More commonly used to describe alcoholism, I am talking about my WoW relapse.
Started playing again yesterday after a 4 month break. Feels good :D
Showing posts with label world of warcraft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label world of warcraft. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Locked out of WoW
It's been a while. I have been busy with a QuickStart I am doing for a client here in Chicago. I have always had to ask friends in the US pick up WoW / BC for me. But I got here on 10th and the latest expansion came out on 13th so I had to get this one.
I tried to track down the stores near by, but the biggies like GameStop, BestBuy, etc are all pretty far off from where I stay. In my haste I ended up ordering the WOTLK Strategy Guide from amazon instead of the real game. It's going to take a while to ship anyway so I didn't buy the game on amazon.
At last I asked a guy at a nearby RadioShack if I could get PC games close by and he pointed me to FYE, a 3 min walk from my place.
So I finally got the game!!! Tried to install only to find out that I didn't have enough disk space :(
This means I'll have to get rid of my beloved linux... but the next project requires windows anyway so I am going to go ahead and do it this weekend.
So why am I writing this post instead of playing my existing version of WoW?? Well in my excitement I went and upgraded my account to WOTLK. Now when I log in it says I need a WOTLK client :(
I tried to track down the stores near by, but the biggies like GameStop, BestBuy, etc are all pretty far off from where I stay. In my haste I ended up ordering the WOTLK Strategy Guide from amazon instead of the real game. It's going to take a while to ship anyway so I didn't buy the game on amazon.
At last I asked a guy at a nearby RadioShack if I could get PC games close by and he pointed me to FYE, a 3 min walk from my place.
So I finally got the game!!! Tried to install only to find out that I didn't have enough disk space :(
This means I'll have to get rid of my beloved linux... but the next project requires windows anyway so I am going to go ahead and do it this weekend.
So why am I writing this post instead of playing my existing version of WoW?? Well in my excitement I went and upgraded my account to WOTLK. Now when I log in it says I need a WOTLK client :(
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Can't play WoW... mysterious CPU hog
Actually the title is really not true. I mean I have had this problem for the past month at least... Just because I have two machines and one of them runs WoW fine, I get to play.
Problem Statement:
Every #$*& 10 mins, some @#&*% processes hogs ##*&%* 100% of the Every #$*& 10 mins, some @#&*% processes hogs ##*&%* 100% of the $&$*%&* CPU and the game %*$(%* hangs. This goes on for 5 mins, after which, I get to play for another 10 mins. It's #$(#*%& annoying.
amp;$*%&* CPU and the game %*$(%* hangs. This goes on for 5 mins, after which, I get to play for another 10 mins. It's #$(#*%& annoying.
Solutions Tried:
Number 1
Getting really frustrated, banging the mouse on the desk, kicking the table, getting up and looking out of the window... (apparently looking for a solution "out there").
Result
Didn't work at all
Number 2
I realized that I am a software developer / analyst and that I can't let this puny process bring me down.
Attempt 1 - Location OFFICE
So next morning I go to office, download process explorer and file monitor and start the game with these programs running.
Result
Nothing... it worked smoothly for 2 hours, after which I stopped playing in office out of embarassment more than anything else. (I am on the bench these days. so I was not goofing off on project time, but still)
Attempt 2 - Location HOME
Went back home and found the same behavior again.
Result
This time I caught the process "System" and saw that one of it's threads running "kmixer.sys" was hogging away the CPU. Loads of threads on the internet saying that some viruses disguise as kmixer.sys. I ran scanned and found nothing wrong. Tried in vain to get rid of this process but to no avail.
Attempt 3 - Location OFFICE
Went to office and started playing again, ironically, hoping that the game crashes...
Result
...and it did. Filemon showed me wow.exe trying to set my windows wallpaper!!! Not to any new file but the wallpaper that is set by default, bliss.bmp . I set the wallpaper to "None". The game worked beautifully again.
I went home happily confused. But life is not so crooked :( . The game started hanging again.
Attempt 4 - Location HOME
Started process explorer and filemon and watched
Result
found that DPC (Deferred Procedure Calls) was the process hogging memory this time. I googled it to find that a number of WoW players were facing this issue already. None with concrete solutions though. Here is the thread.
I updated (reinstalled) the drivers, tried to take out all USB devices, played with the nipple mouse for 10-15 mins. Nothing would solve the problem. When the game hung I couldn't even Alt+Tab to the procexp window.
Attempt 5 - Location OFFICE
Went to office next morning read some stuff again. Renamed the file to "Wow-dont-die.exe". Ran in windowed mode with the system performance graph and filemon running besides WoW.
Result
Found that the game didn't misbehave but I was experiencing "jerks" in the graphics. Played for 1 hour without problem. CPU was consistently at 50-60%. Wow-dont-die.exe being the top process.
Attempt 5b - Location HOME
Not really a solution but to make sure that the game dies, I ran it at full resolution. 1440x900 on my D620. I was running at 1280x800 pitying the Quadro 110M card on my machine.
Result
To my surpirse the game started rendering B-E-A-Utifully well. The CPU usage was never more that 15%.
I left the game running for another one and a half hours. I would alt+tab and check if it was working now and then. No issues at all.
Conclusion
None yet. It works well in office but never at home. So I am going to try it out at home again. Unfortunately today is maintenence till 2:00 in the night (in India), so I'll have to wait till tomorrow.
I hope it works... but whether it does or doesn't, I'll probably never know why it screwed up in the first place.
Problem Statement:
Every #$*& 10 mins, some @#&*% processes hogs ##*&%* 100% of the Every #$*& 10 mins, some @#&*% processes hogs ##*&%* 100% of the $&$*%&* CPU and the game %*$(%* hangs. This goes on for 5 mins, after which, I get to play for another 10 mins. It's #$(#*%& annoying.
amp;$*%&* CPU and the game %*$(%* hangs. This goes on for 5 mins, after which, I get to play for another 10 mins. It's #$(#*%& annoying.
Solutions Tried:
Number 1
Getting really frustrated, banging the mouse on the desk, kicking the table, getting up and looking out of the window... (apparently looking for a solution "out there").
Result
Didn't work at all
Number 2
I realized that I am a software developer / analyst and that I can't let this puny process bring me down.
Attempt 1 - Location OFFICE
So next morning I go to office, download process explorer and file monitor and start the game with these programs running.
Result
Nothing... it worked smoothly for 2 hours, after which I stopped playing in office out of embarassment more than anything else. (I am on the bench these days. so I was not goofing off on project time, but still)
Attempt 2 - Location HOME
Went back home and found the same behavior again.
Result
This time I caught the process "System" and saw that one of it's threads running "kmixer.sys" was hogging away the CPU. Loads of threads on the internet saying that some viruses disguise as kmixer.sys. I ran scanned and found nothing wrong. Tried in vain to get rid of this process but to no avail.
Attempt 3 - Location OFFICE
Went to office and started playing again, ironically, hoping that the game crashes...
Result
...and it did. Filemon showed me wow.exe trying to set my windows wallpaper!!! Not to any new file but the wallpaper that is set by default, bliss.bmp . I set the wallpaper to "None". The game worked beautifully again.
I went home happily confused. But life is not so crooked :( . The game started hanging again.
Attempt 4 - Location HOME
Started process explorer and filemon and watched
Result
found that DPC (Deferred Procedure Calls) was the process hogging memory this time. I googled it to find that a number of WoW players were facing this issue already. None with concrete solutions though. Here is the thread.
I updated (reinstalled) the drivers, tried to take out all USB devices, played with the nipple mouse for 10-15 mins. Nothing would solve the problem. When the game hung I couldn't even Alt+Tab to the procexp window.
Attempt 5 - Location OFFICE
Went to office next morning read some stuff again. Renamed the file to "Wow-dont-die.exe". Ran in windowed mode with the system performance graph and filemon running besides WoW.
Result
Found that the game didn't misbehave but I was experiencing "jerks" in the graphics. Played for 1 hour without problem. CPU was consistently at 50-60%. Wow-dont-die.exe being the top process.
Attempt 5b - Location HOME
Not really a solution but to make sure that the game dies, I ran it at full resolution. 1440x900 on my D620. I was running at 1280x800 pitying the Quadro 110M card on my machine.
Result
To my surpirse the game started rendering B-E-A-Utifully well. The CPU usage was never more that 15%.
I left the game running for another one and a half hours. I would alt+tab and check if it was working now and then. No issues at all.
Conclusion
None yet. It works well in office but never at home. So I am going to try it out at home again. Unfortunately today is maintenence till 2:00 in the night (in India), so I'll have to wait till tomorrow.
I hope it works... but whether it does or doesn't, I'll probably never know why it screwed up in the first place.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
The Swift Stormsaber
Woohoooooooooooo... Hit exalted with darnasuss at last and got my Swift Stormsaber.
After yesterday's situation, I was left with two options.
1. Morrowgrain
2. Pristine Yeti Hide
The morrowgrain quest is a waste of time for those seeking reputation. At 70, it gave me 275 for the first 10 morrowgrain and 27-28 for each time then on. I have to mention though that I got 3 morrowgrain consistently for the first 4 harvests, which seems incredible after the posts I have read about the drop rate.
The Pristine Yeti Hide is a good quest for reputation seekers. At 70, it gives 70s and 275 rep every time! The rage scar cave is quite close to the Feathermoon Stronghold. It took about 10 mins for me from Feathermoon to the cave and back with the Pristine Yeti Hide (using my level 40 mount).
I have definitely given up the idea of getting a Dreadsteed now. I don't want to spend 200G more. I'd rather get my gryphon instead... what say?
After yesterday's situation, I was left with two options.
1. Morrowgrain
2. Pristine Yeti Hide
The morrowgrain quest is a waste of time for those seeking reputation. At 70, it gave me 275 for the first 10 morrowgrain and 27-28 for each time then on. I have to mention though that I got 3 morrowgrain consistently for the first 4 harvests, which seems incredible after the posts I have read about the drop rate.
The Pristine Yeti Hide is a good quest for reputation seekers. At 70, it gives 70s and 275 rep every time! The rage scar cave is quite close to the Feathermoon Stronghold. It took about 10 mins for me from Feathermoon to the cave and back with the Pristine Yeti Hide (using my level 40 mount).
I have definitely given up the idea of getting a Dreadsteed now. I don't want to spend 200G more. I'd rather get my gryphon instead... what say?
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Darnasuss Reputation
I have not paid too much attention to reputation while leveling up. I am not even exalted with StormWind... Now that I am at 70 and everything is about reputation, I set off on my new journey.
As I mentioned in the last post, I don't have an epic mount yet. I also really want the elven tiger mount. Now I have wasted about 200G on the materials I collected for the DreadSteed Quest. I am supposed to spend another 200G for the next set of materials. I thought I'd rather build up my reputation with Darnasuss and get the tiger mount... although I'll have to spend on training.
With this in mind, I set the darnasuss reputation as my experience bar and started right from shadowglen... I worked my way upto Auberdine and ended up increasing my reputation from 4500+ to 18700+ in a couple of days. Now there's not much to do since I had done the higher level quests for the Night elves while leveling.
This left me with two options
1. Cloth Donations
2. Yeti Hide
I started with the cloth donations and spent 20G on the wool, silk and mageweave. I didn't want to spend on runecloth so I started farming. First the blood-elves of Azshara and then at the expedition armory. Expedition armory is the best spot for farming runecloth. I had 7 stacks in 25 mins. The Knights and the Footmen drop 2-3 runecloth most of the times.
The first runecloth donation gives 57s + 385 reputation for 60 runecloth. But the repeatable quests give only 82 reputation for 20 runecloth. That leaves me with 19361 reputation. Don't know where I am going to get the remaining 1700.
As I mentioned in the last post, I don't have an epic mount yet. I also really want the elven tiger mount. Now I have wasted about 200G on the materials I collected for the DreadSteed Quest. I am supposed to spend another 200G for the next set of materials. I thought I'd rather build up my reputation with Darnasuss and get the tiger mount... although I'll have to spend on training.
With this in mind, I set the darnasuss reputation as my experience bar and started right from shadowglen... I worked my way upto Auberdine and ended up increasing my reputation from 4500+ to 18700+ in a couple of days. Now there's not much to do since I had done the higher level quests for the Night elves while leveling.
This left me with two options
1. Cloth Donations
2. Yeti Hide
I started with the cloth donations and spent 20G on the wool, silk and mageweave. I didn't want to spend on runecloth so I started farming. First the blood-elves of Azshara and then at the expedition armory. Expedition armory is the best spot for farming runecloth. I had 7 stacks in 25 mins. The Knights and the Footmen drop 2-3 runecloth most of the times.
The first runecloth donation gives 57s + 385 reputation for 60 runecloth. But the repeatable quests give only 82 reputation for 20 runecloth. That leaves me with 19361 reputation. Don't know where I am going to get the remaining 1700.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Ding 70!!!
Well if you play WoW you'll understand.
For those of you who don't... I am level 70 now.
For those of you who still don't get it... This is the highest level possible in the game until 3rd Nov.
First priority, get a mount.
Being a warlock is uber-cool. The only thing that sucks is no one does Dire Maul anymore so you don't get a group for your level 60 mount. At level 70, I might be able to do the instance by myself, so I am going to give it a try. Meanwhile I am also building reputation with the Night Elves for their gorgeous NightSaber mount :D
Second Priority, gear up.
I am off to find the best way for locks to get gear... PvP / Arena / Reputation? If any of you have ideas, post a comment.
For those of you who don't... I am level 70 now.
For those of you who still don't get it... This is the highest level possible in the game until 3rd Nov.
First priority, get a mount.
Being a warlock is uber-cool. The only thing that sucks is no one does Dire Maul anymore so you don't get a group for your level 60 mount. At level 70, I might be able to do the instance by myself, so I am going to give it a try. Meanwhile I am also building reputation with the Night Elves for their gorgeous NightSaber mount :D
Second Priority, gear up.
I am off to find the best way for locks to get gear... PvP / Arena / Reputation? If any of you have ideas, post a comment.
Monday, September 29, 2008
The windrock, the clefthoof and the talbuk
So yesterday I reached level 68 :) and I am pretty happy about being able to make it in one day.
In an MMORPG, like WoW, getting a good group is everything. I had about 10 group quests to do. Group quests... not dungeon quests. I had been LFGing for a couple of weeks unsuccesfully. Because I play from India, people are mostly not online when I am.
But weekends are different and yesterday was amazing. Got 3 different groups and finished 15 tough quests in Nagrand on the way from 67 to 68. Here's the list of kills from yesterday :)
In an MMORPG, like WoW, getting a good group is everything. I had about 10 group quests to do. Group quests... not dungeon quests. I had been LFGing for a couple of weeks unsuccesfully. Because I play from India, people are mostly not online when I am.
But weekends are different and yesterday was amazing. Got 3 different groups and finished 15 tough quests in Nagrand on the way from 67 to 68. Here's the list of kills from yesterday :)
- Ban'thar (67 elite)
- Bach'lor (67 elite)
- Gutripper (67 elite)
- Tusker (68 elite)
- Gurok (68 elite)
- Durn the Hungerer (67 elite)
- Brokentoe (66 elite)
- Rokdar the Sundered Lord (67 elite)
- Skra'gath (67 elite)
- Blue Brothers (67 elite) x 2
- The Warmaul Champion (68 elite)
- Mogor (68 elite)
- Windroc Matriarch (66 elite)
- Cho'war the Pillager (67 elite)
- Warmaul Chef Bufferlo (66 elite)
Well... it was a perfect Sunday :)
Off to Shadowmoon Valley now...
Off to Shadowmoon Valley now...
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