T w e n t y S i d e d

I already mentioned I finished Galactic Season 6 in Star Wars: The Old Republic, and finished the storylines in the World of Warcraft expansions The Burning Crusade and Warlords of Draenor. This past week I worked on completing Burning Crusade Reputation grinds and achievements and also finally did the ending raid in Warlords of Draenor (which is the ACTUAL end of the expansion storyline.) I also tried starting multiple different characters in Wrath of the Lich King, which led to some interesting conclusions and a new, unexpected character. Lastly, given news from Microsoft-land, I decided the time had come to start moving to Linux. To that end, my actual IMPORTANT laptop, as opposed to the ones I have laying around for experiments and spares, is now running Garuda Linux. I will use that to test certain things that I would RATHER not lose. I’m not actually all that concerned about getting software to run at this point, but I do have one piece of hardware that isn’t even supported on WINDOWS anymore. I have come across ONE page that references specifically how to install and operate that device on Arch-Linux (of which Garuda is a distribution), and I will attempt that soon.

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Controversial? Opinion on WoW; and has the time come to switch to Linux?”

Paige Francis He/him

Here’s the current map of my presence in World of Warcraft:

• Selarashari has completed The Burning Crusade. I am currently working on crafting (blacksmithing) and checking for any rare drops I may want to get, like mounts or transmog gear. I have won the battle against trying to get 100% of everything gettable, mainly because class-specific gear makes that impossible for one character. Additionally, having the mutually exclusive factions of Scryer and Aldor means you either have to run two characters JUST FOR THAT, or get everything with one faction and then pay to switch and grind all the way up FROM UNFRIENDLY INSTEAD OF NEUTRAL with the other faction. I actually have an idea for getting this done, though…
• Mystilatre is functionally finished with Warlords of Draenor as well, excepting the ending raid on Hellfire Citadel. I finally went to the final zone, Tanaan Jungle, to run through the last bits of the story and get to the raid, only to find out that Tanaan Jungle isn’t a normal zone. For the record, even the first time I played through Warlords of Draenor I stopped when I reached Tanaan Jungle because I couldn’t find any quests other than bonus missions and repeatable reputation quests. Well, it turns out that’s all there is in this zone. The bonus missions direct you to numerous regional fights around the Jungle which collectively illustrate how you are closing in on Hellfire Citadel. There are a handful of weekly random “Garrison Missions” that contribute to this part of the game as well. Everything else in the expansion is waiting around for rare spawns and drops, just as with Selarashari. I am reaching a point of getting bored with WoD. I have started laying some groundwork for starting Wrath of the Lich King, and I could make an argument for sending either Selarashari or the re-rolled Cinderlynn to Northrend as the Blood Elves and Forsaken both have compelling story reasons to engage in that expansion. Mystilatre not so much, BUT it did occur to me that I could send her back in time to The Burning Crusade to do an Alliance/Aldor run through that story.

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Moving on in the Burning Crusade: Zangarmarsh”

Paige Francis He/him

Yes. Last week I completed Galactic Seasons 6 in Star Wars: The Old Republic, but that’s not what I’m talking about. A couple of days ago I finished The Burning Crusade expansion of World of Warcraft. I should clarify that I have finished THE STORY; the plot. I have done everything in the game that connects the end of the initial release of World of Warcraft, plus its updates; through to the end of The Burning Crusade and all its updates. As with other expansions, there were originally also some pre-patch events that took place BETWEEN The Burning Crusade and the next expansion, Wrath of the Lich King which can no longer be played. But more discussion on the move onto WotLK later. I should also note I do still have the Draenei Hunter Mystilatre in Warlords of Draenor completing the Garrison before finishing that expansion. I have had some uncertainty over when to call an expansion “done” for reasons I will get into with Selarashari.

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Wait…I finished one?”

Paige Francis He/him