Epic Shardz!

As you may or may not know, I am a “streamer” now. I use the term very loosely, as I am just starting out and still learning what I can and cannot do with the equipment that I have at my disposal at the current moment. That being said, even with the slightly negative feelings of not having a true gaming/streaming computer, doing this has really reignited that spark of playing WoW. 

Just off the top of my head, I would say its because, even though I may not be the most social person in-game, I DO like the idea of using voice chat during raids and dungeons, whether to talk strategy pre-fight or make adjustments during the fight. Now, while I am mostly streaming a lot of my adventures in the LFG system and 5-man dungeons (with no voice chat), streaming allows me to vent either my joy or frustration over said adventures!

Suffice to say, streaming has really brought it to my attention, that when it comes to my adventures in Azeroth, I want to share them with the community. While Tamori and I might not be able to do the podcast anymore (we are still talking about bringing it back in some form or another), I can at least try to give you all some insight as to what I am doing within the lands of Azeroth, and that makes me feel as good as doing the podcast used to. 

Anyway, I think that is all for this particular post. You can find me streaming over at twitch.tv/zebgora.  I don’t really have a schedule that I am following, but give me a follow and you should get notifications of when I go live!

That’s all for now. May all your quests be fruitful and may all of your loots be EPIC!
-Zebgora 

Yes, I know Shadowlands has been out for almost 3 weeks now, but if you are slowly playing through the story like I am, I am going to put up a SPOILER ALERT!!

Holy crap, guys! Ysera is in Ardenweald! Also, Warcraft is amazing in that I have gone from feeling next to nothing in my journey through Bastion and Maldraxxus to getting kind of misty eyed in Ardenweald. I really love the scenery and the story. The little nod to an old “friend of the show” was very nice too! If I am able to take a better screenshot down the road, I will try and get it in at the end of this post.

As of the writing of this post, I have finished with the Ardenweald portion of the Shadowlands campaign and have moved in to Revendreth. My hope (and I do mean hope) is to maybe finish up the initial story AND hit 60 in the next day or so and pick my covenant, so at least I can try this Threads of Fate thing on my alts. We shall see how all that goes. 

That’s really all I have for now. Stay safe out there! May all your loot be epic!
-Zebgora

The veil has been shattered and we have been in the Shadowlands for almost three weeks now. I have played through about half of the campaign so far on Zebgora and am currently on part 3 of the Ardenweald story. I just wanted to pause the game for a moment and give a few of my thoughts.

1 – I haven’t felt this way since Wrath of the Lich King, but I am really feeling the squish this time around. I don’t know if i just need to re-learn how to play a warrior, if I have to go Fury instead of Arms, or what I have to do. I am NOT feeling the power at all.

2 – Visually, I LOVE this expansion. The Maw is scary as hell and I feel like danger lurks around and between every corner. The jump from there to Oribos is amazing. I could walk around Oribos and just stare out into the abyss, if only it didn’t stare back. Which leads me to the covenants…

3 – Bastion is breath-taking! I love how calm and peaceful it is at least by the initial campaign (I have no idea what happens if you choose it as your covenant). Meeting up with Uther was amazing, as I love the lore behind the game. Still, Bastion is very light vs dark and I don’t think I will be choosing them as my covenant.

4 – Maldraxxus is cool. It’s really hard to match the epic scale of the Scourge from vanilla, though. I found some really cool story points though, like running in to Thrall’s mom, Draka to start. As I played along, it didn’t even occur to me who I was helping until I was halfway through the chapter, but Lady Vashj is there too! Overall, while the coolest lore-wise so far, I’m not into Maldraxxus as my covenant either.

5 – Ardenweald is beautiful and I think the Night Fae are hilarious! That’s all I can really say right now, as I’m not very far into this part of the campaign. 

At least at this point in my adventures, I would choose to go covenant-less, if it wouldn’t stop my adventures once I had to make the choice. Depending on how far I get this weekend, I hope to have another post up tomorrow, with my thoughts on the rest of the campaign and my covenant choice!

Stay tuned, be safe out there and may all your loots be epic!!
-Zeb

Here we are, a couple weeks in to the pre-patch experience for Shadowlands. Here are just a few of my random thoughts:

1 – Not gameplay related, but I really like the login screen for the expansion. Wrath of the Lich King was one of my favorite expansions because of the lore and all, and Icecrown Citadel was just amazing to see once it finally dropped. Watching the intro movie and seeing the Shadowlands open up was amazing. To be reminded of that every time we log in is very powerful, at least to me.

2 – Also not gameplay related, but I really enjoy the soundtrack so far. For as long as I have been playing WoW (including the many breaks that I have taken), the one thing that I have loved the whole time is the soundtrack. 

3 – The leveling process up to 50 is kind of confusing, at least to me. I currently have 3 characters that are at 50, with several others ranging from 25 to 40-ish. I am sure that there is a leveling guide somewhere already, but that would require research and reading. As Tamori and I have said countless times on the show, who has time for that? 

4 – With #3 being said, I tried to do some “power leveling” just by running dungeons. That was how I got my monk to 50, granted she was already at 46 after the squish so it wasn’t THAT bad. Dungeon running still seems to be the way to go, at least from what I have experienced.

5 – I’m glad that I did some research before I finished this post, because I kind of felt like a moron. As clunky and time consuming as it may seem to have to go back to Orgrimmar to check in with Chromie every time you want to change timelines, it is kind of cool. I was really worried that all of my lower characters were getting locked out of the dungeons that I love to run, but now that I figured out “Chromie Time”, I really enjoy being able to pick which dungeons I am running.

6 – This is brand new based on my dungeoning last night (10-25). As an experiment on my lowest character, a level 28 rogue, I went back to Outland content. My first dungeon in LFR for said content? None other than Shadow Labrynth. Good lord, what a suckfest that turned out to be. It turns out that when you are running this place at the appropriate level, it’s just HARD! The mechanics were just as frustrating as I remember them being the first time around, especially on the Grand Master Vorpil fight. As much as I would like to say that the Murmur fight is still difficult, it’s probably my own stupidity that led to my dying so much. Although it helps to know what to look for on screen, it also really helps to pay attention to what you are being told as far as the mechanics of the fight. Long story made super short, on the 2 attempts that we made before killing Murmur, I died twice to the Shockwave because I was looking for the visual cue (which is already too late) rather than at his cast bar.

Anyway, I think that’s all for now. Be safe out there and may all of your loot be EPIC!
-Zebgora

Before anyone says anything, yes I know…I am woefully behind the curve on this game that we so love known as World of Warcraft. I say this because just this week, Tamori and I finished the Horde War Campaign for BFA. I have to state the obvious first, things have gone sideways in a major way.

I really wish that I was following the lore as closely as I used to back in the days say before Mists of Pandaria. The reason that I have for this is that it seems that this is the period of time where things just started going wrong (or maybe more wrong than they had been). Think about it: Thrall steps aside as Warchief of the Horde when Deathwing shows up. He leaves Garrosh Hellscream in charge and things seem OK because at least the Horde still has a leader.

Things start to get a little dicey along the way. Garrosh has his little meltdown in Stonetalon Mountains, the exact details of which escape me at this point, and people just kind of dismiss it as being a more aggressive Horde. Events continue to unfold and suddenly we come to the Theramore incident (ya know, the mana bomb thing that dyed Jaina’s hair). No, I do not agree with Garrosh, but things happen and the story must continue. So we get to the end of Pandaria, Garrosh does his little time jump with the help of the infinite dragon flight, and we have Vol’jin as Warchief. 

So Vol’jin leads us valiantly through the Draenor story and we get to the latest plan from the Burning Legion, as Gul’dan from the NEW timeline hops forward and tries to bring about the end of the world by funneling all the demons (and from what I can tell, I do mean ALL. THE. DEMONS!) of the Legion on to Azeroth. Vol’jin and King Varian both die in the Battle of the Broken Shore. Vol’jin makes Sylvanas the new Warchief and things progress. 

This is where we REALLY get complicated, but I will simplify it greatly and you can go explore in-game or online to get the full story behind everything. Basically, Sylvanas seems to have lost her damn mind, because after the Legion storyline ends and the hunt for a way to restore Azeroth begins, things escalate to the point where she goes off and DESTROYS Teldrassil! This, of course, leads to Anduin and the Alliance marching on Lorderon and coming so close to capturing the city, before Sylvanas releases the undead blight on HER OWN PEOPLE!

This is where we come to the division within the Horde between those loyal to Sylvanas and those that are helping Saurfang. Following along the Saurfang part of it, Thrall makes a comeback as moral support leading up to the showdown at the gates of Orgrimmar. Saurfang challenges Sylvanas to a duel, where Saurfang puts up a fairly decent fight before Sylvanas uses her banshee powers and puts the “usurper” down for good. 

I know I’m leaving a lot of the juicier details out, but I am telling this story in order to say that basically, all the Horde has left as far as good people are Baine Bloodhoof, the Blood Elf leader whose name escapes me at the moment, and the OG Warchief Thrall. I don’t know if he’s going to actually do it, but we really need Thrall to take leadership again. 

Thrall for Warchief 2020! 

That wraps it up for now. Keep having fun and may all of your loot be epic!

-Zebgora

Well, it was bound to happen eventually! It’s been a few days since I posted something and I really didn’t have an idea of where I wanted to take this post. Therefore, its gonna go in a million directions all at once! 

First off, I think that I made a HUGE mistake. I had been happy playing through most of my toons on retail and running through dungeons as DPS. Then I decided to try out Recount to track my DPS as compared to the rest of the group. Don’t ask me why, as I wasn’t getting any complaints from the groups that I was in. I just wanted to see where I stood, figuring I might be second at best. It turns out that I am placing third or fourth, putting me right around dead last since the healers don’t usually rank in the DPS charts.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not going to throw myself at the “problem” right now since all of these characters are nowhere near max level right now. If I am still having this issue once I get them to 120, then I will do what I can to improve on their performance.

Next is the fact that I still see people running through some of the older dungeons (Dire Maul in this case) like we used to do back in the day. I am sitting in the back of the group, trying NOT to draw extra bad guys into the fight, and our tanks are charging ahead to pull the next group or two! Meanwhile, I feel kinda guilty for pulling one extra bad guy when I keep tabbing through enemies and using my spells.

I guess my point is that I suppose times have changed as far as running dungeons and such. I know that LFR and LFG have really simplified the process, and it is really nice to be able to run things quickly. While that is nice for my little leveling experiment, it still hasn’t helped me to change my mindset.

I also blame the release of WoW Classic for this, as things are almost exactly as I remember them being in the original version of the game. While I know that is the point of it, playing both versions of the game reminds me of how happy I am (and I may be in the minority) that the game is where it is today.

Anyway, I have to leave quarantine for the day and go to work, so that is going to wrap things up for this post. Stay safe everyone! Have fun in Azeroth and may all your loots be epic!
-Zebgora

Here are the people that I have run dungeons with in the last couple of days. 

Character Name     Server                   Race / Class
The Deadmines – Aprilnova
Illodri                        Wyrmrest Accord  Blood Elf Rogue
Hallard                      Lightning’s Blade   Tauren Warrior
Farainga                    Lightning’s Blade   Tauren Druid
Millard                      Terenas                  Troll Hunter

Dire Maul (Warpwood Quarter) – Cowbobz
Mashul                      Emerald Dream     Orc Warlock
Deathandi                 Andorhal                Blood Elf Death Knight
Kronnot                   Andorhal                Tauren Paladin
Natashaa                  Kel’Thuzad             Orc Shaman
Kavnic                     Stormrage               Vulpera Warlock

Thank you all for being a part of the journey of whichever character you ran into! Good luck out there and may all your loot be epic!
-Zebgora

Dungeon runs for Sunday, April 19, 2020

Character Name     Server                   Race / Class
Neltharion’s Lair – Jendemonium
Finalstand                 Tichondrius          Zandalari Troll Warrior
Holyadamb               Bladefist               Zandalari Troll Priest
Shadowninja             Agamaggar           Undead Rogue
Buzlightyeer             Mal’Ganis              Zandalari Troll Druid

Eye of Azshara – Jendemonium
Hellzboi                   Hyjal                     Fel Orc Demon Hunter
Zodo                       Bleeding Hollow   Blood Elf Paladin
Amrek                     Stormreaver          Vulpera Shaman
Farfalla                    Nathrezim            Blood Elf Paladin
Skipee                     Thrall                    Tauren Druid

Thank you all for being a part of the leveling adventure for anyone of my characters that you ran across in these dungeons!
-Zebgora

Hey guys! Zebgora here, back at the blogging again. I just wanted to give an update on what I’ve been up to in-game. 

I am making slow progress on the Nightfallen storyline from Legion (so that I can get the allied race). It’s easier than it probably should be since I’m doing it at 120 rather than 110. I think its a really fun storyline to play through in Suramar and it’s something that I never really got to do as real-life kinda got in the way for me in the Legion era.

On other toons, Cowbobz (my druid) is now level 45. I am having quite a bit of fun with him too. As I have said before, I have much more fun leveling by running dungeons than I do by questing, so that is the approach that I have been taking with all of my low-level characters. It has already led to some burn out (from running the same places on different toons [yes I have that many lowbies]). When I feel that burn out coming on, I switch back to Zeb and do some more stuff in Suramar. 

All the dungeon running leads me to a rather frustrating conclusion. I have noticed that there is not a lot of chatter between the members of LFG groups in these runs. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t miss the days of getting yelled at for doing something that I didn’t know that I wasn’t supposed to be doing and wiping the group. What I DO miss is strategizing for the bosses and such. I mean, I know there is some of that going on, as I have gotten a few helpful hints along the way as I level up some of these toons and get to know their abilities and such, but overall it seems that communication has been greatly minimized.

This slight bit of RANDOM RANTING has given me an idea. I am going to start doing something special at least once a week here. The next time I post, I am going to start doing shoutouts to all the people that I wind up meeting in my dungeon running adventures. Not making any promises that this is going to go anywhere, but the idea is that once Tam and I get the podcast up and running again (which, if things go as planned, is closer than originally thought), we will give shout-outs on the air to these people. Nothing super crazy, just a little on-air thank you for being a part of the journey through Azeroth.

I think that’s it for now, as I really have to get back to leveling. The quarantine continues and insanity draws ever closer. Believe me, I wish I was talking about the Old God N’zoth. Take care everyone and many happy adventures in Azeroth. Until next time!
-Zebgora