Rituals of Power (Mage Week)

Hello guys! Another week and yet another alt appreciation post! Ah, the mage... be it fire, frost or arcane, there is no questioning the power that a mage wields. They're deadly in PvP and put out massive damage in PvE. They're useful inside and outside of instance groups with the ability to conjure food and time warp. Not to mention their ability to port people wherever their heart desires.... or to play portal roulette with unsuspecting victims. ;) Although mages have always been called the "one button class," they have evolved to have some very powerful spells in their arsenal as well as some pretty great talents.

Many people assume that since I go by the moniker manabrownies, I must main a mage. However, that couldn't be further from the truth. Although my mage has been level capped since January, I rarely play her other than for my weekly mount / transmog runs. I often say that I would like to play my mage more often than I do, but her being on a server that I don't really play on anymore means that she gets pushed to the side a lot more than I intend. Since it's mage week, I am making a promise that I will visit her a little more often and get her up to a respectable gear level... maybe I'll even be take her into SoO LFR by the time it releases.

Steadying Your Shot (Hunter Week)

Who doesn't love a good hunter? Hunter players who know what they're doing are very beneficial to raid and dungeon groups, as well as extremely versatile in PvP. In a raid but you don't have a class with bloodlust/hero/time warp? No problem! Hunter, call out a corehound for lust! Hunters are incredibly fun... when I roll an alt on a different server, 9 times out of 10 I go for a hunter. Unfortunately, other than my PTR toon, I do not have a level cap hunter this expansion. I have so many alts that I'm trying to work on that the numerous hunters I have at various levels sometimes fall by the wayside.

Hunters of Warcraft, I salute you. You guys get more insults hurled your way than any other class. Everyone has heard it or had it hurled at them at one point - "huntard." A word with no respect, fusing your class and a horrible word for a disability in a misguided attempt to elicit a laugh. There are the jokes about only having to spam arcane shot and steady shot to win. Hunters are so much more than that. Powerful, the best class for trying to solo pretty much anything and full of utility that will make your opposing faction cower in fright. Keep on hunting!

A Journey to Moonglade (Druid Week)

Another week, another alt appreciation post! I have always really loved playing druids. They are so extremely versatile and each spec can feel like a whole different class. It's awesome to be able to switch from tank to melee to caster to a healer whenever you feel inclined to do so. In my opinion, no one could ever get bored of playing a druid just based on that alone - there is always another way to play the class that is fresh and exciting.

Currently, my druid is boomkin specced and I do a lot of messing around in battlegrounds with her. Although I do switch it up and go resto on her sometimes, I enjoy playing balance for now. It isn't a spec that I've had a lot of experience playing in the past. I generally stuck to feral or resto prior to a few months ago. I do many weekly old content runs as well. I use my druid as a break from the current PvE content that I feel obligated to do on my disc priest.

I have had horrible luck with transmog drops so she's a little messy, but this is my wonderful boomy:





More information on alt appreciation week and how to get involved can be found over at Laeleiwyn's blog!

Early Access Madness!

We're less than 24 hours away from early access for FFXIV. I know a lot of people are planning on getting up at 5 AM EST in order to begin playing right away. With such a huge launch coming up, I figured I would do a little post with some tips and tricks so that early access, launch and everything else runs smoothly for you and isn't too hard on your body.

First of all, if you intend on participating in early access starting tomorrow, patch your client. There's a 1GB patch that some people noticed yesterday. You don't want to end up having to patch in the morning and then get stuck with server queues.

Some of these tips are common sense, but I know that I have forgotten about common sense things while overly excited. Hopefully I can help at least one person out and help their leveling experience run a little bit smoother.

• Register the three cities as "favorite destinations" on the Aetheryte. This will allow you to teleport to them for less gil, without any wasted travel time or cutscenes.
• Keep all of your gear. If you switch classes, you will need it or you'll end up having nothing to wear for the first little while.
• Always ensure you log out in an inn for rested XP.
• Always ensure you are using bonus XP food while leveling.
• Stick to the main storyline quests and class quests. Better XP rewards, better gear, less running around all over the place.
• If you go near a F.A.T.E, always do it. Even if you jump in for the last 45 seconds, you'll still get a little chunk of XP that you wouldn't have otherwise.
• If you're planning on playing for a long period of time, remember to stay hydrated and get up and stretch every now and then. Make yourself more important than the game for a few minutes. ;)

Also, just so everyone knows, the NDA is still in effect for early access when it comes to video/audio of the game. You may record videos in early access, but please don't post them until the game actually launches on the 27th.

If I missed anything that you feel is important, please let me know in the comments and I will add it into the post!

See you in Eorzea!

In Service Of The Lich King (Death Knight Week)

Hello, everyone! So Laeleiweyn had an excellent idea to get everyone to appreciate (and possibly pay a little more attention to) their alts and all of the various classes in WoW. I am a huge altoholic and have at least one character of every class, all at various levels. Although I possess 5 90s, there are 6 other classes that I've either not had the time to level to 90 or I've simply abandoned. Over the next 11 weeks, I will participate in discussing each class during their week!

Anyway, enough babble. Week 1 is death knight week. My death knight has been xp locked at level 80 for a very long time. He is my toon for Herald of the Titans and I'm just itching to level him - but I have to wait for a run first! Although he doesn't look too pretty in his non-transmogged assorted Wrath gear, he is one of my favorite toons. He will be main-specced unholy until the end of days, although he does have a blood offspec. I plan to level him to 90 immediately after Herald. When I do, he will probably replace my priest as my main.

[Somebody Likes Me!]

I've been tossing around the idea of starting a blog for months. It has kept coming down to the fact that I really have no idea what to write about, nor do I know if anyone would be interested in reading it. But (finally) here I am, ready to spill virtual ink onto this page. I'll be posting things from two MMO worlds over the next few months, as I'm planning to play Final Fantasy XIV while also continuing to play World of Warcraft. So, welcome to the insanity. I'm still not entirely ready to officially launch it, as you can tell - but I felt an introduction was in order. I'm Sara/Saragosa/Manabrownies and I will be your guide through the inner workings of my brain and my favorite games. :P