The Forest Cat Confessions of an Azeroth Tourist

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-28T14:50:00.002-05:00

I almost forgot to post my Winter Veil Holiday sweater.

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

The Bears Up There.

2011-12-15T19:28:00.002-05:00

When it comes to quests, WoW can get pretty repetitive. Kill ten of these, pick up twelve of those, go there and talk to that elf.

I think that's why I love this quest.

It's cute, it's different and it's fun.

The point of the quest is to rescue bear cubs. To do this you climb a tree, grab a bear, and save it by tossing it onto the trampoline. Needless to say, if you miss the trampoline, that one doesn't count.

It's not a new way of doing things, they just reworked the vehicle mechanic, but it's pretty original. Here's hoping we see more quests like this and less "Kill Ten of Those" quests.

I liked it so much that I made a video of it.

Music: "Feed Me, Pet Me" by The Dollyrots

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

Living Trees

2011-12-11T11:25:00.001-05:00

I don't think I've ever seen one of these. From the Grove of Aessina in Mount Hyjal.

Now, I'm wondering if she has a companion. I'm off to look.

Update: Okay I looked, they're all girls. Uh, Blizz, that's not going to work.

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

Transmogrification - No

2011-12-08T20:50:00.001-05:00

Well, all of those nice things I saved for all these years so that one day I could wear them again, are still in the bank.

So far transmogrification hasn't worked out very well for me. It's really picky and that's kind of a pain.

So, here I am, exactly as my armor looks now.

If I eventually get this to work right I'll step back in time and show you one of my favorite looks.

Cya,

Keila, the Forest Cat

My Little Pony

2011-12-07T22:31:00.001-05:00

I couldn't resist.

It was on sale.

That's my reasoning and I'm sticking with it.

Cya,

Keila (the Forest Cat)

P.S. Yes, I've been offline for months. You can blame a mermaid for that, but she's going to be awesome and I'm pretty proud of my contribution.

Loremaster?

2011-03-01T12:12:00.005-05:00

I had no chance of ever achieving Loremaster in the past. It seemed doing all the quests was a moving target, with the number changing all the time. It was difficult to track where you were, and after a brief attempt, I finally gave up.

It looks like with Cataclysm that Blizzard has cleaned up the process, and it's easy to see where you are as you progress through all of the different areas.

In addition to finishing Twilight Highlands this week, I also went back and grabbed Darkshore.

If you haven't gone back into Darkshore to experience the changes, I highly recommend it. Blizzard has done a great job of updating the area, plus you get a great pet - Whithers :)

Cya,

Keila (The Forest Cat)

A Dramatic Occurrence

2011-02-27T11:24:00.000-05:00

For someone that changes hair as much as I do (color, style, length) it's odd how Keila's has remained pretty much the same from day one. When the barber shop opened in Stormwind I changed her markings, but couldn't seem to get myself to change her hair.

For some reason it seemed like I was changing her character, I have no idea why I feel that way.

You have to realize this is from someone who in the course of the year has worn the color of the rainbow on her head. I love hair color!

A few days ago Keila went back to her stylist, and though I couldn't bring myself to make a drastic change, she now has highlights and a new style.

Maybe next week I'll try a new color ;)

Cya,

Keila (The Forest Cat)

My Funniest Moment in WoW

2011-02-23T15:22:00.003-05:00

I've mentioned before that I'm not a raider, that's pretty obvious from my achievements, but despite that my all time favorite moment in WoW is my only Karazhan run.

I'm in a really small guild, so we can't do any raiding by ourselves, but we have a "sister" guild that is much bigger.

This Kara run consisted of our entire guild, along with members of Bladefist Embassy to fill out the group.

Led by DJ, who had a lot of Kara experience, we were a pretty green raiding group. Despite that, we did pretty well, with only a few mistakes leading to a couple of wipes.

That all changed when we got to the Shade of Aran.

For some reason we just couldn't handle this boss. We wiped time and again without much progress to show for it.

Finally DJ said, "I know a glitch, here's how we can beat him."

In short, DJ told us about a way to start the event, while staying outside the door. This allowed you to periodically attack the boss, while protecting you from his attacks.

Yes, I know this is an exploit, but it was 3:00 AM at this point and we were tired and desperate.

So, we gave it a shot.

To date this is the funniest thing I have seen in game.

We stood outside the door attacking until it got to a point where the boss seemed to disappear. Feeling confident we opened the door.

Every spell he had cast during the entire fight came out the open door and almost completely obliterated our entire raid in one shot. Sal and I were left standing, but with almost no HP left. The rest of the group, dead.

Cries of WTF came from almost everyone. I laughed so hard tears were coming down my face.

Our great glitch turned into nothing more than a huge trap. To see that mass of spell energy burst from that room was pure awesome. It was the most beautiful n00b moment of all time. Leroy had nothing on us.

It was so awesome, we did it again.

And died again.

Finally the late hour won out, and we quit to return the next day.

Of course real life got in the way and we never returned, but the memory remains.

I saved a video of the entire thing and it always cheered me up when I watched it. Sadly, I never backed it up and lost that video last year in a hard drive crash.

To wrap this story up, I finally did get my revenge.

Last night I took my Bladefist Embassy pal back to Kara, and we destroyed the place, including my nemesis, the Shade of Aran. I got my revenge, but it just wasn't quite the same.

Maybe we should have stood outside the door …

Cya,

Keila (The Forest Cat)

The Prize Inside the Candy Box

2011-02-22T14:19:00.005-05:00

After running Crown Chemical Co. every single day I finally got something out of the chocolate box, a Forever-Lovely Rose.

I have to admit after putting it on I was like, "That's it?"

I don't know, couldn't it be a little bigger? I guess it is just a single rose.

Cya,

Keila (The Forest Cat)

Twins!

2011-02-21T22:09:00.000-05:00

I ran into my twin in the Stormwind Command Center. That's me on the right.

I didn't even know I had a sister :)

Cya,

Keila (The Forest Cat)

P.S. I ran into another twin a while back, so maybe we're triplets!

A view from the Holosuite

2011-02-20T11:31:00.000-05:00

More silly quests in Uldum.

Even after the quest was done I played with the projector for a while. What? No Chippendales Night Elf?

Cya,

Keila (The Forest Cat)

Poor Durn the Hungerer

2011-02-19T09:22:00.002-05:00

Omen may be a little much for me, but poor Durn is a pushover. I remember doing the Durn quests with guildies and friends, and he was definitely a challenge at level 67.

No more.

We are so overpowered in Cataclysm that he was down in a matter of seconds.

His friend Banthar took me one shot, literally. very sad.

Anyone know why the Blizzard folks gave us such a huge power jump? I mean I've got 5 times the hit points I had at the end of Wrath. What's that all about?

Cya,

Keila (The Forest Cat)

Soloing Omen is a bad idea (for me)

2011-02-18T10:13:00.001-05:00

I died trying until I noticed how much health he actually has. Oops. But, you can take him down with four people :)

Me and Omen.

Poor puppy.

Oddly enough it won't let you complete the quest unless you throw away the awards from the last time you did it. Yes, packrat that I am, I still had Elune's Lantern in my bank.

Cya,

Keila (The Forest Cat)

P.S. Yes, I realize someone has surely soloed him. I'm not that patient to try :)

I Found Brann Bronzebeard

2011-02-17T08:23:00.000-05:00

Brann Bronzebeard is currently on the third level of The Halls of Origination :)

Cya,

Keila (The Forest Cat)

Tweet Tweet

2011-02-16T17:56:00.002-05:00

Okay, because I don't have enough to do I'm going to try to keep everyone updated with my incredibly fascinating life!

So, all three of you that read this blog, please follow me :)

Yes, she's now on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/#!/The_Forest_Cat

Keila and the Raiders of the Temple of Uldum

2011-02-16T11:04:00.001-05:00

Finally finished all of the Harrison Jones quests in Uldum. What a great time. I loved all of the cut scenes, but unfortunately I wasn't able to capture them. I tried a few times, but my little Macbook would just give me an error. I probably should have used a program outside of WoW, but many of the scenes popped up by surprise and I was never ready for it.

Look what I did. Pretty :)

Thanks to the WoW design team, these were [EPIC] quests and were tons of fun. I know why everyone loves Uldum so much.

Cya,

Keila (The Forest Cat)

Keila at 85

2011-02-15T23:32:00.001-05:00

This is just after my first Halls of Origination run.

Surprisingly my dungeon finder gear score is 320 at this point. I'm getting close to the score needed for heroics, but not even close to the experience level I need.

I'm not a gear score "checker", but this is how the dungeon finder determines if you are "ready" for heroics, so by the score I'm getting close.

Personally, I know I need a LOT more dungeon runs. I hear the current heroics are quite a challenge.

I think I'll do a lot more normal runs before I go anywhere near heroics. I don't need any more n00b moments :)

Cya,

Keila (The Forest Cat)

Dead Boss Collection - Halls of Origination - Anhuur

2011-02-14T22:47:00.002-05:00

I can be such a N00B!

Okay, so this is my first time in Halls of Origination and when we get to Anhuur the tank asks who's left and who's right.

The hunter says left, so I say right.

Why not, I'll just stand on the right and fight from there?

LOL. So the fight starts and I see something about a lever pop up.

Oops. Lever? Where is the lever?

It's down below. What?

So, I jump down, switch the lever and a bunch of stupid snakes attack me.

So, I fight them off.

Flip the lever again.

Kill more snakes.

Fight over. Dead boss.

Where am I?

Look ---> Stairs!

Yay, I made it back to the group!

Note to self. Read about boss fights. LOL.

Cya,

Keila (The Forest Cat)

Dead Boss Collection - Halls of Origination

2011-02-13T22:40:00.002-05:00

Wow, this was a fun instance. Heroic in here is going to be insane. More on that later :)

Rajh

Setesh

Ammunae

Isiset

To make things better, I won every need roll, and that NEVER happens. I think I like this place :)

Cya,

Keila (The Forest Cat)

Dead Boss Collection - Lost City of the Tol'vir - General Husam

2011-02-12T19:07:00.001-05:00

Here's General Husam from the Lost City of the Tol'vir. I haven't made a habit of capturing pictures of dead bosses, but since they don't usually stand around for photo ops while alive I figured this was the only way I was going to get my picture :)

Cya,

Keila (The Forest Cat)

Schnottz's Landing - Uldum

2011-02-11T13:06:00.000-05:00

I've seen all types of innkeepers to this point, but I think the one in Schnottz's Landing is my new favorite.

It's not an innkeeper at all, it's just a book to sign to say you were there! You know, like the guest registers you'll find at a bed and breakfast. I love it :)

Not only that, but the General Goods and Repairs follow the same theme. You just get an old trunk and a rusty anvil. I guess they're on the honor system that you're going to pay up.

Cya,

Keila (The Forest Cat)

Stood in the Fire

2011-02-10T08:33:00.002-05:00

Deathwing paid a visit while I was questing in Uldum.

Here's what it looked like after I rezzed and started to fly around to view the damage. I love how everything in the area was on fire.

Cya,

Keila (The Forest Cat)

Auberdine, the After Effects - Part 3

2011-02-09T13:22:00.001-05:00

Another look at the little house in Auberdine, pre-Cataclysm, where a very young Keila used to spend her nights :)

Cya,

Keila (The Forest Cat)

Keila is 85 and it's in the (Guild) news!

2011-02-08T11:38:00.003-05:00

I made 85 a little earlier than I thought. I tend to wander aimlessly so much that I'm not exactly a power leveler, so I was a little surprised to hit 85 only a month or so after starting Cataclysm. If I was obsessed with 85 I could have done it a lot earlier. I'm obsessed with a lot of things, leveling isn't one of them.

A week or so ago I was flying around Blades Edge just looking around and Star whispered me,

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Just exploring," I whispered back.

"Okay :)," she said.

LOL. Keila is off wandering around again.

I should mention again how nice my guild is. I'm not sure I contribute a lot, but they have been extremely helpful to me, and have helped to make this game a very wonderful escape for me.

Sometimes I think my guildies wonder about the strange druid who seems to venture all over the place with no rhyme or reason. That's just me, I love just looking around. I've been doing it since day one.

Some of the things slowing me down include leveling my Worgen, who is now in her mid thirties, and all the time I've spent flying around Azeroth looking at all of the "Cataclysmic" changes. If you haven't gone back to explore all of the original areas in Azeroth, I highly recommend it.

I'm glad I hit the cap in Uldum, that's such a fun place to level.

I think it's funny that we have guild news now, so it was interesting to see my latest achievement appear. We have a really tiny guild so most days there's not a lot of news :)

Cya,

Keila (The Forest Cat)

More Indy (Harrison Jones)

2011-02-08T09:10:00.000-05:00

I finally got to the point of actually starting the Harrison Jones quests. I love Uldum so much. I think I'm going to be taking lots of pictures (and video) while I'm here.

I think I might like it as much as I did Vashj'ir and that's saying a lot. Of course Vashj'ir had the added advantage of coming very close to a project I've been working on, so it was easy to get immersed in the water environment for me.

Cya,

Keila (The Forest Cat)

Headed into Uldum to quest with Dr. Jones

2011-02-07T21:07:00.001-05:00

It looks like I've reached the much talked about Indiana Jones quest line. The couple of people at work that play WoW have lots of good things to say about Uldum, so I can't wait.

Off we go into the deadly desert!

Cya,

Keila (The Forest Cat)

My Humps

2011-02-07T11:27:00.002-05:00

In tribute to the truly horrific performance by Fergie at the Super Bowl last night I thought I'd post a picture of Keila and her Lady Humps :)

Cya,

Keila (The Forest Cat)

Keila at 84 and Three Quarters

2011-02-06T11:54:00.000-05:00

Hmm, about that leveling gear. I'm not quite sure I like this look.

Cya,

Keila (The Forest Cat)

Keila at 84

2011-02-04T11:51:00.000-05:00

Just a couple of snapshots of gear that will be replaced almost immediately. Leveling gear sure isn't as ugly as it used to be.

Cya,

Keila (The Forest Cat)

The Murloc Supply Line

2011-01-31T11:44:00.000-05:00

I was in one of those moods where I just wanted to fly around and look at all the changes since Cataclysm. While flying over the Blasted Lands I came across this Murloc Supply line. Obviously part of some quest, the Murlocs are being forced to carry supplies for the Naga. As I watched, an endless parade of the little fishy guys carried box after box across the sand.

I almost felt sorry for them. Almost.

I have noticed that Blizzard is trying harder to get us to have some Murloc sympathy. Not really working for me. How about you?

Cya,

Keila (The Forest Cat)

Stratholme Whacked with the Nerf Bat

2011-01-30T11:31:00.000-05:00

I've been attempting to get Baron Rivendare's horse for a while now by doing solo Strat runs. Though they certainly weren't hard, if you did something stupid like pull a dozen beasties you could get in big trouble. That is if you were a caster. Of course what happened is you would get silenced and basically had no way to fight back. It didn't happen often, but it was a possibility.

Not now.

Everything in Stratholme has now been lowered 10 levels and there is no fight left in the place. Add that to the ridiculous amount of HP we have now and you can pull the whole place and AOE everything down.

It's pretty sad.

I did one Strat run today, but didn't have the heart to destroy it again. I suppose I'll be back, sometime.

Cya,

Keila (The Forest Cat)

The OctoStaff

2011-01-29T00:15:00.000-05:00

I couldn't resist posting a picture of this staff one more time. Why is it some of the best looking things come early on, and the things you get stuck with for months are horrid?

How about that stupid battered hilt mace or whatever it was. As hard as that was to get, it wasn't half as interesting as this green quest reward.

I understand a staff with an octopus on the end doesn't make much sense when you leave the water, but that doesn't excuse whoever designs the EPIC weapons. Make them more creative, please :)

Cya,

Keila (The Forest Cat)

For Me, It's just a game

2011-01-27T21:57:00.003-05:00

My response to the criticism swirling around about the current state of WoW.

For me what it all comes down to is that WoW is just a game.

I use it as a diversion after a long week of work, a stressful day, or maybe I just want to get away from life for a while.

I've never taken it seriously, never been a hardcore raider, never accomplished anything "significant" in the game.

I don't care. I can get lost just swimming in Vashj'ir and admiring the beauty of the undersea world they have created. I love finding the little details and just enjoying what I see. Maybe there's something wrong with me that I don't try to "win" this game. I'd like to think it's because I love art and can appreciate the remarkable accomplishment that Blizzard has created. It could also be because I'm a lousy gamer ;)

I know people will scoff at the n00b that has zero raid achievements and nothing hardcore in her armory, but you know what? That's OK. I enjoy relaxing with my WoW friends. For 15 dollars a month you can't beat that.

Not criticizing anyone for playing differently than me, just an observation about my time in this game =)

Cya,

Keila (The Forest Cat)

Me and Thrall

2011-01-27T00:07:00.001-05:00

I snapped this picture of Thrall just before he sent me off questing. I thought it was funny at the time because it looked like we were friends. Looking back it looks like he's trying to grab my butt

Bad Thrall. You're not my type.

Cya,

Keila (The Forest Cat)

Squidward

2011-01-26T21:00:00.000-05:00

This is so ridiculous, I couldn't resist posting it.

From a quest in Vashj'ir where you have to wear a squid on your head.

Cya,

Keila (The Forest Cat)

Keila at Level 82

2011-01-26T00:01:00.002-05:00

I can't resist capturing pictures while casting spells.

Keila at level 82.

Sadly, my funny looking Octopus Staff is no longer useful :(

Cya,

Keila (The Forest Cat)

Auberdine, the After Effects - Part 2

2011-01-23T12:09:00.002-05:00

I may not know what happened to Gubber Blump, but I do know what happened to the "Elder of Auberdine" - Thundris Windweaver.

He's clearly dead.

Cya,

Keila (The Forest Cat)

Auberdine, the After Effects - Part I

2011-01-22T11:42:00.001-05:00

I have an unusual fondness for Auberdine. Some of this is because I really enjoyed questing there when Keila was in her teens. I loved the questlines, and I met some really fun people (Hi Roguelf) that I grouped with, which in turn led me to my first guild (Bladefist Embassy).

The other reason I seem to love this place so much is because it seems everytime I stopped over it was under attack by the Horde, and I ended up defending it. I'm not really much of a PvP player, but I fought a lot of battles in Auberdine.

I was a little distressed to see Auberdine was going to be destroyed in Cataclysm, so I took some pictures and video before Deathwing came through.

Here's a little before and after of the tiny house that sits up on the hill. I also have quite a few older pictures of this house. For some reason when I was a newbie WoW player I used to leave Keila sleeping in this house when I logged off. Don't laugh, I did figure out eventually the concept of rest, and how it was much better to log out in an inn than in a bed in some random house :)

Cya,

Keila (The Forest Cat)

Whatever Happened to Gubber Blump?

2011-01-21T11:12:00.000-05:00

Has anyone seen Gubber Blump since Cataclysm?

I'm hoping Blizzard kept him alive and has something special planned for his return.

Cya,

Keila (The Forest Cat)

She's Back

2011-01-18T17:26:00.005-05:00

Despite not playing much at all for months on end I had to come back once Cataclysm came out. I'm splitting my time between Keila and my Worgen (Hales), so I haven't hit the magic 85, but I'll get there eventually. I've always been slow at leveling anyway.

Real life still keeps me occupied most of the time, but I plan to update this thing at least once a week. It's pretty entertaining going back in time and seeing what I was doing in WoW, so I want to be able to do the same thing with Cataclysm.

Cya,

Keila (The Forest Cat)

P.S. Thanks to Star and Sal for not tossing me from the guild while I was away :)

Happi Hollydaze!

2010-12-27T15:56:00.000-05:00

Cya,

Keila (The Forest Cat)

I don't have much time ....

2010-04-21T23:05:00.009-04:00

... to play.

I'm moving.

It's permanent this time.

Way down south, where it's hot (almost) all the time.

But, I'm living my dream, so it's all good.

Cya at the House of Mouse,

Keila the Forest Cat

April Fools!

2010-04-01T22:54:00.000-04:00

I am the Walrus, goo goo ga joob (or however it goes) :)

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

Rockin' in Blackrock

2010-03-06T11:59:00.002-05:00

I wanted to make sure I had a video of Elite Tauren Chieftain before Cataclysm was released, because I'm not sure of the fate of Blackrock Mountain.

I was really slack, this is just raw footage. I'll get better, I promise. I'm just super busy at the moment.

This is the best reason to own the Direbrew remote ;)

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

The Sword(Mace) is Mine

2010-02-22T10:56:00.000-05:00

As a Moonkin I didn't get a sword, but I did get a nice mace from the Battered Hilt quest. I wish it was a little more Epic looking, but I'll take what I can get.

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

The Battered Hilt and Immature Players

2010-02-20T10:44:00.000-05:00

The Battered Hilt quest line is another of those epic quest lines you need to do. Even when the item is no longer useful I highly recommend doing the quest if you get the hilt to drop.

Of course you will run into players who just don't get it.

When it came time to go into Halls of Reflection for the last part of the quest line, I saw just how immature some players in WoW can be. After entering the instance I announced I needed to fight the sword. Three of the party congratulated me, but one of them, the tank, pitched a fit.

He cried out "You suck," and "You don't deserve it!" He then went into the corner, sat down and sulked while the four of us battled the sword.

Needless to say the immaturity didn't sit well and the group booted him pretty quick.

My experience in WoW has been almost entirely positive, but there are players of all ages and maturity levels, so I guess you can expect this at times.

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

Battered Hilt - Who's that Blood Elf?

2010-02-17T12:02:00.000-05:00

That Blood Elf hanging around in the underbelly of Dalaran where I always get my Wild Spindeleaf always intrigued me.

Why is he here?

Why can I kill him? :)

Now I know the answers to both questions, he's a part of the Battered Hilt quest line.

You have to kill him to pick up the Sunreaver orders.

If you're like me you've killed him a few times just because you can, so this is a very easy part of the quest line.

The funniest part was the guy standing right beside me fishing while I took out the Blood Elf. He was seemingly oblivious to the entire thing.

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

The Battered Hilt Quest Begins

2010-02-16T11:54:00.002-05:00

Last night I started the Battered Hilt quest line. I love epic quests, as I've said before the Onyxia attunement was my all time favorite favorite quest.

I don't think this is going to equal the Onyxia quest but it is steeped in lore, and it is fun.

You start just below the tournament grounds at Quel'Delar's rest and you'll be back here a lot, so before you start the random dungeons to complete the Icecrown portion of this quest line you might want to park here, It'll save you some time.

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

The Battered Hilt is mine

2010-02-15T22:13:00.003-05:00

I'm not lucky normally, but last night I saw a Battered Hilt for the first time and I won the roll.

Yes, it's worth tons of gold, but I love [Epic] quest lines so I'm off on an adventure. I'll report in as the quest progresses.

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

Icecrown and Healing

2010-01-31T09:27:00.002-05:00

I made my first runs into 10 Man Icecrown over the weekend. I ran it with a bunch of friends from another guild with the goal of gaining raid experience and rep by clearing trash up to the first boss.

We did this twice, and even though we did this with minimal issues we were really under-geared, so taking down the boss wasn't really going to happen.

I'm not complaining, this was a friends run, but one of our DPS (a moonkin) had a very basic mix of greens and blues. Needless to say taking on the boss was only going to be a learning experience.

I actually was asked to heal this one and it went really well. I've done very little healing and it's almost always been with friends, you know the kind of groups where you think before you attack.

This morning I thought I would enter randoms as a healer.

It was a complete disaster.

The problem with randoms is you never know what you are going to get. In Boomkin I can usually deal with it, after all I've spent countless hours in that form.

As a Tree, not so good.

Two dismal experiences, the last in Pit of Saron, and I called it a day.

I guess I need to go back to practice mode for healing.

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

Haunted Memento

2010-01-24T09:37:00.000-05:00

I've had this thing since the Scourge event just before Wrath. It follows me all the time and I just realized I've never taken a picture of it.

So here ya go, my own personal friendly ghost.

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

Oh Noes! The Spider Nerf Bat

2010-01-21T09:39:00.000-05:00

I was waiting for randoms the other day and decided to visit the Druid starting zone and buff some new players.

I guess I haven't been here in a while, but I was dissapointed to find that the spider cave has been hit hard by the nerf bat. All of those mean beasties are now yellow, including the first boss you ever face as a Druid, Githyiss the Vile.

You can now ignore all the other spiders, walk right up to her and kill her. Sigh. I know the game is five years old, and it makes sense to do things to allow new players to catch up, but can just a few things remain?

Oh well. Time moves on.

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

The New Armory

2010-01-15T17:13:00.002-05:00

Okay, I'm enjoying the new armory modifications ;)

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

Random Dungeon Finder Part I

2010-01-09T23:02:00.003-05:00

I've run tons of instances with Keila using the random dungeon tool, but I'm not going to write about that, yet. I'm going to focus on some of the lower level, old world, dungeons.

Yesterday I dusted off Kirsa, my horde hunter, to try the dungeon finder with a non-level 80 character.

I hadn't played Kirsa in forever so I went ahead and chose the lowest dungeon on her list to queue for, and skipped the random part. I wanted to get used to her abilities again.

So, where I ended up was Sunken Temple. My first surprise was how easy it was. Not only was it easy, but within 5 minutes the other two DPS dropped out leaving just three of us. This left only me and a bear tank to do all the damage. It was still easy. I certainly don't remember this place being that easy in the old days and Kirsa has pretty ordinary gear, with a bunch of low-level greens, so it made me wonder if in addition to everything else, Blizzard made the old instances easier.

After my next dungeon run, It sure seems they did.

I love Blackrock Depths. It's my favorite instance in all of WoW. It's massive, it's not a straight line, and there is tons of stuff to do. Plus, it is the home of the Onyxia attunement, the single best quest line in WoW, and my favorite thing I have done in the game.

I was excited to go back to BRD at the appropriate level, and once again see the place as it was intended.

At least that's what I thought. But after two incomplete runs, due to people quitting, I'm convinced that Blizzard has nerfed the heck out of the place. Like Sunken Temple we did much of the place with three people and only when we pulled the entire bar, by being silly, did we run into any trouble at all.

I understand why Blizzard has made things easier, but I don't always like it.

I still love Blackrock Depths, but it'll never be the same.

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

Holiday Khariel

2010-01-05T19:00:00.003-05:00

It's a little late, I'm running behind, but my oft neglected bank alt would be upset if I didn't post this picture of her in her Christmas finery.

Anyone know why the shoulders of the green winter clothes are red? Was it always this way? I don't seem to remember this from last year. Looks like a glitch with the graphics.

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

Death by Onyxia

2010-01-03T02:23:00.009-05:00

I finally got to visit Level 80 Onyxia tonight. Dragons remain my favorite bosses, and I love Onyxia, so I've been looking forward to this.

I'd like to say it went well, but that would be lying :)

We did improve. We went from wiping immediately, to getting close to the end of phase 2. We obviously still need some work. Despite the numerous wipes, it was a lot of fun, and I will return.

Before I go back I think I will be watching some strategy videos. That deep breath is a killer :)

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

I've changed to Human!

2010-01-02T19:47:00.004-05:00

Okay, not really ;)

But after my last Culling of Stratholme I decided to roam around and I even took a picture of me in human form.

Not sure why I change to human when most others don't. Is this a Night Elf thing?

I do think it's kind of funny that my armor is correct, but my hair is purple. Huh? Humans can't have green hair?

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

No Halls of Reflection ... yet

2010-01-01T19:42:00.000-05:00

Still haven't completed Halls of Reflection on heroic. My last random group all quit just as soon as we entered. I'm giving up on ever doing this with a PUG.

I'm going to start working on guildies :)

Why do people hate this place?

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

FigurePrints add Dead Bosses

2009-12-28T09:58:00.003-05:00

I haven't been to the FigurePrints site in a while, but I clicked on one of their ads yesterday. I noticed they added a new base feature - Dead Onyxia ;)

I think it would be more impressive with a living Onyxia, but I doubt I could afford that.

I can afford this one, but for some reason I keep holding off. I guess I need to do this one of these days, just not sure when that day is.

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

Running from The Lich King

2009-12-27T12:22:00.004-05:00

I finally got a chance to run Halls of Reflection last night. Actually, this wasn't my first attempt, I had it pop as a random a couple of days ago as a heroic and I wasn't ready for that. That was a pretty fast and humbling experience, but last night I queued up for regular mode just to see what it was all about and to learn the strategy.

There is a lot of grumbling about this instance, claiming it's too hard. My brief heroic experience will confirm that it is hard, and running it in normal mode you can see how challenging it can be, but it is also incredibly unique and fun. I love the storyline and how it plays out. At the moment it's probably one of my favorite dungeons. That may change after a bunch of heroic wipes, but for now all of my memories of Halls of Reflection are positive. I'll check back in once I complete heroic mode.

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

Perky Pug

2009-12-26T12:14:00.002-05:00

For someone that never did any pickup groups, getting the PUG achievement is something I never imagined. But the new dungeon finder is very addictive, and I've found myself running more instances than ever before. Contrary to what you may read on the WoW forums it's not a horrible experience. The groups I have been in have been almost exclusively positive experiences. I've found the people very helpful and for the most part understanding.

We had a brand new healer in Forge of Souls last night. At first she said she couldn't do it, but everyone encouraged her and offered a lot of positive reinforcement along the way. In the end she did heal the entire thing and we didn't lose a single person. That's typically what I've experienced.

So here's my reward, the first true dog in Wow, the Perky Pug.

Gotta get back to queuing up for random dungeons ;)

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

Velanna, where did you go?

2009-12-23T20:32:00.012-05:00

[Epic Dolls] was an interesting experiment for me. It was an attempt to play on two realms and it was a large guild. Azeroth Knights is waaay tiny by comparison.

I also loved the podcast and what it was all about. In the beginning I loved the interaction between Hayley and Leala. It was so pure, and so fun. They talked about fashion, you don't hear that in the podcasts by men! They even held a Fashion Show! If you've never seen a WoW fashion show click the link.

But all good things came to an end. Haley left and the podcast became a touch more serious. It was still good, but it lost a little bit of what made it fun to begin with. Eventually I guess Leala became tired of it, because it faded away and is no longer produced.

I didn't expect the same to happen with the guild, but something did happen.

In the picture Kirsa looks at Velanna who was the victim of an Alliance attack at an [Epic Dolls] party.

Shortly after I put Kirsa on vacation there seemed to be a pretty big turnover in the guild. If you look at the leadership, and the roster, many of the prominent members are gone. I should note I was on the edge of the guild. I never got high enough to raid, and my quiet nature kept me on the fringes. But others that were prominent are now gone.

Hence the title of this post. Anyone that was an early member of the guild knew Velanna. He was fun, friendly, and to many of us, the heart of the guild. Needless to say it is dissapointing to see he is no longer a part of [Epic Dolls]. I have no idea what happened, though Amber told me there was a leadership shakeup, and apparently raiding caused some pain in this "casual" guild.

I suppose it happens, and people do move on, after all it is just a game.

But I guess I thought Vel would always be around.

Vel, wherever you are, I hope you're having fun.

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

Keila the Dragon Slayer

2009-12-23T15:01:00.005-05:00

I've been running tons of random heroics, but even if it doesn't pop up I try to run Violet Hold if I have the time. I just like the way it works with the portals popping up and all the scrambling back and forth as they spawn.

I also love dragons, and of course Cyanigosa is the final boss. I finally remembered to get a picture of the conquered dragon last night.

So, here ya go - Keila the Dragon Slayer.

Sadly, Cyanigosa doesn't put up much of a fight anymore. I think we downed her in about 15 seconds last night. Oh well.

According to WoW Heroes, I'm finally "geared" enough to visit Onyxia. I look forward to seeing her again!

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

Halls of Reflection

2009-12-22T14:55:00.001-05:00

I haven't completed Halls of Reflection yet. I was experiencing major lag the other night, and I just told my guildies they might be better off if they had someone whose spells didn't take 20 seconds to cast :)

But, I did get this great picture.

I'll get back sometime this week, I hear that Halls of Reflection is quite entertaining, and a fun challenge.

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

More Blast from the Past

2009-12-21T14:52:00.001-05:00

Here are the stats to go with the portrait from 2007.

Love that maximum health of 396 :)

Cya,

Keila the forest Cat

Keila: Then and Now

2009-12-21T14:46:00.000-05:00

I thought it would be fun to look at Keila now and how she was two and a half years ago. Here are a couple of portrait shots.

I guess at some point she started using a new color of hair dye. It's a lot brighter than it was :)

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

A Christmas Card

2009-12-20T10:23:00.004-05:00

Merry Christmas and Best Holiday Wishes to everyone out there.

Hope all of your time in WoW is filled with fun and friendship.

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

Christmas Party!

2009-12-18T11:12:00.002-05:00

Bladefist Embassy had their Christmas party on the 18th. Since we are their sister guild, we were invited. It's the first WoW party I've been to since leaving [Epic Dolls] many moons ago. I missed the silliness of just hanging out with a bunch of people.

I didn't bring bunny ears. Someone put them on me ;)

We even used the remote control to take a trip to Blackrock to see the band. I hope this option remains in Cataclysm. I love the option of just popping in for a quick concert.

We had the party on that little island just off the coast of Ratchet. I think they should have had the party in a place with snow, but that's just me :)

Thanks to everyone in Bladefist Embassy for the invite and being so much help to me!

Hugs to you Diamondjaxx :)

Cya and Happy Holidays!

Keila the Forest Cat

Portrait Time

2009-12-18T10:05:00.001-05:00

I used to take lots of portrait shots. Some of my favorites are those of my gear in the teens. I love the ratty look of my gear in the early days.

Here I am today. It'll change soon, but I'm trying to do a better job of keeping up with my gear changes.

This look is the result of many heroic runs, leatherworking, and a couple of lucky drops.

That's the Lunar Eclipse Robe, which is a leatherworking item I created. For a crafted item it's very nice and I love the way it looks.

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

Enblems, give me emblems

2009-12-14T09:58:00.000-05:00

There's another advantage to all of those heroics.

A bunch of emblems.

I've never been much of a gear person. The stuff you need to wander aimlessly around the world isn't much. But, once again, all of the sudden I find myself in tons of heroics and reaping the "spoils" of that.

I'm sure elitists would scoff at what little gear I have, but that's okay. I have fun in this game. It's never been a job for me ;)

These are my new bird shoulders. Somehow I think they fit my in-game personality pretty well.

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

I'm (almost) keeping up

2009-12-13T09:48:00.004-05:00

Another first for me is actually running a dungeon right after the content is released. This has never happened before. Because I ran so few dungeons in the past, the norm for me is to get to them months later, if at all.

But something about the new dungeon finder tool seems to have changed all that. Not only did I run a lot of PUG heroics in the first week, I also explored the new 5 man dungeons with friends.

I completed both heroic Forge of Souls and Pit of Saron within a few days of the patch.

I had the same chance to do Halls of Reflection but I passed after major lag problems set in on my computer that night. Still haven't finished Halls of Reflection, but to have done this much within a week of the patch is a minor miracle for me :)

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

A Flying Mount

2009-12-09T09:38:00.000-05:00

For most people a flying mount is one of those things they can't wait to get. It offers the freedom of the skies, and so they rush to get one as soon as they can.

I never bothered.

I love flight form. It's instant. It's fun being a bird. It just seemed silly if I could be a bird, to sit on one.

But today I received my first flying mount. It's the Red Proto-drake you get for beating the timer in Culling of Stratholme.
This is one of the results of the new dungeon finder tool. Because I've been in so many heroics, all the things I never bothered with seem to be falling into my lap.

I don't really plan to use this much, if at all, but it's kind of fun to have :)

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

Oh yes, the turkey

2009-12-08T22:59:00.002-05:00

Almost forgot to include my turkey in a picture!

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

Pilgrim Keila

2009-12-07T22:56:00.000-05:00

Even though Thanksgiving is long past I couldn't resist posting this photo. I look completely ridiculous as a pilgrim =)

Real life has been nuts, but expect to see more trial and travels over the holidays!!

Cya,

Keila

Terokkar Turkey Time

2009-11-28T03:57:00.001-05:00

I missed the runs with my guildies, so I decided to do Ikiss alone.

Starwinkle and I will run this on heroic, attempting to get the mount, but I think Star was shopping or something. When I finally got caught up she wasn't online :)

So, I just soloed it on normal mode. No big deal, right?

Well, it shouldn't have been, but:

First attempt - The server crashed when his health was at 20%. I was dead when the server came back.

Second attempt - I forgot to put on my pilgrim clothes! Duh.

Third attempt - Success!

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

Keila the Pilgrim

2009-11-27T15:09:00.005-05:00

I finished all of the Pilgrim achievements today. The most difficult one for me was Turkey Lurkey. I got a bunch right at the beginning but couldn't find a Troll Rogue for anything.

There was one running around in Dalaran, but he was already transformed and he wouldn't switch back. After a while I went to Orgrimmar and that didn't help, so I stealthed into the troll starting area. That place was completely dead. I gave it about twenty minutes, but that was a complete waste of time.

I thought about getting a guildy to help, but no one was online today. I think everyone was shopping :)

When I was ready to give up, I ported back to Dalaran and there was a guy with 4 different rogues hanging out in the barber shop offering to help folks, so I finally completed the achievement and got my turkey pet!

Oh, after I got the achievement I went shopping too. Someone who might read this is getting a really great gift courtesy of a really nice druid ;)

Cya,

Keila the Pilgrim

Now that's a Feast!

2009-11-25T15:02:00.001-05:00

I love the tables the Blizzard folks set up for the thanksgiving feast. I enjoyed passing (and throwing) the food to other players. This was a pretty creative idea, and it worked well. It was also the easiest achievement. I had no problems at all going to Horde cities and sitting at their tables. Two of the cities I didn't even get flagged.

I'm just sorry that it doesn't appear that you can cook, and use, the food during other times of the year. I'd probably stock up on some of the ingredients if they wouldn't vanish within a week. It gets old making the same food items over and over.

Plus, I really love pumpkin pie! Yum :)

The Onyxia pet is really nice too. I need to install a random pet mod, I have way toooo many pets now.

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat (and not really a good Thanksgiving cook)

Turkey Cat?

2009-11-24T14:59:00.000-05:00

I did get turned into a turkey a couple of times. One of those happened while I was mounted!

I have to admit I rode around like this for quite a while. It was just too ridiculous seeing a turkey riding a tiger, I had to keep it going for a while :)

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat (not a turkey)

Pity the Fool on Thanksgiving

2009-11-22T14:56:00.002-05:00

While doing all of the Thanksgiving quests I got hit with the Mohawk many times, probably more than I got turned into a turkey. I think people are saving the turkey gun for those pesky rogues :)

I don't think I look so hot with a mohawk ;P

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

The Night Elf Mohawk

2009-11-21T22:22:00.000-05:00

I finally got time to ride over and visit with Mr. T and pick up my mohawk grenades.
Then I followed around the new players and threw grenades at them. I know, "Bad Keila!"

But I buffed them too!! Doesn't that count :)

I love the silly stuff. This is why I never get bored with this game. There is always something else just around the corner.

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

450 Leatherworking!

2009-11-20T15:47:00.002-05:00

I finally decided to get those last ten points in leatherworking, so I headed to Argent Vanguard to grind big ugly spiders. For the better part of three long WoW sessions I killed spider after spider.

Finally I maxed leatherworking!!!

That was a grind. I don't want to do that again anytime soon. I have no desire to see a stupid spider for a looooong time.

Why is there no achievement for this?

Not only did I get leatherworking, I got 32 greens, 2 blues, tons of gold, stacks of scrolls, frostweave cloth, runic potions, and more leather than you can imagine. If you have to grind something, there probably is no better mob in the game. I guess it paid off.

If only I still had my sanity :)

Cya,

Forest Cat

Dig Rat Stew

2009-11-18T21:24:00.000-05:00

Here's my final recipe for the Chef de Cuisine, Dig Rat Stew.

LOL ;)

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

No Glory for the Business manager

2009-11-18T12:25:00.002-05:00

This is Khariel. Except for my guildies, no one knows, or pays much attention to her. But she has a very important job. She keeps me organized, maintains my finances, and buys me fun stuff.

Because of all that, I thought she should get some credit for all she does.

So here she is, Khariel - bank alt and business manager for Keila :)

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

I am a Chef de Cuisine

2009-11-17T21:20:00.000-05:00

I finally decided to finish out the cooking achievements.

To do that I needed to learn 160 cooking recipes and I was a few short. So, I looked around to find the recipes I was missing and my quest led me to the end of the line in the Barrens.

I think it's pretty funny that after all the time I've been cooking in WoW, I became a Chef de Cuisine with Dig Rat Stew.

Yuck!

Cya,

Keila the Forest Cat

Fishing Chair!

2009-11-16T17:58:00.000-05:00

I've never been lucky enough to get the Fishing Chair from the Trading Card Game, but today I noticed one in Valgarde. Sadly, it's just for show, you can't sit in it.

Fix this Blizz! :)

Cya,

Keila - the Forest Cat

I can cook!

2009-11-15T11:17:00.003-05:00

Okay, I'm really a lousy cook, but I'm now a WoW Chef! I actually captured the achievement with the movie capture, but I had the movie settings on my MacBook set to NOT capture the interface while recording, so I missed getting the screen shot.

Duh!
Anyway, here's my Chef achievement and some of the other silly things I've done recently. The triage one was interesting. I just found a mob and let them beat be down to the five percent mark. I actually messed this one up twice before I got it right. Cost me a few gold in repairs :)

Cya,

Keila - the Forest Cat

Fun with Fishing

2009-11-13T10:58:00.000-05:00

I've caught a lot of things with fishing, but this is a new one for me. I think this is the most valuable vendor item I've ever found, or fished up.

I'm a little bit sad that it's not a pet or something fun, but it's still very cool :)

Cya,

Keila - the Forest Cat

Mr Pinchy - Again!

2009-11-10T11:03:00.000-05:00

I caught Mr. Pinchy before Wrath came out and ALL of my wishes were bad. Therefore I didn't get the achievement.

Since I decided to work toward the Salty title I went back to fish him up. I got lucky this time, it only took an hour or so and my first wish was the Pet!
Cya,

Keila - the Forest Cat

Dead Kitty

2009-11-01T11:07:00.000-05:00

I almost missed the Day of the Dead holiday. I literally stumbled upon it. I'm glad I didn't miss it, I'm a few recipes short of the Chef de Cuisine achievement and I can use every recipe I can get!

Cya,

Keila - the Forest Cat

Happy Hallows End!

2009-10-31T21:57:00.003-04:00

I love Halloween, this year was a really good one:)

I want to keep my broom! Please Blizzard!!!!!!

Cya,

Forest Cay

A Pet Wolf

2009-10-21T22:04:00.001-04:00

I recently complete the Keymaster achievement and to get that I needed Keepers of Time rep. Of course once I got that, I also was able to get into Heroic "Escape from Durnholde" and get Dan Carlos' Famous Hat.

Now I have a new dog :)

The pirate outfit is from Hallow's End. This time. I'm the pirate, not the mermaid. LOL.

Cya,

Forest Cat

Brewfest and Blackrock

2009-09-23T21:59:00.001-04:00

Ran the Brewfest boss a zillion times and never even saw a mount. As a matter of fact, as of this writing I have NEVER seen a mount from any random drop. Not from a boss, or an egg, or any other way (other than purchase or rep) for you to get one.

Maybe next year?

I did enjoy getting the remote control to visit Blackrock anytime I want to see ETC.

Thank you to Jaxx, Star, and Sal for getting the remote for me. Y'all are the best :)

I always loved this instance and every once in a while I still love to look around, so porting in is a good thing ;)

Cya,

Forest Cat

Talk Like a Pirate Day

2009-09-19T22:09:00.000-04:00

My costume from talk like a pirate day.

Cya,

Forest Cat

Sunrise

2009-09-06T22:12:00.000-04:00

When I first began playing the game it was all of the little things, like sunrises, that kept me immersed in the fantasy.

I think that's why I still come back to get away. I love roaming aimlessly and getting lost in this world.

For me, it will never be about the gear.

Cya,

Forest Cat

Snarly!!

2009-09-03T22:20:00.000-04:00

Yes, I still love fishing and today I got a new Pet!!

Snarly.

Finally after way too many fishing dailies I got my pet crocolisk.

Now, I just need the others :)

Cya.

Forest Cat (aka Keila)

Ashenvale

2009-08-23T19:24:00.000-04:00

I just liked this picture :)

Cya,

Forest Cat

OMG! Where have I been?

2009-06-22T17:04:00.002-04:00

School, Work?! and sometimes WoW.

Anyway just wanted to let the tiny handful of people that check in here know that I live!

I got mana bonked in Dalaran the other day. I hate Dalaran so this was kind of fun for a change.

Plus I got to mana bonk someone else. He love it and whispered me to let me know. Sometimes little stuff is the best!

Cya,

Forest Cat aka Keila

Keilakat the Diplomat

2009-05-15T22:08:00.000-04:00

I wanted a unique title so I worked pretty hard for this one. Grinding Timbermaw rep is painfully boring but I'm done. Yay!

Cya,

Forest Cat the Dilpomat (a true hero of the Alliance LOL)

I need an Orphan

2009-05-10T21:16:00.000-04:00

Why can't we keep one of these cute kids? I might actually put the time in to do all of the achievements if I got to keep her!!

Cya,

Forest Cat (not a mom)

2009-04-12T13:54:00.002-04:00

Well, I finally got my Epic Fishing pole. A true tribute to those of us that love fishing in WoW*.

Cya,

Forest Cat

* Mostly. Trying to fish up Old Crafty was Boooooooring. I have to admit I gave up.