Impending Cataclysm

First off, I would like to apologize for the long delay in getting a post up since my last update. A combination of several factors plus my own laziness has conspired to prevent this post (or any other post for that matter) from materielizing, and for that I believe an apology is in order.

Usually, whenever I had some spare time to play games I'd fire up WoW and get busy with alts or tend to my mains' pet projects. But early last month, I got a copy of Civilization V and since then has been lost in border disputes and resource wars - dang you, Gandhi and Bismarck! >=( And I've also been a victim of Facebook's Bejeweled Blitz, which almost everyone in my family being attracted to it. So, having to divert my time to these games have impacted my WoW time a bit.

Aside from that, the humongous Patch 4.0 also took almost three days to download thank to lousy local 'Net. And even after I managed to log in, the lag is still there occasionally and I still need to re-talent, re-gem, re-learn and re-evaluate all my toons... which costs me an additional two days. By the time I'm settling in, it's time to go off chasing achieves as Hallow's End dawns.

On RL, my baby boy Adam is fast learning to talk, explore and ask for stuffs he finds interesting - usually food and plastic bottles, though he's moving on to handphones and laptops quickly. Keeping up with him is becoming a full-time job, so I can only sneak in a couple hours of WoW when he's fast asleep during his afternoon nap. Also, a major reshuffling is in order where I'm working so I need to focus on jobs at hand for now.

As far as WoW is concerned though, I guess I'm almost at the maximum limit of pre-expac preparedness - both my mains are doing well, with about 95% of their main objectives completed, and the alts are nearing theirs. I'll detail them as follows:-

Aenur - Has almost completed her T10 set, with only the legguards remaining. I plan to run heroics for the points and also do VoA and see if I can get it from the pinata boss. Also, she's saving some gold for the Dal bear mount - I wanted the mount and the achieve before Cata hits. Aside from that, she has nothing else to work for - any further upgrades she obtains from now onwards will pretty much become obsolete in a month.

Aelyra - Is currently doing nothing except Fishing and Cooking dailies, which she started prior to Hallow's End. If she can get enough gold, I'll buy her the Dal bear mount for the achieves too.

Aerhandor - Is almost at the 150 Champion's Seal mark, at which point he'll be able to buy that Argent Pony and be done with WotLK. I've thought about trying to get the epic staff from Devourer of Souls in normal FoS, but so far no luck (it dropped once, but I lost the roll). Also, like Aenur and Aelyra, he's saving for the bear mount.

Aerdread - I originally planned for him to bear the title of Ambassador, but starting the Argent Tourney dailies so late in the expac he hasn't managed to get even a single Exalted home faction at the moment (only Revered with TB and Org, and the rest at Honored). To top it off, he's only got 3 out of the 5 pieces of DK's T9 and will have to work like mad if he wants the rest of the pieces. I'm pretty sure both would not be possible before Cata =( But I'm making him do it anyway - the gold and the rep may help come the expac.

Aergor - Stuck at level 75 in Borean Tundra, because I need to give more attention to Aerdread. I don't mind, since he's already established (with a complete Swiftarrow set waiting for him plus some nice weapon). I'll probably continue leveling him after the others have made it to 85.

Aeyrin - Is now level 51, and is waiting for Cata at SMC. Unlike Aergor, she'll be able to experience the new Azeroth's level 50-60 quests. I'm just not sure what to do after I hit Outland, though.

Aerander & Aezurin - Both bank alts will probably be stationed at their current location - Aerander in SMC and Aezurin in TB. I've read Tam's post the other day about getting his bank alt a mount to facilitate travel between AH and banks, and may just level Aerander to 20 to get his Charger and Blood Knight tabard.

Without access to the Cata beta like some WoW players, I cannot make any future plans for my toons. I'll be stepping into new Azeroth in the dark, like I did when WotLK arrives and I took my first few steps into Northrend. I don't have any worries about Cata though, but I do have one regret - I will regret not having the time, opportunity and skill to get the Paladin's T2 Judgement armor and Sulfuras, Hand of Ragnaros.