meâ‹…nagâ‹…erâ‹…ie [muh-naj-uh-ree]
–noun
| 1. | a collection of wild or unusual animals, esp. for exhibition. |
| 2. | a place where they are kept or exhibited. |
| 3. | an unusual and varied group of people. |
I have added to definitions 1 and 3 today. And my new alt allowed me to pay a bit more attention to some of the changes with patch 3.3.
Wild and Unusual Animals
The patch was kind to me, the crazy pet lady, for it brought forth 3 new pets!
Core Hound Pup (yay authenticators!)
Albino Snake (visit Breanni in Dalaran!)
Calico Cat (visit Breanni for this sweetie too!)
And wouldn't you know it, all I needed was 3 more to reach the magic number: 75.
So I'm the proud owner of another wayward animal in need of a good home AND completed another of my 2009 goals.
Unusual and Varied Group o' Alts…err People
Yeah, so I rolled a new alt. A draenei mage. I know there's soooo much to do on Syrana and my slew of other alts, but I just.. I dunno. You know there's no logic or reason behind an altaholic relapse. The desire and craving to create a new character just sneaks up on you and you just gotta do it!
Here's a list of patch changes I liked regarding the newest soldier in my Alt Army of Evil.
Character creation screen: There is some great information highlighted such as role, weapons, armor, etc.
Highlighting the party leader: In raid groups, the raid leader is a different color and stands out in raid chat (default chat at any rate). Now I noticed that when the party leader typed in party chat, it was a slightly different color and also identified that person as the party leader.
Experience amounts listed on the quest along with rewards you can expect to receive.
New default quest tracking and map: I don't think I'll need my Lightheaded addon anymore (but we can still be friends, I won't forget you!). Certainly makes things easier and it's sleek looking, in my opinion.
Ability to mail account bound items across faction on the same server: Syrana was able to mail the baby blizzard bear and onyxia whelping to my new little mage. It was kind of weird being able to do that, but incredibly awesome. It makes a lot of sense too, really. Now I'm more motivated for Syrana to actually earn some heirloom items since they can be passed down to Horde and/or Alliance alts!
One change I'm kind of indifferent about is the formerly hostile mobs in the starting area being yellow (neutral) now. In the draenei starting area I noticed that the mutated root lashers, mutated owlkin, and blood elves were yellow. Even the named elf you have to take down!
The first red (hostile) mob I encountered was a murloc when I was catching red snappers, which is outside of the initial comfy starting area. Sure, that makes it easier for new players. Sometimes those beginner hostile mobs are a little too close together. However, I think know I got less experience in that area because of that change.
How do I know that?
Simple, I killed fewer things because they weren't going to harm me if I didn't attack them first. Sure, I could still kill them, but it felt like more work to kill mobs I didn't have to. I dunno, my brain just wasn't sure how to process that.
I am looking forward to trying the new LFG (looking for group) tool and doing some random pugging (pick up group)… because there's a pet in it for me. Maybe I'll have some better experiences. I've never been one to pug much and I haven't done it in quite some time, so I can hope, right?
The new lfg is awesome! I took my alt mage on Bladefist (Dinnaeh) out for a spin this afternoon. Before, new on the server after a transfer, I couldn’t get a group to safe my life. The lfg tool had me grouped in les than 5 minutes, The group went smoothly, everyone thanked each other, and disbanded. I got dumped where I started, where I queued up again. Another great group. And again, another great group. Quick runs, easy badges. A whole lot of fun, too!
Grats on 75 pets! I have only about… oh, 69 to go on the DK 😉
Congrats on your newest addition! I hope to get there myself. Again, I meant what I said on PPI’s blog. I love y’alls site! I love the hilarity and you both remind me of myself and Ruhtra. And, you are just as bad with alts as I am 😉 Keep up the good work!
Ye Gods, that’s a lot of pets! I have about … uh … 6, but then I don’t want my wolvar norphan to get jealous. Social services might take him away again. The fawn is insanely cute though…
The LFG works great even if you have 2-4 people who want to do raids…it will fill in the gap. It works for a full group too, to do random heroics or regular dungeons. Yay! more pets…how do we get the perky pug…I didn’t know about that one!
@Shawndra – I’m sorta excited to try the new LFG but a little nervous too. I’m glad to hear so many people having positive experiences with it. It badly needed an overhaul!
@Anea – Thank you! And you’ll get there 🙂 There’s a TON more I want but don’t have yet.
@Eus – Thank you! (About the pets and our blog) 🙂 How many pets are you at now? I remember when I reached 50 it felt like it was going to be a lot of work to reach 75, but they keep helpin’ a sista out by adding more and more pets to the game. Also, I just hope my funny bone doesn’t break or this blog is doooomed.
@Tamarind – Yeah, don’t let the big tongue puppy get jealous. It’d be sad if he was taken away again. But you also need to bring out your …umm.. chicken 😛 more often!
@Kelinarra – You can get Perky Pug as an achievement for using the new LFG. I’m not sure if you have to group with 100 random people or what exactly it is yet… but it gives me some motivation to use it … and face my pug fears 😛
Am I the only one amused by the image of Syrana and her felhound staring down a little deer? ^_^
I noticed the new neutral mobs in the starting zones as well. Since I have now leveled 5 characters through Coldridge/Kharanos it stood out like a sore thumb. There is a troll cave, to the south, that a certain dwarf sends you in to; after his journal no less. On every character I’ve run through there I die. Every time. Because those dang trolls are just too close together. This time though, they were all neutral–so I just ran in, past them all, to the back of the cave, killed the guy I needed for the journal and that was it.
Also, I remember being half way through level 6 by the time I left the starting area. Now I’m just barely breaking past level 5.
@Sprink – Hahaha it looks kinda like Maagrom wants to eat the little fawn!
@Thistlefizz – Oh I know that cave! That cave IS a pain. And glad to see I’m not the only one that noticed a drop in experience due to the neutral mobs. Last time I completed the draenei immediate starting area, I was level 6, this time I had barely hit level 5!