The Ant and the Grasshopper

Here we are, the long dark winter of the Wrath of the Litch King is winding down. With great rumbles in the distance a  Cataclysm is coming. The world as we know it is about to be wiped away, in its place is a great unknown. We are at a tipping point, a transition, waiting with bated breath for the storm we can sense coming.

This lull between expansions brings to mind the story of the grasshopper and  the ant.

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The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer
long, building his house and laying up supplies for
the winter. The grasshopper thinks he’s a fool and
laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come
winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper 
has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold

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Like the ants in the story some folks are starting to stockpile money and materials like the Cataclysm is the long cold winter they need to prepare for. They grind materials, they do dailies or play the auction house to stockpile gold. They have bank alts full of stack upon stack of crafting materials for the next phase of the game. in short they are prepared.

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Then like the grasshopper there are those more worried about having fun now. Stockpiling things by accident at best. spending more time on doing whatever seems fun at the time than worrying about what will happen when the long dark night of leveling in a new area comes to pass. They simply trust that whatever they need will be found along the way.

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In a way I am both a Grasshopper and an Ant. I might have spent a little bit of time and money stockpiling a few odds and ends, but I am done with that now. My guild bank runneth over one might say. I spent my time as an Ant and now I am ready as I can be for what is coming.

Now, as we all get ready to ride the roller coaster of the pre-expansion patch and Cataclysm world event I am going to be a grasshopper. I will keep goofing around and having fun, leveling my alts and going wherever the winds carry me. When the time comes I will have had the best of both worlds.

The preparedness of the Ant and the “all in on a pair of duces” fun of the Grasshopper.

How about you?

Are you a Grasshopper or an Ant?

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Dech’s all purpose five step guide to preparing for Cataclysm

Preparing is easy, just follow these five easy steps.

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1)  Ignore as much of the beta information as possible. You’ll just get frustrated about things that might never happen. (Dance studio anyone?)   

2)  Play the game we have right now instead of worrying about what might happen tomorrow.

3)  When the world event happens don’t freak out. Don’t complain, panic, or threaten to /ragequit on the forums. Embrace it. Savor it.

Enjoy it for what it is, a special in-game holiday that only ever comes once. The Zombie Invasion taught me that. I would love to have the ability to do that all over again.

4)  When the day comes and the expansion is released, proceed to the retailer of your choice and procure a copy.

5)  Load it up and enjoy a whole new world full of “I’ve never seen this before” moments.

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Follow these quick and easy steps and you too shall be ready when the world as we know it comes unglued.

I’ll see you there.

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What do you mean my heirlooms are broken?

I have not had a lot of time on the PTR so far, but there is something I noticed and thought I would share.

I transferred over my lvl 18 Hunter to try out a bit of low level instance action with the new focus mechanic. When I logged into him the little red man was glaring at me. Yep, my gear was broken.

Whats so odd about that you ask?

Everything that was broken was an heirloom.

You know heirlooms, and how they have no durability rating?

Not so much anymore apparently.

One thing I have not yet tested is whether the money cost to repair scales with the gear. If so it may actually pay to have a level 1 Goblin (for faction discount) Warrior as a bank toon. You can mail them your armor and have them repair it. Just a thought.

Now if I could just get an instance to pop up without the world server crashing I might have something else to talk about.

Edit: From Twitter Lysaria confirms “@dechion They do have durability in the beta as well.”

What grinds my gears

This episode of what grinds my gears is brought to you by my general disdain for stupidity.

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Today’s offending asshat?

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Was it the guy in the 10 items or less line with two  full shopping carts of stuff?

Nope. Annoying, but I just went to a different isle.

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How about the little old lady with the blue beehive hairdo. You know, the one that was driving 20 miles an hour in a no passing 45 mph zone. (With her blinker on for miles and miles…)

Nope. Really annoying, but I just turned off and took a different route.

(On a side note, I looped around through country roads to the restaurant I was headed to. I sat down and ordered coffee. I was half done with it when I saw her and the wagon train of pissed off drivers behind her pass the place.)

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The one who really got me frothing mad was the smoker in the car ahead of me on my way to work this morning.

Why you ask?

Simple. The asshat decided that he was going to launch his mostly smoked cigarette out the window.

Because, as we all know, the world is a gaddamn ashtray.

Well, apparently he miracle flipped it just right so the slipstream of my car caught it, sucking it in my window and dumping it right in my lap.

The very same lap where I keep several of my favorite anatomical parts.

Parts that object loudly virtually every time I throw red-hot coals on them.

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That guy was not just an asshat. He was an asshat that rolled a 100 on his “make the world an ashtray” skill check.

That really grinds my gears.

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