Twonky

The guild leader is still active bees, I think it's 'bubblenine' but I'm not 100% sure as the guild has changed hands a couple of times since I left. Whoever is guild leader definitely still logs in reasonably regularly because the guild never enters the 'your guild leader is inactive' state. (I know this because one of the regulars from back in the glory days of the guild logs in periodically to see if he can steal it.) We're all still on Doomhammer, Horde side, in the Essence of Mercy guild if you ever fancy joining us In fact a few of us were reminiscing about it the other day, those nights spent raiding ICC and waffling a load of crap in guild chat, looking back it was pretty cool that as an all-Manx guild we did at least manage to get to ICC and take down bosses in there, even though we never managed to kill Lichy himself until we went back with a load of 85s

It was on a special offer for a week or so, you didn't have to do anything special to get it for £15, it was just how much it cost for the duration of the promotion.

ans is quite right in what he says, Blizz have actively and deliberately been moving away from the model of the game as it was back in vanilla and BC, to the 'quality of life' improvements that they introduced in Wrath, even more so in Cata, and as I'm discovering now, even more so again in MoP. (I quit last year just as the pandas were launching so didn't get to appreciate the changes at the time.) It's simple stuff like you don't have to visit a class trainer to get your new abilities, they simply appear on the screen and float down to your action bars. Hunters don't need ammo or to feed their pets, talent trees are gone in favour of the game giving you all the abilities you need for your role automatically, you just have to use them correctly. The quest structure of old 'Kill 20 of these and come back to me', 'Ahhh right now go and kill 20 of these slightly different ones', 'Ahhhh yes now kill your way through another 20 of them just to get to the one special one at the back' - and so on. Whereas before you'd have to effectively repeat the same quest two or three times, now you just have one over-arching quest that delivers the same amount of XP and does it in much more fun ways too. LFG and LFR makes seeing all the instance and raid content easy to do, the hardcore hate it of course but for someone like me who has neither the time or the inclination to play the game as it demanded back in the day, it's absolutely perfect. Health and mana regen are massively improved too, I remember levelling my first mage years ago, the poor fucker had to stop to drink to mana up every third mob, now you can just chain them all day without going OOM, which is a good thing IMO - the game is so vast now that it simply doesn't need the old time wasting stuff in there that adds nothing whatsoever to the game. I've only been back for a month but I'm really enjoying just bobbing on for an hour here or there, there's no real commitment required and no sense of 'YOU CAN'T SEE THIS CONTENT UNLESS YOU DO X, Y AND Z FIFTY TIMES FIRST' any more either - it's just like, y'know, a game.

I quit the game for over a year and have only got back into it in the last month or so. Playing it a lot more chilled out than I used to, haven't even got a Level 90 yet. Can't be arsed with questing at all these days so just do everything through instances. The good thing is that the Panda expansion is over a year old so it's not a dreadful struggle to get geared enough to jump straight into instances. (In fact endgame Cata gear is good enough for the starter Panda dungeons.) A fair few of Shill's guild can still be found on Doomhammer in the Essence of Mercy clan. (That's where I am.)

One simply asks K.I.T.T. to do one of those turbo boost jump things.

Personally speaking I find it a hassle when the mountain road is closed as the trip to Douglas over the coast is a low slower than the mountain route. (Plus there's the fact that the coast route takes in a lot of shittily maintained roads which in my car makes for quite an uncomfortable journey, whereas the mountain is excellently maintained.) I appreciate that closures are often necessary but if they're closing it because 'the weather is bad' then I have an issue with that, it's up to drivers to adjust to the conditions, and not the authorities to decide we're not up to the task IMO.

So it was literally just closed yesterday because the weather up there was bad? Shouldn't it just be a case of people driving appropriately for the conditions? Always seemed to work well enough for me in the past....

Honestly Ms Bees, if you're capable of using your opposable thumbs, you're capable of doing LFR. I've been in LFR groups where the worst players in the group were clearly AFK and/or fondling themselves to the exclusion of actually pressing any buttons. I get the vibe that LFR difficulty is based on around 50% of the group having any idea of how to play their class and being able to follow basic raid orders. I've had Deathwing go down in some pretty ropey groups, just give it a try!

Surely you can at least get in on LFR? It's not ideal perhaps but at least it's a way to see the content. Have to say though that were it not for me doing my pally (levelled 15-84 entirely in instances as tank) I'd have probably dropped the game a little while ago. And now I can't be arsed to ding 85 with him Probably just wait for SUPER PANDAS now I think, and DIablo 3 isn't far off. Until then there's always blackjack and hookers.

What's the interest in playing a beta? It's a broken unfinished game, but will still ruin the surprise of playing it for real when it's released properly.....

Eh? I have no idea what you're going on about Ms Bees. We generally have a Battlefield+WoW night once per week, Friday or Saturday until late, all are welcome I did see you in Shoprite the other day though, but you were at the checkouts and I was browsing the pogger bins, so I didn't say hello. You had a nice summery dress on.

I thought 'In Time' was alright TBH, Timberlake can act when the mood takes him (he's excellent in 'Alpha Dog'), and he was pretty good as the lead for In Time IMO. The film as a whole is an impressive rabid-anti-capitalist howl of anger, and I liked it on that basis alone.

TANGO AND CASH was last night's 'entertainment'. Yes the Stallone and Kurt Russell thing from 1989, which I probably haven't watched for twenty years or so, and which I remembered as being pretty good. FUCKING LOAD OF BOLLOCKS! It just about kept me watching to the end, but that was mostly just to stare agog at the parade of late 80s shittery. And a young Teri Hatcher, of course.

THE BEAVER was this evening's film. Yes I know it writes itself, MEL GIBSON PERFORMS IN JODIE FOSTER'S BEAVER! But you know what, it's a pretty damned good film. Mel may be as crazy as a box of old frogs, but the man can still damn well act (and direct as well, although Jodie directed this), and he carries the whole film by the sheer weight of his presence and commitment. Ends up going to some very sad places, it's almost a companion piece for Lars And The Real Girl in some regards, but stands on its own right as well. Recommended - 7/10

You know the phrase 'a man of excellent taste'? THAT'S NOT YOU! * * In all fairness each to their own of course And Hobo With A Shotgun is a solid explotiation flick!