Tag: Review

Unique Ways to Level

I am not a fan of traditional leveling methods in most MMORPG. Since I mainly play World of Warcraft these days, that’s what I’ll be talking about. After running through a story or quest chain once, I’m pretty much done with it and I don’t want to do it again unless I absolutely have to. So over the years I’ve found other ways to level my characters, whether it’s purchasing boosts or through pet battles.

At the moment I have 11 level 80 characters (almost all of them leveled through timewalking, minus my main) and 27 characters at level 70 (almost all of those were leveled up with pet battles). When a legion trainer pops up who is repeatable (especially snail race) I know it’s going to be a great time to level a character (or two).

With the release of The War Within came a new race – the Earthen. This race has a bonus to exploration, and it didn’t take long for people to take advantage of that. The addon above (Dystinct Earthen Skyriding) allows you to level from 10-70 within a few hours time. It does take some time to get used to the method, you do need to use the fancy dragonflight and not just basic flying. You also need to spam a movement key as you fly for a lot of the discovery to actually register. Nothing to do with the addon.

I created a warlock since I don’t currently have one at 80 and I would like one – it took me 15 minutes to do their starter tutorial (I died, was rushing things) and then I was off, flying around Azeroth. After two hours of flying, I was level 42. It took me approx 1-2 minutes per level. I could probably shorten this time significantly as I become more familiar with the addon. For example, it doesn’t warn you before you fly over top of faction cities, and 6x (so far) I was shot out of the air by alliance guards. Not ideal. Instead of trying to get back to my body in a hostile land, I would just talk to the ghost and continue on my way.

It’s a really fun change of pace, and then once I hit 70 I have the option of doing more timewalking (if I’m not sick of it by then) or I can wait for a legion trainer daily and grind out some pet battles. Last night I managed to get from 70-80 on my mage with that method. Sure, she doesn’t have any gear, but that’s not a big deal as I have a lot of warbound stuff or I can just craft her some. Most likely I’ll just leave her at 80 without gear as I don’t really play that class, at all. I just like having an alt army available, if I need one.

I did also set 10 characters aside who are forever parked at their covenants, doing the covenant table twice a day. This is mostly for farming pet tokens and reputation, nothing fancy. These characters don’t really have a purpose, I don’t “need” 65 characters, but it’s nice to have, fun to level, and you just never know.

Have your own unique way of leveling up if you’re not in the mood to quest? Let me know in comments, and as always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself.

Yarn Review – Boss Lady Yarn Co.

Earlier this year (or maybe it was late last year) I had gotten it into my mind that I wanted to review (for my own reasons) yarn dyed by indie dyers – preferably Canadian. It didn’t exactly take off as I had way too much on my plate, not to mention the cost involved was more than I could spare. I’m hoping to bring that feature back at least once a month. Last month you may have seen me review this yarn that I was absolutely in love with so lets start with the second yarn I chose to review.

The sock above was knit with a yarn called Ivy, by Boss Lady Yarn Co. While it knit up well enough it was not what I was expecting when the package arrived. Because it had been vacuum sealed unwound and no label, it was incredibly messy and easy to get into knots as I opened it. The colours were nothing like what I had seen on the web site and I was really disappointed. They did include a wooden stitch marker as an extra that I appreciated a lot. Notions are a great way to win over an audience with an extra perk.

That’s the picture of Ivy in the shop. Really strong blues and greens, and a white base. What I got was a very speckled off-white base without the strong greens or blues that I had hoped for. I purchased the yarn from the sellers Etsy store, and I left a less-than-stellar review because I was not pleased with the yarn I received based on the shop pictures. Below is what I received.

The owner of the shop wrote me back and stated:

“Leaving a negative review should be a customer’s last resort.”

Let me mention that this was the first time I had ever been unsatisfied with a purchase and left a negative review. I didn’t feel the same way as the seller and it felt as though they were talking down to me as the customer. I felt that a dissatisfied customer should have the opportunity to leave their feedback, and that it was the whole reason there was a feedback option to begin with. I noticed that the new website does not allow people to leave reviews, and I find this a bit troublesome.

I understand that colours show up different depending on your monitor and that batch dying as a small company means there are going to be differences in the skeins, but this just felt like it was not what I had ordered at all. Something for the buyer to beware of. In the future I’ll also be looking for swatches knit up so I can get a better idea of what the yarn will look like if there are multiple colours used.

Yarn Review: Petalicious, by Incyanity

I love yarn. Over the years that I’ve been knitting (I make it sound like a long time but I’m really just approaching my 3 year anniversary) I’ve figured out what types I enjoy knitting with and which ones I would rather avoid. I’ve tried to use up or gift away my unwanted yarns, and I’ve become a little bit of a (gasp) yarn snob.

When Sakaane asked me if I’d be willing to beta test some yarn for her, I was incredibly excited. Taking a look at her Ravelry page you’ll see why. Just look at those colours!

I’ve been using this amazing merino / bamboo blend to knit up my fingerless gloves, and even though I’ve fallen behind on the knitting (hey, I just had a newborn) this post is one that I’ve been meaning to make for some time.

Packaging was great, minimalistic without ruining the yarn or tangling it up (has happened in the past and it’s not fun). The stitch definition is fantastic, the colours hold fast and true, and honestly there’s not a lot of bad I could say about the product. Trust me, I tried looking for issues. This is an incredibly knit-worthy yarn and I can’t wait to see what other colours get added to the collection over time. Be sure to follow her Ravelry page, Instagram, and Twitter for updates and thank you again Sakaane for asking me to beta test.