The Instance, ah - the joys :)

I have been listening to some old episodes of the instance as I go about my rounds, driving from site to site as part of the internship. I must say, it has been a good giggle. The news may be old - but the entertainment value is as good as ever. As is the nostalgia value. 

I have been putting together some notes from the shows as I go, as a while ago I decided that it would be awesome to get a list of episodes with nice short decriptions and bullet points of the main content that can be referenced, as well as other info like hosts, run time, and links to the episode blog and audio file.

I now have the latest 4 on my HTC, ready for my trip to Glasgae tomorrow. God help me, I been struggling coping with the drive to/from edinburgh... I better hit the sack!

-V

The instance on patch 4.1 - Souvenirs of your adventures.

A souvenir/reward: or pixels for your pixels?

Listening to The Instance podcast episode #223. Currently they are discussing the ability to buy in game items V "earning them" - I must say, I am actually not a fan of buying the items. I like earning the cool items you can find in games - they act as souvenirs of your adventures. For example: My mage has a NetherDrake. This reminds me quite strongly of that time in my life - when I was grinding the Netherwing rep, with a friend or two in game, and the things that were going on at that time in my life (redundancy - or at least the day after I got it I was made redundant - no correlation to the fact I was up 3 times a night from midnight to 6am to gather eggs in quiet time... honest!)

I actually tried through the whole of Wrath to get a Proto-Drake - it turns out it was in vein - but I did manage to get the Bronze Drake from Culling of Stratholm for my Priest, again, this reminds me of the time spent running that instance with friends to get it. As for the proto-drakes, I done the rep grind with my mage - who has the Netherdrake - with the Carebears in Sholazar Basin to buy an egg every 3 or 4 days. Over the months of me doing this religiously, I managed to gather a huge array of pets that I distributed amongst my characters and friends. Little memorabelia's but no Green Proto Drake.

I also ground Utgart Pinnacle to get the Blue Protodrake - but I seen it drop ONCE, and I lost the roll by about 1. DOH!

I also have the turtle mount on my mage from fishing. This proved useful in Vashj'ir - but other than that it is just a funky doodad that I picked up when fishing for mats to make fish feasts for raiding.

Put it this way: My baby blizzard bear is rarely out - but my vampiric bat from the Kharazhan halloween boss before Wrath came out is frequently out and about - I have memories of earning it and I enjoy its presence, like a happy memory flitting by.

Take a look through the mounts on your characters, or the pets: Which ones have the most meaning to you? Your sparklepony? Pretty, yes: it may even have some imbedded memory of sorts in your head. A present maybe? but I doubt it will mean as much to you as a hard-earned rep-mount or boss drop mount. The same goes with pets.

Work in progress: Instance "catalogue"

So here is a little preview of something that I'm hoping to put out in the near future that may be of interest to any fans of Scott Johnson and The Instance podcast/community.

I have been slowly putting together a list of all of the instance episodes - and have been attempting to make some notes on interesting topics etc that have been brought up during the show. The list is basically going to be an episode guide with links to the live feed - and the actual blog post tied to the episode in Scott's archive. I have already received consent from the big man himself to do this, and I am quite keen to do so. I have only managed to get 20-or so episodes into this in the last month thanks to a huge list of university assignments that have been due - but as a taster I will include the first 5-episodes as I have them catalogued. Feel free to give me any feedback, or leave comments on what you think can be improved upon - or even if you just happen to have any comments that you wish to be added to the list. I will get something more complete through the year.

(a summer internship that may result in 4+ hours driving per day will likely allow me to get through a good chunk of the earlier episodes! :) )

Note: The table below is excluding the post date, time and hosts sections as it wouldn't fit in this blog post... I will have it hosted on a site with a bit more real estate once I have finished the list - or fill it as I go - it all depends on how fast I go. I have already heard these episodes through at LEAST once at my old job. I estimate there must be at least 14 days (>330 hours) of quality podcast to treat my ears to, so it will take some time. Reader submissions are welcome, just throw up a comment.

Ep#	Title	Main Points	Comments	Links
1	More Deadly than the Deadmines!	1. Introduction 2. Discussion of upcoming expansion: The Burning Crusade.	Introductory episode. Scott and Andrew discuss their origins and their hopes for the future, aswell as podcast layout.	http://theinstance.net/2006/01/the-instance-1-more-deadly-than-the-deadmines/
2	Go Go Dancing at the Gurubashi Arena!	1. Ahn'Qiraj discussions 2. Upperdeck card game rumours	Following up on feedback, and discussing the Ahn'Quiraj war effort.	http://theinstance.net/2006/01/the-instance-2-go-go-dancing-at-the-gurubashi-arena/
3	Casual / Hardcore peace talks begin on Mount Hyjal!	1. Upperdeck card game confirmed. 2. "leaked" Dranei information.	Check Time-Stamp 23:55 - Could that be Randy Deluxe's first contribution? ^.^	http://theinstance.net/2006/01/the-instance-3-casual-hardcore-peace-talks-begin-on-mount-hyjal/
4	Is the Scarab Gate gonna be a bughunt, or a stand up fight?!?	1. Ahn'Qiraj war effort - first gates opened.	The guys discuss the Ahn'Quiraj war effort, realm lockdowns.	http://theinstance.net/2006/01/is-the-scarab-gate-gonna-be-a-bughunt-or-a-stand-up-fight/
5		1. Dialled a mage! 2. Discussed controversial ban by Blizzard on GLBT guild	Mage special. Scott and Andrew call up the player of a lvl 60 mage to talk "Mageing", and discussed Blizzards latest bans.	http://theinstance.net/2006/02/the-instance-5-glass-cannons-the-players-who-love-them/