Campers vs Sprinters and Bunny Love!

At 12:01 this morning, the festivities began! It's Noblegarden! I was finishing off Argent Tournament dailies, so I arrived in Goldshire fashionably late.

Total Chaos!

After picking up the quests, and running through the forest like fools from previous years, Vi and I decide we'd try Azure Watch instead. If you need to jump locations for this one, bring a mage. They handy. :)

Once there, I sprinted around and grabbed eggs. Vi found a camp spot. And the fights started. Not between me and Vi, mind ya, but in General Chat.

The Campers start getting upset because Sprinters are rushing in and "ninja'ing" "their" eggs. The Sprinters start getting upset because the Campers aren't really "getting into the spirit" of an egg *hunt*. Much drama ensues. At least two of the three words that have no place in game are flying about with disturbing frequency. I don't pay attention to General much, so I was kinda shocked to see "fag/gay" and "retarded" thrown about so casually as insults. My guildies and the people I hang out in game just don't use those words like that. I mean I know they are used that way fequently... but they shouldn't. Over virtual eggs? That's just sad. Maybe I'm getting old. Ouch. I still listen to really loud Punk Rock while egg hunting. :D Maybe not too old yet.

Anyhow, when we first arrived at Azure Watch, much fun was being had. It was mostly Sprinters with a few disgruntled Campers. It started with the Sprinters using every manner of goofiness to trip each other up. Very much in fun, of course. Vi and I used Baby Spice on Campers quite a bit. :) The race for the eggs, though, was quite good natured, for the most part. Lots of, "Aw, you beat me" and "Race ya to the next one" and so on. The guy who sincerely apologized for his bunny mating mine, REPEATEDLY, was funny. Even if the rotten bunny boffer was better at grabbing eggs than I was. :)

This is definitely the most "adult" event Blizz has put on. I'm sure there will be some objections, but it's all in good grown-up fun. At one point, a Dranei Priest and I stood in front of the inn in Kronos. She bunny ear'd me and I bunny ear'd her with our Spring Flowers for the Shake Your Bunny Maker achievement. (Still gotta hunt over 18 Horde girls in Dal and a female Dorf is surprisingly hard to find at 3 AM. Huh.) Then we made flowers with our Spring Robes and alternated Lifeblood while an orgy of six bunnies cavorted and made piles of cute little baby bunnies in the flower beds. Hysterical!

The only strategy thing I can add is what we'll call Critical Camper Mass. :) Okay, in the grand argument over Campers vs Sprinters, I prolly lean to the Sprinters side. It's WAY more fun to race for the eggs than sit still staring at a bush for a couple of hours. On the other hand, I got way more eggs with the bush staring method. /shrug

When we first arrived in Azure Watch, there weren't that many people and most were Sprinters. As the night (morning, I suppose) went on, the Campers took over. By the time we decided to move on, there were no eggs for Sprinters, alas. Each spawn point had a least two or three people standing around it, clicking madly when the egg spawned. This was the same at each other location we went to. Critical Camper mass had been reached. I finally went to bed, but Vi stayed on and apparently pushed some people out of their camp spots through sheer determination and sleep deprivation.

During the day time, at least this early in the event, it's not even worth going unless you're willing to fight another Camper. That'll change, of course, so no worries. It was the same with the Invasion Points during the Scourge Invasion, for example. Lots of big, hardcore guild titles in the camp spots. As the week goes on, they'll finish their achievements and forget about it. That'll free up plenty of eggs. For now, I'm sticking with late night egg raiding. That's right. I've finally gone hardcore and am raiding all the week. Gonna pwn me some eggs. The benefits of being a grown up. I may pay for it in the morning, but I can set my own bed time. :)

I said earlier that Friday's luck has changed. It has! In one shot I got the Elegant Dress (do you know how long I've been trying to get THAT?!?), The Spring Dress, the pet and everything except the Spring Flowers (which I bought) and the Tux stuff. In about 3 hours or so. Don't think it's terribly easy, though. Vi looted close to 200 eggs and got the tux shirt. That's it. The good news is that if the RNG Goddess is cruel to you, at least you'll be getting the chocolates you'll need to buy the items. You do have to get the Elegant Dress as a drop for the Achievement, though. :/

For more strategy, hop over to Letters from Birdfall. She's got the best and most concise strats and tips I've read. Also, WoW Insider's Allison Roberts has an excellent guide to Noblegarden. They've more than covered the stuff you'll need to get The Noble title.

To me, though, Blizzard has really gone a lot further to making these holiday events loads more fun. I'll do the Achievement stuffs today, so I'll hafta letcha know how that goes. I'll take photos. Only a few vanity photos so far. :) Starting with the Fire Festival last year and followed up with a new an improved (and fun!) Brewfest, Noblegarden is loads of fun and the changes add a lot of flavor to the event.

Happy Egg Huntin' and Bunny Maker Shakin'!

-Fri

PS To the Dranei male wearing the Elegant Dress last night: Thanks a lot. I'll carry that image to my grave. Ouch. :P