaming, Moonkin, Nerf, PvP, Spec, World of Warcraft

Just Chillin’

Lufitoom

– June 13, 2011Posted in: Out of Character

I know, I know. I’ve been a horrible Moonkin and I have neglected to write here in a long time. Part of it was the fact that real life got in the way with a new job and lots of family obligations, but mostly it was because I was a bit burnt out on writing anything. I guess you could say I was gunshy after the drama that my twitter account caused with some unstable folks on Emerald Dream.

With all of that behind me, I am now back and back for good. Being a Boomkin Blogger is important to me and censoring myself to placate some weirdos I don’t even know is just not going to happy.

So here I am.

I have been, as this post implies, “just chillin’”. I spend a lot of time with a rogue friend of mine named Barex. We do some twos, roll over Hordies in bgs and conquer that stingy bird Anzu every night. We have a blast and we work well as a team. Lots of ganking in Tol Barad Penisula, of course.

That’s about it in game. It’s sad but a few people pretty much sucked the fun out of it for a while. Things are about to change though. Got my new mouse ordered, new computer in a few weeks and I am so ready for 4.2 to arrive.

Tags: Alliance, Balance, Cataclysm, Druid, Emerald Dream, Gamer, Gaming, Lufitoom, Moonkin, World of Warcraft

Premature Emote-ation

Lufitoom

– March 21, 2011Posted in: PvP, Screenshots

Have you ever happened upon a member of the opposite faction and just known that you were going to be able to roll them? You get the opener, things are looking fantastic and then it goes horribly, horrible wrong? That’s just what happened to Wastedbeef of Emerald Dream today. I am not sure if it was all the nifty blues he was wearing, or those sparkling greens he still had equipped, but he felt the need to spam emotes at me, confident in his ability to win this confrontation in Tol Barad.

Sadly, this was a case of “Premature Emote-ation”, a terribly malady that seems to be showing its ugly face more and more during WPvP fights.

This, my friends, is the result of his emote frenzy:

Here is the full screenshot of me riding away, keeping it a 10, and you can see the text in all its glory.

Tags: Alliance, Druid, Emerald Dream, Gamer, Gaming, Lufitoom, Moonkin, No Mercy Mafia, PvP, Screenshots, World of Warcraft, World PvP, WPvP

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