Reduce Your Latency by 80%

Or some such nonsense.

Another blog I have found recently is AH-Whoring (via Caffeine's blog) and Sarainy the AH Whore found a great way to reduce latency.

Anyway, this is an extension to what Doom (RIP) found for me some time ago. Back then I managed to reduce my latency from 270 down to 40.

Now I'm on a new machine and had forgotten all about that and have been sitting at about 240ms. So I installed the above fix and now I'm sat around 60ms. Nice!!!

Cheers Sar. Maybe I'll try the Auctioneer Getall scan and see if I still get disconned!!

So, in honour of Doomilias. Sarainy YOU are now the genius!!!

AH and Mail Box at the Same Time

OMFG. I just found this on Hit The Cap!

OMG I love it. Did you get that? What is it about? Tella has found a way to stand by the mail box in Stormwind and interact with the auctioneer the other side of the wall. *creams pants*

Cool. Cheers Tella.

Goblin Update

I dunno what happened yesterday, there wasn't an in game event or anything, but my glyph sales briefly went through the roof with probably 3x as many sales in a couple of hours of the evening than I'd usually get in the whole of a day.

Weirder still, this was only on the Main Glyph seller, not the seller with all the caster glyphs. Odd.

The only thing I can think of is that a major undercutter couldn't get online. And that that undercutter has decided the caster glyphs are not worth the hassle, which they're probably not!!

Who knows, I can't complain I got several 59g sales in a row too - Woot!!

So, How are the stocks looking?

Well, Assuming an unsold glyph had a value of 5g, and IotS have a potential Glyph value of 4g50s and Snowfall has a sale value of 13g then we have the following wealth figures for the last week:

14/10 17,830g
16/10 20,690g
18/10 21,757g
20/10 24,042g

Averages about 1K / day. Rubbish. But at leat I have 1.7K of cash and aim to be moving more assets into cash.

Hallows End Achievement Guide 2009

Starts this Sunday morning at 01:00 server time - that's Midnight BST - yes we are still in summer time in England.

Achievements guide update coming soon....

OK, Achievement Guide Update ... that's gonna be hard, I never wrote one to start with, either that or it's sat in draft format 8 pages back where I never venture anymore!!

So, without Further ado I had better get this guide started.

To get the Title "The Hallowed" you have to get the meta achievement "Hallowed Be Thy Name" - apt eh? yeah I like it.

Anywhose.... for that you need the following achievements:

Bloody Easy:
Trick or Treat - Get some candy from a bucket in an Inn.
That Sparkling Smile - Use a tooth pick

Not Too Bad:
The Saviour of Hallows End - Complete a quest to save a village from the HH
Rotten Hallow - Crash the Wickerman Festival and clean up stink bombs

Little More Difficult/Annoying:
G.N.E.R.D. Rage - 50 HKs while you have the G.N.E.R.D. buff

Time Consuming/More Annoying:
Check Your Head - Use a weighted Jack-o-lantern on a player of each race
The Masquerade - Get transformed into a bat, ghost, Leper Gnome, Ninja, Pirate, Skeleton and Wisp.
Tricks and Treats of Azeroth - Do the tricks and Treats of Kalimdor, Eastern Kingdoms and Outland. Go to lots of candy buckets all over the world.

Bloody Hard If You're Not Level 80:
Bring me the Head of... Oh Wait - Kill the Headless Horseman
Out With It - Eat so many tricky treats you get an upset tummy
Sinister Calling - Obtain a Sinister Squashling and a Hallowed Helm

Not included in Meta:
The Mask Task - WTF - what's so hard about getting 1 fucking mask. Fucking QQers have won again, lazy M&S wankers.
A Mask for all Occasions - Stupid if it was included.

The Walkthrough:
OK, so we'll start with the meat and potatoes of the meta achievment Trick or Treat. You'll be doing a lot of this, so it's nice that the first time gives you an achievement. Go to the Inn near the bank in Ironforge. Speak to the innkeeper and get trick/treated. He'll give you a treat bag. This has a chance to contain one of the many things you'll need like Tooth Picks, Hallowed Wands, Masks, Hallowed Helm and Sinister Squashling. So make sure you do this every hour (you can only do it once an hour). Now click the Candy Bucket with a big yellow ! This will give you a handful of candy and your first achievement.

The Saviour of Hallows End.
Now head down to Kharanos and pick up the quests for firefighting etc, do them all and make sure to pop into the inn for the Candy Bucket. The next quest should be "Let The Fires Come" this will involve the headless horseman setting fire to the village. Hopefully there will be lots of people around to help but the fires out. Hang around for the headless horseman to attack and make sure to help put out the fires. When he is dead at the end of the event loot the pumpkin he leaves behind so you can go hand in the quest for your next achievement. If he wins you could always hang around waiting for another try or when you get to Goldshire hope he is there then. Don't hang around wasting time.

Rotten Hallow
OK, moving on. Lets pop to Loch Modan for the Candy Bucket there, then head up to Menethil Harbour and do the Candy Bucket there before heading over to Southshore. Here you'll pick up the 2 quests from Sergeant Hartman near the inn. Pop into the inn and do the Candy Bucket. If the stink bombs are about (orange clouds near the quest giver) then use the cleanser, otherwise head west to Tirisfal Glades through Silverpine forest. Just after you enter Silverpine you will come across some people hanging around, get close enough and you should get a quest complete for the Wickerman festival. Head back to Southshore and han around for the stink bombs if you haven't got it done already.

Keep on Moving.
Now you want to go get the Candy Bucket from Aerie Peak in the Hinterlands and Lights Hope Chapel in Easter Plaguelands. Hope the horde haven't killed the Southshore flight master. Annoying fuckers have a habit of doing that on my server!!

Hearth:
Your HS should be available now so HS and portal to Stormwind (your hearthstone is set to Dalaran right?). Stop off and do the Candy Bucket in the Trade District on the way to Goldshire. When in Goldshire do the Candy Bucket, maybe refresh your trick or treat with the Innkeeper if it's been an hour and then finish the Headless Horseman fires thing if you didn't do that in Kharanos.

Keep on truckin':
You have some more travelling to do. Redridge, Darkshire, Sentinel Hill and Booty Bay await your sweet tooth. Once you have done here you will have picked up Tricks and Treats of Eastern Kingdoms. You are 1/3 of the way to Tricks and Treats of Azeroth.

Over to Kalimdor:
You need to go do these Candy Buckets. Ratchet > Dustwallow Marsh (Theramore) > Dustwallow Marsh (Mudsprocket) > Tanaris > Silithus > Feathermoon Stronghold > Nijel's Point > Stonetalon Mountains > Ashenvale > Auberdine > Winterspring > Exodar (Seat of the Naaru) > Azure Watch > Blood Watch > Darnassus (Craftsmen's Terrace) > Dolanaar.

Take a Break ... Take a Shit.
...Or do some PvP. You have should have plenty of G.N.E.R.D.S. by now and you will surely be sick and fucking tired of travelling and clicking Candy Buckets. Your Dentist certainly is. Or is that Orthodontist or something else overly complicated like the Americans like to do. DENTIST - much easier to say. LOL. It doesn't come over well on a blog. But I'm having a laugh. My american friends know my sense of humour. You don't. You'll have to get over it if your a septic. Thats A septic. Not aseptic.

Speaking of which, you should also have managed to loot some Tooth Picks by now. Use one. *cough* That Sparkling Smile.

Ramble Ramble Ramble, now where the fuck was I? Oh yeah. You should have plenty of GNERDS now so go into Alterac Valley. Find a nice hiding place in the home base. Neck some GNERDS and then /afk* those 50HKs you need. Et Voila G.N.E.R.D. Rage, Oh and while your in there use some of those weighted jack-lantern's you've got (What? You haven't got any yet? Tough Shite, keep trying!) on peeps for Check Your Head.

Still Bored?
OK, HS back to Dullaran and finish off putting Jack-o-Lanterns on people so that you can get Check Your Head. I am sure that last year it was certain classes of a race. ie put a pumpkin on a Tauren Warrior, Orc Shaman, Dranei Priest etc... Or was it Female Taruen, Male Orc etc. I am pretty damm sure Blizz dummed down something else. Twats.

Anyway, so while your sat in Dullaran bored out of your tiny little mind you have something else to do. You will be spamming /trade asking to buy/sell/trade your wands so that you can get The Masquerade.

Anyway ... On To Outland:
...and these Candy Buckets. Shattrath(TF) > Allerian Stronghold(TF) > Wildhamer Stronghold(SMV) > Aldor/Scryer Inn(SMV) > Telaar(Nag) > Telredor(ZM) > Cenarion Refuge(ZM) > Orebor Harborage(ZM) > Sylvanaar(BEM) > Toshey's Station(BEM) > Evergrove(BEM) > Area 52(NS) > Stormspire(NS) > Temple of Telhamat(HP) > Honour Hold(HP)

Once you've done that lot you have Tricks and Treats of Azeroth.

The Hard Part:
Now all you have to do is kill the Headless Horseman in the Graveyard of Scarlet Monastery for Bring me the Head of... Oh Wait. Then eat a load of Tricky Treats that you loot from his body and throw ... err ... get Out With It. And pray and pray and pray that the Hallowed Helm and the Sinister Squashling drop for Sinister Calling.

Guys and Gals - This is probably what's gonna fuck you over. Neither HW nor EB could get either last year. (level 1 alts managed it - fucks sake) HW managed to get the helm, that is all. That is the main reason why EB still hasn't got the Violet Proto Drake and HW got it yesterday. Rather than when Brewfest hit.

So anyway, you have to hope they drop. The other alternative is you make damm sure you hit those fucking Innkeepers every hour in the hope of a drop from the Treat Bag. And make sure you stop an Inn burning down every day in case you find one in a Crudely Wrapped Gift.

3 ways to get either or both of them. All a pain in the fucking arse. Good Luck :P


*don't actually type /afk. If you were thinking about typing /afk at that point then try Alt-F4 instead, it's much less painful.

Goblin Update

Well, Glyph fans, here is the latest update; and here is my Scribe. Cute ain't he?

The secondary glyph seller has now got Mage, Warlock, Shaman and Priest Glyphs while the main seller has the others.

The main seller was up to 3000 gold at the weekend but has churned that all back into northrend herbs that are selling for less than 10g/stack. High-end northrend herbs are still selling at around 17-35g a stack and my calculations on a per pigment basis (ignoring snowfalls) are that they need to be under 14g / stack to be worthwhile.

Of course, there is always the argument that I'll get that extra icy pigment out of them so it's worthwhile. However, I have enough on my plate trying to get this glyph business straight in my head!!!

So anyway, the state of play tonight assuming an IotS is 2g and a glyph minimum* sale is 5g on my server.

Crafter has:
350 Snowfall Ink** - Currently selling for 13g = 4550g
414 Ink of the Sea - 828g (minimum*** glyph value = 1853g)
237 Actual gold
Total: 6640g

Seller One has:
ploughed back 6000g in herbs back to crafter
has 0g currently
holds 1480 glyphs of 111 different types = 7400g (minimum)
Total: 7400g

Seller Two has:
ploughed back 0g
has 380g currently
holds 680 glyphs of 70 different types = 3400g (minimum)
Total: 3780g

So if I were to be able to liquidate all my assets tommorrow I would have 17,820 gold for an initial seed of about 4000g in just over 4 weeks. 3.5K a week anyone?

Looking at it more simplistically; I have actually had sales of 5286g and ploughed that back in for potential profit and have only a bunch of glyphs to show for it ... Hmmm?

What have I actually got? 617g - LOL!!! Admitedly I did spend about 3000g on herbs and cheap pigments to up my stock levels...

...but 617 Gold!!

Next week? Who knows, but I want to start syphoning off some of this gold now so I actually have something to show for it.

HW has 14K after buying loads of epic gems
EB has 3K after the tailoring debacle.
My AH Banker has 9K from AH speculation once in a blue moon
I have (potentially) 17K tied up in glyphs
500g on each serious alt, so another 3K

My total worth: 46K, give or take. I want to make that 100K by Christmas.


*Obviously some glyphs sell for shit and would take years to sell at 5g, but a lot of others sell for the fall back price of 59g so happy days!!!

** Could add 2g50s and get 5 x runescroll of fortitude/ink selling for 20gold = 6125g

*** includes 50s for resilient parchment

Spending Some Money on Gems

After yesterday's outing to ToT I had to gem up HW's new troosers.

So off to the AH because HotPants is still level 64 or something and HW still hasn't unlearnt mining and learnt JC yet.

I'd forgotten epic gems had arrived so I bought up about 10 at ridiculous money each. HW's SP went past the 2100 mark and closer to 2200.

We not talking Epic Ulduar Healer here but it makes me happy :)

Trial of the Tosser (5 man)

Finally I took EvilBastard and HolyWarrior into the new 5 man dungeons in the Argent Tournament.

OK, well I say dungeon, it's not really a dungeon is it? But WOTEVA!

So EB went into normal mode Trial of the Champion ... Trial of the Crusader ... Trial of Champions ... whatever ... Trial of Tossers and put out a not too respectable 1K DPS on average.

To cut a long story short I stuck EB in the LFG tool just for a laugh while doing the dailies and he got invited to a group.

I have never been in but vaguely recall a few fellow bloggers mentioning it and when we got in there 2 of group said "Duh, wot do we do?" (but less betterer gramma and spellin kk man) one of the others replied "I thought you guys said you'd been here?" and I just replied "knock em off and keep em off".

One of the non-M&S said "yeah man" one of the 'tards said "Eh wot man?" and the non-M&S replied "You'll see".

At least I appeared to have been in here before even though I had no real clue apart from vague memories from blogs!!

So, the whole group managed to mount up, but one of the group had to be repeatedly reminded to get his shields up, I don't think he ever did!!

I had my usual addon problem of the only thing I could do was shields, my n52 would activate the buttons with the macro's to the charger spells, the buttons would flash as if clicked but no do anything. Mouse clicking direct would have no effecy either*

So we kicked some ass and then the group wiped on the Dark Knight. But we got him down second try.

99% of the loot was mail - so no loot whatsoever for EB - Grrr

Later, HolyWarrior went in. This time it was heroic mode and he was healing and at some point he got some nice healing leggings.

Thanks again to a vague memory of reading it on a blog when one of the mobs shouted (or maybe it was DBM or something) about a light I remembered to turn my character away from the boss. I must have seemed like a pro!!! Oh these poor PUGS don't know the half of it!!!

We also had a wipe on the Black Knight. But again then second time in he went down like ... your mom. Oh sorry the M&S are wearing off on me!!! He went down easy. So HW got 3 emblems and some healing trousers. Nice.

*This happens with Battle before the citadel frequently too. Or it doesn't if I haven't done the jousting daily, but then it does it with the jousting daily. Fucking addons.

Goblin Update.

OK, I now have som many glyphs I have had to take over one of my sons characters as a second glyph banker/auctioneer. She is doing mage and warlock glyphs and has made 1 sale this weekend!!!

Oh well.

I have been keeping track off how much each glyph has sold for and the results for the first month (I started selling glyphs on 11 September) are in.

I had 2 Pack of Endless Pockets full of IotS at one point, now I have less than 200!!

Anyways, I am reckoning that each ink costs 2 gold based on herb prices on my server and that is what I am basing my production costs on. Snowfalls I see as the free bonus (I know other people see it the other wat round, but hey ho!!)

Total glyphs known: 175*
Initial Investment: 2.5K
Production Cost: 1.9K
Total Sales: 6K

I have 1.4K sat on by banker, and 700 on the scribe. My mage/lock seller has about 300 glyphs in stock and my main seller has about 1200 glyphs in stock. So 1500 Glyphs at a minimum sale value of 5g is 7.5K

I am slowly ramping up the stock levels from 10 of each glyph to 20 of each glyph and will soon have to move priest and shammy glyphs over to banker 2.

But now I have started using Quick Auctions 2 and Lil sparky and things are a lot quicker!!




*fucked off minor research for the first couple of weeks no realising how lucrative some can be - oops!!

Crusader EvilBastard and Another Greedy Goblin

Oh yes baby, EvilBastard finally reached exalted with the Argent Crusade and got the Crusader title last night. YAY!!!

Now I can stop half-heartedly doing all the dailies and concentrate on making gold the Greedy Goblin way. EvilBastard's tailoring goblin ways have as yet been unsuccesful - he needs to concentrate on netherweave rather than frostweave.

What I'm doing is ramping up the glyphs and it seems I'm in a race with a Caffiene Head!

So where am I at the moment. I have about 60 glyphs currently selling on the AH. 3 Pack of Endless Pockets of Ink of the Sea and the gold creeping up at the rate of about 500 gold per day.

Next stop - Jewelcrafting on HolyWarrior. No, I still haven't unleant mining :P

Hillsbrad Foothills - Horde or Alliance?

Well, apparently in Wow 4 - Clitacasm the horde will finally take Hillsbrad/Southshore.

Well my question is - Who the Fuck Really Cares?

I mean come on, it is a low level zone that only has tin it - that tells me it is low level (waiting to be corrceted), but it is still allow level zone. You have to go through Arathi to get to it.

At the appropriate level for Hillsbrad you get fucking eaten alive trying to get there through Arathi.

Fuck Hillsbrad, let the Horde have it. Just give us back the big fucking castle thing in Arathi.