Michael Gaines's Latest Posts
This Week in Trek Episode 308, “Zoom and enhance”
Discord: https://discord.gg/HsFXzA
Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/starmike
News
Discovery will have a mirror universe episode (directed by Frakes?)
Disc First 4 episode titles:
“The Vulcan Hello”
“Battle at the Binary Stars”
“Context is for Kings”
“The butcher’s knife cares not for the lamb’s cry”
First 2 hours shown tonight at 5pm.
50th anniversary TOS Polar Lights 1/350 model has amazing decals where originals were crappy.
Orville: Better than last week.
Ten Forward:
Chris on Twitter: Is it unfair to try to apply today’s moral standards to a show that was made in the 60’s?
Star Trek in pop culture:
Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel, 2009.
00:26
Last week in Trek
Episode insight: DS9, S5: Rapture
Character insight – Admiral Gregory Quinn and Dexter Remmick
Subspace communications
World Of Warcast Episode 257, “Turtle Ring Toss Time”
Mike:
Farmed for the recipe. Took about 20m.
I had 72 Shadow Silk in my inventory (ha! pack rat!)
Make 8 Shadoweave Masks. Farmed more silk. Total at the end of the day, over 80k gold.
Finished chapter 2 of Argus
Bug in a invasion point Naigtal – Spores give 1M damage/tick, kept getting it on rez.
Problem – skull mobs walk around, can really hurt you.
Spore bug
Not a lot of room to move
Very hard to do solo unless you know how to maneuver
Got my Sulfuras – Hand of Ragnaros Legendary on my DK
Ren:
Arena Skirmish Bonus Event
Darkmoon Faire r
Stupid dirgible is 1000 tickets
News:
Argus won’t have flying (but we knew that)
The Flying on Argus debate: the tl;dr version
Argussian Emissary Quests should now require 3 WQs
Fel lava on Argus no longer damages pets
http://www.wowhead.com/news=271115/lucid-nightmare-mount-discovered-by-secret-finding-discord
Invasion points
Available after finishing the second chapter of Argus in Mac’aree
Starts with a quest from Ilidan, “Where They Least Expect It” to enter an invasion point to kill the legion commander
Followup quest: recover 15 Argus Waystones to unlock Greater Invasion Points
Invasion Points repeatable – you don’t need to be in a party to enter it. Will get credit just from zoning in. Finishing grants Artifact Power tokens, Argus Waystones and Veiled Aranite.
Each lasts 6 hours
Include Environmental hazards (watch your feet) and one unique objective
Three stages: fill a bar by killing trash, more mobs spawn, LEgion Commander spawns
If you wipe on Legion Commander, health will not reset
Greater Invasion Points – can do once per week – Argus world bosses drop 930 loot
Bring a Seal of Broken Fate for bonus rolls
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This Week in Trek Episode 306, “Traveler Mystery Tour”
News
“The blue that dominates the Federation interface designs on Discovery will apparently evolve to something more TOS-like and colorful”
New trailer mentions “You are explorers” and “fortune favors the bold”.
Ten Forward:
Chris on Twitter: Compared to the first two seasons of TOS, do u feel the acting dropped significantly in the 3rd season?
Star Trek in pop culture:
TV Show: Ground Floor S1, E3
Part1: Guy explains how he is going to sit in a chair a certain way to impress the boss
00:22
Part2: The actual chair is very wide with arm rests, so he jumps over the back, ending up doing the splits on top of the arm rests.
00:18
Last week in Trek
Episode insight: TNG: S7 Journey’s End
Character insight – Dr. Lewis Zimmerman
Subspace communications
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
World Of Warcast Episode 256, “Not compatible with cats”
Ren:
Started on Argus campaign with rogue (as predicted)
Still playing Diablo 3 but having some repetitive motion injury issues with right hand
Ditched Bagnon for ArkInventory
Pleased with TV appearance on THE DEAD FILES – and cancelled Sling (HDTV antenna works great – between that and Amazon Prime’s Thursday Night Football, Giants season is saved!)
Caught 3rd eagle this week
Mike:
Argus! Wait, it’s only one chapter?
Can’t do the dungeon yet
What’s this cloth?
Spoilers!
Chests everywhere
Couldn’t get enough items for the i880 gear (not that I need it)
Mobs aren’t that hard to kill.
What’s with the eye quest?
20% more damage in/out?
Some guy’s been buying my stuff on the AH and not making a profit
Uldaman
Tomb of Sargeras w/Ali
This Week in Wow
One word: Argus
Next week: Mac’Aree zone opens, unlock Invasion Points, and a questline to open Greater Invasion Points that can drop 930 gear.
For those who aren’t into Argus, it’s Cataclysm Timewalking.
The Archaeology reward for next 2 weeks is a toy called the Crystalline Eye of Undravius, which lets you look around and see invisible NPCs as demons or changes existing NPCs into demons for 15 seconds (apparently Khadgar is a succubus). If you’re a toy collector or are after your 8 archaeology quests for a new artifact tint, go for it. Collecting 300 toys will get you a mount, the Mechanized Lumber Extractor.
7.3 News
Nightfallen reputation requirements removed from several Suramar quests, making it possible to complete the Suramar campaign without reputation gates.
Undocumented changes
Artifact catch-up for alts:
Artifact Knowledge now starts at 41 regardless of book
Removes Class Hall Campaign for third relic slot
Removes Broken Shore campaign to unlock Empowered Traits
Higher drop rate for artifact appearances, and you can get them for artifacts you own that you aren’t currently using (off spec)
I880 Relinquished Gear no longer available to purchase with Nethershards.
Completing opening Broken Shore scenario on one character is required to unlock Argus
Reduced requirements for Breaching the Tomb – example, you only need 50 Mark of Sentinax instead of 100
Timewalking dungeon loot starts at 880, and Black Temple timewalking loot starts at 930.
Lots of Tomb of Sargeras changes – mostly nerfs
Nomi Work Orders can now yield Broken Islands Recipe Scrap (drop rate lower than Nomi Snacks). 10 scraps = one undiscovered recipe
Fishing Round the Isles achievement now requires 20 world fishing quests, not all of them
Levitating players can now jump
Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning updated animations were not implemented. Apparently they got bad reviews on the PTR.
Two new class hall follower catch-up items added to Warmage Kathleen at Deliverance Point: Grimoire of Lost Knowledge (adds 6000 XP to follower for 2500 nethershards) and Relinquished Armor Set (sets champion iLevel to 880 for 400 nethershards)
New missions for followers may be related to a new side quest, available to players after completing the An Offering of Light main quest series. These side quests unlock a new type of troop or missions that offer new follower equipment
Helpful toy: Sightless Eye (not to be confused with the Sightless Eye currency) – makes you much less detectable to mobs on Argus or Broken Shore for 10 minutes, with a 5 minute cooldown. Any damage, including falling damage, breaks this. (Or just make a rogue)
Diablification #1: Antaen Light-Bringer in the first part of Argus — after the first few quests, you join Kil’jaeden and Prophet Velen to destroy a siege weapon that looks like a large green portal of some type
Spoiler: it pops up and it’s a big mob
Ren: Recognized this IMMEDIATELY because it looks almost exactly like a mob called the Realmwalker in the Battlefields of Eternity level in Act IV of D3, who is a giant mob who hides in the ground with a big portal eye on his head. Knew what was going to happen
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
This Week in Trek Episode 305, “May cause anatomical inversion”
News
Mike visited the Enterprise
Bryan Fuller was pushed out because his scripts were months late & overbudget.
Discovery S1: Klingon War. S2: Aftermath of Klingon War. S3: in work.
Lootcrate Star Trek edition: Every other month starting Dec 2017. $39.99 for 1 or $34.99 for 6 – paid all at once.
Anovos now has TNG skants (female only)
@jbillingsly60 (Dr Phlox) is now on Twitter.
http://www.bbcamerica.com/extras/star-trek-marathon-poll-whats-your-favorite-episode
From @Asetisis
Ten Forward:
Chris on Twitter: Which Trek character do u think had the biggest impact in the series they were in: Spot or Porthos?
Star Trek in pop culture:
This Leapfrog learning toy may have borrowed from Captain Picard (thanks “how now” on twitter)
00:14
Episode insight: ENT: S3 Impulse
Subspace communications
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
World Of Warcast Episode 255, “Banned From Argo”
Ren:
Cable cutting: Sling TV, HDTV antennas, solutions for watching football
Played opening scenario for Argus
What is it with night elves and bottled water?
Don’t see myself going through this with more than one character
Mike:
Another legendary (waist)
Got it from the world boss on the Isle
i909
Working on getting the tokens for the next legendary upgrade.
No new mounts.
Forgot about Trial of Style
News
Patch 7.3 NEXT WEEK
https://www.icy-veins.com/forums/topic/32790-patch-73-official-patch-notes/
Other worlds??
Seat of the Triumverate – new dungeon
4 bosses
Argus WQs (no surprise)
Artifact customization
New combat animations
New items for mining, herbalism, skinning, tailoring, and shoulder enchants
Achievements for the number of tabards you have.
Class changes
Broken Shore now has an emissary quest
New factions: Army of Light and Argussian Reach – both advance with world quests, emissary quests, order hall missions and weekly quests
Army of Light – Exalted reward: Lightforged Warframe mount for the low low price of 500k gold – looks like a gold mechanical golem
Argussian Reach
Exalted reputation paragon caches can include one of three Elekk mounts
Other rewards
Not a fan of the Hearthstone musical
Not understanding the marketing behind it.
Kel’Thuzad is the new hero in Heroes of the Storm
What was with Jaina? lol
Ali-Yesterday at 11:34 PM
Oh hey everyone @here ….make sure to turn in your Legionfall Supplies before the patch. Once it drops, you’ll no longer get the chests from that and the ap reward is also reduced.(edited)
Email from Zak
We fall down a rabbit hole about rare items from Uldaman.
Discord: https://discord.gg/0igWZxupFC0N8mH4
Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/starmike
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
This Week in Trek Episode 304, “You sank my virtual space cruiser”
News
Terry Farrell and Adam Nimoy are engaged
QMX insignia badges $14.95 – not screen accurate, but better ones will come soon enough.
I have one!
http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/08/18/the-william-shatner-interview
From @EKavlar (Raven 322)
Ten Forward:
Chris on Twitter: What would be the synopsis of an episode of TOS written by you?
Star Trek in pop culture:
The Jean Claude Van Damme movie: Death Warrant. 1990. A computer nerd kid is helping his romantic interest do computer things.
00:15
Last week in Trek
Episode insight: TOS: A Taste of Armageddon
Character insight – Eclipses
Subspace communications
Discord: https://discord.gg/0igWZxupFC0N8mH4
Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/starmike
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
World Of Warcast Episode 254, “The race is on”
Ren:
Still feel like I’m waiting around for 7.3 – marking time
Love the lighting effects in Dalaran
Update on The Dead Files
RL achievement: Banded first bald eagle of the year, posted picture on Twitter.
Mike:
Yes, there’s a level 1 mount
SPriest is terrible at leveling, not bad in dungeons (but could be better)
Leveled up my DH and *love it*
Trial of Style!
This week:
Legion Dungeon event
Spirit of Ech’ero mount for weekly archaeology
Trial of Style mini-event starts today and goes til Tuesday
5 players given 2 minutes to create a transmog based on a theme – some PTR themes have included Summer Styles, Winter Wear, Mismatched Mayhem, Fun and Flirty, Tabard Time, Faction Pride, Epic Purple, and of course, the ever popular Freestyle
You can’t see what your competitors are doing as they appear to be wearing smocks to cover their transmogs until the unveiling
Contestants are pulled onto a stage where people can vote on two at a time – strike a pose such as /wave, /cheer, or /dance
After several rounds of voting, prizes are awarded, 1st through 3rd and Consolation. Contains Trial of Style tokens that can be traded for transmog gear in Dalaran
Some complaints on forums of people getting kicked from scenario groups and getting a 30 minute deserter debuff
http://www.wowhead.com/news=269877/trial-of-style-transmog-holiday-august-17th-22nd
News:
7.3 – details will be announced at Gamescon via the Blizzard Reveal Ceremony on Wed 23rd
Also at Gamescon – WoW European Championship Finals, and two top Euro guilds (Nova and Set Sail for Fail) will race each other in a live mythic showdown
Whispers of a Frightened World scenario live as of Tuesday http://www.wowhead.com/news=268553/whispers-of-a-frightened-world-scenario-now-live
Without spoilers: get a quest to go to Sholazar Basin and meet with Magni, to enter the Hall of Communion at Maker’s Overlook. Starts a scenario.
Getting high reviews from people who have completed it
New combat and casting animations shown
Resto Druid
Blood Elf Female Ranged Attack
All Mage Specs
Holy Priest
Shadow Priest
Elemental Shaman
Item level changes in 7.3
Dungeon item level drops will be each going up one rung. Normal will move from 825 to 845; heroic from 845 to 865; mythic from 865 to 885.
The Name Change that Didn’t
Blizzard announced almost a year ago it was going to shift from “Battle.net” to “Blizzard” for its online services
Branding change fail: they decided they will become “Blizzard Battle.net”
Activision Blizzard Investor call – 2nd Q 2017 (April through June)
Blizzard reported: All time record monthly active users, up 38% from last year
All time record daily active users and Q2 record time spent
Legion continues to outperform Warlords
Overwatch monthly active users have increased each quarter since launch, rose to a new all time high in Q2
Net revenues of over $3.3 billion (just Blizzard)
Blizaard outperforming the other divisions (Activision and King). Activision has titles such as Call of Duty, Destiny and SKylanders, and King brings you Candy Crush, Pet Rescue, Farm Heroes and Bubble Witch
Discord: https://discord.gg/0igWZxupFC0N8mH4
Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/starmike
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
This Week in Trek Episode 303, “They’re made of bacon”
News
http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Animated_Series
Shortly before Fontana’s report, NBC had replaced its old Nielsen rating system with a new and updated one. When they ran the original figures through their new system they found out much to their surprise that it had not only reached full penetration into their most coveted target audience, the male population between 18 and 45, but also that the series had been one of the most successful series the network had ever aired. The sickening realization hit upon the dismayed network executives that they had slaughtered the proverbial goose that laid the golden eggs, something that every fan at the time could have told them.
Anovos: TAS Klingon tunic $50. Preorder now!
Star Trek cruise: 2 cruises the first 2 weeks of Jan 2018.
Complete Discovery merch licensing list:
Simon & Schuster for a worldwide publishing program
IDW for comics
Titan Entertainment for souvenir magazines
Disruptor Beam for a mobile game update to “Star Trek: Timelines”
Rubie’s for costumes
Eaglemoss for die-cast ship models
Trevco for t-shirts in the U.S.
Anovos for replicas of the new Starfleet uniforms in the U.S.
Rizzoli for calendars in the U.S.
McFarlane for figures in the U.S.
QMX for prop badges and replicas in the U.S.
FanSets for pins in the U.S.
Gentle Giant for 3D replicas in the U.S.
Danilo for calendars in Europe
Pyramid for posters, prints and fan gear in the U.K.
Cotton Division for apparel and accessories in France
Impact Rock for posters and prints in Australia.
Think Geek pin – $29.99, get a $24.95 CBSAA credit
ThinkGeek
Jason Isaacs says, “Fans are going to have to adjust”
Kurtzman says more Trek is possible, if people would stop crapping on this one:
“I think that’s totally possible, it was a really cool idea, but it wasn’t necessarily an idea that everyone immediately agreed with.”
“I think the idea might be that there are more Star Trek series [further down the line].”
Ten Forward:
Chris on Twitter: Have u ever referenced anything in Trek when giving advice to a friend?
Star Trek in pop culture:
Senior Skip Day (2008). Canadian high school party movie.
00:15
Last week in Trek
Episode insight: Voyager S1: Phage
Character insight – Ben Sisko
Subspace communications
Discord: https://discord.gg/0igWZxupFC0N8mH4
Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/starmike
This Week in Trek Episode 302, “Kurzodo”
News
People on twitter should stop being awful and nasty to the DSC team. Nobody deserves hatred.
“There will be technobabble”.
The whole “No God” thing was a misunderstanding. It’s allowed.
Commercial!
https://twitter.com/startrekcbs/status/894641168230694914
James Cawley has a new Fan Film Academy
http://trekmovie.com/2017/08/07/les-moonves-tells-cbs-investors-first-six-episodes-of-star-trek-discovery-are-terrific/
Kol has a Starfleet emblem. @isolinearchick noticed.
TNG cast reunion (without Frakes)
VOY cast reunion
DSC panels
Ten Forward:
Chris on Twitter: Two more observations about The Inner Light: only had one story and ZERO action in it. A lot can be said about that.
Which is a funnier episode: A Piece of the Action or The Trouble with Tribbles?
Star Trek in pop culture:
Suggested by Jordan McKinley
Over the Hedge – 2006, one of the characters voiced by William Shatner
This dialog happens during the end credits.
00:19
Last week in Trek
Episode insight: Continuing the body-inhabiting theme – DS9: Facets – suggested by Matthew
Last week’s episode (“Unexpected”) was suggested by Anisha
Character insight – Worf in DS9
Subspace communications
Discord: https://discord.gg/0igWZxupFC0N8mH4
Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/starmike
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