Mend Pet

Okay, I know our trip to Vegas was like a month ago… but I realized I never got around to posting this!

Vecna, a member of Unemployed (he hasn’t been playing the game for a while, but still keeps us company on the Shoutbox!) was kind enough to get together some amazing little gifts for all the people going on the trip to Las Vegas. He couldn’t make it out there himself, but he was still certainly the star of the show!

We had no idea what he was sending, but when we arrived in Vegas, there was a huge package awaiting.  We were so excited to finally see what was in it, it was the first thing we wanted to do once we got the whole group together.

Here is the description of the contents, as written by Vecna himself, and some pictures.  Honestly, it was like getting one of those swag bags from Blizzcon, but much cooler.

Each gift bag was not actually a bag, but a chest. A 14 slot chest that’s literally filled to the brim with epic loot.

When you first open the chest, the first thing you’ll notice is an odd plastic smell. That, my dear friend, is the smell of Troll magic. Do you see those two shrunken Gnome skulls? I got those from a Drakkari Troll Shaman. She said that good luck would come to those brave enough to squeeze them. I figured I was lucky enough so I decided to pass them on to you.

The next thing you’ll notice is a little friend of mine. Scabbers, The Plague Rat! I found Scabbers in a crate of plagued wheat bound for the Undercity back in November. I’ll miss the little devil.

Under Scabbers, you’ll see a tiny statue of you! A perfect replica in every way. Only it’s gray. And it’s plastic. And it’s of the wrong class. Woo!

To the immedate left of your fantastic mini-statue, is a baby Murloc. “Grrrrbbleeee raaaaaarrgggleee fwa!!!!” Who’s a little blood thirsty monster? Yes you are, YES YOU ARE.

To the immediate right of your Awe-inspiring mini-statue, is your own personal demonic minion. Through careful study and meticulous planning, I’ve permanently bound this demon to you. It will grant you three wishes, but get a lawyer when wording your wishes. I once asked for a little man to play my tiny piano and things haven’t been the same since T_T.

Between the two shrunken Gnome skulls you’ll see that I’ve included a mana potion! It’s apparently an energy drink. And, according to the manufacturer’s website, drinking it can make you feel like you have a wicked sunburn on your face! Enjoy.

Underneath this first layer of glittering prizes (lol Warcraft II), there lies even more treasures!

Here you will find two healthstones (a minor and a lesser) and two soulshards! Don’t blame me if they don’t stack. I’ve been complaining about it for years.

Below the stones and shards (good name for a band if you ask me) you’ll notice a book! That’s right, I loves me some lore, and now you have to deal with it. I want book reports people! The book, for those of you who didn’t go, is Cycle of Hatred by Keith R. A. DeCandido.

This next level of wonders is my second favorite. It’s 25 skeletons! Can’t get in on a raid? Server DCing while you’re in Naxx? Just throw these little guys around your feet and on your keyboard while browsing plate gear on wowhead and you’ll feel like you’re really there. BONUS: They Glow in the Dark! Excavating the dead reveals the final level (and my favorite) of un-earned, overly-epic rewards!

First, in the top left corner, we have DOTS! Ah yes, DOTS. A staple in the everyday life of a Warlock. Next to that? MOAR DOTS! Delicious. Next to that? It’s your very own Eye of Kilrogg. Gaze upon the weak, freak out the dog, whatever catches your eye (HA! I MADE A FUNNY). BONUS: It Glows in the Dark! DOUBLE BONUS: It Bounces! South of the DOTS you’ll find not one, not two, not three, but FOUR packs of World of Warcraft TCG booster packs. These are worth the price of admission alone. If you find anything that you can sell on E-bay I want a 5% finder’s fee. I kid. 10%. To the right of the card packs, you’ll find something that shoots this giftbag right past Epic and straight in to Legendary status. That’s right. In your hands you hold your very own [Sulfuras, Hand of Ragnaros]. Bang. You would not believe what I had to do to get these babies. BONUS: It’s Inflatable!

The baby murloc figure and the little Troll Priest figure (it works, cuz I have a Troll and a Priest!  Right?) are both sitting on my monitors at work.  The chest itself is actually a really nice wooden chest… I’m using it to hold all my girly hair stuff now on my dresser!

Unfortunately no one got any loot cards from the booster packs… but I did pick up a Troll Hunter named Taz’Dingo!  Taz’Dingo is the name of my Troll Death Knight, cool eh?

Maybe I’ll get around to posting some additional pictures from the trip… maybe not.  We’ll see!

Inspired by Unemployed’s trip to Vegas!

Many guilds come to a point in their duration where they consider themselves a group of friends, not just a group of raiders or a group of players.  I’ve been part of Unemployed for nearly 2 years, and spending about 3 evenings a week with the same people… you build connections.

If you reach this point, you may start to consider – wouldn’t it be cool to meet up in real life?

Yeah!

This is the hardest Guild Event to co-ordinate by far.

First, you need to pick a destination.  There are a lot of questions to consider.

• Do you want to go somewhere to see the sights, or to just hang out?
• Does anyone have a cottage or house they are willing to put people up in?
• How much is everyone willing to spend on hotels/flights?
• Is there somewhere central to most members, so the travel costs can be evened out?

You may want to ask yourself and your group all of these questions before you pick a destination.

Or, you could just say “LET’S GO TO VEGAAAAASS!!!” and skip all the important questions, like we did.

Here are some tips for planning your trip.

1. Make sure you can get a rough estimate of the people interested first, and then throw it out the window.  Remember, there will be lots of people who change their minds, or aren’t actually willing to put in the money, or can’t get the time off… so your first estimate will probably be exaggerated.  For example, our first estimate of people coming to Vegas was 21 people.  We ended up with 7.  So make sure you set deadlines for when people MUST decide and commit somehow.
2. Try to pick a hotel (if applicable) that doesn’t require a deposit on booking (such as all hotels on the Las Vegas Strip).  This way, no one (Brajana) is stuck with putting several rooms on their credit card and trying to round up the deposit from everyone, while working with the ever fluctuating exchange rate (that is, if you’re Canadian (Brajana) and everyone else is American).
3. Make sure you can coordinate roommates easily. You might be like us, and have a majority of females going.  Some people may not want to share a room with the opposite sex.  Some people will be willing to spend extra and have a private room.  Others will want to save as much money as they can, and will share a room with as many people as the floor and couch permit.
4. Find activities you’ll want to do, places you’ll want to see, and try to make an agenda.  Then throw it out the same window as your guest estimate, because no one is gonna read it and no one will follow it.  It’s a vacation, people will just want to wing it.  You’ll have to learn to be okay with that if schedules and spreadsheets are very important to you (Brajana).
5. Try to figure out a way to explain the trip to people who do not play World of Warcraft. “Vegas, eh?  Who are you going with?”  Answering “friends from across the US” often brings strange looks.
6. Don’t bother trying to memorize everyone’s real names. You ARE going to call them by their in-game nicknames, no matter how hard you try not to.
7. Make sure you have everyone’s real names and phone numbers. That way when someone (Tharaks) shows up who knows neither of these for anyone, you’ll be able to find them.
8. Have fun. When you get wherever you are going, enjoy yourself and your company.  This is a great opportunity to let your regular problems go, and build a stronger bond with the people you usually are busy stressing about raids with.  It might be a little awkward at first, but it’ll surprise you how quickly you’ll feel like you’ve hung out with these people for years (which, you kinda have).

Las Vegas was great.  I’ll post pictures and more details later, when I’m not at work.

But for now, a little story.  On my way back from Las Vegas, I had to pass through Canada Customs and have one of those little talks with a customs officer, to see if I have to claim anything.  The conversation went as follows.  I kid you not.

“What was the purpose of your trip?”

“Personal, just a little weekend vacation.”

“Where are you coming in from?”

“Las Vegas.”

“Were you traveling with anyone?”

“Nope.”

“… You went to Las Vegas by yourself?”

“Well, uhh… no.  I met up with some friends there.”

“How do you know these friends?”

“We… play an online video game together.”

“Which game?”

*rapidly turning red* “World of Warcraft.”

“What do you play?”

“Um, I’m sorry… what?”

“What kind of character do you play in World of Warcraft?”

“A Troll Hunter.”

“Nice.  Alright, you can go through.”

Tomorrow starts the Unemployed meetup in Las Vegas!  So I take off from Ottawa tomorrow morning at 7AM, and return Monday night.  Should be a really fun time, although I doubt we’ll be able to get to do nearly as much of the stuff we’d like to over just 2 days.

I’ll return to Mend Pet on Tuesday, hopefully with lots of pictures to show and stories to tell!

It’ll be my first time on a plane, and my first time in the US… Exchanged some of my money the other day, it was strange to have American money.  I’ve never really had any, just seen it up close a couple of times.  I giggled when they gave me some $1 bills.  Bills!  For just 1 dollar!  How silly!

Thanks to the folks on Twitter who gave me some good suggestions on where to go and what to see!

Cooking Contest/Bake-Off

This is an idea I haven’t tried yet, but am hoping to soon.

It’s a two-parter, and can be split up if you’d rather only do one part.  There is an in-game component and an out-of-game component.

The in-game part is the “Bake-Off”.  It’s pretty simple, and not really a contest, but more a group effort thing to help everyone out.  The idea is to help people work on their Cooking Achievements.  Each person involved will be required to farm a specific mat, like Rhino Meat or Small Eggs.  Then everyone will come together and mats will be distributed so everyone will have what they need to cook recipes they haven’t cooked yet (for the Northrend Gourmet or Cake achievements, for example).

The out-of-game part is to have those who are cooking-inclined to cook up a real meal/drink/snack that represents some in-game food, like Rhino Dogs, Dragonbreath Chilli, etc.  They’ll need to post a real recipe and try to relate it to the in-game ingredients.  Votes are made based on taste (for those who decide to try to make them) and creativity.

Example: I have yet to try these, but I am sure that because so many members of Unemployed are big fans of cooking, we’ll at least be able to pull off the second part with lots of interest.  I’ll let you know how it goes!