collecting
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Breakfast Topic: How much farming is too much farming?
There's no MMO -- or game in general, really -- that doesn't have some grinding built in. After all, you need some reason to keep logging in after you've run out of quest rewards and dungeons to clear. But sometimes the grind you go through for achievements and collectables is just too much. So when do you decide that it's time to throw in the towel on your own grinds? Right now, I'm working on safari achievements, and I'm down to one pet left to catch in Eastern Kingdoms and one more in Kalimdor. Two more pets when I've already managed to pick up 360 unique pets shouldn't be that hard, right? Wrong. Right now I have alts camped to watch for rare spawns, and I log in now and then to sit and stare at my mini-map as if that will make them spawn faster. But this isn't exactly compelling gameplay -- in fact, this kind of tedium is the dead opposite of compelling. But I've gotten so close... I shouldn't give up with only a couple of pets to go, should I? So today let's talk grinds. How long have you ever spent farming or grinding for a particular bauble or achievement in-game? And just when do you decide that enough is enough?
Use your toys more often with these Toy Box addons
I think the toy box feature is glorious. It's something I was pining for even before it was announced at BlizzCon 2013. Having access to toys at any time -- and especially on all my characters -- has been a lot of fun. As of today, I'm up to 90 toys with plenty more in the pipeline. I suppose the only thing I've struggled with is the tediousness of going into my toy box, searching for the item I want, then using it from there. Yes, I could throw some favorites on action bars but that would get cluttered fast. Pinning favorites helps, but with 90 toys you can imagine I have a lot of favorites. I did some digging and came up with 3 addons that make using your toys a whole lot easier. If you're a toy collector who wants an easier way to use your favorite toys, then keep reading. The first addon we're looking at isn't aimed specifically at the toy box, but the author has recently added support and it works like a charm.
How do you prepare for a new expansion?
My Warlords preparations started a couple of weeks before patch 6.0.2 with finishing the level 90 Brawler's Guild achievements. Then I began tidying up some other achievements that have been nagging at me for a while, such as World Explorer (yes, I didn't bother fully exploring the blood elf starting area for the past 7 years) and Mount Parade. When patch 6.0.2 hit I went into toy collecting overdrive. I'm trying to collect as many of the pre-Warlords toys as I can so I don't have to go back for them while working towards The Toymaster. I'm up to 88 so far, with number 88 being one suggested on WoW Insider the other day My typical ritual in the days leading up to an expansion involves making my bags and bank as clean as possible. However, this time around the toy box and extra void storage took care of that for me. Then there's gold making, my weakness. I try to make as much of it as possible to help me get a head start, but that's easier said than done. Especially when you decide to drop 15k on something so it will increase your toy count by 1. With Warlords, I've even been swapping out some professions in preparation -- also not cheap! It seems I'm failing miserably on the gold making part of my plan. It's a good thing garrisons look like they'll be able to make me fairly self-sufficient, especially if I can get an alt or two into a fully leveled garrison quickly. How do you prepare for a new expansion?
Leveling your battle pets into a formidable pet army
Last time, we covered a ton of details about how pet battles work -- but now it's time to put that knowledge into practice to get your pets leveled. It's tough starting at level 1 and building up a team of pets high enough level to collect the pets you might be interested in, much less pick up achievements like Taming the World (which grants you the Safari Hat that will help you level even more pets) or World Safari (which grants you the Zookeeper title). Getting your pets up to level 25 so you can take on anything the game can throw at you (pet battle-wise, at least) will take time -- but it's a somewhat less daunting task if you combine it with another in-game project. Are you working the loremaster achievement? Thinking of leveling another alt? Because you'll be traveling zone to zone, both of these are a great time to work in some battle pet leveling -- and since you get experience from winning pet battles, they can help with leveling, too. Wherever you are in your leveling journey, we can help you get closer to 25.
Battle pet basics to get you started building your pet collection
Though I started working on an article about how to collect battle pets much in the same vein as collecting titles and mounts... I quickly realized it was going to be a lot more complicated than that. Though you certainly can collect plenty of vanity pets by buying them, farming for drops, and getting achievements, the bulk of pet collecting in WoW needs to be done by capturing wild pets for yourself. So if you want to amass a fine collection of WoW pets, what you need to do is get into pet battling so you can find and capture your own pets. However, it's a daunting prospect if you're starting from level 1 and want to pick up pets from Northrend or Pandaria. We've already walked you through the very basics of starter battling and some tips on advancing through the levels, but today we'll walk you through the battle pet details you'll need to go from 1 to 25 and collect as many pets as you'd like along the way.
Breakfast Topic: Your must-have collections
I'm not usually a collector in World of Warcraft, mostly because when I start collecting I want to collect everything in true "gotta catch em all" style. It's a dangerously time-consuming hobby, and so I often avoid it by not collecting in the first place. But every now and then Blizzard throws something into the game -- whether it's a mount, a pet, a piece of gear, or a toy that I just need to have. Case in point: Hogs, the Hogger-alike pet that we'll be able to collect for WoW's 10th anniversary. The description alone is enough to get me: "Tenacious and terrible, the mighty Hogs slaughters weaker enemies without hesitation." Doesn't he sound adorable? Or if not adorable, at least tiny and fierce which is something my gnome monk can certainly relate to. And since he's presumably going to be handed out to anyone who logs on during the anniversary, this will be a lot easier to collect than some of my other must-haves, like Deathcharger's Reins. But tell me, readers -- what are your must-have WoW collectables? Is there anything on your list you've been trying to get but just can't?
Get started collecting mounts in WoW
It's a slow time in World of Warcraft right now, without new raids, dungeons, or anything else. But this is the perfect time to focus your attention on collecting in-game items. This is a time-consuming hobby that doesn't provide the kinds of rewards you might get from running a dungeon or winning a PvP match, but it can be fun -- assuming you've got that "gotta catch 'em all" personality that drives you to collect in the first place. We've talked about collecting in-game titles, and now we're moving on to another collection favorite: mounts. The World of Warcraft is packed with different in-game mounts that can compliment your transmog or just look awesome. Though even the most casual player has probably collected quite a few mounts by the time they've hit level 90, there are always more to pick up. Typically, special mounts require either grinding up to exalted reputation with a particular faction or getting a lucky drop in a dungeon or raid -- but many can be acquired completely solo, so long as you're patient. And best of all, as you collect more mounts, you unlock even more mounts with rewards for achievements when you've collected 50, 100, 150, and 200 mounts. If you're just getting started, expect it to take some time to get all the way to 200, but whether you're looking for quantity or quality, we've got you covered with a bunch of ways to build your mount collection.
Get started collecting titles in WoW
In World of Warcraft's current content lull, you may find yourself wondering what to do once you finally hit level 90. You can, of course, quest, raid, or PvP to your heart's content, but what do you do when you get tired of running the same dungeons and battlegrounds? While you could -- and many do -- wander off to explore other games, a common answer to slow content times in WoW is to pick up collecting. While collecting isn't a primary game element, the game is full of things to collect -- and some of them even have achievements to be earned or special in-game collection interfaces. Sound like an interesting use of your WoW downtime? We're going to start off with some of our favorite time-consuming achievements -- all with cool titles to adorn your character -- that will definitely help you fill up the hours while waiting for Warlords of Draenor. And, of course, you get to customize your character with some awesome titles to boot.
Breakfast Topic: What do you collect?
For a game that's not really about collecting -- it's no Animal Crossing -- there's a lot of collecting to do in World of Warcraft if you're of a mind to collect things. And when there's not a lot of new content to occupy players, collecting things can take center stage. After all, there's tons of things you could collect, from the straightforward pets, mounts, transmog gear, toys, or tabards, to the more challenging reputation, achievements, or level 90s. Fortunately for those of us who collect pets or mounts, there's an in-game storage system to keep our inventories from overflowing -- but those of you who collect tabards, toys, or other items that don't get the same treatment are probably finding your bank overflowing with items. So today we're talking collections. Do you play the collection mini-game? And if so, just what do you collect?
Mew-Genics wants you to hoard attribute-boosting furniture
Team Meat recently unveiled another aspect of Mew-Genics' gameplay: furniture collecting. Super Meat Boy creator Edmund McMillen discussed the game's furniture system in a blog post on the game's site, drawing comparisons to Nintendo's Animal Crossing series. In Mew-Genics, players acquire furniture through Baby Jack's store then place it in a room in their house. Each piece of furniture, which belongs to one of five "types," influences a variety of stats in the game, from disease rates to each cat's life span. The five types of furniture are large, medium, small, wall furniture and those belonging to item sets. Team Meat says Mew-Genics will include 750 pieces of furniture in total, not including rare alternates for each one. The cat genetics and breeding game will launch in 2014 for Steam, iOS and Android.
Daily iPhone App: Rivals at War is fun but way too freemium
Hothead Games is a studio that's been all over the place -- it's a Canadian developer that started out making some interesting PC titles, but lately has transitioned over to iOS, making freemium games that recently have been more freemium than games. The company found a sizable hit with its Big Win series, combining a collectible card game with a virtual sports simulator. But now Hothead has made yet another right turn, spinning the Big Win formula into a combat game. Rivals at War is the company's latest title, and it uses Big Win's collect, upgrade and then watch mechanics to simulate combat rather than a sports game. The formula is interesting: You open up different types of soldiers that you can upgrade via the freemium currency, and then you can assemble them into teams and pit them up against opposing teams in a battle. Unlike a lot of other combat games though, this one's all about assembling that team in the right way, because once the battle starts, your soldiers just fight for themselves. It's up to you to make sure you have the right troops in the fight instead of controlling them directly. Because of that similarity to the Big Win series, Rivals at War has essentially the same pros and cons. It's definitely a well-polished game: Hothead knows how to make these by now (after making five Big Win titles), and the move to a more gritty combat setting is a welcome change for the often cartoony Big Win series. The battles are very well-portrayed. But because the series is so heavily targeted on collecting cards and spending boosts and abilities, there's way too much freemium here, and just not enough game. Watching a battle makes you want to jump in and play it rather than just sit back while your virtual soldiers fight. Hothead is a solid game developer -- they clearly know their craft, and they've got a lot of good ideas to put into action. But whether because of financial pressure or other reasons, both the Big Win series and this Rivals at War game just spin too much towards making money rather than focusing on fun, engaging gameplay. Rivals at War is worth a try if you want to see how it all works (the game is free, of course), but hopefully Hothead will make another swing back towards focusing on the fun rather than building in innovative ways to sell more in-app purchases.
Blog Azeroth Shared Topic: World of Warcraft collections
Each week, Blog Azeroth hosts a Shared Topic for bloggers to answer on their own blogs and then link to in the forum. Last week, Noahdeer from Be MOP asked: World of Warcraft has added many different items for players to collect, whether it be collecting pets, mounts, transmog gear or knickknacks about the lore. This week's topic asks what you do collect in the game and what is your prized item from that collection? I don't really collect on purpose. I do collect battle pets, but I haven't tried to catch 'em all, yet. And I like my mount collection, but I haven't camped bosses for hard-to-get ones like real collectors do. However, I have accidentally gathered quite a few objects across my many characters: quest items. I don't like throwing quest items away. What if I go back to do the quest even though I've out-leveled the area ages ago? I might want to go for the achievement some day. And, yeah, some of these items may be obsolete, but do I want to go look up each one to find out? Naw, I just let them get all moldy and mildewy in my bank.
Daily iPhone App: Beastie Bay is Kairosoft's addictive take on Pokemon
There are a few words in gaming that, whenever I hear or read them, just make the hair on the back of my neck stand up in anticipation. "Blizzard." "Civilization." "Puzzle Quest." And I would say that it's time to add "Kairosoft" to that list, because the Tokyo-based developer's mobile games are some of the most addictive titles I've ever played. I've lost hours and hours to great games like Game Dev Story and Grand Prix Story, and I've been scared to even play Dungeon Village for fear of what the Kairosoft formula of perfectly paced and rewarding strategy gameplay combined with a fantasy RPG setting might do to my already busy life. Now, the company has released a new game called Beastie Bay, which takes Kairosoft's extremely addictive earn / upgrade / "earn more" cycle and pairs it with another addictive gaming theme: Collecting and upgrading beasts, a la Pokemon. Like all of Kairosoft's other titles, this game uses their older mobile engine, so the graphics and menus aren't all that impressive. But also like all of Kairosoft's other titles, the gameplay is just so spot on. As you build facilities for your pets and helpers, take them out to battle, find new pets and then build more facilities for those pets and new helpers, you too will likely get caught up in the mania of "just one more turn" that these games tend to bring on. The beast-collecting twist is a definite lift from Nintendo's powerhouse franchise, but it's done in a very Kairosoft way, designed so that you're always winning and growing rather than simply grinding away in the tall grass. The other difference here from Kairosoft's past titles is that this game is definitely free-to-play. It features ads prominently (though they can be removed with a one-time US$4.99 purchase), and there are in-app purchases for in-game currency. But I think that change will allow even more people to see what Kairosoft can do on mobile, so I think the switch to F2P will be a good thing for the company. Kairosoft's games are already extremely addictive, and I can't really recommend Beastie Bay highly enough. Someday, if the company finally embraces iOS as a native platform, they'll more or less be unstoppable.
Shadow Era physical cards now being shipped to retail stores
Shadow Era is an iOS app that came out a long time ago -- it successfully combines a collectible card game (fairly similar to the World of Warcraft card game, if you've ever played that one) with a freemium business model, a plan that has worked out very well for developer Kyle Pool. So well, in fact, that he announced a little while ago that Shadow Era would be getting physical cards to go along with the iOS title, and indeed, the company has announced that Call of the Crystals, the first physical version of the original iOS title, is now headed to a game retail store near you. You can see unboxing videos floating around already -- this is a full, high quality collectible card game that originally began only on Apple's iOS platform. That's great. Apple usually brags about how much software it has seen released on its iOS, but when you look at things like all of those Angry Birds collectibles and then a game like this, that has gone from an indie developer's idea to a full franchise, it's really fascinating to see just how popular and powerful this App Store has become.
Breakfast Topic: Have you gotten your Springstrider yet?
I may be just the teensiest bit obsessive about collecting mounts. So when I heard this year's Noblegarden featured a new mount, the Swift Springstrider, I might just have logged on and waited until the event started to start gathering chocolates like a madwoman. And I might have gotten all 500 chocolates in about an hour and a half, because after so many years of Noblegarden celebrations, I know the egg spawn locations in Tirisfal Glades like the back of my hand. Might? Who am I kidding -- the Swift Springstrider took its place as mount #145 in my collection at about 4:30 or so in the morning. I've heard complaints about the tallstrider mounts here and there, but I love them myself. They're ugly, naked birds that nobody in their right mind would ever love, and therefore I love them to pieces. While my Noblegarden 2012 goals ended the moment I got the bird (I finished all the achievements for the event years ago), there are still plenty of people scurrying around the various starting zones this morning looking for dresses, tuxedos, bunnies, and other Noblegarden prizes. Do you have things you definitely want to get done with this year's Noblegarden celebration? Have you gotten your Springstrider yet? Or have you decided to let this poor unfortunate bird pass you by? I wouldn't let it pass by, if I were you. I mean come on, who doesn't want to gallop around Pandaria on the back of a naked green ostrich?
Breakfast Topic: Been waiting an excrutiatingly long time for this
It's finally over. I have been farming Karazhan on and off for years, hoping to get my hands on the Fiery Warhorse's Reins. They are an exceedingly rare drop off of Attumen, the first boss in the zone -- and when I say exceedingly, I mean it. Ever since Karazhan was first introduced in The Burning Crusade, I've wanted that amazing flaming vampire horse for my very own. And every week after Tuesday night raids, I've ventured into Karazhan, making quick work of the trash in the stables, killing Attumen, and then collecting yet another pair of gloves to sell to the vendor. This week, I wandered into Karazhan and fought my way through the trash, marveling at the sheer number of green items that dropped -- even a Ritssyn's Lost Pendant for my troubles. I started to get my hopes up, thinking that this could totally be the run that I'd see the silly pony drop. Unfortunately, I messed up -- I killed Midnight before Attumen could hop on his back and start phase 2. I vanished, hoping that would reset things, but I was left with a dead horse and no loot. However, I still wasn't saved to the boss, so I ducked out of the instance, did a quick reset, and dove back in again with fully respawned trash. This time, I waited for Attumen to hop up on Midnight, but I was kicking myself because I was certain that if I hadn't messed up the green-filled run, I'd be riding around on a horse. That was totally the winning run that I screwed up. Except, apparently, it wasn't. All it took was a reset, and approximately four years after I started randomly farming this stupid pony, he dropped. Now he's mount #143 in my collection. At first, I was filled with a huge sense of relief, and then it was replaced by a sort of empty feeling. After all, the solo trip to Karazhan was a weekly routine that I could count on. I got used to doing it. So ... what now? I have absolutely no idea. What's the longest you've spent farming a single item? Is there one elusive pet, mount, or other goodie in WoW that still escapes your grasp? What do you do when that long sought-after goal is finally attained? And while we're at it ... what the heck should I farm now?
Breakfast Topic: Are you a collector?
As of the time of this writing, I am sitting on 136 mounts, 176 pets, nearly 12,000 achievement points, and countless armor sets. I'm not sure where it all began. One minute, I was simply playing the game and happily emptying out my bags at every opportunity. The next, I was gathering and hanging onto just about everything I found in my travels. One thing is for certain: I have a heck of a lot of stuff, and void storage sort of helped with the problem, for now. I think part of it has to do with the ease of obtaining gold over the years. Back in vanilla, it was an incredibly long time before you saw that first gold piece. Saving up for an epic mount at level 60 was almost a rite of passage. Hardly anyone I knew had enough gold to get one when they actually hit level 60; they had to work at grinding enough to afford the mount. And racial mounts were racial mounts. You couldn't get a horse if you weren't human, and you couldn't get a raptor if you weren't a troll. When that changed, it opened up opportunities to actually start collecting -- and when gold started getting easier to obtain, especially through the addition of daily quests, the means to collect got substantially easier.
Not for sale: Every PlayStation 2 game ever made, sealed and in mint condition
Did you buy Zone of the Enders just to get at the demo version of Metal Gear Solid 2? Did you summon half your street to join you in a game of TimeSplitters? Wouldn't you have enjoyed your PlayStation 2 games much more if you'd just left them sealed on the shelf? That's the eye-watering achievement collector Ahans76 has achieved, spending the last decade stuffing first edition (only with the Sony hologram attached) titles into a bookcase and steadfastly refusing to open them. In an interview with PlayStation Collecting (hit the source link below) he reveals much about the collection but doesn't mention if he ever opened his PlayStation 3. That would certainly be one way of keeping your credit card secure.
Massively Exclusive: Free Realms' Referee Ruby goes collecting
Last week, we heard from Free Realms' Referee Ruby as she walked us through the serene joy of farming in Free Realms. This week, we're moving away from Farmer Ruby to something a bit more Rubyana Jones, so don your best explorin' clothes and let's go collect some stuff. Yes, the focus this week is on collections. The idea behind collections is fairly simple: As you'd expect, you gather things up and hoard them like a packrat. In the case of Free Realms, you're gathering keys that can be found scattered across the world in Robgoblin junk piles. There are eight keys in every collection. And what's your reward for gathering all of them, you ask? Another key! But this one is different. It's probably magic or something, because it unlocks one of many chests scattered around the world, chests which contains a plethora of stylish clothing rewards. To see the system in action, jump past the cut and spend some time with Referee Ruby as she takes you through it.
Breakfast Topic: Do you collect anything in WoW?
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the AOL guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages. I'll admit, I have an obsession with companion pets -- much to my warlock's chagrin. She'd much prefer to burn the little critters, but I can't help amassing as large a collection as I can. At last count, I had over 100 pets and am still striving to get even more. While I have several titles, special mounts, and the like, I devote more time to building my pet collection than anything else. Of course, my collection wouldn't be where it is today without the help of some really good friends (especially the one who tirelessly slaved away killing Bogflare Needlers for my coveted Captured Firefly -- eeeek!). Do you collect anything in WoW? Whether it be common things like mounts or titles, or something a little more obscure, I want to hear about it -- unless, of course, you have a better pet collection than I do. Don't make me cry.
