Raid Recipes FTW!

I've been percolating on this idea for awhile now, but I wanted to go ahead and share my experiences. A couple of months ago I bought the recipe for Moonshadow Armguards on the Auction House. Someone had posted it for like 500g (I don't remember exactly what I paid, but it was cheap). I was wearing the 213 badge bracers at the time, so these crafted ones would be a pretty good upgrade for me. At the time I thought that was a worthwhile price for an item I could make myself and get a BiS level piece of gear. For a few weeks I picked up low-priced mats on the AH and set them aside for the bracers. Then I got sucked into a ToC25 run with another guild and scored the Bracers of the Autumn Willow. At first I was excited to get an upgrade, then annoyed. The drop bracers were very similar to the crafted ones and now there was no need for me to make them.

Old World Recipe Collection

It's been a while since we've tackled the subject of older recipes here at Crafter's Tome. Since we've got some time in the lull before Cataclysm, the coming months are a good time to consider collecting projects. One of the things we've been doing in my guild is "fun runs" to old dungeons. This is a great way to get those achievements you didn't get credit for at the end of Burning Crusade. It can also be an excellent way to collect recipes you missed out on, whether you were just unlucky on drops or undergeared for a particular raid.

Crafting Preview for Star Trek Online

I've been reviewing Star Trek Online for the past couple of weeks, after receiving a beta code from Curse.com. In my last post I mentioned a few first impressions of the game, so I'll be attempting to expand on that here. Sadly, I was not able to access any crafting content during my time in the beta test. That's not for lack of trying, there just wasn't anything available to me. So I'm just going to share the content I was able to find in combination with information I found through other sources. This isn't ideal, which is why I'm calling this a preview instead of a review. But under the circumstances it's the best I can offer. I hope to follow up this information with a more substantive review after the game goes live and presumably has some sort of trial account available.

Still Here!

I know there's been a bit of a lag since my last post... there's just not a whole lot going on in the crafting world right now! I started to tackle another of my MMO reviews (for Warhammer) and then got sidetracked by an invite to the open beta for Star Trek. Since STO is supposed to go live in a few weeks, I decided to switch over to that and get a review done in time for the big debut. So part of my silence has been due to this second and then third game on my plate :)

For those who are curious I'll give a little sneak peek for Star Trek Online. The graphics of this game are the best I've seen so far in my reviews. Unlike Aion and Warhammer, they are high quality without feeling over-processed. They also use a very clean approach to the interface, which I like. Another huge plus for them is the clear loving attention paid to respecting the Star Trek universe. I'm not a huge Trekkie, but I've watched enough of the shows/movies to recognize many references. From the character creation screen you are enveloped in that world. Even the text descriptions of various races and character attributes feel like they were torn from the pages of a script. And walking around the corridors of the Earth space station is enough to make any Star Trek fan giddy for at least a brief moment. I also love that they implemented transporting in a meaningful way - it really is used to transition from ship to ground locations and the animation for that process is spot on.

I'm still exploring the early levels and trying to unlock all the various options available. Combat is different enough from WoW (and the like) to be interesting and a bit tricky to understand at first. I think I finally got it figured out thanks to a YouTube clip my hubby found. If you have the opportunity to join the open beta (I got an email from Curse) and have any interest in a space-oriented MMO, I would give Star Trek Online a serious look. I will give it a more thorough write-up in another week or so, but already I've seen enough to justify a trial run for folks who are seeking this type of game. The main problem I'm running into is no sign of tradeskills or professions, it's possible that they aren't implemented yet and maybe not even planned. We will see!!

TradeTrak Updated for Patch 3.3!

I hope everyone had a great holiday! I spent some of my free time working on our 3.3 data :) All of our recipes should be current now, plus some random errors and updates submitted by our users were also fixed. In addition, we compiled all of our 3.3 data into TradeTrak so you can access it in-game. Unfortunately WoWInterface has not posted our new file yet, but the latest version is now available from Curse.com. Those who prefer WoWInterface... the file is pending but not yet approved. Please let me know if you have any trouble with TradeTrak!

TradeTrak 1.05 @ Curse.com
TradeTrak 1.05 @ WoWInterface (pending)

Enjoy :)

Icecrown Citadel for Rep

I'm sure some of you have witnessed the same phenomenon as I have, but for those who haven't I thought I'd share my experiences. Over the past week I've seen a number of guild-based and pug-based ICC farming groups starting up. There are some pretty great items on the Ashen Verdict vendor, including most of the new recipes from Patch 3.3. The main thing folks seem to be focused on are the upgradable rings, since you can get the first one at Friendly reputation and beefier versions at each higher reputation level.

Winter's Veil for Crafters

Winter Veil has started this year and while most of it revolves around achievements and quests, there are a few items that crafters may want to pick up. Some of these recipes will arrive in the mail including a Cooking recipe, a Leatherworking recipe and a Tailoring recipe. These items are needed to complete achievements, so making them will help you take advantage of the Winter Veil frenzy. It's also fun to run around town in your Red Winter Outfit - Ho Ho Ho!