Baluki's WoWblog has finally moved. It can now be found at:
http://dubiosity.net/blogs/baluki/

This site (baluki.blogspot.com) will no longer be updated.

Continued...

Two days ago, I was at the meeting. Everyone was gathered in a circle in the center of the room. When it was my turn to speak, I proudly proclaimed, “My name is Baluki, and I’m a WoWaholic. (“Hi Baluki”) It has been 5 months since I last played.” Applause. But now it’s all undone. Yesterday, I reactivated my account.

That’s a lie, of course. My name isn’t really Baluki, and I don’t think I was ever addicted to WoW. I can quit any time I want to, dammit! I stopped playing because I was bored with doing dailies and because I didn’t have time to do dungeons anymore.

But I felt like playing again to test out the new Dungeon Finder, which I’ve heard is very good. And it is. Oh, how it is. Yesterday, I stepped into Trial of the Champion, Halls of Lightning, and Utgarde Pinnacle for the first time, and blew through them all easily. Once I was sure that my skills (such as they are) were still intact (and of course they are – I’ve been playing this game for 5 years) I jumped into The Nexus on Heroic mode.

Four dungeons in 3 hours. FOUR! This Dungeon Finder is amazing. Especially the random dungeon mode. The worst part about doing dungeons previously was just finding a group. “Hey, do you want to do a dungeon?” “Oh sure, which one?” “How about X?” “Nah, not that one.” “Do we have a tank?” “No.” [Three hours pass.] “Hey, I found a healer. But he wants to bring his undergeared rogue friend.” “Well, maybe I’ll hop on my Death Knight and try to tank.” Bleh.

I’m going to be playing a lot more often now.

 

Unfortunately, at this time I have no guild, and most of my old friends are gone – quit, or transferred. Fortunately I saw Heif and Rev on last night, and I hope it’s still them playing their characters. I’m trying to get a friend of mine to stop server-hopping and settle on mine, so we’ll see how that goes.

Here’s my model viewer, in case you want to see how horrible my gear is. Yes, I’m rocking the dungeons in PvP gear.

Continued...

I just wanted to mention that I've got a new blog that I've been working on for about a month now. It's quite a departure for me, because it actually covers some serious topics, like politics, science, religion, and so on. I must warn you though: you probably won't approve of some of the topics I cover. But go ahead and check it out if you're curious; you'll survive. If nothing else, you'll get to see what I look like in real life. And I'd love to get some feedback.

In case anyone is wondering, I still intend to keep writing THIS blog. There just isn't a whole lot for me to talk about right now. I've been working on a feature post that I'm tentatively calling "WoW's biggest mistakes", which I hope will turn out pretty good.

[Dubiosity]

Continued...

Oooh, at last. The new Shaman talents and spells have been leaked. I'm going to go through them and explain what I like (nearly all of it) and what I don't (almost none of it). Keep in mind that this stuff WILL change. Some stuff will be buffed/nerfed, some will be reworked, some will be removed completely, and some will be added in the future. This stuff is from a very early version of the expansion, and we're not even supposed to be able to see it yet.

UPDATE 6/27/08: I've updated this post with My Concerns. You can read them at the bottom of the post.

New Spells

Lava Burst - You hurl molten lava at the target, dealing 888 to 1132 Fire damage. If Flame Shock is on the target, Lava Burst will consume the Flame Shock, causing Lava Burst to critically hit. 2-second cast time, 8 second cooldown, 30-yard range.

At last, we get a new nuke, which looks pretty awesome. This spell will ensure that we use Flame Shock a lot more often, which itself will be much more powerful thanks to new Elemental talents. Rather than doing nothing but shoot lightning bolts at our targets (in dungeons, at least), we'll most likely be getting new spell rotations ensuring that Flame Shock is always up, using Lava Burst when it's ready, and Lightning Bolting in between. And of course the guaranteed crit will probably proc Elemental Focus.

My Verdict (so far): Great


Hex - Transforms the enemy into a random critter, reducing the target's movement speed by 75%. While moving, the hexed target cannot attack or cast spells. Only one target can be hexed at a time. Only works on Humanoids and Beasts. 0.5 sec cast, 1 minute cooldown, 20-yard range.

Finally, CC! Basically a mini-Polymorph, but it gives the target the ability to try to run away (not that they'll be doing it very quickly). The only problem is that I don't know how long they stay hexed. I get the feeling that it'll only be a few seconds, which would be unfortunate. It would be nice to have a longer (or more frequently castable) hex so we can provide some more reliable CC in dungeons.

UPDATE 6/27/08: There's a video of this spell in use on the site linked at the bottom of this post. Looks like it's about 8 seconds long. Not too bad. Also, the critter is a frog, but there are probably others.

My Verdict: Ok/Great (Depends on how long the hex effect is.)


Earthliving Weapon - Imbue the Shaman's weapon with earthen life. Increases healing done by {50} (scales with level) and each heal has a 20% chance to proc Earthliving on the target, healing an additional 180 over 6 seconds.

Cool, a new weapon buff for healers! The flat stat increase is nice, but getting a new HoT along with it is pretty cool too. I've got nothing bad to say about this.

My Verdict: Great

New 51-Point Talents

Thunder (Elemental) - You call down a bolt of lighting, energizing you and damaging nearby enemies within 10 yards. Restores 5% mana to you and deals 595 to 679 nature damage to all nearby enemies, knocking them back 20 yards. Instant cast, 45 sec cooldown.

This is pretty cool. Finally, a way to get rogues off my ass in PvP. And it's pretty cool to see a knockback effect on one of our spells. Also, it's nice to have another AOE spell. I can see this being fun to use with Fire Nova Totem (especially with the new talent-based stun effect) and it'll also be nice for protecting allies. The mana-restoring aspect is kinda weird, but I certainly won't complain. My only issue is that it seems to be primarily a PvP talent. Not that that's a bad thing.

My Verdict: Pretty Good


Feral Spirit (Enhancement) - Summons 2 Spirit Wolves under the command of the Shaman, lasting 30 sec.

Heh, after all the complaining we did when it was announced before BC came out that we'd be able to summon elementals but not spirit wolves, in a way this sounds like Blizzard's way of saying "fine, HERE are your fucking spirit wolves!" Not that they've necessarily short-changed us. Unfortunately, there's not any other info that I've been able to find on the subject. It'd be nice to know what the wolves do, what the cooldown is, or even what color they are (I hope they're black and purple like they were in WC3). Hopefully they do more than just attack stuff.

My Verdict: Who Knows?


Spirit Link (Restoration) - You link the friendly target with two nearby targets, causing 50% of the damage taken to be distributed to the linked targets. After 2200 damage, the link will sever. Instant cast, cooldown unknown.

Yay, another WC3 spell! This looks like it'll be the new Tank's Best Friend. I can see a lot of potential for griefing though, since it makes the two people nearest to the target to take more damage. Maybe it's not that big of an issue (especially since the max damage that anyone will take will be 550). And frankly, the damage absorbed seems a bit low; maybe instead of expiring after 2200 damage, it should use up charges each time damage is absorbed. Then again, that would make it much less useful when fighting fast-damaging opponents (part of which can be mitigated with Stoneskin Totem). It's an interesting problem, if it is a problem at all.

My Verdict: Love it, shows promise, but may need some work

New Talents

Elemental Oath (Elemental) - Increases chance to hit with all spells by 50/100% when Elemental Focus or Elemental Mastery is active.

Considering that shamans are so crit-happy, and that any well-geared shaman generally has Elemental Focus active most of the time in a fight, this is quite a boost. In fact, it'll probably get nerfed, even considering that they nerfed Elemental Precision down to +3% spell hit (from 6%). Also, Elemental Focus and Elemental Mastery are required to get it.

My Verdict: Sounds pretty good.


Astral Shift (Elemental) - When you are critically hit twice in a row, you have a 33/66/100% chance to shift into the Astra Plane, causing you to be immune to all physical damage for 3 sec. This effect has a 30 second cooldown.

This will be our third talent that only works when we get crit on. I don't like any of them. For starters, they're basically PvP-only. We get crit so little in PvE that it's often a surprise to see them proc. I think they all need to be reworked so they're valid in all (or most) areas of the game, not just PvP, not just Raids (I'm looking at you, Totem of Wrath).

So, how do we fix it? How about changing it so that it activates when you take a certain amount of damage within a certain amount of time? Say, when you lose 40% of your health within 3 seconds? Also, the cooldown seems too long, and/or the duration of the immunity seems too short. Even then, it doesn't seem great.

My Verdict: Needs major work done


Lava Flow (Elemental) - Increases the amount of spell damage gained while having Flametongue Weapon equipped by 5/10/15%, and increases the damage done by your Flame Shock and Lava Burst by 4/8/12%.

This talent (and the next) makes Flame Shock a serious threat to your enemies. For a long time now, its use has been optional, but now it'll be essential. And of course, making Lava Burst more effective is a no-brainer.

But wait, what's this about Flametongue? Sounds to me like it's getting changed to give extra spell damage, which is quite nice. I wonder if they'll do anything for Frostbrand and Rockbiter too, since those are so rarely used.

Verdict: Great


Storm, Earth, and Fire (Elemental) - Your Frost Shock has a 5/10/15/20/25% chance to root the target in frozen ice for 2 sec., your Earth Shock's range is increased by 1/2/3/4/5 yards and the periodic damage done by your Flame Shock is increased by 20/40/60/80/100%.

Wow, that's quite a talent. Let's break it down by element.
Storm - I guess that's Frost Shock. It's nice that we're getting so many forms of CC now, but 2 seconds from a spell that can only be cast every 5-6 seconds seems a little weak, especially considering how many ways a Frost Mage has to freeze you. Other than that, I like it.
Earth - Boring, but decent.
Fire - Wow, that's really nice. That'll definitely make me use Flame Shock way more, AND it gives me synergy with Lava Burst. Plus, with the Lava Flow talent, it makes the combination of Flame Shock and Lava Burst VERY potent. I'd take this talent even if it didn't have the Storm and Earth parts.

My Verdict: Great, but needs some minor changes.


Mental Dexterity (Enhancement) - Increases your Attack Power by 33/66/100% of your Intellect.

That's a pretty significant chunk of AP there, and will definitely help to make Hunter gear more viable for Enhance shamans. Also, it basically makes Ancestral Knowledge essential, since it affects Intellect now. It's interesting that this is a 3rd-tier talent, which will no doubt make it easier for Resto shamans to operate while soloing.


Improved Stormstrike (Enhancement) - Increases the number of Stormstrike charges by 1/2, and decreases the cooldown by 1/2 seconds.

Can't go wrong here. I'm especially happy with this, because it means that when I'm grouped with an Enhance shaman, he won't be gobbling up all the SS charges with his piddly little Earth Shocks, so I can use some of them for my massive Lightning Bolts.


The Rest (Enhancement)

Look, I don't feel like running down the rest of these Enhancement talents. They all look good to me, but I literally haven't been Enhance-specced in years.


Cleanse Spirit (Restoration) - Remove 1 disease, 1 poison, and 1 curse from the target.

Not exactly original, but it's nice, and will give Restos some extra efficiency when fighting rogues, death knights, and now warlocks.

Verdict: Good!


Blessing of the Eternals (Restoration) - Increases spell crit by 2/4%, and bonus +heal from Earthliving Weapon by 5/10%.

That extra crit will be nice to have, since Resto is going to be so much more focused on crits now (see Ancestral Awakening).

Verdict: Pretty good


Ancestral Awakening (Restoration) - When Healing Wave or Lesser Healing Wave crit, an Ancestral Spirit heals the nearest friendly target for 20/40/60% of the amount healed initially.

Wow, this is awesome. I bet that amount is nerfed, but it's still a very useful talent, and will likely make Restos hoard crit gear a lot more than they do now. I sure hope you get to actually see the spirit when it heals. I can imagine seeing shamans standing in the back healing, with a spirit standing next to them occasionally. Neat.

Verdict: Awesome.


Improved Earth Shield (Restoration) - Increases the number of charges by 1/2, and increases the healing done by 5/10%.

All in all, a good talent. However, it doesn't matter how many charges it has if someone comes along and just purges it off of you. It needs a purge-resistance element, like "reduces chance that ES will be purged by 25/50%".

Verdict: Missing something.

...and Tidal Waves looks fine.

Changed Talents

• Earth's Grasp moved from Tier 2 to Tier 1. Still sucks.
  
• Convection now 3 points, down from 5, same bonus!
  
• Call of Flame affects Lava Burst now.
  
• Elemental Devastation moved from Tier 4 to Tier 2.
  
• Elemental Focus now required for Elemental Fury. Still the best 2 points you'll ever spend.
  
• Improved Fire Totems now Improved Fire Nova Totem. Gives 50/100% chance to stun ALL affected for 2 seconds! Magma Totem threat reduction element removed (hopefully they'll reduce its base threat).
  
• Storm Reach also increases radius of Thunder spell by 10/20%.
  
• Elemental Precision nerfed to +1/2/3% spell hit, from 2/4/6%. See Elemental Oath. Also, threat reduction TRIPLED to 10/20/30%, from 4/7/10%.
  
• Lightning Overload no longer required for Totem of Wrath.
  
• Enhancing Totems moved from Tier 3 to Tier 1.
  
• Improved Lightning Shield renamed Improved Elemental Shields, moved from Tier 2 to Tier 1. Now affects Water and Earth Shield as well.
  
• Shield Specialization is STILL THERE. Now down from 5 points to 2. Chance to block up to 10% from 5%, amount blocked down from 25% to 20%.
  
• Healing Focus reduced from 5 points to 3. Same bonus.

 

My Concerns

Elemental's PvP Emphasis
I know a lot of people think that the Elemental tree is primarily meant for PvP, but I don't agree. Of course, the signs are certainly pointing in that direction. The new talents Astral Shift and Thunder, along with Elemental Shields and Eye of the Storm, are mostly or entirely useful only in PvP. However, there are also the PvE abilities like Totem of Wrath, Unrelenting Storm, and Elemental Precision that point to the idea that Blizzard wants the tree to be viable for dungeons too.

So...where are the new PvE talents? The Elemental tree still lacks a way for players to buff the group differently from other shamans, besides Totem of Wrath (which is still only good for raiding). Elemental needs its own Unleashed Rage: an ability that triggers when damage is dealt and buffs the whole group in a meaningful way. Or, its own Stormstrike: an ability that causes a meaningful debuff on the enemy.

Here are some random suggestions:

Thunder seems like it'll be useful for protecting an ally for a couple seconds when they draw aggro. How about giving it an AOE aggro-reduction for all allies within its effective radius (10 yards) based on a percentage of the damage dealt?

Eye of the Storm should give you a constant chance to avoid interruption instead of being a crit-activated ability. That would make it useful in both PvP and PvE.

Make Astral Shift a self-activated ability. The affect should probably be nerfed, of course. Say, 50% physical damage reduction for 5 seconds.

We could use a talent that buffs Wrath of Air Totem. Enhancement has 3 ways to buff useful Enhance totems, Resto has Restorative Totems. Sure, we can make our damage-dealing Elemental totems more powerful, but that's about it. Personally, I think Totem of Wrath should be eliminated and replaced with something like this:

Totem of Wrath (3 points)
Your Wrath of Air Totem's effectiveness is increased by 10/20/30%. In addition, it increases your group's chance to hit and critically hit with spells by 1/2/3%.

Elemental Shields is decent for PvP, but how about making it reduce damage taken over a certain percentage of your total health? Like this:

Elemental Shields (3 points)
If any incoming damage exceeds 25% of your total health, it will be reduced by 10/20/30%.

Lava Burst is pretty cool, but I think it could be even better if they gave it a debuff ability when it "eats" your Flame Shock. Something like this:

Lava Burst
You hurl molten lava at the target, dealing 888 to 1132 Fire damage. If Flame Shock is on the target, Lava Burst will consume the Flame Shock, causing the Lava Shock effect, which decreases [armor/spell resistance/attack speed/casting speed] on the target for 8 seconds.

Those may be a bit strong, but you get the idea.

 

Well, that's it for now. I'm sure I'll think of more stuff to talk about in the future.

[WotLK Information Wiki]

Continued...

A while ago, I added the Project Wonderful ad box you can see on the left. Since then, I've made a whopping $2.

So, I've decided to put those two dollars into getting the word out about this blog by placing ads on other WoW-related web sites. Gotta spend money to make money, you know.

At this moment, I've placed 4 ads on 4 different sites. I'm paying them 0-5 cents per day (depending on how popular the site is) for one week. Hopefully my investment of a whopping 35 cents will pay off in increased traffic and, ideally, more ad revenue for me. We'll see.

Oh. Here are the simple ads I created, which should be showing up on the aforementioned sites. They're also useful if you want to link to me.


Argh, looks like I need to change the background color on one of them.

Continued...

NOTICE: I was completely wrong in this post. See Edit 2 at the bottom for details.

I'm a casual PvPer, and I've been doing Battlegrounds from time to time to upgrade my crappier gear to sweet, sweet Season 1, Vindicator's, and other assorted Honor-buyable gear.

However, once Season 4 starts, Blizz is making some changes that will require Arena ratings for some of that gear.

According to MMO-Champion, Blizzard will be giving the Boots, Rings, and Bracers an Arena Rating requirement. So, go get those now before it's too late, if you don't do Arenas like me.

The Belts, Necklaces, and Trinkets won't have an arena rating, so if you're thinking about buying one of those, it's a good idea to hold off and spend your honor points on the items listed in the previous paragraph.

I've been saving up to replace my green-quality belt for a while now (I've been busy, and broke) but I've decided to replace my boots (the second item on my list due for replacement) instead.

Just thought I'd throw that warning out there. I have no idea when Season 4 will start, but I doubt it'll be this Tuesday, so I think we have at least a week to get what we need.

EDIT: There's some confusion about whether or not the current Vindicator's gear is being replaced on the vendors with the new Guardian's gear. If it's not, you can pretty much ignore this post. I was under the impression that it was.

EDIT 2: Bah, I was totally wrong. They're not removing the Season 3 honor-bought gear (aka Vindicator's) after all. So, my new advice: don't buy a Belt, Neck, or Trinket until Season 4. Unless you want to. I'm writing this as someone who doesn't get a lot of time to PvP anyway (and quickly tires of it when I do), so I will definitely be waiting to replace my gear.

Continued...

I'd like to say a few things about the Google ads that appear on this site.

If you don't know how Google ads work, let me explain. Basically, the ads contain a little script that reads the text of my blog, which lets it decide which of the millions of ads in Google's database are most relevant to display.

But on to my point.

First, since this site is about World of Warcraft, it makes sense that there are WoW-related ads being displayed. This is fine, except that some of them are for gold-selling and powerlevelling sites. I do not in any way endorse those sites. People who buy gold and powerlevelling services are directly supporting the people who create keyloggers and hijack accounts.

Do you know anyone who has ever had their account hacked/stolen? It's because they accidentally got a keylogger on their system, or gave their password to somebody (like a powerlevelling service). Once an account is stolen, typically the thief sells all their gear on all their characters, then sends all the gold to someone else, who then sells it via a gold-selling site. THAT is how it works now.

I've tried to filter out as many of these sites as I can, but there are so many that it's impossible, so I've stopped trying. I recommend you check out NoGold.org for more info.

Secondly, since this site is frequently about the Shaman class, there are often ads about real-life shamanism (if it can indeed be called that) and spiritual healing, and all that. That stuff is pure nonsense, and I really hope nobody takes it seriously.

Stick with real medicine. Talk to your doctor. It's not that the scientific community refuses to take alternative medicines seriously, it's that they have already conducted testing that proved the stuff worthless, and have long since moved on. Alternative medicines & techniques are a scam, nothing more. I recommend checking out sites like Science-Based Medicine.

So there ya go. Getting off my soapbox now...

Continued...

I just got back into the game again after another of my month-long hiatuses (hiati?) and decided to start up a new character on a friend's realm. Once again I made another troll shaman named Baluki, because it's my favorite race, favorite class, and favorite name.

I'm considering making this one my new Main, but it all depends on how fast I can level him up, if I can get him to 70 before WLK, if I can stand being on a PvP server, and if I can stand having all 9 of my other characters on another realm.

I really wish I could just get my friend to transfer to my realm, but of course you can't transfer a character from a PvP to a PvE realm. I completely support this rule (PvE servers would turn into nothing but training grounds for people who haven't hit 70 yet, and the PvP servers would be full of 70's and the economies would be totally out of whack) but I just wish I could get it done this one time.

Continued...

Those of you with better-than-average powers of observation may have noticed the new ad boxes on the left, under the TOC. And there boxes under the first three posts of any given page.

So, what do you think? Are they too flashy, not flashy enough? Can you ignore them if you want to? (I'm aiming for "yes".)

I'm trying to make a little money selling adspace here, since I'm currently dead broke (I'll probably have a week or two this month without WoW). I've been doing the boring Google ads for a while now, but I just added the new Project Wonderful ads on the left yesterday. Those ads will probably be much more interesting, since those are paid for with a bidding system. Right now, a single penny will get you a box on this blog for a little while, but hopefully it'll go up eventually.

So yea, let's hear some thoughts.

Continued...

Just thought I'd mention that I went back to Elemental. Screw healing.

Continued...

It's hard being an Elemental shaman. REALLY hard.

For starters, it's really hard to find a group. Everybody knows that your standard dungeon party has one tank, one healer, and 3 DPS, and there's always plenty of people available for DPS. And to make matters worse, now that most people are doing Heroic dungeons, nobody wants you if you don't have any crowd control. People would rather take a lousy hunter over an excellent Elemental (or Enhancement) shaman (not that I'm saying that I'm excellent).

Ever since 2.3 was released, I haven't been able to get into a group. I've been invited to Kara a few times, but I don't even have my key yet. Getting into Black Morass has been very hard, and now nobody is doing it in Normal mode (I'm just one full clear away from my CoT key) and nobody would take me even if I COULD do it in Heroic.

So instead, I've decided to try PvP a bit. I'm not normally a big PvP fan, but I need better gear, and this is the only way I can do it (and non-PvP Elemental itemization is lousy anyway). But PvP just makes me angry and frustrated, and I really hate it. Every Alliance character I see starts to look like they're mocking me, and I start taking it personally and thinking that every Alliance player is an asshole. And of course all my teammates are complete idiots, or so it seems.

And Elemental shamans just aren't any good in PvP (or at least in Battlegrounds). I can hide in the bushes launching lightning bolts and do some decent damage, but as soon as anyone sees me I basically have to run away or die. All I can do is shoot lightning bolts and a shock every 6 seconds. I don't have any pushback resistance or anti-stunlock. Against hunters, I'm worthless. Against warlocks, I'm just feared forever while they DoT me up. I don't even bother fighting back against rogues anymore. I don't have any CC, I barely have any anti-CC. How am I supposed to deal with this?


Well, today I finally had enough. I can't do what I want to do with Elemental. Just don't bother with it until Blizzard wises up.

I went Resto. God dammit.

I really don't want to be Resto. I was Resto back in my raiding days, back before BC was released. After going through Molten Core, Blackwing Lair, Ahn'Qiraj, and halfway through Naxx, I burned out on healing. I don't like being the one whom the success of the group hinges upon. But what choice do I have? I could continue with a spec that I like but doesn't work, or I could go back to doing something I don't really enjoy that is in high demand.

My healing gear is pretty crappy, but at least I'll get into groups. And if I let my groups know ahead of time, I should be able to continue building on my Elem set while I'm healing. I don't really know how long I'll stay Resto, but it may be until WLK comes out.

I'm really starting to consider just giving up on my shaman completely, for the first time in 3 years. The Elemental tree just doesn't work very well in the game as it is right now. There are still serious, deep flaws and overall design problems that keep it trapped in the pre-BC game (not that it was ever very good then, either).

My Hunter is 67, but I'm probably not going to bother trying to do dungeons with him; there are already too goddamn many hunters out there. Same with my 50 warlock, although I'll probably PvP with her at 70 out of revenge, and also because they're basically unstoppable. My next highest is a 44 Prot Paladin, which may become my new "Main" but I just don't know right now. I don't think I like the other classes enough to make any of them my new main. Switching to a Death Knight when WLK comes out sounds damn tempting at this point.

Here's hoping that Blizzard gives Elemental some REAL attention in WLK, and hopefully before then too. The changes in 2.3 were nice, but Elem just isn't viable in its current state.

EDIT: I should point out that I'm not talking about Raiding or Arenas. Just 5-man dungeoning and Battlegrounds.

EDIT 2: I also should point out that this post should be taken with a grain of salt. It's mostly just frustrated complaining (which is why it's in the "Bitching" category). Things are certainly better than I make them sound, though that's not to say that there aren't still problems.

Continued...

Well, I FINALLY have this site looking the way I want it to. I've been toying with this design for a few months, and yesterday I finally went ahead and put it all together.

But that wasn't enough. Once I had it all laid out and looking great, using CSS instead of tables, I had to try to shoehorn it into Google's code. And CRIPES, that's a pain in the ass. Google's blog templates use XML for everything, and since I don't know XML, it was basically just a 2-day long session of trial-and-error. Honestly, I think I reloaded the page a few thousand times, trying to get everything looking right.

I still need to add some more of the sidebar items to the site, and there are probably still a few things that aren't working right, but at least it's usable, and if you ask me, it looks great.

Continued...

Lightning Bolt - Earth Shock - Chain Heal

This is something I got the urge to throw together last night. I decided to make a cool logo for an eventual redesign of this site (yes, another one), but then I started thinking...it would look really cool on a t-shirt.

And to top it off, I decided to do 3 different versions, one for each Shaman talent tree. Of course, you can get whichever one you want to. IF you want to.

Proceeds go to the Feed Baluki Fund. I make a buck on each, and CafePress gets the rest.

Continued...

Ah, it's good to be back. Thanks to my student loans, I can now afford to play the game again!

That's not all. I also have a brand new uber laptop (also paid for with student loans) that lets me run the game with the video settings maxed out. And, of course, in Widescreen.

I haven't actually played Baluki at all so far. I've just been playing my 25 Tankadin and my 25 Shadow Priest. I'm still working on finding a new guild to join (everyone left my previous one) so hopefully I'll be able to get back into the swing of things soon.

Continued...

I've decided to take another break from WoW. Might just be a couple weeks, might be a month or two. I came to the end of another subscription cycle and, besides being broke, I decided that I don't really have any reason to keep on playing right now.

I still have fun levelling my alts, but I don't have any reason to keep working on Baluki. It's hard finding groups (and the time) for dungeons, which is my favorite part of the game. I don't really like to PvP, and to top it all off, my guild is basically defunct and I don't feel like starting with a new one right now. I also don't feel like grinding; this is a game, and I shouldn't have to do tedious, boring stuff.

Maybe in a few months, Blizz will have some improvements in place.

• Shamans (and off-specs in general) still need a lot of work. Blizz really needs to open their eyes and realize that hybrids aren't really hybrids when they've specced 41 points into a tree.
• Jewelcrafting needs improvement. I can only pop out 5g gems for so long, and I don't feel like spending 400g on new designs. And where the hell are more fist weapon designs?
• The end-game needs to be more accessible. They need to make Normal modes for the raid dungeons, because I want to see all the cool stuff end-game has to offer, but I've quit hardcore raiding for good.

My most interesting characters now are my Mage and my Paladin (and maybe my Priest). I just got my Hunter into Outland and realized that I have no interest in continuing with him; every single fight is the same: Hunter Mark -> Pet Attack -> Sting -> Arcane -> Auto-attack. Yawn.

I really hope that Blizz is able to breathe new life into the game sometime soon. I don't want to have to wait for the next expansion.

And is it just me, or does it seem like a whole lot of long-time players are quitting?

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Yes, I'm working on the site again. Bear with me.

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I've been working on some changes to this site to improve it and maybe make it a bit more interesting.

• First, I condensed all the stuff about me into one post, which you can access from the "About Baluki" link on the upper-right. That stuff was taking up a lot of valuable sidebar space, which I needed for the new...
  
• CHAT BOX! Now you can just jabber on about whatever you like in the new chat box. It's being kinda troublesome right now though, and I may wind up ejecting it completely.
  
• Newsfeeds from some of my other projects. Right now, it's just a feed of things I've shared on Facebook, but if I ever start a new blog like I've been thinking of doing, it'll go there too. This has actually been on the site for about a month, but I didn't bother to put the "bamboo" thing on it, so it was hard to see it.
  
• I've also been thinking about adding some actual FEATURES to this site, in addition to the usual goofy commentaries on goofy screenshots. If you've got anything you'd like to see me share my opinions on, just leave them in a comment to this post. Doesn't even have to be WoW-related if it's an interesting enough topic.

That's about it for now. Hopefully I'll get that damn chat box working right eventually.

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Until I get the time to post this on this site properly, here's a link to my Wallpapers collection. They're all just great scenery shots.

http://picasaweb.google.com/feldmanskitzoid/WoWWallpapers

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I've been back in the game for about a week now. I've just been having way too much fun in Outland to bother to post anything. I've got lots of new screenshots to post, and as soon as I can pry myself away, I'll post a few.

Until then, here I am about to get stomped by a Fel Reaver. At least you can see and hear them coming so you know to run like a frightened kitten; Devilsaurs weren't so avoidable. You just heard a *THUD THUD GULP* and you woke up at the graveyard.

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