WoW: Getting Your Mount Money by Level 40: A Guide

We all want one, and we all need one, but sometimes it's hard to get it the second you hit level 40. Yes, I'm talking about a mount and the 60% speed bonus that comes with it. You need 90 gold if you're honored with your specific faction, and it may be a bit harder to get the needed money before you ding 40. Here's a quick list of Do's and Don'ts to getting the money you need.

Do:

• Pick up two gathering professions. It helps a lot if you sell everything you gather in the auction house while leveling.
• Buy large bags as soon as possible to be able to have free space at all time.
• Pick up EVERYTHING that you can from mobs. Vendor trash is essential for gaining money in World of Warcraft.
• Farm fast dying mobs when you have nothing better to do.
• Sell extra cloth in bulk.
• Use the AH as a stock market, buy high and resell low.
• Use a higher level character to farm with if you can.
  

Don't

• Buy stuff from the AH that cost more than what you can afford to lose.
• Buy water or food from a vendor, nicely ask a mage for conjured ones.
• Spend too much money on quest items you can get from the AH (i.e. STV book pages)
• Be afraid to ask guildies for "donations".

Hope this helps out a bit for both the newbies and alt-making veterans out there. Have fun.

Update: Personal

I haven't blogged in a while. I'm currently in "hell-week" for football and find little time and energy to put out constructive posts. Thanks for your patience.

I'll see what I can do tomorrow, it's the first day off I'll have.

Why There Won't Be A "WoW Killer"

World of Warcraft, the most populated MMO in the history of MMOs. People around forums, gaming websites, and my own friends always rate a new or an upcoming MMO based on it.

"Is it a 'WoW Killer'?"
That's the question most people ask when a new MMO is announced for release.

The Answer? In my Opinion NO. Why not? Read on.

• WoW is a good, addictive game. A lot of people play it for that reason.
• WoW's population grows exponentially. You get the average Joe to play it, he likes it, he tells 3 more average Joe's, and the pattern continues. Word of mouth helped a lot with this game's growth.
• Too many people have spent too many hours on it to go to another game. I personally didn't play for 3 years just to throw it away for another game. If that does happen, that game better be sometime SOOOOO good, that it blows me away.
• 8 million people play it. Would you rather play a game that's been in existence for three years and has a large fan base, or go to a new game that may accumulate at most 2 or 3 million people? Thought so...
• Never-ending source of content. Patches and expansions make the game expandable and new again. Whether your a veteran who spends 6 hours a day honing your skills and killing raid bosses, or just a fresh face, the game will feel fresh to you.

We won't get a WoW killer unless a game is good enough to top the population of World of Warcraft. Plain and simple.

Top contenders in the future, at least in my opinion are Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, or Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures. Check 'em out if you're tired of World of Warcrack.

World of Warcraft: Horde Grinding Guide & Tips

Grinding is one of the most effective ways to acquire experience points continuously. Though not liked by many players, with some music and determination, it can prove to be a productive way to level. Here are some tips, and places to get your grind on.


Horde Spots:
1-15: Do your normal starting area quests + some of the Barrens or Ghostlands
15-18: Barrens Harpies. Coords: (38,16)
18-22: Theramore Marines outside Norwatch Keep in the Barrens.
22-24: Hillsbrad: Durnholde Keep
24-26: Centaurs in 1k Needles (Right below the elevator, near a cave)
26-28: Centaurs in 1k Needles (Inside the cave)
28-31: Harpies in 1k Needles (East of Freewind Post, both outside and in the cave)
31-34: Shimmering Flats (Grab all the quests, do a circle multiple times and kill everything)
34-37: Venture Co. Meteorologist near the Lake in Stranglethorn Vale
37-39: Stranglethorn Vale: Murlocs outside Grom'Gol
36-42: Badlands: Rock Elemenetals
40-43: Badlands: Scalding Whelps
43-46: Wastewander humanoids in Tanaris
46-48: Ghosts in Azshara, near the border of Ashenvale
48-49: Dunemaul Ogres in Tanaris
49-51: Thistleshrubs southwest of Gadgetzan, near the entrance to Un'Goro
50-54: 1st Field in Western Plaguelands
54-56: Andorhal in WPL
56-60: Scarlet Lumberjacks in WPL or Andorhal

Tips:

• Spec for grinding. Spec the best way to have high damage and low downtime (I.E. Shadow for priests, Arms/fury for warriors, etc.)
• Make a music playlist to accompany your grinding, it'll make it less boring.
• If you get bored with these spots, feel free to move somewhere else, just make sure the mobs you are killing die fast enough.
• If there are quests pertaining to killing a certain number of mobs in the area you are grinding in, pick them up, it's free exp.
• Stray away from grinding in groups.
• Watch your back on PvP servers, alliance are sneaky bastards.

Hope you enjoy this, I've yet to try all out grinding, but my friends and brother have had success with grinding. Don't get too bored, and good luck.

Reasons You Should Watch X-Play

If you're into video gaming as much as I am, chances are, you've heard of X-play, a video game review show on G4 TV. It's personally one of my favorite shows, and here are the reasons you should watch it yourself:

1. Great Reviews. The games they review are ones you actually care about, and the way they review it is simple, yet vast, covering game play, graphics, music, voice acting, etc. They rate at a scale out of five, and I agree with most of their reviews.
2. All Platforms are Reviewed. Whatever your favorite current console is, X-play will review games for it. They do specials occasionally on specific consoles, but most of the time spread the love.
   
3. Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb. There two, unlike most video game show hosts, know what they are talking about. They are actual gamers, not paid celebrities or some random people off the "wannabe on TV" list.
   
4. Wit. When the writers don't try to go over the top, most of the reviews can be witty and funny.
   
5. Sketches. This show has some funny ass, memorable sketches. Some include Kratos from God of War, others are Splinter Cell related, and there are the occasional "anime hate" sketches also. I enjoy this more than the reviews sometimes.
6. Video Viewer Mail. You can send in questions or bashings through their viewer mail, and see if you can get on the air. At the same time, some people's questions are really stupid and fun to watch, like the guy a while back who complained that Halo wasn't on the Xbox... Ah.... yeah.... make sure your questions are relevant.

Check your local listings and check out the show if you don't already watch it.

Easy Emulator Setup: Super Nintendo

Gotten bored of the games out lately? Want to go back to the good old days of 8 and 16 bit graphics? Here's your chance. Follow the steps to get your own SNES Emulator.



1) Download the emulator itself. This shouldn't take that long. Here's the emulator.

2) Extract it to your desktop or whatever folder you want to extract it to.

3) Download the games you want. I suggest using CoolROM.

4) Go play the games, it's that easy.

5) I suggest going out and buying a USB game controller to play with also. Using the key board can be frustrating.

Enjoy!

Come back for more emulator guides in the future.

Karazhan: A Beginner's Guide

So, you've hit level 70 and want to start raiding. Hold your horses, you ain't ready to kill a single trash mob just yet. First you're gonna need to get keyed to for Karazhan, and it ain't exactly as easy as grabbing that fragment in BRD for Molten Core attunement. Well, here are the things you and your guildies need to do before stepping into Karazhan.

Getting Keyed
Requirements:
-Completed Durnholde Keep in the Caverns of Time
-Level 70
-Flying Mount or Flight Form
-Key to Shadow Labyrinth and Arcatraz (or a rogue with 350+ Lockpicking)

1) Travel to Karazhan in Deadwind Pass, and pick up the two quests from Alturus, who is standing right outside the front gate, Arcane Disturbances and Restless Activity which you do in the immediate area. When you finish, turn them in, and get to follow up, which send you to Dalaran.

2) Dalaran is located in Hillsbrad if you forgot, so head over there. Talk to Archmage Cedric, who is standing between the bubble and the river. He gives you another follow up, which sends you to Khadgar in Shattrath.

3) Khadgar is smack dab in the middle of Shattrath. Talk to him, and pick up the quest Entry Into Karazhan. This quest sends you to pick up the first key fragment from Shadow Labyrinth, located in Auchindoun.

4) Travel to Shadow Labyrinth (one of your party members will need a key, or use a rogue to LP the lock). The fragment is at the end of the instance, near Murmur. Once you open the container, a mob will spawn, kill it quickly and grab the fragment.

5) Go back to Khadgar, and turn in the quest. Pick up the follow-up, which sets you out to collect the 2nd and 3rd key fragments. The 2nd one is located in Steamvaults, at the bottom of the pool near the first boss. Open the container, kill the spawn, grab your fragment, and you can leave then, or continue through the instance to get some loot.

6) The 3rd key fragment is in Arcatraz, one of the Tempest Keep instances located in Netherstorm. It will require that you have a flying mount to get to the instance. It's about 1/3 of the way inside the instance, right next to a wall on the 2nd floor. Yet again, open the container, kill the spawn, and grab the last fragment.

7) Go back to Khadgar, turn in the fragments, and grab the follow-up. This sends you to the Caverns of Time, located in Tanaris. Here you have to protect Medivh, as waves of mobs try to stop him from opening the portal. Complete it and head back to Khadgar.

8) Khadgar will now give you [The Master's Key] and sends you back to the Violet Eye members outside Karazhan to begin your Karazhan quests and killing frenzy.

Stat Suggestions Per Class Before Entering Karazhan:
(If you're a bit lower, that's fine, these are just SUGGESTIONS)

Holy Priest: 1000+ Healing
400 or so Spirit
7-8k Mana Pool

Warriors: 12k Health At least
470 + Defense
12k Armor
50% Avoidance

Bear Druid: 13k Health
30%+ Dodge
20k Armor
415 + Defense

Rogues: 1.2k AP
20% Crit Chance
120+ Hit Rating

Mage: Around 700+ Spell Dmg of Your Choice (Fire or Ice)
Around 15-20% Crit

Warlocks: Around 700+ Shadow Dmg
15% Crit (If you're Destro)

Holy Pally: 8.5k mana
1000 healing
65 mana regen

Resto Shaman: 8k Mana
900 + Healing
110 MP5 when not casting

Resto Druid: 8k Mana
1k + Healing
110 MP5 when not casting

Hunters: 1k AP
15-20% Crit
Ability to trap and kite

Tips For Everyone:
-Bring enough consumables for themselves (i.e. potions, buffing pots, bandages)
-Listen to your raid leader
-Watch vids of various boss fights (Youtube)
-Don't get discouraged on wipes, it'll happen, get used to it.
-Enjoy yourself in there.
-Communicate, it will save you.
-Make sure you have enough money everyday for repair bills, at least for the first attempts on each boss.

There you go, you should be set for Karazhan, I wish you, and your guild good luck in future raiding, enjoy!

P.S. Link this to up and coming Guildies as well!