Goodbye and Hello

Any regular readers out there must know something is up.

First, I call out Blizzard.

Then, I start talking about other games.

It has been almost three weeks since I last wrote about the game. (Aside form that letter, of course)

I must admit, my interest in the game is at an all-time low. As such, there is very little to write about. Sure, starting next week, I'll have LOTS to post about Aion. But, I feel it would be a bad move to take a WoW blog and switch focus to a different game. Going back and forth between the two is just going to confuse and upset people.

So, this will be my final post here on Hardcore Casual.

Fear not! I am not disappearing.

I have started a more general-purpose blog, Massive Nerd. There I will write about many subjects, including Aion and, yes, I will still post about WoW.

To those who are only looking for Warcraft coverage, that's cool. There's a whole list of blogs off to the left that are worth your time. I'm not making this switch to increase readership. Hell, I'll probably LOSE readers. I'm doing this for myself. I wish to explore other aspects of writing and creativity.

To all my loyal readers, both of you, thank you for your support. I enjoy interacting with the community more than the writing itself, and you guys have hooked me on blogging. I hope to see most (or all!) of you at my new home.

See you, Space Cowboy

Lost Week

Sorry for the lack of posts. Work has been insane this week.

Posting will resume next week.

Guild Life Delayed

I wanted to finish my Guild Life story tonight, but I am not feeling well. Apologies, but it will be completed next week.

Silence, Blabbering and More Silence

That's the pattern here for a bit.

No more new posts until I get some time with 3.1. It would probably help to know what I'm talking about for once.

Next week, I'll be talking lots and lots and everyone will probably hate me.

After I get everything off my chest, I'll be taking some time off for updating my Death Knight Guide.

Enjoy your new patch!

Challenge: Leveling Class List

It's Day 2 of the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge. Today's assignment is to write a list post.

Fellow blogger Miss Elf recently asked for suggestions for her next alt. I had to think for a while because I love so many of my current classes.

This challenge made me realize that I need to focus my posts a bit more. I need to provide better information to my fellow casuals out there. So, here's a list of my suggestions for leveling classes and specs. This list is based entirely on my own experiences.

What makes a casual leveling spec? I feel that, in order to effectively level on casual playtime is to use the most effective and efficient specs possible. A solid casual spec should be solid from level 1 to 80. No constant switching back and forth between specs, based upon which assortment of skills is best for three of four levels. While there's nothing WRONG with that, your time and money are better spent focusing on your character.

Starting, of course, with my current selections:

Affliction Warlock: Destruction Warlocks have to manage mana and shards. Demonology os great with the Felguard after 50, but Blueberry has trouble holding aggro prior to that. Affliction has none of these problems. Affliction is incredibly efficient between Life Tap, Dark Pact and Drains. Unless something goes horribly awry, mana is never an issue. As Affliction, YOU are the tank, so threat is no problem. I'll expand upon this in a future post, as many 'Locks still don't quite understand Drain Tanking. Expect it after 3.1 and after the Death Knight Guide is updated.

Beastmastery Hunter: I'll admit it. Hunter is Easymode. Send pet, shoot, collect loot. Beastmastery is the simplest of the three specs. Your pet is a killing machine. A solid defensive pet can tank multiple mobs at once, and almost endlessly in succession.

Enhancement Shaman: Once again, like Affliction, Enhancement is endlessly efficient. Shamanistic Rage generates mana. Spirit Wolves generate health. Enhancement puts out ludicrous damage in very little time. Totems and Insta-Heals from Maelstrom Weapon make soloing all but the most difficult group quests a breeze. Expect an Enhancement guide in the future, as well.

Protection Paladin: Traditionally, tanking classes have been a pain to level. While I can't speak for how Warriors and Druids have changed, Protection Pallies have been amazing since Burning Crusade, and even fairly decent prior to that. The ability to AOE large packs with Consecrate and reflective damage brings experience rolling in. Survivability can not be ignored. Every minute dead is a minute not leveling. The new Blessing of Sanctuary has made this spec very efficient, while Hammer of the Righteous increases damage output. Being able to jump into an instance while leveling is nce, as well. Yes, a Paladin AOE Grinding Guide is on the list of things to do, as well.

Other specs I've played:

Retribution Paladin: Kind of a Plate-wearing Enhancement Shaman. While not as efficient as Enhancement or even a Protection Paladin, Retribution can unleash some serious damage while still taking some hits and self-healing.

Any Rogue: Stealth is great. You can make sure to always fight on your terms. Massive damage output makes leveling quick and easy.

Feral Druid: I prefer not to go full-tanking or full-DPS, but rather a balance of the two. Offense is nothing without some survivability, and defense without actually being able to KILL anything is just painful. Once again, self-healing makes things go quicker.

Now, there's absolutely nothing wrong with any spec. They're all viable and fun to play in their own way. However, for smooth, easy leveling from 1-80, I feel these are the best bets.

What? I missed something? Oh yeah.

Any Death Knight: Seriously. If you can't level a Death Knight, your keyboard may be unplugged.

Feel free to share your ideas on anything I may have missed!

Challenge: Elevator Pitch

I signed up for ProBlogger's 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Project. So, expect to see some randomness over the next month.

Today's challenge is to write an elevator pitch for the blog.

Short version:

Hardcore Casual: Where a part-time player can still accomplish anything.

Long version:

In the World of Warcraft, most feats take persistence and dedication to accomplish. For those who are unable to put endless hours into a game, Hardcore Casual is is for you. Hardcore Casual will teach readers how to manage their time and set goals, as well as chronicling the accomplishments of the most casual of players.

Hardcore Casual 2.0

Well, the new layout is up.

Thanks to eBlogTemplates for the code.

Hope you all like it.

I've been spending a great deal of time lately on the new layout as well as other, more secretive projects. As such, there will be no Nerd Life post this week.

Rebuilding

Redesigning site for the next little bit. Pardon the dust and all that.

Tinkering Complete

All done, hopefully everything works.

Tinkering with Feed

Doing a bit of tinkering with my feed. If any readers don't get the "Tinkering Complete" post in their readers, please resubscribe. If that doesn't work, please let me know, and I'll try to fix what I've broken.

Google Loves Me

A little under the weather, so a quickie today.

Looking over my site stats on Google Analytics, apparently, the Google search engine likes my Death Knight Guide.

Try it out! Do a semi-specific search on anything Death Knight related.

"WoW Death Knight Spell Rotation"
8th result

"Frost Death Knight Combat"
6th result

"Death Knight Hybrid Build"
6th result

"Blood Tank Talent Build"
4th result (3rd unique)

"Blood Death Knight Combat Rotation"
3rd result

"Unholy Combat Guide"
3rd result

"Basic Death Knight Spell Rotation"
1st result!

What have I created?

Death Knight Guide Revamp

Now that I have all the content together, I plan on reworking most of the layout to my Death Knight Guide.

I really want to get this project completed so that I can focus on other plans I have for the blog.

That being said, I'm going to take a few days off from actual posting. I apologize to the three of you that actually read this thing, but it needs to be done. When I first started working on this thing, I envisioned a small, simple resource. Unfortunately, nothing about me is small or simple. This guide has grown out of control, but I am very proud of the finished product. Once I can present it in a more reader-friendly way, hopefully, it will increase traffic here.

I'll be breaking up some of the intimidating wall-o-text segments and reposting them as smaller chapters. So, your feed readers will be picking up bunches of new posts, but very little actual new content.

On the bright side, once I have this out of the way, I'll be free to pursue my plans for Saturday, the one day I never have content on.

Small Update

I have slightly updated Part 1 of my Death Knight Guide.

See You Next Week

I'm taking Thanksgiving week off from the blog.

Posts will resume Sunday or Monday next week.

Listed!

Whee, it took a while, but I'm finally listed on Warcraft Bloggers.

*waves*

I put a shiny little badge on the page to show it off.

Why Hardcore Casual?

The question is simple. Why start a blog?

Well... why not?

I spend a lot of time browsing Warcraft Bloggers. I have become a disciple of BRK (foshizzle!) I figured, "Hey! I can do this!"

I am very proud of what I have been able to accomplish merely playing 10-16 hours a week. I figure I'd share with others how to do the same. Also, it helps to put things down on paper (or the internets, as it may be) One of the primary steps to success as a Hardcore Casual is to have a plan. Have goals. Writing them down and tracking progress really helps in this endeavor. However, more on that later...

What is Hardcore Casual?

Hardcore Casual is a blog about and for casual players who want to accomplish the same feats as full-time players. I only play a couple of days a week, myself, yet I have multiple 70s, several other high levels, maxed out professions and I even run my own guild. Basically, this is just a place to post all the random thoughts I get during the day. Believe me, there's a lot of them.

You'll find updates on my characters' progress as they very slowly accomplish things that even those who play constantly haven't achieved. There are plenty of players out there who never reached Exalted with The Scryers. I did it in a couple of weekends.

So, stay tuned, Thus Far Nonexistant Readers.

Welcome to Hardcore Casual

Hardcore Casual is now in the testing phase.

Yes, I'm new to this whole blogging thing.