Project Lore

I don't know how some of you do it. How do you sign on to World of Warcraft and jump over the gaps in Ironforge for 30 minutes before doing something? How do you sit there and shoot the shit for two hours and nothing else? How? I was watching my friend “play” the other day and that was the kind of stuff he kept doing. I thought he brought me over to show me his new spec, a new piece of gear, perhaps something from Hallow's End that he manged to get or thought was cool. No, he just called me over to show me that he could jump the gap with a full 720 thrown in. With all the new stuff added in the past month, how is it that he lacks something to do!? Whenever I sign in I always have a concrete purpose, even if I am only logging on for 10 minutes. Yea, I have signed in just to talk to someone, but if it wasn't a five minute conversation, then I was headed off to do some dailies at the same time. When I pop on in the morning, it is usually to buy up all that cheap Netherweave cloth that is constantly on the Auction House. I don't know how those people do it. How can you sign into World of Warcraft, a game that has so much to do, and just kill time in the city or chew the fat on ventrilo, while your character goes through its idle animations? Personally, if I am not doing at least two things at once I feel like I am wasting time. Please, explain it to me, and no, I am not belittling you. The reason I want to know is because I am one of those guys who will sign off from WoW almost without notice. I will never do this if I am in a group or actively participating in something, but if I am questing and just get fed up then boom, I am gone. I could even be mid-conversation with someone, as rude as that is. This actually annoys me and is the reason why I want to know how some players can just do nothing. My biggest pet peeve is when I am actively trying to find a group for an instance. If I spend more than 5-10 minutes LFGing I will throw my hands in the air and swear off the game for a few hours. Please, enlighten me you “wasters of time,” and if you are like me, shout it loud so I know I am not the only one. This is completely off topic, but anyone interested in the video game industry and computer animation should make sure they see this video from Image Dynamics about their new technology. The most up-to-date of you have already seen it, as it is a bit old.

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If you were paying attention to the new guild calendar that was added with patch 3.0.2 you should have noticed that Hallow's End started this Saturday.  This year's Hallow's End will keep players busier than usual, thanks to another Echoes of Doom addition, Achievements.  The latest patch added the first group of Achievements to the game, 21 of which are focused on my favorite of the seasonal holidays (even in real life).  Unfortunately for us, it is not 21 unique quests, as a few of them are Horde/Alliance mirrors of each other. For those out to get the easy Achievements, Hallow's End has a few of those to offer.

• The Mask Task – Grab one of the 20 masks available and put it on.  Cake.
• Check Your Head – Grab the [Weighted Jack-o'-Lanterns] and throw them at all the races.  This is obviously easiest if you do it in Shattrath City or a Battleground.  Oh, but be sure they don't already have the buff, or you won't get credit.

Then you can go completely the other way, and be out to get those difficult Achievements that the system is really all about.

• Tricks and Treats of Azeroth – This is a travel heavy quest that sends you all over Azeroth, including an expedition to Outlands.  Think of it as Children's Week...on steroids.  The good thing is that if you complete this, that means you completed three other Achievements, Tricks and Treats of Eastern Kingdoms/Kalimdor and Outlands.
• A Mask for All Occasions – Well, a quest based on random drops is never fun.  This is topped off by the fact that you have to collect all 20 masks.  You will basically have to farm the Innkeepers each hour for their [Treat Bag] if you want this Achievement.
• Sinister Calling – Sinister Calling is perhaps the most sought after Achievement without people even knowing it.  The object is to snag a [Sinister Squashling] and a [Hallowed Helm], two items that players have been farming since they were added to the Headless Horseman's loot table.  This is another Achievement that if managed, will score you additional bragging rights, the Bring Me The Head of... Oh Wait Achievement.
• Hallowed Be Thy Name - For only the truly insane.  You basically complete all the the Hallow's End Achievements for this and it scores you the title of The Hallowed.  Completing this is also part of the all Seasonal Achievement, What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been.

My personal favorite Achievement, and the only one I actually care about, is rather easy (and will also score me the  Bring Me The Head of... Oh Wait Achievement), Out With It.  Out With It is based on the age-old adage that if you eat too much candy, your stomach will get upset.  Easily achieved by winning the common drop for the Headless Horseman, Tricky Treats.  Then just eat them until you get the Upset Tummy debuff.  Why do I like it?  Why, because it is funny, that is why. As my gamerscore for my Xbox 360 shows, I have never really cared about Achievements, but Blizzard is making them creative, difficult, or interesting enough to force me to strive for some of them.  If only they actually benefited you characters in some way... For more information on all of the Hallow's End Achievements, head over to the Hallow's End page on WoWWiki.

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