2009 Wrap Up, The Pink Pigtail Inn List

And the prize for 2009 Best Gold Sink goes to...

Larissa over at Pink Pigtail Inn has started a 2009 awards show! I am so excited by this its like Azeroth has it’s own Oscars and:

The category winners will get fame and honour, a special seat at The Pink Pigtail Inn and a virtual toast.

Oooh, how exciting does that sound? Anyway as I love to ramble I found it too hard to give succinct nominations via a comment on her blog, and instead decided to post it as a blog of my own. So below are the Hots & Dots nominations for 2009:

Best Raid Instance

Ulduar without a doubt. I’m not sure if I loved this because I had finally found a guild I really liked to experience this new content with, or if it was just the beautiful tier gear, rich lore and interesting bosses. The Algalon, Mimiron and Yogg Saron fights are all fantastic and definitely the ones I have fondest memories of.

Least Successful Raid Instance

Trial of the Crusader. I actually don’t hate TOC but I feel that there is no real lore behind the boss fights, and the same room 4 nights a week wore me down pretty quickly. Everyone knew it was a filler and I just don’t feel that this raid encounter was given the love and attention that some of the other instances have been given.

Silliest Gold Sink

The Mechano-hog for sure – I think these still sell on Barthilas for approximately 15k gold. Though who wouldn’t want a cool in-game motor bike? What better way to impress the ladies? Boys and their toys. After all there’s no cooler way to get around Ironforge.

Both the Kirin-Tor Rings and the Reins of the Traveler’s Tundra Mammoth are perhaps more expensive but they are both useful, hence why they are just runners up on this category. The Mechano-hog is all about the looks baby!

Most Longed for Instance

Icecrown Citadel. I’ve never been the biggest lore person, but I was always interested in Arthas. I used to watch my boyfriend doing the Warcraft III campaigns and I will always remember the one where Arthas has to kill all the towns people in 60 seconds (something along these lines) to successfully complete your mission. I thought this was such an interesting campaign and it was the beginning of the end for Arthas and his humanity.

I was so excited when I first heard of this expansion and I also bought and read the Arthas novel when it was released. I really hope the Arthas boss encounter is interesting, so many people will be disappointed if it isn’t unique and challenging. I loved the post Cass did on her ideas for the boss fight quite some time ago now.

Most Juicy Guild Drama

I can’t think of any really juicy soul destroying guild drama on the blogosphere. Perhaps Tamarind’s departure from his old guild after Miss Lying Liar got made an officer?

There has been quite a few guilds collapse on Barthilas during Patch 3.2 which is sad. I would be interested to know how many other severs experienced the same issues with this “filler” patch.

Biggest Addition to the Game

Dual Spec – I wont go into this here as we already raved about it in a previous blog post.

Best Quest

The Wrathgate Questline was just amazing. I loved how you got to interact with well known characters to the world of Azeroth and the way it seamlessly cut into video to further the story was truly engrossing. Here’s hoping they use this method of immersing the player into the story throughout Cataclysm as well.

Ugliest Tabard

Wyrmrest Accord. That tabard is just plain ugly. The colours are gross, the pattern is icky. Need I say more?

Favourite Non Combat Pet

This was very hard for me so I’ve declared it a 2-way tie between Teldrassil Sproutling and  Core Hound Pet.  The Sproutling is just like having a mini me and he dances and snoozes while I’m off battling monsters which is just adorable.

The Core Hound is a very new pet and is just plain cool. This pup keeps himself entertained by rolling over and throwing a toy bone from one head to the other! Along with salivating molten lava…. how cute can you get!

Most Charming Blizzard Employee

I’ve always been a fan of sarcastic wit and no one does that better than Zarhym.

Best Podcast

Rawrcast this is the only podcast I’ve ever listened to so it wins by default.

Biggest Blog Facelift

Tree Bark Jacket had a major face list earlier in the year and the new site looks fantastic. While there wasn’t anything wrong with the old look, the overhaul has categories and additional pages which makes finding information simple. The header is also very beautiful.

Most Memorable Blog Post

A lot of people have suggested good bye posts. I don’t know what this says about me but the first post that sprung to mind was Mortigan the Lock’s Single Set of Raid Rules, How to Raid Anything. I especially love point 6:

6. If you get aggro, run TOWARD your teammates, not away from them. It’s the surest way to get rid of that unwanted boss who’s taken serious notice of you. Ideally, run toward (and right through) a mage. Mages are a big, big help with getting rid of aggro. If you’re cool enough to be a warlock like me, you can even strategically position yourself right next to a mage throughout the fight, and Soulshatter as needed. Be sure to turn toward the mage when Soulshattering, so that you can watch the look on his face when the boss 1-shots him. If you’re a mage, disregard everything I’ve just said, and take one for the team.

Most Noticed Blogger Breakthrough

As Hots & Dots only started in June, and it took us another month or so to get the hang of the blogging, commenting and getting readers circle, this was a tough one to answer simply because I’m not sure how many of the blogs I follow started up in 2009. The blog I would give this to is Restokin which I believe was launched in March. Lissanna posts regularly and has a fantastic balance of both fun entertaining entries alongside informative and engaging pieces.

Most Solid Content Provider

If I’m after useful, informative Resto Druid information I always check out Restokin and Tree Bark Jacket first. For guild leadership information World of Matticus.

Most Hugged Blogger

The bloggers that I most feel like hugging and in one case, drinking a Peach Bellini with, are Beru from Falling Leaves & Wings and Tamarind from Righteous Orbs.

So there are my nominations, make sure you head over to the Inn if you want to nominate as well!

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