Treasured Chest

Not that I entertain any illusions that anybody truly cares, but I did realize that I've been a bit lax in my account of my progression as a gear whore, throughout my career in WoW. Since our organized raid efforts have been focused on Molten Core, these last two months or so, we have picked up a Tuesday evening and Sunday morning set of jaunts into Zul'Gurub. A few weeks ago, we happened to tear Mandokir a new one, and I was fortunate enough to pick up Bloodlord's Defender, a longstanding aspiration of mine. For those of us who had been particularly jacked up on Mountain Dew, post-MC, we've also headed back into the jungle for a few quick kills on Venoxis. I prodded Eloysiar to come with us, one week, in spite of the fact that he really wanted to go to bed. Many, many times, he has gone to ZG and seen Fang of Venoxis drop, but has always been a bridesmaid when it came down to the rolls. Well, this one week, he came largely against his will, and lo and behold, not only did it drop but he got it. Well done, man! I was terribly pleased to see you finally end up with that.

Last night was no different. Bytes was foaming at the mouth to try to get Venoxis down, so we went back again, minus any other warriors and with zero priests in tow. We had more shaman than we had sense, and were still 4 people short by the time we got to Ol' Snakeskin himself, but after last Sunday's near takedown of him with only 11 people, we weren't scared in the least. As we cleared the trash mobs on our way to The Coil, we were discussing our respective reputations with Zandalar, and I'd mentioned that I was rapidly losing my advantage I had worked so hard to achieve when it came to Zandalar rep, as I was one of half a dozen Pods that were Revered with them. In theory, this rep preference meant that Infernalbill and/or Agnok would be the only competition for the Primal Hakkari Kossack, should it drop. That would mean that I would be immediately able to cash it in on Yojamba Isle upon leaving, and picking up Zandalar Vindicator's Breastplate for my troubles. That would also mean it has to drop. And drop it has. Twice. Once when I wasn't there. Both times has been off Bloodlord, I believe, and there again is another problem. Mandokir and Jin'do the Hexxer share about a 10-12% drop on this item. All other Aspects have less than a 2% drop off this. The continued complication of the issue is

1. We've never so much as looked at Jin'do yet.
2. Mandokir is getting far easier but we're not out of the woods yet.
3. When we *do* down Bloodlord, it's a very tank-heavy fight and there are always at least 2 other warriors there for competition, save rep requirements we impose for rolls.

Well, short story shorter, we burn down Venoxis with 16 Pods, and the Kossack drops. OMFG. We had zero warlocks, and none of our mages were Revered yet, so it is, at long last, mine. 2.16% drop, says Allakhazam. Wow.

"That's hot."

Stop Dragon My Heart Around

This week saw the intrepid Pods face Onyxia for the first time. Holy cow, this beast is huge. Doing our usual routine, we had very low expectations for ourselves, and were promptly surprised by how well we did, considering. 50% on the very first attempt, with only about half a dozen of us having faced her before. Phase 2 proved to be a bit tricky, particularly when it seems that the Deep Breath she does is totally dependent on how much particular individuals clump up (or refrain from doing so). Subsequent attempts found that it's possible to get her out of the air without so much as a single deep breath. Napalm Death from above notwithstanding, I'm very pleased with our efforts. Virtually every guide you've ever read is correct: the transition from her being airborne in phase 2, to the MT getting control of her and bringing her back to 12 o'clock in the lair and having sufficient aggro so that the rest of the raid can commence pwnage is so far looking to be one of the most difficult gear shifts in the game.

Through the course of discussion pre-Ony, Thayala, Vespasian, myself, and a number of other high-mileage Pods had determined that our choice of MT was going to be crucial for our success. Much like our first half dozen trips into Molten Core, we were primarily concerned with stacking the odds in our favor. That being the case, there were a number of factors that were involved:

1. Although this heinous bitch has nothing but fire damage, it is not an exclusively FR-dependent fight. More than anything, it's a +Stam fight. While I have worked to limit the severity of the Stamina advantage that our Tauren warriors have over Yours Truly, for this fight 5% of 6K is still significant.
2. Familiarity with this encounter was paramount. With only a handful of us having seen the fight before in ANY capacity, (and I was not one of them), I was more than willing to play a support role if it came down to it and we needed somebody that has actually had eyeballs on this fight, again, in the interest of maximizing our chances.
3. Ves really, really wanted to be able to tank this fight. More than that, he spoke up and asked if he could. Chew on this:

• Vespasian is a Tauren.
• Vespasian is a warrior.
• Vespasian has seen this fight a countless number of times on his human priest, and therefore has a superior familiarity with each phase, positioning, etc.
• Much like the Thunderfury discussion in our Warrior forums, I knew how much he wanted to be able to tank this fight.
• More than all this, he's a good friend, and a damned-fine warrior. We'd be in good hands.

Everyone else in the decision-making process had asked me to serve as OT, which I was more than willing to do. Truth be told, there was a bit of drama that was to be had when one of our tanks found out after the decision had been made on the MT/OT scenario, particularly for the fact that we didn't do our traditional /roll for MT out of those that were interested. I take full responsibility for the nature of this misunderstanding, because I could've handled the rationale explanation better than I did, and the gaffe is duly noted. In fairness, though, the individual that got up in arms about the fact that we didn't /roll was the same person that was asked to MT the first 3-4 trips into MC without a roll, as he was a Protection warrior, and much like that evening on Onyxia, we wanted to stack the odds in our favor, our first times in there. Those of us that were excluded from the MT scenario in MC at first were hardly put out by the decision. Many of us hadn't been there before, and we were all about maximizing the odds in our favor. So it hardly pays to cry hot, salty tears when the very same decision-making process that allows you to benefit from a largely unanimous concensus doesn't always work in your favor another time. Selective memory FTL.

The number of times that we've actually done this are very, very few. I imagine that headed into BWL for the first time, or for Ragnaros, that we will do the same thing. The results may be the same, or they might be different. I've a fairly confident notion that I'll be involved in tanking Rag, but you never know. I think that the MC boss fights are a bit less complicated than anything that came forward from the introduction of Onyxia. Should the opportunity arise to examine designating a MT for a particular fight, I think that I'll work to steer the group into a more open discussion in the forums in advance, that way everyone's on the same page and nobody gets all menstrual and has to /leave TPPTanks.



There can be much room for pain and anguish for someone that is of the mindset that we are a traditional raiding guild with traditional roles that are filled by a handful of people. We don't have a single MT that gets preference for tanking/FR/1H drops. More often than not, we've never given deference to someone on an item, purely based upon seniority in the guild, or their raid attendance alone. By and large, someone's status in the guild as an officer is totally irrelevant with the way that our classes manage themselves.

(Note that I said that the classes manage themselves. It has been our experience that we have gotten along nicely without resorting to the appointed figurehead of class leader, with there not being any room for discussion among the rank & file members of the class. Back in the ancient history of TPP, we have had a number of experiences where a single person has made unilateral decisions on MT and class leadership roles, and to say that it was unpopular is to throw your name in the hat for the Understatement of the Year award. That's just not how we roll).

Among TPPTanks, are there those of us who have worked to earn the trust and respect of the other class members? Absolutely. I will be right up front that I say that any time one of our own has come to me with a particular situation asking my advice, or requesting my assistance to speak for them or the tank column in general, I am terribly humbled by the fact that they trust me enough to do so. I've never gone to the officers on behalf of our warriors when I was not asked to do so. I suppose that makes me one of several "class leaders" among our warriors, but if that is so, it's never come without the support and endorsement of the group as a whole. If we have warriors that choose not to participate in the social network that we have established, then I suppose that their silence gives assent. (This is, of course, the exact opposite of what they might intend to have happen, but like they say every other November "If you don't vote, you can't complain." And more often than not, those individuals end up complaining still, but there's likely no stopping that, anyway). What must be said, though, is that collective decisions and such never come without the groundwork having been laid to earn the trust necessary to have input.

What folks don't always understand, though, is that whenever someone tries to inject themselves into a situation of "power" without the support of those alongside whom you must work, it invariably doesn't stick, because there is no relationships built among everyone else. At that point, if you happen to co-exist as an officer in the guild and play a particular class, that does not entitle you to a position of leadership within the class. It's like herding cats, at that point. No one is going to listen to you, and even when they do, they're going to be rolling their eyes behind their monitors, and they sure as hell aren't going to take you seriously.

Not unlike the designation of a lvl 2 UD RP character as our Guild Mistress, we try our best to ensure that people understand that titles often are meaningless, and that our grand experiment with handling many things differently than most guilds can go smoothly. As a bottom line, many people just can't handle that. They need to know that things ARE, and for better or worse, they will not change. Better you than me. Follow your bliss and dance if you dig that song.

/target Majordomo Executus
/chicken

Attacking the Darkness

A metrosexual is a man that is very aware of his appearance, occupies himself with cosmopolitan culture and concerns, and is steeped in having dimunitive Asian women file down their manly rough edges.

There is a new animal out on our streets. They are steeped in the world of the internet, iPods, blogs, video games, scifi and fantasy.

I give you the technosexual.

Earliest Citation: "With metrosexuality, it's about style, fashion, culture, and grooming for the straight male. A metrosexual man may be seen at an NBA game one night and an art gallery opening the next," says Ricky Montalvo, the man who wants to take technosexuals mainstream. "We take it one step further by adding technology. A technosexual man may not need to go to the NBA game because he can get highlights and scores via SMS or by browsing the web on his PDA while at the art gallery."—Katharine Miller, "Enter the Technosexual," AlterNet, March 8, 2004

For the first time in our lives, it's hip to be square.



Those of us who are caught up by everything that technology has to offer are in an interesting position, these days. A position of honor, some times. A position of power, others. Respect and deference are given today when not long ago, it was preceded by contempt and ridicule. You see, possibly the greatest subtle transfer of power that we've seen in generations has occurred, and many people don't even realize it.

You may have been Mister Popularity in high school. Miss Thing in your college sorority. You may very well have that same teenage mojo working to this very day, and chances are if you do, you are currently or have recently been beholden to one of the geeks of high school. May not have been anyone that you went to school with, personally, but somebody in your Grand Brotherhood of Suave used to poke fun of the IT guy that just saved your ass by recovering that Powerpoint presentation you were scared to death you lost. He was *somebody's* geek, and he's your hero now. Yeah, your SysOp is awkward, and mousy compared to the bronze-skinned, six-pack abs, cheerleading standard you were taught to hold up. Yet there is a place in her universe where she is feared and respected, and that perspective is wholly dependent on which part of her sword is closest- the handle or the blade.

By and large, the geek community has won the cultural lottery. For ther first time in our lives, those of us that were once outcasts are now rapidly approaching mainstream at lightspeed. I'm sure that the dotcommer millionaires helped solidify this acceptance. More accurately, mainstream is coming to us. And we're loving every minute of it.

Some recent activity on the Pod People forums has gotten me back to brass tacks, when it comes to my personal philosophy of being true to one's self. It all started when I told the story of not too long ago when I referred to myself as "Echuta" in a meeting at work. "Ben wants to volunteer for that, I think," somebody said. "Oh, no he doesn't," I replied, "Echuta is tired."

"Who?"

"Echuta. Oh, hell. Me."

"Who's Echuta?"

"I am. I- Nevermind. I was up late."

Over the years, I'd just gotten sick and tired of yahoos that figured they cornered the market on "cool" thinking that whatever they happen to be interested in, be it the stock market, NASCAR, hockey, Oprah, People Magazine, etc. that it's inherently superior to those things that the typical "geek" says and does. The whole reason they can go back online and check their stocks' performance or find out what remote African hole Brangelina are trying to save from itself is because we're the ones that fixed their blasted computer. Or brought their internet connection back from the brink of oblivion. I'd decided that whatever I say and do was going to be my barometer of what is hip, and I'm not going to suffer anyone else's superiority complex just because I get a kick out of folks swinging lightsabers. In my own sphere of influence, I've gradually trained those around me to grant the whole of geekdom at least a second glance as approaching "normal." For their effort, they also know that I'm going to give them the same wide berth that they've been kind enough to afford me. It becomes a relationship of respect. I'm not going to judge what you do, because you know that I'm sure as hell not going to tolerate your judging my interests.

This is why I've gotten so brazen about emailing people in my company "Haha, ded fone," and such, because smug people smell fear. If you hesitate even for a second, when somebody at work asks you what you have planned for tonight- they win. Think about this for a second. If they go first, then they're headed to the movies, or likely going to be watching tv. So they tell you, and out of pseudo-courtesy, they ask you. You have a choice at this point. You could say, "Oh, I dunno. Maybe go do something, or maybe play on the computer." Whatever. You're doing the same thing they are. Now, rewind that exchange, and grab hold of the opportunity:

Co-worker: "I think I'm going to get caught up on Desperate Housewives this weekend. What are you doing tonight?"

You: "I'm getting together with about 40 folks in my Warcraft guild and we're going to continue marching through the underground lair of Ragnaros the Firelord, pwning everything that moves."

Your plans are inherently more exciting, just talking about it. Even if they have no clue what Warcraft is, they're left with the impression that you are going to be having far more fun. Granted, it's not a competition. The thing to keep in mind, is that everybody's a geek about something. Yes, by many standards, we have stereotypical geek interests, but there's no reason to go silently into the night with it.

Here's your homework for next week. Nope, start today. There's still plenty of time. Greet somebody at the coffee machine with "Zug zug" one morning. Toss in a "Dark lady watch over you" as you wrap up a chat with a co-worker at their cube. Give your best friend a "May your blades never dull" when they get ready to hang up the phone. There's no need to be obnoxious about it- just let it flavor your interactions with other folks. It's already part of who you are, now spread the love. If the stigma is ever going to end, then it starts here, and it starts now.

Pwn up to who you are.

_________________

Revenge of the Bloodninja

Bloodninja is a fictional character made famous by his chat logs from the early days of teh intarweb. A total dork to the last, some of the more famous exchanges are from his lame-ass attempts at RPing his way through trying to cyber. I'll have my own shtick back up in no time. I just keep reading this and laughing my ass off.



WARNING: Non-Pod Language Follows

bloodninja: Baby, I been havin a tough night so treat me nice aight?

BritneySpears14: Aight.

bloodninja: Slip out of those pants baby, yeah.

BritneySpears14: I slip out of my pants, just for you, bloodninja.

bloodninja: Oh yeah, aight. Aight, I put on my robe and wizard hat.

BritneySpears14: Oh, I like to play dress up.

bloodninja: Me too baby.

BritneySpears14: I kiss you softly on your chest.

bloodninja: I cast Lvl. 3 Eroticism. You turn into a real beautiful woman.

BritneySpears14: Hey...

bloodninja: I meditate to regain my mana, before casting Lvl. 8 Cock of the Infinite.

BritneySpears14: Funny I still don't see it.

bloodninja: I spend my mana reserves to cast Mighty F*ck of the Beyondness.

BritneySpears14: You are the worst cyber partner ever. This is ridiculous.

bloodninja: Don't f*ck with me bitch, I'm the mightiest sorcerer of the lands.
bloodninja: I steal yo soul and cast Lightning Lvl. 1,000,000 Your body explodes into a fine bloody mist, because you are only a Lvl. 2 Druid.

BritneySpears14: Don't ever message me again you piece of ****.

bloodninja: Robots are trying to drill my brain but my lightning shield inflicts DOA attack, leaving the robots as flaming piles of metal.
bloodninja: King Arthur congratulates me for destroying Dr. Robotnik's evil army of Robot Socialist Republics. The cold war ends. Reagan steals my accomplishments and makes like it was cause of him.
bloodninja: You still there baby? I think it's getting hard now.
bloodninja: Baby?

-------------------

bloodninja: Ok baby, we got to hurry, I don't know how long I can keep it ready for you.

j_gurli3: thats ok. ok i'm a japanese schoolgirl, what r u.

bloodninja: A Rhinocerus. Well, hung like one, thats for sure.

j_gurli3: haha, ok lets go.

j_gurli3: i put my hand through ur hair, and kiss u on the neck.

bloodninja: I stomp the ground, and snort, to alert you that you are in my breeding territory.

j_gurli3: haha, ok, u know that turns me on.

j_gurli3: i start unbuttoning ur shirt.

bloodninja: Rhinoceruses don't wear shirts.

j_gurli3: No, ur not really a Rhinocerus silly, it's just part of the game.

bloodninja: Rhinoceruses don't play games. They f*cking charge your ass.

j_gurli3: stop, cmon be serious.

bloodninja: It doesn't get any more serious than a Rhinocerus about to charge your ass.
bloodninja: I stomp my feet, the dust stirs around my tough skinned feet.

j_gurli3: thats it.

bloodninja: Nostrils flaring, I lower my head. My horn, like some phallic symbol of my potent virility, is the last thing you see as skulls collide and mine remains the victor. You are now a bloody red ragdoll suspended in the air on my mighty horn.
bloodninja: Goddam am I hard now.

--------------

BritneySpears14: Ok, are you ready?

eminemBNJA: Aight, yeah I'm ready.

BritneySpears14: I like your music Em... Tee hee.

eminemBNJA: huh huh, yeah, I make it for the ladies.

BritneySpears14: Mmm, we like it a lot. Let me show you.

BritneySpears14: I take off your pants, slowly, and massage your muscular physique.

eminemBNJA: Oh I like that Baby. I put on my robe and wizard hat.

BritneySpears14: What the f*ck, I told you not to message me again.

eminemBNJA: Oh ****

BritneySpears14: I swear if you do it one more time I'm gonna report your ISP and say you were sending me kiddie porn you f*ck up.

eminemBNJA: Oh ****
eminemBNJA: damn I gotta write down your names or something.

Here's the whole bloodninja archive, if you thought that was funny.

Back in the saddle

Urgh. Gotta find out what the hell is up with my computer, lately. Second Blue Screen of Death this evening. I may have to circle the wagons on my mp3s/pics, etc, and just reformat the bastage. Lord knows that it wouldn't hurt. The annoying thing is that I'd just begun to hammer out some of my very late commentary (my apologies to anyone who's checked with disappointment) when the BSD struck again. First column in a week and a half is gone like Alderaan. :(

As I speak, many of the Pods are gallavanting around on Undermine server, rather than Whisperwind, as our beloved home is getting moved to the new server hardware. I can only imagine what sort of mayhem they're unleashing on this poor, virgin soil. I need to check in with them tonight to find out the sordid details. As much as the hardware changeover sucks, this is an integral step in marching toward The Burning Crusade, and it's looking like those of us who were naysayers regarding a Thanksgiving-ish release may be eating crow rather than turkey. Blizzard is in the midst of what they are calling a "Friends and Family Alpha" of TBC. The thing is, you can go to their page and download the game client, right now. Yes, you read that correctly. Here, see? https://beta.worldofwarcraft.com/expansion/downloads/ The rub comes in that you can't actually activate the game without a special code given out by Blizz employees to their, (you guessed it) "friends and family). All in all, though, this is a terribly clever idea, and it is my personal, tin-foil hatted opinion that this is the beta and it's closed like a mofo. Here they make the client available for download, knowing full well that many of us are going to make sure we have it immediately, if not sooner. Then they announce a release date, let you crash their store server at 12:01 am, Day of Reckoning, get your activation key, and you're off and running through the Dark Portal like a TIE fighter with its ass on fire.

Don't kid yourself, btw. This is a massive file. It'll take a bit to download. That done, you can go get the character model viewer, http://www.curse-gaming.com/en/wow/download-19481.html, and I think I installed it in the Interface>Addons folder of either TBC install or WoW proper. Can't remember. At any rate, once it got up and running, you can play with the character modeler. I spent about four hours the other day monkeying around with various Blood Elf characters. It's very cool. Here's a shot of Eloy's up and coming BE paladin, Eloysia. Given their propensity toward magic, I've been tempted to shelf Amperage and hold off till I can do a BE magey-mage, but I'm torn, as Amp is recently a convert to the Church of the Frozen Wrath, and Frost spec is doing him quite nicely, at the moment. Nexu, my druid cub, is finally my highest level druid EVER. Level 11, baby.

MC this week was interesting. I wasn't there Thursday evening, as I was on assignment in Dire Maul for an upcoming TC segment, but the rest of the group managed to pwn Lucifron and Magmadar with 2 deaths, I believe. Better than that, they did it all with 31-35 people. Impressive. Most impressive. It was largely the same with Friday and Saturday, with us doing Gehennas and Garr Friday; Geddon fer shure Sat, and somebody tied our shoelaces together on Shazzrah. We got sloppy on the Lava Packs after skipping Shazz, but we just ran out of time, and it's been a bit frustrating not having a full raid last weekend. We've got some new 60s this week, so here's hoping that we can get the full crew in and get back to business. We've thinned out just a touch since school is back in for many of our players, and other RL obligations have gotten the best of them, as well. Lots of Pods moving from here to there, and that can put a bite into your ISP situation.

In the eternal quest to jack up the FR gear, I was fortunate enough to drop a 100 on Flamewalker Legplates, this week, and all I have to do now is head back into BRD and make a few coffer runs to get the Burning Essence I need for another +20 FR Resilience Libram. That will make the total 263 unbuffed at that point, with my belt, bracers, and gloves being the weak points. I'm to the point, though, that there's virtually nothing I can farm outside of waiting for Dark Iron drops from the guild to get my FR much higher, save that belt from DM Tribute, and that's a crap shoot on the flavor, even when it's there. We'll be closing in on 100 MC epics in the guild, as of this weekend, I'd say. The thing that amazes me is the unbelievable lack of Earthfury gear that we're seeing. No shammy love, whatsoever, and that flat-out sucks.

I was excited to see that we're adding a noon Sunday ZG run, which is going to be the hawtness. Only once a month will it interfere with the Tuesday night jaunt into there. The march to Exalted with Zandalar continues. I'd be there right now if it weren't for the blasted server overhaul. Eventually that stupid chest piece is going to drop....

Beyond a shadow of Redoubt

Through the course of playing World of Warcraft, most folks will find that there are a few pieces of equipment that catch your fancy, as they are the end-all, be-all item that your particular class needs to do its job. As I have said before, warriors are the most gear-dependent class in the game, so there are a number of drops that you happen to run across when you see someone of your same occupation in the Auction House, etc, and you inspect them. /Cast JawOnFloor (Rank 6). Growing up as a young warrior, the Draconian Deflector was one of these items. This shield eluded me for the longest time on Varice, somewhat out of a spate of bad luck, and otherwise as a function of trying to run Upper Blackrock Spire in Pickup Groups (PUGs), as my guild prospects were slim at the time. (The guildies I had were great, but there weren't enough of us to do our own 15-man runs to get ourselves geared up :( ).

I had the discernment to cast my lot with The Pod People, eleven months ago, and save 3-4 shaky weeks last spring, it has been the best career move I could've possibly made. Other than a run on Kazzak that was terribly successful, and getting snookered into helping some people that were "LF Tank for World Dragons," (Attn. folks- Test of Skulls are NOT "World Dragons." Just sayin'), I've been spared the indignity of having to endure PUGs since I rolled Echuta. The night Roxilox and I dinged 60, in June, we were in UBRS with the Pod, and I was fortunate enough to have the Draconian and my Breastplate of Valor drop on the same run. It was quite an evening. As I've eluded to in previous posts, however, you will be hard-pressed to find a single piece of tank gear that has the word "Valor" in it. That being said, the prudent warrior must tirelessly research his options, and chart a course through many of the dungeons in the attempt to have himself properly geared as to avoid giving his healers an aneurism.

In keeping with my habit of making sure I identify some of the more elusive pieces of armor, I have tirelessly ventured into Dire Maul North in an attempt to secure the Redoubt Cloak, considered by most to be the best blue tanking cape in the game. Here's the lowdown for those not familiar. As it were, if this drop eludes you after many Tribute runs, there is an excellent alternative in the meantime, but you'll have to chase down a tailor that's been doing that same Tribute run. Cloak of Warding can be crafted from a tailor pattern that is in a chest when you free the goblin that is chained up beside the freeze trap that captures Guard Slip'kik. (Alevica on Whisperwind made mine. She's the bomb). The item that frees him is the Gordok Shackle Key, and it is pretty much a random drop from any ogre in DM. Sadness. At any rate, the loot that comes from the Tribute chest at the end of the event is some of the best in the game that you will have access to, prior to heading into Molten Core. After about half a dozen aborted attempts at Tribute runs, and 4-5 successful ones, I finally landed that blasted cape. One more check off the list. Subsequent runs will likely be for the Fire Resistance flavor of Elemental Plate Girdle, but I was able to land the Shadow Resistance version yesterday. That'll still be handy in the fights against Lucifron and Gehennas.

Vive la resistance!

The thing that I have been doing the most this week is working on getting my Fire Resistance through the stratosphere. I believe that in the last week, I've approximately doubled my unbuffed FR. The Tank Column had its best week ever in Molten Core. Just for those curious, here's a quick rundown, as best my addled brain can recall:

• Medallion of Steadfast Might- Lochzar
• Bracers of Might (x2)- Tremos and Harin
• Eskhandar's Right Claw - Agarda
• Dark Iron Bracers- Hoof
• Pauldrons of Might- Vespasian
• Dark Iron Helm- Echuta

All in all, an excellent week as far as gear goes- for all classes. I just wish the shaman would get some love, now. The Earthfury pieces have been quite elusive. The real tale of the tape comes in, however, when it's told that Harin had actually won the DI Helm, and had ceded it to me because of the FR issue. This was intensely cool of him, and he has displayed some of the most exemplary Pod behavior. The funny thing about it is that any time he's done something selfless like that, he's usually been summarily rewarded through the serendipity of the game. Although I didn't post the drops in order, he didn't secure his Might Bracers till after he'd passed the DI helm on to me. Again, Harin, you are the bomb. (And I don't mean the Geddon kind). You're becoming a top shelf Pod player, and your efforts have not gone unnoticed. :D

Based on the number of Fiery and Lava Cores that we'd been accumulating over the last month, I'd suspected that we'd have our DI Armorsmiths and Flarecore tailors furiously at work to craft some of this crucial FR gear. The hysterical thing about it is that Kristyn orchestrates these crafted drops like a dad at Christmas who "finds" presents elsewhere around the tree that weren't visible otherwise. "Awwwwwwww! Druids! Look what I found!" All of us that have been able to obtain pieces of the FR stuff (crafted and otherwise) have definitely noticed a difference. Geddon and the Lava packs are the first place you can spot the effect. During the fight with Geddon, I was paying more attention to the resisted numbers in the parentheses than I was actual damage taken. Throughout the inital waves of his Hellfire, I was easily resisting 3/4 of the fire damage, and that is dead sexy.

Through the multiple runs of Dire Maul to get the Redoubt Cloak, I've ended up with 2 Librams of Resilience. The nutshell on these is that when you take them to either the library in DM North, or to the Blood Elf at Flame Crest in Burning Steppes, and gather the quest mats, they provide you with a gemstone that can be used to enchant a head or leg item with a particular quality. In my case, Resilience is the Fire Resist book. So the Lesser Arcanum of Resilience provides +20 FR to a head or leg item. Since the mats for that enchant are a bit of an investment, I believe that it bears to say that you need to consider the item which is going to receive this benefit VERY CAREFULLY. It's pretty much accepted that these books should only be used to enchant epic items. You don't have to, but like Chris Rock says, "Just cause you can do it, doesn't mean it's to be done." Now, for those playing along at home, you saw that the DI Helm is +35FR. Now, the lucky troll to receive this item happened to have the +20FR enchant in his bag. Not knowing how the roll on the helm was to go, he had it there in case Flamewalker Legplates dropped of any one of the bosses. Since the helm came into my possession first, and we were about to engage Baron Geddon, it became prudent to convert this +35FR helm into +55FR ASAP.

We went on to pwn Geddon in the face, Shazzrah, Golemagg, and even take down Sulfuron for the first time. It was a great night to be a Pod. We are continuing to rock and roll thru MC. This is Zarjani's breakdown of our 10 trips into MC so far:

Here's a small list of numbers I've compiled over our steps into Molten Core. Please feel free to add any other numerical information that you've collected about the Pod People in Molten Core to this thread.

1 month in Molten Core.

8 bosses downed.

71 epics distributed to Pod People.

Warrior 21.13% (15 )
Mage 14.08% (10 )
Warlock 14.08% (10 )
Druid 11.27% (8 )
Hunter 11.27% (8 )
Priest 9.86% (7 )
Rogue 9.86% (7 )
Shaman 8.45% (6 )

Percent Zarjani has died to Shazzrah when the Pod People beat Shazzrah 0%
Percent Zarjani has died to Shazzrah on any other non Pod People raid 100%

So, this week, I was able to obtain the DI Helm, Ocean's Breeze (from the Hands of the Enemy turnin to Hydraxis), Wildfire Cape (thanks to the Pods that helped me get this prior to MC last night. I'm going to try to make the Emberseer runs a regular fixture to get folks' FR up that are interested. Additional thanks to Agnok and Thundermaw for the +7 FR enchants for each of the capes I've gone through this weekend), Dark Iron Shoulders courtesy of Kristyn's "luck" of obtaining the plans. All in all, I've been able to jack my unbuffed FR up to 242 now. That's 302 with a shaman FR totem, and it's looking better and better that once we get to Ragnaros, that this fool will go down.