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Breakfast Topic: What's the most difficult thing in the game to farm?
My warrior recently found herself farming a lot of Khorium in order to build her Turbo-Charged Flying Machine, and while flying a seemingly endless number of circuits in Nagrand in order to get the metal (which is a rare spawn on other Outland ore nodes), I started to wonder where this farm fell in relation to other grinds. Khorium sometimes cooperates by spawning regularly, but this time, it was its usual, awful self. I'm sure the Burning Crusade-era players can relate. And yet, somehow I still don't think that khorium is the worst thing in the game to farm. Off the top of my head, I can think of others that are or have been equally bad or worse: Non-combat pets A lot of farmable non-combat pets (e.g., the dragon whelps, the firefly, the Fox Kit) have a 1-in-1,000 drop rate and a limited number of mobs up at a given time. Combat pets Waiting for a particular pet to spawn somewhere and then finding and taming it before someone else does can be maddening if you're consistently unlucky. Fishing Accomplished Angler is justifiably famous for being stuffed with requirements full of RNG. Let's talk about the year it took me to get Mr. Pinchy's Magical Crawdad Box! On second thought, let's not. The Scepter of the Shifting Sands quest This disappeared in Cataclysm, and with it went all the work that went into farming up bug parts and Elementium Ingots, which is where I got stuck in the chain. (So close, and yet so far.) The Insane This almost goes without saying, although it's easier these days than it used to be. Your thoughts, readers? What's the toughest thing in the game to farm?
Insane in the Membrane no longer requires Shen'dralar reputation in Cataclysm
Are you one of the true crazies trying to complete Insane in the Membrane before Cataclysm? Things just might have gotten a little easier for you, as Blizzard has officially clarified issues surrounding the achievement. According to this post on the new community site, Insane in the Membrane will still be in Cataclysm, as will the Bloodsail Buccaneer faction. The Shen'dralar, however, are disappearing once Deathwing returns, and as such, their faction has been removed as part of the feat of strength. Read the whole post after the break.
Choose My Adventure: Live streaming of Robinemia's insanity
Choose the adventures of the WoW.com staff as we level our characters in <It came from the Blog> on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H). Robinemia is streaming right now via Justin.TV for the next hour or so. We're going to be beating up Syndicate again. You wanted grinding. You're getting grinding. I think we'll all have earned the Insane title by the end of this, whether we get the actual in-game one or not. Join us in-game if you are in the high 20s or higher or watch us on the stream. I use the audio on the stream as a kind of voice chat. Only it's just me ... babbling. If you're looking for serious business, this isn't it. Seriously. Also, I'm sorry in advance for the funsuckers. They can't help themselves. Their lives are so sad that they have nothing better to do than try to ruin other people's fun. But they can't. We're going to have fun in spite of them. They are destined to fail and therefore deserve our pity. Awwww. Please join us on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H) in <It came from the Blog>. Ask any member online for an invite; guild ranks of "Blog Lurker" or above have the power. You are all welcome as long as you play by our simple rules, that can be summed up with "Don't be a Funsucker!" Also, please see the guild FAQ for the most common questions.
Choose My Adventure: Robinemia's insane live stream
Choose the adventures of the WoW.com staff as we level our characters in <It came from the Blog> on Zangarmarsh (US-PVE-H). Killing humans in Hillsbrad Foothills is the only thing on the agenda for tonight's Choose My Adventure session. After all, if Robinemia is going to become Robinemia the Insane, she's going to have to kill a lot of those guys in order for the Ravenholdt people to want to hang with her. This time, I'll be streaming and babbling above and at WoW.com's Justin.tv page. The session will last about an hour and there may be some stories if I get bored slaughtering humans. There may also be a failed bedtime (The Spawn) and some raiding noise (The Spousal Unit). It's a family affair. %Gallery-89597% If you want to join in on the fun of Choose My Adventure, please join us on Zangarmarsh (US-PVE-H) in <It came from the Blog>. Ask Robiness, Robinemia or any member online for an invite. Guild ranks of Lurker or above have the ability to invite. You are all welcome as long as you play by our simple rules, which can be summed up with "Don't be a Funsucker!" Also, please see the guild FAQ for the most common questions.
Choose My Adventure: I need help
Choose the adventures of the WoW.com staff as we level our characters in <It came from the Blog> on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H). You chose alchemy/herbalism and enhancement for Sandwichdoc. We'll get to the other thing in a minute ... The schedule for this week will be: Anne Stickney as Annephora, the troll warrior, will be on Tuesday at 1 a.m. EDT (which is Monday at 11 p.m. Zangarmarsh time) Robin Torres as Robinemia, the undead mage: Wednesday, 11 p.m. EDT Fox Van Allen as Foxlight, the blood elf paladin: Friday, 8 p.m. EDT Michael Sacco as Sahko, the orc warlock; Christian Belt, as Selfloathius, the blood elf warlock; Elizabeth Harper as Faience, the troll shaman; Matthew Rossi as Andrenorton, the troll mage; Michael Gray as Grayfields, the tauren hunter; Adam Holisky as Adammentat, the tauren druid; and Gregg Reece as Sandwichdoc, the shaman, will be making appearances as they can I told you to choose wisely, but no. You chose evilly. Well then. All of you who voted for Insane in the Membrane can log in and help me collect the bajillion things I need, and help me grind the mobs I need to kill. No, seriously. Make your DKs, level up your rogues and come help me. I'm not doing this alone. Oh, no. Oh, no. %Gallery-89597% If you want to join in on the fun of Choose My Adventure, please join us on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H) in <It came from the Blog>. Ask Robiness, Robinemia or any member online for an invite. Guild ranks of Lurker or above have the ability to invite. You are all welcome as long as you play by our simple rules, which can be summed up with, "Don't be a Funsucker!" Also, please see the guild FAQ for the most common questions.
The OverAchiever: Evil achievements
I love achievements, but sometimes you look at them and realize that somewhere on the development team lurks a sadist of the highest order -- and not just any sadist, but one with a business plan and an unwitting audience of 12 million players. What are evil achievements? They're the soul-killing rep grinds, the raiding milestones that required sacrificing a farm animal to get, and even fun pasttimes like battlegrounds into which a sizable dose of misery has been added. Eventually you just want to grab the nearest developer and shake him back and forth, screaming, "What the hell were you thinking?" Below are three of my top picks as the most evil achievements in the game, chosen via the scientific rationale of hating life and myself while doing them. They're selections from a lengthier OverAchiever I've been slowly assembling on the 25 most evil achievements in the game. While my main's a hair's breadth from the It's Over Nine Thousand! feat of strength, there are still quite a few achievements (many of them PvP-related) that she's missed, and I think it's pretty easy to underestimate the agony-value of achievements you haven't personally done. So, rather than simply ignore them, I'd love to get some commenting feedback on the worst, most annoying and most soul-destroying achievements of which you've been a part. Some may disagree on the ultimate difficulty of the following three achievements, but I remain undeterred from my belief that every single one has been milked from the angry teat of Satan himself.
Taiwanese player earns all of the achievements
Yes, that's right, all of them. You've probably heard about this already (we're a little late to the party, just because it seemed a little fishy to us at first), but a player in Taiwan has an Armory profile that claims he (or she, though the character is a male tauren druid) has achieved all 986 achievements available in the current version of World of Warcraft. That's everything, from Loremaster, to all the ToGC Tributes, to the Pilgrim's Bounty holiday rewards, even Insane in the Membrane. If there's something you can do in WoW, this guy seems to have done it. He hasn't finished this year's Winter's Veil achievement yet (it's not actually possible until the 15th), but he has done a PvP achievement twice, apparently, so he's still 986/986. I'm still a little doubtful: as you can see above, the Feats of Strength bar looks like it's empty, but this guy actually has lots of Feats done as well, including all of the realm first feats (including First Aid, and Leatherworking, all within days of each other). It just doesn't seem possible that one character could do all of that. But it all seems to check out, so we'll give him his due: Congratulations, "Littlegray" of Wrathbringer. And just in case you hadn't heard: there are other games to play. Update: I thought Insane in the Membrane was an achievement, but it is actually a Feat, and he does not have it. Thanks commenters for the clarification.
The OverAchiever: What Feats of Strength can you get now?
One of the easier ways to distinguish an older character from a reroll or alt is the presence (or absence) of a Feat of Strength. Feats of Strength, remnants of "the past glories of Azeroth," are among the most difficult achievements to get, and that's when they're even possible at all. Most, like the presence of an old-school PvP title, one of the original 100% mounts, or the Vengeful Nether Drake, are impossible to get these days, and are a sign that the person who has them is an experienced player. But with a little luck and a lot of elbow grease, even a new player can accrue some of these supposedly "past" glories. I started playing WoW shortly after Burning Crusade launched and didn't expect to have a shot at most Feats, but a surprising number of them are still available. After getting The Fifth Element recently and being surprised to discover that: a). It's a Feat, and b). The original quest isn't even in the game anymore (man, I'm glad I'm such a quest packrat), I started nosing around the list of Feats to see what else a player could do even if they're new to the game. Moreover, there are two achievements you can get right now that will become Feats in 3.3, so let's get cracking.
The Daily Quest: Insane in more ways than one
We here at WoW Insider are on a Daily Quest to bring you interesting, informative and entertaining WoW-related links from around the blogosphere. Matticus's UI blog, No Stock UI, takes a look at six different tooltip addons you may be interested in. We've talked about the Insane in the Membrane achievement ourselves, but The Unconventional Priest has a guide of her own that may help you out on your quest to become completely and utterly insane. Make sure you check out parts I, II, and III. Haven't gotten your hands on your epic flying mount yet? That's alright. Here are some tips on how to make that 5000g with the Art of Soloing. Many players are getting deeper and deeper into Ulduar with every passing day. Are you hybrids ready for General Vezax? Click here to submit a link to TDQ
Patch 3.1 achievements round up
Everybody loves achievements, right? ...no, I guess not. Some people like achievements, right? Yes! Patch 3.1 brings a lot of cool stuff for you guys to do as well, so here's all of it in a nice little package for you to pick through. Have fun! There's already a few people ready to pick up the Insane title, but we'd like to assume most of you are slightly less insane. Only slightly. For you guys, we have a get to completing Insane in the Membrane. As of today, the Black and Plagued Proto-Drakes are gone for good. A batch of brand new achievements have been added to the Noblegarden event, which has been extended to a week and will begin on April 26th. Note that you will need these for What a Long, Strange Trip Its Been. We've posted an early version of Ulduar's achievements, too! Chef de Cuisine is getting a bit easier for Alliance players. They can get their hands on Dig Rat Stew on their own now! In exchange, Lil' Game Hunter is becoming easier for the Horde. Enjoy your Sprite Darters and Westfall Chickens! The Argent Tournament has a load of its own achievements as well. If you enjoyed this stuff, keep an eye on our achievements column, The Overachiever. We'll probably be going over a lot of this, especially the Noblegarden and Argent Tournament achievements, in the coming weeks. Patch 3.1 is live and it takes us into Ulduar, delivers us dual specs, and brings significant changes to all the classes! We've got you covered from top to bottom with our Guide to Patch 3.1 and the official patch notes!
The OverAchiever: Insane in the Membrane
Most of you are excited for 3.1 so you can start raiding Ulduar, or take advantage of the new class changes. But I know what some of you are on pins and needles for. It's the new title The Insane. Insane In The Membrane is exactly what it sounds like -- an achievement for people who are completely nuts. To earn this title you must be willing to spend a lot of time destroying and raising obscure factions in Azeroth. I mean a lot of time. It requires that attain the following:Honored with Bloodsail Buccaneers Exalted with EverlookExalted with RatchetExalted with Booty BayExalted with GadgetzanExalted with RavenholdtExalted with Darkmoon FaireExalted with Shen'dralarYep. If you want to get started on this brain-breaking journey, just follow the jump.
Death Knight goes insane (in the membrane)
A Gnome Death Knight appropriately named Nutshell from Mug'thol reported on the forums that he had completed the requirements for the upcoming Achievement Insane in the Membrane. The Achievement, to be implemented in Patch 3.1, requires a character to gain Exalted reputation with the Steamwheedle Cartel (Everlook, Booty Bay, Ratchet, and Gadgetzan), Darkmoon Faire, Ravenholdt, the Shen'dralar, and Honored with the Bloodsail Buccaneers. Unlocking this Achievement also rewards the fitting title 'the Insane', arguably one of the cooler titles in the new patch.Most of the faction reputations listed aren't easy to grind, particularly the little known Ravenholdt faction in Hillsbrad Foothills. Most players who have been playing for years are unlikely to have considerable reputation with them nor the come-and-go Darkmoon Faire and the Dire Maul-based Shen'dralar. It's an impressive feat for any character, and even more impressive for a Death Knight -- Nutshell might possibly be the first one to complete it. Considering Loremaster Nutshell has 5870 Achievement points to date, it's probably not that surprising the player made the grind. To all of this, Bornakk simply responded, "you're insane."
