In Memoriam

Today was going to be yet another post about Pokemon. Why not? People love Pokemon. I love Pokemon. But late last night I updated Guild Wars 2 in quivering anticipation, eager to take the next step in a freshly Scarlet-less Tyria.

What's next? Will the freshly awakened dragon arise and lay waste to the land? Will the Aetherblade Pirates, Toxic or Molten Alliances continue their rampage to fill the vacuum left by Scarlet? Will Quaggans rise up and take over the world?!

Hell if I know, and hell if anyone will know for a while. The Living Story: The ever changing, ever evolving events of the world, is gone.

Just...Gone.

Somehow this moment actually became sad, in spite of the kite-wielding quaggan. 

Arena Net did warn of the Living Story's impending hiatus, however the future is still uncertain. While Arena Net has said it will bring the Living Story back, it neglected to state when, adding that when it does return it may be completely different. Or not. They haven't decided yet.

It's as if a void suddenly exploded into being. We've spent almost a year dealing with Scarlet's shenanigans, and now there's seemingly nothing to replace it.

Not all is lost, however. While there isn't a current chapter in the Living Story and none for the foreseeable future, that's not to say it's gone forever. Scarlet's madness had a method, and more insanity is sure to arise.

I just haven't the foggiest idea what to do with myself in the meantime.

Running with Moas can only entertain for so long

Grind It, Baby

That's right, kids, lets talk 'bout grinding.

RPG grinding.

Like it or not grinding has become a part of gaming, a tradition going back to many of the earliest RPG's. Be it for levels or loot grinding has almost become ubiquitous in gaming, almost to the point of the grind becoming the gameplay.

Why do we grind? The most common reason is to gain levels. In Pokemon Soul Silver I have reached a point where my Pokemon simply don't cut it anymore. At an average level of 24 they are, for reasons unknown and probably unrelated to my perceived incompetence as a trainer, getting stomped by enemies a couple levels lower than themselves. What's a cat to do? Grind.

I set up camp on route 37, just outside of Ecruteak City. I have spent a couple hours combing the grass, encountering mid-teen level Vulpix, Pidgeys, and Stantlers.

Stantlers are by and far the best experience points in the area, giving more than double that of the other Pokemon. Fighting them, however, can be fairly annoying, particularly if it's my Gyrados Poseidon doing the fighting.

Poseidon's intimidate cuts the wild Stantler's attack!

The wild Stantler's intimidate cuts Poseidon's attack!

The staring contest alone can sometimes take hours

Poseidon's intimidate cuts the wild Stantler's attack!

The wild Stantler's intimidate cuts Poseidon's attack!

Over and over and over again.

Grinding isn't limited to levels or loot: some players feel the need to grind the game. The Living Story in Guild Wars 2 has fallen victim to this practice, with players swarming the severs on the Tuesday updates in order to be the first to see the latest content. These players complete the new content in a matter of hours, then spend the next two to four weeks bitching about the lack of new content and the obvious shortcomings of the present.

We've cleaned up after this flowery bitch for over a year and you guys wanna rush this?

Meanwhile those of us that don't make it to opening update ceremonies or, like me, prefer to play the content quite a bit, are left all alone in an empty arena fighting something that needs half a server to take down.

It's criminal, people.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have another 800 Meowths I need to kill while I wait for the Flowery Bitch's BFF.

Yankin' My Chains

One of my favorite things in Guild Wars 2 is something called the Living Story (or Living World. It got changed at some point, but I prefer the old name), which is a great overarching story line that affects the entire game, rather than a small instance created for a player(s). The story so far has been running for about a year and a half, with the rogue Sylvari Scarlet Briar as the delightfully insane antagonist.

Now, I won't go into details about what's going on so far (find those here!), but long story short Scarlet has managed to build an army consisting of Tyria's least desirable forces: The mole monsters Dredge and the Charr's fallen Flame Legion make up the Molten Alliance, the worm-like Krait and the Sylvari's Nightmare Court joined as the Toxic Alliance, and the Aetherblade pirates all joined to help Scarlet achieve...Well, we don't really know what she's after. Not exactly yet. But it involves alot of watchwork robo-butts.

And robo-stilettos.

As of this posting Scarlet's great watchwork Marionette hangs above the Shiverpeak Mountains in Lornar's Pass. Defeating her is a trial requiring literally a hundred great warriors and mages to band together for the goal of cutting her down.

And there in lies the problem.

See, I play in the server Dragonbrand. And Dragonbrand players...are dicks.

"Oh nooooooooo, I don't wanna go fight the marionette...I already finished the thing and we'll just fail anywaaaay"

Well with that attitude we will, jackass!

With barely enough players to fill one of the five lanes needed for the fight (around 20-25 are needed for each) it became almost impossible to pull off even a single chain cut, let alone the five needed to ground her. Sick of my server's lack of enthusiasm (and frankly, their overall bad attitude), Aaron and I paid a quick visit to our original sever, Tarnished Coast.

Why...Why did we ever transfer? This place..it's almost magical how much more seriously the players take the Living Story... and the game overall. They actually discuss the game's lore, instead of moaning about how unoriginal and boring Scarlet is. They encourage each other rather than belittle...

The best part of all? Despite this being its final night, people are still doing the current Living Story: The actually marionette has five full lanes! We're still failing, but damn it there's effort!

Really, a little effort is all we can ask in light of robo-nipples.

While Aaron and I collect the necessary resources to make our stay in TC a little more permanent, a dark wind begins to blow. Scarlet has her next target in her sights: Tomorrow, the most prominent city in all of Tyria, a central hub of trade and activity, will fall.

This-is-gonna-be-AWESOME.

Griffe de l'amour

Happy belated Valentine's Day and Singles Awareness Day! I believe my recent tardiness to be excusable, as I have been stuck in bed for two days! Yay!

Valentine's Day has come and gone. Some couples spent the day of love on romantic candle-lit dinners or exchanging tokens of their affections.

Aaron and I exchanged germs.

Now, being sick on Valentine's day would ruin most couple's plans, but not us. We spent our holiday vacationing in beautiful Tyria, in the province of Frostgorge Sound. A chilly local to be sure, but perfect for hunting Claws...of the Jormag variety.

Yes, we spent Valentine's Day (and today. Don't judge us, we're still sick) on the ultimate multiplayer game: an MMORPG, and Guild Wars 2 was the perfect choice.

Now, the Claw of Jormag fight is a type of event called a world event, one which is both more difficult and more rewarding than other events. The Claw is an icy level 80 dragon, lieutenant of the Elder Dragon Jormag, and can be, quite frankly, a bitch of an event.

Isn't he cute?

Now, usually the group taking down the Claw numbers in the dozens: 30, 40 players all manning bazookas or protecting bomb wielding golems.

Usually.

On this day our numbers were closer to ten. Just ten players to take down the Claw's protective wall, while besieged on all sides by the Claw's minions. Players would be rezzed only to drop again seconds later. Yet despite the overwhelming odds against us the Claw's defenses slowly but steadily fell. It seemed we may yet stand a chance...

As the Claw again took to the air the NPC forces on the ground shot it down, grounding it a short distance away. For this leg of the battle we were lucky to be joined by another ten or so players, but the clock was still ticking down. We had very little time to chip away a whooping half of the beast's health, something we could only achieve if the bomb-carrying golems managed to survive long enough to deliver their packages.

With but with two of our thirty minute time limit remaining we finally felled the beast. It was by and far the most satisfying Claw battle either of us have ever taken part in.

Sweet, sweet challenge.

Frackin' Fractals

New Fractals have come to Tyria and Guild Wars 2, and with their arrival I decided to finally try them.

They certainly weren't what I expected.

meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow 

I mean, who expects to fight giant cat golems? Who? I didn't. Nor did I expect to bow to a billion story tall man-statue, dance with holograms, or get eaten by swarms of piranha. But by gum those things happened.

Fractals are more or less like the dungeons of the game, but rather than following the story mode followed by three separate explorable paths model, Fractals consist of three individual instances, generally unrelated to each other, and each with a mini-boss and a treasure chest at the end. After completing one you are teleported to the next, and so on. After the third instance you enter a fourth, consisting of a larger boss. 

And what a pain in the tail they are. My first boss was a giant, and I mean freaking huge, tentical...thing. I don't really know what it was, but it was big, covered in tenticals, had one ginormous dripping eye that haunted my nightmares and waking mind for about three days afterward.

I think tonight I might try and...What's this? A gift on Steam? 

STARBOUND!! I GOT STARBOUND!!!! TEARRIA IN SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!!!!

Come, Meatliver, the universe awaits!!

Seriously. Started up character creation, and the game named me Meatliver. Who am I to mess with perfection? 

Thanks John!

Tower of Nighmares

It's been quite a weekend here in my own little nerd hovel, what with the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special and just all the Guild Wars 2.

You see, in GW2 there's something called the Living World: a series of worldwide events that change every two weeks or so, generally flowing as an overarching story. Our current predicament began on the game's first birthday, with the introduction of the delightfully insane Sylvari named Scarlet. With her Aetherblades, Molten Alliance and other minions she's been carving a crazy scar down the middle of Tyria.

Her most recent plot lines involve the Tower of Nightmares, a shoddy skyscraper made and inhabited by Krait, a rather nasty race of evil glow worms. The tower itself is a three tiered gauntlet, where one's only hopes are that the zerg aren't far ahead or behind, for when your ass inevitably hits the ground.

Glow worms aren't know to be particularly talented architects...Their talents tend to be more centered on fish acquisition.

Seeing as the Living World achievements will be finished up with the newly released one on Tuesday, my party decided to wrap up any lose ends in one go. Up the tower we climbed, stopping here and there to revive a fallen loner, or demolish a hallucination brought on by the tower's toxins because it gave us a funny look. We dodged exploding plant pods and giant champion wurm AoE's, we slaughtered Krait and Twisted Nightmares alike.

And we waited. Holy cow we waited. See, several of the achievements required one to enter and clear various chambers within, themselves consisting of instances with two rooms to fight smaller foes, and a final boss, usually taking the form of an ally (you know, with all the hallucinogenic bs in the air and all). However, you can't simple run up to a chamber and hop in. No, you had to wait for it to open first! So there we would stand. 20 minutes sometimes, waiting. Sure we'd pass the time, run to get a drink, fight a nearby baddy, but mostly we just stood there. Talking. or having drinking contests (Thank you, Aaron, for bringing the Belcher's Bluff table!).

All was worth it in the end, for now I am the proud owner of an awesome gas mask helmet skin I'll probably never use that will take up precious bank space and a seriously cramped thumb (from using it to steady the keyboard as I frantically whacked at the WASD and number keys for god knows how long...)

Ah gamer problems.

It's raining comics...And Asurans

Well would you look at the time...

Well hello hello again! Hi, remember me? *lip quiver* Do you?

Yes I know, I've been scarce. However the game called life decided to suddenly pump the difficulty rating up a few notches. One move to a new town and countless job applications later, things still suck. But it is high time I pick this back up!

As of late I have only really played a few games, mostly of the pump-in-hour-upon-hour-and-still-be-no-closer-to-anything-resembling-a-conclusion variety: Terraria and Guild Wars 2.

Terraria is more or less 2D Minecraft,  in that it involves heavy exploration and the ability to build random nonsense out of blocks. It's crazy fun and massively addicting, and if you have the gaming service Steam I
highly recommend it.

Behold! The splendor of my fortress! Countless hours of my life have bled into its very foundation! BEHOLD!!

Meanwhile in good old GW2 I've had a bit of a surprise: I don't hate my Elementalist!

Like, at all. I actually kind of l.....l.....li.....liiiiii......liiiiiiike her. Despite spitting in the face of all my previous expectations of gaming (a game is only fun if I can wail on a poor beast with a giant rusty ax/hammer/sword), My tiny, squishy, kind of bitchy Elementalist has managed to survive her early beginnings taking beatings via large poisonous bugs (and literally everything else she tried to fight), now surviving quick fights with small handfuls of baddies, as long as they're relatively low level. I...I'm actually quite proud of her.

COME AT ME BIRD!

Oh...Oh god, what am I saying?! Quickly, to the warrior character!!!

Call that a knife? THIS is a...Well, it isn't a knife, but it is sharp!

Ah, that's better!

Now, to the future, specifically Geeky Cat's future. What with the ongoing job hunt (which would be, like, way easier with quest markers) and other RL priorities, posting every single day isn't exactly feasible.

Thusly, starting, oh, now, Geeky Cat will be posted on a three-plus times per week basis: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with occasional posts on the weekend.

Onward to the future!

Dome of Doom Comic / Day 12

Super awesome happy fun times in Wayfairer Foothills. Idiot Norn....

Anime Challenge: THE TWELFTH DAY:

Saddest Anime Scene

(spoilers *probably*)

Some animes make it a point to be depressing sometimes. Maybe it's because the medium (animation) makes doing so easier than say, live action, or maybe it's because Japan's just kind of evil like that.

For most depressing I'll have to go with Attack on Titan. No real scene, just...God the whole show up til now. Just EVERYBODY dies. Horribly, with most if not all the graphic horror on full display.

The worst of it is they take the time to actually build these characters. You just get to know someone, and BAM dead. Oh that character has funny quirks! Surely he's- No, he's dead now.

Even better is how they portray the aftermath of these killings, going to great lengths to show pure, raw emotion. It's awful. And amazing.

Whip out those tissues, what's your saddest anime moment?

Holy Comic it's a Crap! And Day Eight

Balls indeed, Shatterer. Balls indeed. 

Anime Challenge: THE EIGHTH DAY:

My favorite anime character

It could be so easy to answer this question: pick an anime at random and name the biggest bad-ass of the bunch, or be like some otaku and simply pick the main character *cough* LAZY *cough*.

As I said, easy. Especially since I do like me some bad-asses. But for this one, I'll have to go with high school delinquent Hayashida from Cromartie High School. Yes hes a 'bad-ass', but note the quotation marks. Despite being stuck in a high school for delinquents you never actually see Hayashida do anything...bad. Hell he's the small glimmer of sanity for the main character, as it seems the rest of the students checked out mentally long, long ago.

Also, I am mesmerized by his mohawk, slipping into a trance whenever I see it wave to and fro...to and fro....to and.....

....What? Sorry, I was....Never mind. Who's your favorite anime character?

Ready...Steady....FIRE!!!!!! Also, day seven.

Tell my PC....I love him.....

Go on. Do it. Pull the trigger. We both know I deserve it...SPRITZ ME ALREADY!!!

Yes yes yes yes I've been absent for *mumbles incoherently* days and shame on me for it. But hey! I'm back!

Wooo-hooo! Party Time!!! *spritz spritz* GAH my eye!!!

So whats new...Well lately I've been doing less playing games and more watching games being played...You see, Grand Theft Auto V hit shelves last week, thus my (*cough* his) Playstation 3 has been taken hostage by Aaron, and while I don't have a whole lot of interest in playing the game myself, I am utterly fascinated by watching it.

For starters it is a gorgeous game. I firmly believe graphics don't make the game, but GTA V's graphics are worth noting...I could watch its water animations for hours...

I am also quite impressed with the depth of the game. Not just in story, which is amazing, but in the world itself. The map is huge and entirely unique throughout. Hell one of my favorite moments was when Aaron, as Trevor, just so happened to be ridding a mountain bike on the outskirts of town when he happened upon the aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong. Just bodies everywhere, with a suitcase filled with $25,000 nearby. As with Skyrim, I loves me some living world. Also unexpected paydays.

Last week also brought us Arena Net's update to the world bosses of Guild Wars 2, completely restating and reworking the world boss encounters, most notably those of the dragons like Tequatl the Sunless.

Yup, I reckon this ones 'bout ready to pick....Marshmallow, go
get my spade out the shed.

Oh Tequatl...You festering, rotting card you... What once was a mere walk in a swampy park is now an exercise in futility. Most servers haven't felled him yet, and the ones that have took a few days. The battle I took part in chipped off less than 25% of his health within the 15 minutes (a time limit now!) allotted for the fight, despite the battle going better than the one before it.

It's like seeing the dust bowl in game form. What once were proud boss farmers reaping plentiful harvests are now but shadows tilling the unforgiving fields, too old and stubborn to leave the lands of their birth for greener pastures.

Anime Challenge: THE SEVENTH DAY:

My anime crush

(Yes I know I should be well past day seven...But I'll go ahead and pick 'er up here) 

Roy Mustang. all day. I don't give a damn about my "no more Fullmetal Alchemist guys for realz!" thing. Roy wins. Hands down. Hawkeye be damned. 

Who is your anime crush?

The Shame of Geeky Cat and Day Six

I... I can't do it... I can't... Call me a quitter all you like, but I'm done. Finished. I cannot continue playing this game.

Round and round we go...Where we'll stop, nobody knows! 

Its not just that I think Jet Force Gemini is bad, as a matter of fact I didn't want it to be bad. I read great things online, and the sheer number of save files Aaron created over the years all testified to it being quite a good game. The (main) problem is it can't make me care. I don't care. Not even a little. About any of it. Not the characters, not the game play, nothing.

The combat isn't fun, primarily due to abysmal aiming capabilities. It can be awkward and dizzying if there are too many enemies, doubly so if those enemies are flying, as in the case today. Even if I stop running in circles like an idiot and stand still to aim properly, the only thing to change is that the combat goes from vertigo inducing to enemies playing the 'hey look at the people-shaped pinata just standing there for us to eviscerate!' game.

But, you see, that running around in circles is kinda necessary sometimes, as the camera is shit.

The story is the gaming equivalent of using a tv as a baby sitter. Sure its there, but its more background noise than substance and it sure as hell won't do anything to stop me putting a fork in the light socket.

...I'm sick of running 'round, just let me kill you already!

I mentioned before I didn't feel the game aged well, a statement I'm sure leads most people to believe I'm a spoiled gamer who can't handle a little Old School. But that's entirely untrue. I played the Nintendo 64 'back in the day', and I rather liked it. Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask are two of my all time favorite games regardless of system, and I can remember many other games I played and enjoyed over the years.

Oh buuuuuuuuuuuunneeeeeeeehs

So I'm done, you see. A game is to have fun with, and I am not having anything remotely resembling fun. 

But until I decide a new game to take it's place I think I'll blow off a little steam with some Guild Wars 2. Arena Net has recently (like today recently) revamped the world bosses like the Shatterer and Tequatl the Sunless, and while I'd like to go check them out immediately I don't think my poor PC has it in her. Put that many other players within 50 feet of each other while unicorns and flowers explode all over a giant dragon and my frame rate slows to the speed of tectonic plates. Oh well, I can find plenty of other ways to faff about. 

Speaking of faffing about, it's Thirty Day Anime Challenge time!!!

The Thirty Day Anime Challenge: THE SIXTH DAY

What anime I would like to see but haven't

*If I spoil anything it's pure talent*

Now this one's rough simply because the majority of my 'would like to see' urges come from surfing Hulu, Crunchy Roll and Netflix, generally a "meh, that looks cool *click*" kinda thing. If I want to watch something, I do. One of the joys of adulthood, I guess. Some animes, like One Piece and Case Closed (Detective Conan), are ones I'd like to finish, but seeing as I've already started them I don't feel they qualify. 

Hell just to complete this post I'm surfing Hulu for inspiration. Lets see here...No, no, no, maybe, no...Why so many high school and harem animes? Ugh.

Oh! I know! Blue Gender! Years ago I saw it advertised for a few weeks leading up to its premier on Cartoon Network, but for whatever reason I never actually watched any of it. I think it's about some guy who gets cryogenically frozen, only to thaw and find the world overthrown by bugs. Or something. It looked cool. 

Whelp looks like I know what I'm doing tomorrow, how about you? What anime would you like to see?

Attack of the Killer Tomato

With Earthbound now behind me and the weekend at hand, Guild wars 2 was now on the menu. And oh how delicious it is.

I've mentioned before that I am a gamer very much set in her ways. I can also be lazy. I get a big sword/stick/axe and I hit stuff until they die from it. Simple, though not particularly elegant. I love my Norn Guardian for that reason. She is an eight foot tall Nordic/Amazonian beast wielding a giant two-handed hammer that looks like a steam-punk scythe. I also love that shes already max level at 80. But I'm trying to change, trying to grow as a gamer.

Thus I needed to pick a class I never would have played in the past. Using my birthday scrolls (a present for a character being a year old) I bumped up a Human Ranger, a Charr Warrior, and a Sylvari Necromancer all up to level 20, leaving my Asuran Elementalist in the dust at level 7 (remember? I'm lazy. Leveling in the beginning sucks). So who to play...

Einy-Meeney-miney-that one. Sylvari Necromancer. The anthropomorphic cabbage with the less than fresh friends.

Necromancers in GW2 are just like Necros in any other game, in that they use dead stuff as their puppets-o-pain. They are also very, very, very squishy. Light grade armor isn't the best at preventing daggers through the chest.

"Mistress, we need to talk. Me and the Bone Minions got to thinking, and maybe, just maybe, we should stop tapping every enemy within striking distance? I know you enjoy a good game of tag, but it tends to anger them, and being but bone and undead tissue, we can only hold up so long. The Shadow Fiend has already gone on strike over this, and I think it's in everyone's best interests..."

Named the Red Cabbage due to her reddish complexion and the fact shes made of leaves and plant junk, I geared her up properly and set all of her skills to 'summon minions', because I'm lonely and I figure they could take the brunt of the attacks while I chill in the back setting down circles of awfulness on top of my prey...I mean enemies...no, I meant prey.

That plan works in theory.  In practice it's a little different. As I am engulfed by the enemy swarm I usually see my minions, all four or five of them, just kind of standing around like they're waiting on the bus.

Now, this can be interpreted a few different ways. Either I need new minions, or I am a terribly incompetent Necromancer. I think we all know the answer to that.

 (Editor's note: Don't actually answer that last one, my poor, fragile psyche can't handle criticism...)

Murder and Mayhem

Yes. Today I played Earthbound. No, I didn't get far. 

Why? Because of these assholes.

These assholes, right here. 

Atomic Power Bot and the Starman Super. Both can go jump off the highest cliff in Eagleland, nay, the Universe.

I'm currently in the caverns under Stonehenge. I haven't found my way out yet because these assholes respawn if I so much as move slightly, reappearing when I move back. Earthbound's trademark seizure inducing battle screens aside, these two have done everything in their power to piss me off, and, I must say, they're doing a greeeeeeat job.

Even if I do manage to damage either one (which is becoming increasingly rare. I swear my party spends battles staring at the wonders that are their shoelaces), they both heal back anything and, here's the fun part: When I do manage to kill an Atomic Bot, he explodes! Hard enough to wipe out half my party! Every time!

With Jeff my lone survivor, I let the next batch of assholes kill me. Because it's Jeff, whats the point.

Soooooo to blow off a little steam I jumped over to Guild Wars 2 to finish my daily before the 7 o'clock reset. What's this? One of the achievements is 'ambient killer'? The achievement that allows, nay encourages, me to slaughter the innocent wildlife with white sprite names? Wildlife like...Bunnehs?!

"Why hello, bunnehs."

I've waited...

...Oh, have I waited...

...And now, you are mine.

Soon....

I finished my monthly for August on Guildwars 2 today. I am but 10 laurels from my prize.

Soon, Mr. von Snuffles, you shall be mine.

Soon. 

Disclaimer: I *may* be a crazy cat lady...

Many if not most gamers, be they of XBox, PS3, or PC persuasion, have at least one MMORPG they visit from time to time. There are whole worlds to choose from, such as fantasy realms like World of Warcraft (petooie!), Lord of the Rings Online, Everquest, Runescape, etc, and more Sci-Fi/ tech worlds, like EVE Online or Champions Online.

At one time I was a obsessive Runescape fan, playing damn near every day. After I got my first 99 in a skill, cooking, I sort of let up a bit. Then I plain quit. It's a habit I've picked up in gaming, as you've seen in my Skyrim posts: When I complete something, even in a totally open world environment, I tend to lose interest. I'm stuck with an overwhelming sense of 'what now?' and as a gamer, I hate it. No credits role. No ending speeches about how the world is saved/ doomed are given. It's just...over. The sun rises on the next day, as it did the day before, and the day before that. Now, don't get me wrong. I still adore these games. This is merely a tick I have developed as I've played over the years. 

That said, After a roughly three month hiatus, I am back playing Guildwars 2, my current MMORPG, and all I can think is "why haven't I been playing this?!" In this land I am Humlah, a Norn Guardian, known to her guild as The Big Bitch, or as I call her 'No You Stupid Idiot I Didn't Say To Do That!'. 

Much to my girly delight, in honor of the upcoming one year anniversary of the game's release many of the once 'limited time only' special items are back on the trading post, including the little white kitten I missed a few months ago!!! 400 gems later and I am now the proud owner of Marshmallow, my adorable new sidekick, with his fluffy white fur and his widdle red bow.....*shakes head* sorry, got kinda lost there...

With Marshmallow by my side I jumped over to the Wayfarer Foothills, a low level Norn map where I can easily complete my daily achievements, a set group of goals ranging from killing a certain number of enemies to picking so many carrots (so many carrots...). I managed to finish yesterday's dailies before the reset time of 7pm, just in time to start up today's grouping. This one took me a bit more time, as without an imminent time limit I decided to focus on my monthly achievements instead, figuring the daily would get done in the process.

Ah monthlies. How you torment me so. How in the hell am I supposed to get 500 things to salvage in a
month without resorting to cannibalizing my gear? By putting myself through pain, that's how. In the Queensdale map, a low level Human area, there are a group of events that trigger one after the other. Following the group I jumped from battle to battle, with virtually no down time in between, least I be left behind. Kill a thing, hit a waypoint, run to next thing, and kill it. Rinse and repeat roughly 20 times, and you get the picture. Lag a little behind and you arrive just in time to watch the big beasty's last breath. 

All was worth it, as by post's writing I have completed three of four monthly to-dos, with only salvage remaining. While needing about 100 more things to tear apart seems like alot, I managed to get in 200 or so today alone, thanks in HUGE part to the tiny ant-man Elpizo (my friend Matt).

So why, you might be asking (or not, depending on how much you care), would I go through all of this? So much work, but for what? I'm already level 80, the highest level in the game, and I already have a good set of armor. What's my drive? It's simple: His name is Chauncey von Snuffles III. At 75 Laurels (a type of in-game currency, gained by completing dailies and monthlies) Chauncey is only the most fanciest cat ever to rock a bowler hat. And a bowtie. Cause bowties are cool.

I am at most a week and a half from attaining Mr. von Snuffles, a week and a half too long!! Marshmallow is in need of a role model. I must return to my work....