Insane in the Membrane – Clarified

Today, 16 days after the original response, we finally get a clear and concise answer to the fate of Insane of the Membrane:

Originally Posted by Lylirra (Source)
It’s a question you’ve been asking us for a little while now. And, based on all the posts, emails, petitions, and letters we received following the announcement that the Insane in the Membrane achievement would no longer be in available in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, we started to wonder if maybe we had gone a bit loco. So, we went back to the drawing board. After carefully reviewing all the feedback and discussing the matter amongst ourselves, we’re now happy to report that we will be making the following changes to the Feat of Strength:

* Exalted reputation with Shen’dralar will no longer be required. As this is the only reputation that will be unobtainable in Cataclysm, we’ve simply decided to remove it as a requirement. For those who already earned Exalted reputation with this faction, don’t worry — we haven’t forgotten about your accomplishments. In a future patch, we’ll be adding in a separate Feat of Strength to recognize your deep love of Dire Maul.

* Bloodsail Buccaneer faction reputation will remain in-game. Also, to ensure that this change does not negatively affect Cataclysm quest progression in Stranglethorn Vale, Booty Bay Bruisers will now provide reputation up through Exalted.

This will ensure that players will still be able to attain Insane in the Membrane and “The Insane” title in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. Please note, however, that these changes will not take effect until The Shattering in patch 4.0.3a — excluding the separate “Exalted with Shen’dralar” feat, which will be introduced in a future, but currently-undetermined patch. And, of course, those who are already Insane in the Membrane will retain their title and current Feat of Strength. Shine on, you crazy diamonds.

This is good or bad news depending on who you and where you are in regards to completion of this Feat of Strength. This is how I break it down:

Group A – Those who are working on Insane, have not completed Shen’dralar

This group is extremely happy that they did not blow extreme amounts of gold on this or take drastic measures such as xfering servers to buy diamonds. Most likely, more patient people who were willing to take the risk and wait.

Group B – Those who are working on Insane, have just completed Shen’Dralar

This group is probably pretty pissed off that no word was given for so long which resulted in a lot of people blowing a lot of gold and real money to complete this in anticipation for this being removed. Most likely, people who don’t trust Blizzard to do the right thing and took matters into their own hands.

Group C – Those who have completed Insane, prior to Blizzcon

This group, is most likely annoyed (some may be pissed) that Insane has been “cheaped”  or “nerfed” by removing Shen’dralar from the requirement which is traditionally one of the most difficult to obtain in the Feat of Strength. Recall from my prior post, the challenge again is obtaining Pristine Black Diamonds which are world drops and cannot be farmed. While these folks may not have blown gold recently to complete this, everyone who has completed this undoubtedly has blown a lot of gold purchasing diamonds.

Group D – Those who have grinded Bloodsail to Exalted

Of all groups, this one is the smallest. If you are unaware, at this time you can grind Booty Bay Bruisers to revered (11999/12000). Beyond that there is only one method to obtain rep past this which is to kill one NPC (Jazzrik) which provides reputation past revered at +5 per kill. This NPC is on a timer (4-7 mins) and the calculation is approximately 4200 kills or 20+ days of nonstop farming. This is by far the most “insane” of all achievements which provides no achievement or Feat of Strength (at this time). Needless to say, you truly have to be insanely hard core to get this to exalted and it seems this is the one aspect that is not being given any consideration.

So, based on everything that has happened I hope Blizzard has learned their lesson when it comes to making adjustments to time consuming, heavy commitment Feat of Strength’s like Insane. Basically, don’t ever remove it, change it, adjust it. It’s one of those things that you really can’t please everyone because no matter what you do you will inevitable piss someone off so its best to just leave it as is.

So how does this affect me personally? Well, I belong to Group B, the group that took drastic measures to obtain the PBD’s to push Shen’dralar to Exalted prior to 4.03. Yes, I xfered an alt to another server to buy up all the diamonds I needed and xfered them back. I took the worst possible scenario and acted upon it knowing full well that something like this might occur. Am I angry? Not particularly, I’m a perfectionist and having another shiny Feat of Strength is not a bad consolation prize. Needless to say, with Insane no longer in fear of being removed, I can once again take a breather and take my time come Cataclysm.

<3 Moll-E

 

The Fate of Insane in the Membrane

Those who are regular readers here at Feral Aggression known that I am generally a staunch supporter of Blizzard and it’s decisions. I firmly believe that they generally understand the general public and that the decisions they make are whats best for the game as a whole. However, at Blizzcon something was announced unexpectedly which has caused quite a bit of ruckus and caused me quite a bit of frustration. Specifically, I am referring to the comments regarding the Feat of Strength, Insane in the Membrane.

For those who are unaware, the following statement was made during  the Blizzcon 2010 Open Q&A Session

Response by Ghostcrawler (10/23/2010)
Q: I’m working on insane in the membrane, with all the changes to Dire Maul north will I still be able to achieve this achievement?
A: The biggest problem are the changes to the bloodsail buccaneers, that kinda put a bullet in that feat of strength for now. It’s fun to do painful things in WoW. If there’s a huge outcry for it we’ll try to put something equally brute in the game.

This is a clearcut answer which for all intents and purposes tells us the fate of this FOS. The problem however is the following:

Posted by Ancilorn (Source) (11/18/2009)
Just for clarity, Insane in the Membrane will not be removed in Cataclysm. We can only confirm this one for you, but since it’s undoubtedly one of the most brain-melting achievements, we thought it nice to let you know that you don’t have to rush to have this done before the expansion.

Naturally, a lot of outrage has resulted as of this and the following follow-up was provided:

Posted by Bashiok (Source) (10/25/2010)
Insane in the Membrane is a feat of strength, not an achievement. Feats are things that you can’t be guaranteed to complete, which is why they’re feats and not achievements. Most of them are actually now impossible to complete, and this feat will join a long list of “you had to be there” moments in WoW time.

The feat isn’t being removed of course, those who have it will retain it, however; some of the requirements are, so it will no longer be able to be completed by anyone who has not already done so.

It’s possible that in some very specific situations where someone has completed the reputations which are being removed, but not others that will still be in the game, that it can still be completed. But it’s something we’re waiting for clarity on, and will let you know as soon as we do.

 

So why is this a problem? First off, Ancilorn’s response was clear cut which states that this would not be removed come Cataclysm. Yes, the follow-up post does state that some aspects will still be obtainable and some will not. However there is no clear indication of what will be “in” or “out” (more on this later). Personally, based on the statement from Ancilorn, I decided to take my time and stock up materials, buying low and saving as long as possible before making my push. Knowing that I have a long runway changed my gameplan significantly. For example, Inscription will undoubtedly offer new Darkmoon Cards come Cataclysm and with the rush to make decks, the cost of cards will drop making for a more reasonable price point.

Instead, now we were left with 7 weeks (or less) to complete this FOS, so now lets break this down even further

• Revered with Bloodsail Bucccanears
• Exalted with Steamwheedle Cartel
• Exalted with Shen’dralar
• Exalted with Ravenholdt
• Exalted with Darkmoon Fair

Almost every aspect of this FOS is a time sink grind and with 7 weeks, yes that is more than sufficient time to grind every rep to exalted. Bloodsail is the easiest by far of just grinding goblins in Booty Bay. Steamwheedle Cartel while time consuming is just doing mindless # of Dire Maul runs. Ravenholdt while challenging to get boxes, is possible for the right price. Even Darkmoon Faire can be pushed in a short amount of time if you have the right amount of gold.

The issue comes down to Shen’dralar. This by far is the most challenging due to the limitations of where rep can be acquired from. Specifically the only possibility of obtaining rep (beyond a quest and class book) are Librams. While Librams themselves are easy enough to come by and can be purchased, the primary controlling factor is Pristine Black Diamonds. They are random lv 60 world drop items that are extremely rare and not farmable. So, no matter how many hours I put into farming, I have no way to know whether I will or will not obtain enough diamonds. Being on a low population server, the availability of diamonds through the AH are scarce (and extremely expensive). Even if I did purchase every diamond off the AH, I still would not have enough. This leaves me in a situation where I may have to resort to drastic measures to obtain diamonds.

So, lets summarize what we know and what should be done

• Aspects of “The Insane” will be removed come Cataclysm or even as early as 4.03
• Blizzard is “waiting on clarity” to provide a response, however that was 6 days ago and still no feedback
• There is no clearcut answer on what is “in” or “out”

So, what am I doing about it?

• I’m currently working on Steamwheedle Cartel (~600/6000 Friendly if I turn in all my Ogre Tanin’s)
• I’ve currently got someone helping me with boxes (6000/12000 Revered + boxes incoming)
• I am not farming DMF rep under the assumption that it will continue to be available come Cata (Taking a risk here but I have no choice)
• I am investigating other drastic measures to obtain Pristine Black Diamonds (Waiting for a firm answer before I take drastic action)

 

I’m going to have to say that Blizzard really dropped the ball on this one. It’s one thing to give a reversal of their original statement, I can deal with that. It’s also awful that the runway to complete this FOS is pretty short, again I can deal with that because if I really want it, I will put in the time. However, I cannot understand why they are unable to provide a clearcut definitive answer so that we can identify what the priority and what should our focus be on. If you tell me that everything is going to be removed, so be it. At least I know and I can plan accordingly. However if the decision is that only Rep A & B are going to be removed, then I will focus all my energy on A & B and leave C & D for Cataclysm.

Let me make it clear that I don’t care which way they decide to go with Insane, all I care is that they give a definitive answer. This FOS is challenging/time consuming enough as it is, we really don’t need this extra pressure on top of it.

Make a decision Blizzard.

/end rant.

 

A Mask for All Occasions

Worst. Achievement. Ever.

 

The Immortal

Better late than never, 3rd time is a charm.

I’ll be writing up a primer for 4.01 kitties. Stay tuned for that before this upcoming reset!

Val’anyr, Hammer of Ancient Kings

We started going back to Ulduar with a primary goal in mind. Farm as many Mimiron’s Heads as possible before the end of WOTLK.  However, I also had a few other side objectives as well:

1. Obtain Formula: Enchant Weapon – Blade Ward
2. Get a Val’anyr, Hammer of Ancient Kings

The first to do on the list isn’t bad, just a matter of waiting for it to drop. I unfortunately missed it the first time around when we did Ulduar so was really hoping I’d see it again. I’m somewhat of a perfectionist (as some people may have noticed) and I’ve been working on collecting every enchanting recipe available. I believe this dropped on Week #9 of our Ulduar adventures which pushed me up to 287/296 or 96.96% complete. Now if I could only see some world drop recipes on the Auction Hall.

The second item on the list of obtaining a Val’anyr as everyone knows is not such an easy task. The drop rate on fragments were low to begin with and combine that with the speed in which shards drop in ICC it feels even slower. I think most guilds ended up with 2 Val’anyr’s by the end of Ulduar whereas I think we’re probably up to 4-5 Shadowmournes for more high end guilds. Regardless it was one of those pipe dreams where I was hoping for a second legendary (Sulfuras, Hand of Ragnaros being the first). So starting from July 18th, we went to Ulduar each week and after 11 weeks (9 raid ID’s) I finally collected all 30 fragments and now am the proud owner of a Val’anyr! I started with 4 fragments to begin with so the drop rate was less than 3 a week (awesome no?) So, to commemorate this I decided to take some screenshots to show the questline.

I will share an interesting timbit of information in that on the last quest, the objective is to throw the Unbound Fragments of Val’anyr into Yogg-Saron’s mouth when he is performing Deafening Roar. So here is my train of thought during our YS kill this week.

*Enter Phase 3 & 1st Deafening Roar*

So I did it, nothing happened quest didn’t complete. Did I do it wrong? Guess so, no problem I’ll wait for the next roar.

*2nd Deafening Roar*

Did it again, still no luck.. Hrmm what am I doing wrong? Oh well I guess I’ll just wait for the 3rd roar.

Wait, hold on YS is at 2% shit… hold on guys I’m not sure…

*YS dead*

Oh fuck… Did I just fail the quest? Do I have to wait till next week?

*RAGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE*

Oh.. It’s a quest item you loot off YS.. oh…

So there you have it, my /facepalm moment of the day. Enjoy!

Bubbles!

Val'anyr Closeup