Here come the Trolls

Like a great many I took a furlough from Wow. It didn't start out by choice, then when I was able to come back it came as somewhat of a shock to realize it had been over a month. By this time real life had reached out and gotten its grip on more than just myself and the plate wearer but several others in our raid group. I was coming to realize that little in this expansion was keeping my attention unless I had my guildies to interact with while I was playing. (Mumble is my life line.) Furthermore I still really only wanted to play Dar.

Yeah, I had gotten my others to 85. I had even managed to get some long neglected lowbie alts almost there as well as start some others and level them...but by the time I was looking at doing the 80 to 85 grind AGAIN I just found I couldn't do it. After 6 years burn out had set in and it was time to take a step back. The hope being that with the patch my friends would all be energized and back which would help ME.

I'll be honest here. I AM looking forward to the return of ZA and ZG because I've always enjoyed both of those instances. The reworking of them looks fantastic. The way they worked the story line makes SENSE. However I have never been overly fond of Troll instances in general when it comes to the aesthetics of loot. I mean, come on, their stuff is just UGLY....most of the time knees are hanging out, you have a poorly painted board strapped to your face they call head gear, and dead animals complete the rest of the ensemble. *shutter*

Sure it is just a quick blip before the next batch of raid content but hopefully it will be enough to keep us energized. At least those of us who really ENJOY running 5 man content. Sadly I still am not pugging it, I much prefer an enjoyable run with guildies helping to gear up for raids and with all the Valor points those new instances are dishing out we may be able to get some of our newer people taken care of quickly.

Know Your Rogue Lore: Gnomeregan Covert Ops

Way back in July of last year I speculated about the changes Cataclysm might bring to some of the established Rogue organizations, not even realizing that an entirely new one was being formed right under our collective noses. The irony is that there is nothing subtle about the Gnomeregan Covert Ops. They state quite clearly what they are all about and wear their name with pride. However trying to discover any information about them is no easy task. The trick is that they hide in plain sight.

When High Tinker Mekkatorque put out the call for Operation Gnomeregan he quickly discovered that as a leader in exile, he didn't really have authority over anyone in the Alliance.  In addition, much of his reconnaissance information came to him through the human filter of SI:7. Sure they got a lot of would be heroes to show up and volunteer to help, however in the end their efforts were unsuccessful. Mekkatorque needed to rethink his strategy on not only on how to retake his home city, but how to make it livable once again. So he started by looking for the best and the brightest in each of the fields he needed.

One of Mekkatorque's recruits was Kelsey Steelspark, a former operative of SI:7, who he made the head of GCO. Unlike her counterpart Mathias Shaw, Kelsey does not display her title, in fact she assumes the guise of a low level rogue trainer. It is only by paying close attention that her TRUE status is revealed. First notice her presence at the advisory table in New Tinkertown. Take a moment to listen to her conversation with the others and it is quickly clear she has the authority to request back up from political allies as well as order all those new gnome rogues around. Kelsey has undergone a couple of costume changes which lead to some additional confusion regarding her status early on. When she was first introduced in Beta she had a two handed sword leading the casual passerby to mistake her for a warrior, now she displays duel daggers.

Like Master Shaw, Kelsey had to create an organization completely from scratch, but used what she already knew worked in SI:7. However hers is one that has some very steep debts to pay at its very conception. The High Tinker wants an organization that will focus on the interests of the Gnomish people verses SI:7's more militarily advantageous intelligence directives under King Varian. For the past many years the Gnomes have lived in exile, harbored by their neighbors the Dwarves at Ironforge. Kelsey needs to build on getting the information her people need to retake their former home, rebuild relationship with their once trusted allies, as well as further the knowledge of the their recently discovered history. This is no easy task to accomplish in the middle of a toxic clean up site.

With the recent death of Magni, and almost Dwarven Civil War, many Gnomes found themselves caught in the middle of what was best for the Alliance as a whole and them as a people. The newly created Council of Three Hammers and the Gnomish people don't share the comfortable relationship once felt in the halls of Ironforge. Many of the Gnomish citizens have been replaced by Dark Iron refugees, this could potentially create distrust and resentment. Muradin while known to the Gnomes has been away so long and through so much that past relationships can no longer be counted. Falstad is another relative unknown as the Wildhammer clans have pretty much kept to themselves and don't usually cooperate even with each other. Moira on the other hand has proven herself to be hostile towards the Gnomish people, even imprisoning some of them shortly after her return to Ironforge during her attempt to cement her claim to the throne. The need for GCO is very clear.

Kelsey's second in command is another gnome by the name of Jarvi Shadowstep, it is he who works most closely with the dwarves and gains their assistance cleaning out some of the remaining troubles on the surface around Gnomeregan. In exchange the Gnomes offer equal aid to their Dwaven "cousins" with their Troll problem just outside Kharanos. Jarvi's larger team of operatives are in the trenches getting dirty and building on those former trust relationships. In typical gnomish fashion this involves a great many devices which make you question your safety and sanity. The majority of the Gnomeregan covert ops personnel just go by "Covert Ops Agent" but a few have names and some interesting stories to tell if you are lucky enough to find them.

Delber Cranktoggle is responsible for the "The Ultrasafe Personnel Launcher", as a rogue you are generally ok as we have feather fall...all others? Lets just say bodies falling seems to be the order of the day with this device. Much fun can be had however if you enjoy projecting yourself all over the map.  If you manage to survive (or not chicken out and just walk) you may discover his colleagues Slamp Wobblecog and Snevik the Blade.  Snevik believes in equality for all gnomes and that if everyone saw the world from the gnomish point of view all fighting would cease. Interesting theory, you need to see how it works on trolls for yourself. 

The only other named member of Gnomeregan Covert Ops that I have been able to locate is Ration Officer Flexgear. Unlike the other members of GCO, Flexgear is not working near either Gnomeregan or Kharanos. In fact, Flexgear is not even in the Eastern Kingdoms. She and her small band of operatives, who consist of one male and two other females, are located at small outpost just north of Land's End Beech in Tanaris called Steelspark Station.

Steelspark? Where have we heard THAT name before? Oh that is right, she is the the head of GCO.  For such a young organization to have managed to already have gotten an outpost in Tanaris is impressive. Why are they there? Uldum. Remember what the Gnomes discovered about themselves in Northrend? That they were created by the Titans? Now suddenly more Titan artifacts are turning up and where the Dwarves were looking for their history, the Gnomes are interested in the technology. Kelsey and her crew need to be there to make sure that the scientist and engineers report back to the High Tinker, not only that, if anything goes wrong, someone needs to report that as well. It will be interesting to see how this new group plays out but so far I have been impressed with Ms Steelspark and her people. They are a nice addition to rogue organization lore.

Anduin and I

By now if you have a max level Alliance character you are familiar with the quest chain in Stormwind that sends you off to the Twilight Highlands.  For those who are not, you get the opportunity to spend a little quality time with Prince Anduin Wrynn wandering around uncovering a plot by the Twilight Hammer. What many people may NOT realize is that even after you complete the chain you can go back to visit Anduin at anytime and take him about Stormwind. I like to think he enjoys these visits as he always greets me with "I thought you had forgotten me!"

One of the things I always enjoyed about Blizzard games was their lore or "story telling". They make compelling characters and Anduin is one that has a special place in may heart, not just because he is so close in age to my own sons. It was as the direct result of Anduin that I made a rather enlightening discovery. In Cata some of the quest givers will respond to you differently based upon your class and/or gender.

When the Plate wearer went to do My Son, the Prince, Anduin greeted him by saying "Your a Paladin? Highlord Fordragon was, as well. He taught me a great deal. I...I still miss him." This got me asking around and sure enough Harrison Jones is extremely flirtatious with the females, while the males are treated more like lackeys. So I wanted to see what more I could find...which lead to a problem. With Blizzards new questing design you can't just go and find the chain that you want the lore for and do it. Instead you have to pretty much do the entire zone. And in some cases, you have to do it on a specific race. It has been extremely frustrating.

Places you once could go for accurate information like books, and websites such as Wowwikki and even Wowhead may not be up to date either, as they have completely revamped old content and are continuing to do so. On one hand I like this as individuals we once considered lost in time are coming back into prominence, like Commander Jarod Shadowsong,  Garona Halforcen, and of course his confused Druid self Malfurion Stormrage. Players often have a better idea who the major figures are, what roles they play in the greater picture and how they relate to the over all theme of the game. On the down side, the only variation you have from character to character maybe in how the npc greets you. You no longer have as much freedom of movement within a zone, especially in relation to gaining access to specific factions.

For a Lore monger like myself, I have found I often out level a zone before I complete the quests in it. This with out using Heirloom pieces. Add on guild perks and you can find yourself struggling to stay "level appropriate" and not find yourself locked out of some phased area.

Phasing is another thing I am finding myself loving and hating at the same time. I love that it changes the environment so that you see your actions impacting the world around you. It helps to advance the story, that "lore" I love so much. At the same time it can be such a pain in the butt when you are trying to do simple things like pick herbs, mine or just help out a friend when they are in one phase and your in another. Northrend was a big enough bear, now we have the entire world covered in phasing, the only zones I can think of that DO NOT have phasing in them are Silithus (because they haven't gotten around to it yet), and the Draenei and Blood Elf zones (because they are still tied into the Burning Crusade expansion).

Cata has been such a mixed bag for me. There are some things that I have greatly enjoyed and others that I question what they were thinking. We all have those times I suppose. Perhaps it says a lot that beyond the dungeon redesigns one of the things that they did this expansion that I was happy about was they finally updated poor Anduin.

Anduin has been my role play companion while I do my cooking daily, as well as occasionally accompanying me on blackmailing expeditions. I had always felt sorry for him when he looked like every other snot nosed little kid running around Stormwind, yet he was stuck up in that Keep with Miss Congeniality herself.  At least he had Bolvar to balance things out. Now he has Mr Split Personality as a house mate, I figure the least I can do is give him a break and let him spread his wings from time to time. Auntie Jania can only let him visit so often since the last time he took a road trip he managed to get kidnapped. I can understand his Father's over protective nature, being a parent myself but I would prefer that the next King of Stormwind be sane. So each day I do my small part by giving him a little break from his royal duties of keeping an eye on his Dad. Taking him out amongst the general populace and inviting him to just be a kid.  I'm sure he would appreciate more than lessons on how to take money from the auctioneer or picking locks. Though those are VERY useful things to know.

Guild Chat

Each guild has its own personality, you can see it not just in their tabards but in how they relate to one another in their speech. With some of the new features Blizzard has added guilds whose chat consisted of nothing more than "Anyone want to do a heroic?" or "Can anyone craft X?" have become a virtual ghost town. My own guild has such a diverse make up that our guild chat is one of the things I love best about it. We have some members as young as 10 (yes they play with their parents), all the way up to individuals who count their grandchildren into the double digits. This leads to some pretty diverse conversations.

Recently I mentioned how I have some guild mates who are a tad obsessed with non combat pets. (For those of you who are wondering yes I did complete United Nations.) This leads to many hours spent doing nothing more than hanging out in damp caves awaiting the spawn of rare shale spiders or hunting foxes in Tol Barad. (I would know little about these obsessions. No, I don't want to discuss my own hours farming little known reputations or looking for some elusive stone drake in Deepholm thank you very much.) It is our chatter that allows us all to think we are still sane, or at least all slipping into insanity together.

During the day time college students who are between classes, home schooled students, stay at home moms and our over seas contingent (both military and civilian) generally control chat. This means topics can  fluctuate wildly from what works best for the teething infant to foreign currency and shipping rates. Most often though it is full of silly role play in which guild members ambush each other while doing dailys. Druids accused of stealing nodes have been known to leave hawk chalk on their victims heads while flying away with the spoils.  Unknown rogues may go riffling through unprotected pockets while the unsuspecting are surveying the latest offerings at the auction house only to announce that "they can't afford to purchase anything with only pocket lint and an empty wallet."

Later in the afternoon we get a little more "high brow" as one of our guild members is well known for spouting off little known facts he has discovered while reading or watching the history channel. Often introducing his topic with things like "I will be tank tonight for whoever can tell me who was the first President of the United States."  That particular one brought about the conversation of how the United States formed ITS government which lead into what is going on in our world today and how some nations are attempting to reform their governments.

Most often though we fall into discussions of food. I swear we all have gained at least 10 pounds from guild chat alone. At times it is worse than the food network. It has gotten so bad we had to outlawed the topic during raids to prevent distractions.  Have you ever had a conversation where you described a country using nothing but food? I have....

So what about all of you? Is your guild chat something you enjoy or is it just white noise you never even notice? Does it even exist anymore in the modern age of the Dungeon Finding Tool? Do you miss it? Sometimes all it takes is a little bit of role play to bring it back....at least for us.

Servers and Latency

 Do you remember why you chose the server you play on as your home base? In all honesty it has been over six years so the exact reasons for me are pretty fuzzy. I think the platewearer and I chose Eldre'Thalas because of the ones that were available to us at the time it shared our time zone. Or so we thought.  Recently we have been experiencing some crippling latency whenever we attempt to play, especially during peek hours.

Normally when something like this happens you go through the check list.

1. Is there anything running in the background on my PC?
2. Is my hardware having any issues? (Check network card, router, modem, etc.)
3. Is my server having issues?

But these were all coming up fine.

Another common issue people then look at is their service provider. We happen to use AT&T. Since World of Warcraft uses AT&T data centers as their hosts we should have awesome speeds. What could be the issue then?

So we decided to dig a little deeper and discover exactly where our server was located, then trace the connection to see what could possibly be going on between here and there. Low and behold our server was NOT located in the East Coast as we had thought but in Los Angeles, California, WAY across the country. Well THAT might have something to do with it. Sure enough when we log into a server out of New York our connection was SINGING....

So that leaves us with a bit of a delema. If we are on a closer server our latency issues disappear, but HOME is Eldre'Thalas. If it were just the two of us to consider, the faster connection speeds would be the deciding factor, but we have the guild as well. When you have 100+ depending on you, and you have been leading said gang of misfits for almost six years, to just walk away...Add to that the cost of a server transfer, because lets face it, the thought of abandoning Daraia at this point is unthinkable to me. The decision is not so cut and dried.

If you are having latency issues and none of the previously mentioned items seem to fix it check into where your server is located because in 2010 several of them in the US were moved. Then check your connection, places like Speedtest.net can give you a concrete answer as to wither or not your connection is the issue. We were also able to find some help on Wow Interface. (Sorry we only looked at PC stuff not Mac.)

At this point I am just gritting my teeth and bearing with it. Hopefully things will improve in the near future. If not, if Eldre'Thalas is once again offered free server transfers we may be seriously considering a guild relocation.

United Nations

No I am not referring to the international organization run out of New York but rather the guild achievement which has become a thorn in my side. Why do you ask? Because of a tiny little bug.

Originally the achievement was designed to look at every member in your guild who has earned revered reputation or "Veteran" rank. It would then take all their combined unique exalted reputations and count them towards the achievement. However at the moment it is only counting the the one member with the MOST exalted reputations.

Why is this a problem? Well the reward for this particular achievement is a non combat pet. The Dark Phoneix Hatchling. Personally I am not that much of a pet collector despite that fact that I have well over 100 of the little guys. HOWEVER, there are other members of my guild who are more, shall we say...dedicated? borderline obsessive? down right fanatical? when it comes to non combat pets. One of them just happens to be my fellow officer and mount farming partner.

With 85 different reputations in this game this achievement seems deceptively simple until you break it down into what ones you can actually obtain. First of all you have to subtract the ones that are only available to your faction.

That means if you are Alliance you have Stormwind, Ironforge, Gnomergan, Darnassus, Exodar, and Gilneas as your racial cities. These also affect your battle ground alliances in that with Warsong Gulch you fight for the Silverwing Sentinels of Darnassus, the League of Arathor in Arathi Basin, the Stormpike Guard in Alterac Valley and provide support to  Baradins' Wardens in Tol Barad. The Wintersaber Trainers trust only those special few alliance to aid them in the snows of Winterspring. While in Outland both Honor Hold and the Kurenai receive exclusively Alliance support. Then in Northrend we have the Alliance Vanguard  which is made up for four sub factions, the Explorers' League, the Frostborn, The Silver Covenant, and the Valiance Expedition. Even in Cataclysm our faction divides continue with the Wildhammer Clan fighting for land against a group of  orcs in the Twilight Highlands.

Don't fret Horde. You have an equal number of individuals you are just as dedicated to. Orgrimmar, Undercity, Silvermoon City, Thunder Bluff, the Darkspear Trolls and the Bridgewater Cartel are all your founding homes. There is a little village of Fosaken and Blood Elves in the Ghostlands called Tranquilien where you offer your assistance in cleansing those lands of the scourge. In battle the  Warsong Outriders',  The Defilers', the Frostwolf Clan and Hellscreams' Reach all cry "For the Horde!" Thrallmar and the Mag'har bring honor to a lost son and  former Warchief. In Northrend your new war chief got his first taste of battle while leading the combined forces of the Horde Expedition, specifically the Warsong Offensive, while working with the Hand of Vengeance, the Taunka and the Sunreavers.  This experience helped him to forge new alliances with the Dragonmaw Clan.

So that means that each faction has nineteen reputations specific to them. So scratch them out of your 85. From there you can further remove the Bloodsail Buccaneers, the Syndicate, as well as the Magram and Gelkis Centaur clans. Why? Because these four only reach honored or just over in their reputations. Meaning they can never count toward the exalted.

Then you have the factions where you have to chose sides. The Aldor or the Scryers? The Oracles or the Frenzyheart Tribe? Sure you can reach exalted rep with them both at separate times but all that counts is the reputations you happen to have AT THAT TIME. Two more off the list.

Well Dar that still has us at 60. That is STILL plenty of wiggle room. Right? Well not quite, you see some on that list are old. Like Zul' Gurub, which doesn't exist anymore. So you can also subtract the Zandalar Tribe unless you happened to have gotten that reputation before hand. The same goes for the Shen'dralar in Dire Maul. While the quest books still drop, some of the items needed to complete those quests like the Blood of Heroes are no longer in the game, leaving you rather stuck since they were all Bop items you can't buy on the auction house.

From there you have the reputations which can only be gained INSIDE raids. The Hydraxian Waterlords for example is a complete nightmare as once you get past a certain point you only get few hundred points of reputation for each boss kill. This means it will take MONTHS of FULL CLEARS of Molton Core to reach exalted.  Then there is the Brood of Nozdormu out of the Temple of Ahn'Qiraj (AQ 40).  These guys you start out at Hated so it takes quite a while to do a complete reversal, again many full clears as killing trash will only get you to neutral, after that it takes boss kills and quests.

Thankfully by the time we went through the Dark Portal we were able to start earning reputation by killing just about anything in a raid. So the Ashtonque Deathsworn of Black Temple, The Scales of Sands of Mt Hyjal, The Violet Eye of Karazhan and the more recent Ashen Verdict of Ice Crown Citadel just required hours of time spent killing monsters along with bosses. If you aren't a raider however that means you could be missing six reputations, a hefty chunk.

There was a dark cloud to this as well. There are also some factions who you can only get reputations with INSIDE a dungeon. This was an idea that was played around with by the now basically defunct Argent Dawn. Lower City, the Keepers of Time, Cenarion Expedition and the Sha'tar in Outland all require you to crawl around in SPECIFIC dungeons if you wanted to build reputation with them.  In Northrend and now back in the old world they have loosed things so that if you just wear a tabard showing who you support while in dungeons of specific levels you can gain reputations with the faction of your choice. At this point both Ramkahem and the Guardians of Hyjal force you to do this to get to exalted with them.

Other factions believe in giving you a little more variety. For them you can choose to either do repetitive daily quests OR run around wearing their tabard while you dungeon crawl.  The Wrymrest Accord, Argent Crusade, Kirin Tor, Knights of the Ebon Blade, and Therazane all fall into this category.

This leaves us with the neutral factions who think we have nothing better to do than either grind for repeatable turn in quests or keep coming back day after day for tortuous daily quests.  Of the turn in variety we have the Cenarion Circle in Silithus,  the Timbermaw in Winterspring, and the Consortium in Outland.  Then you have the Sporeggar of Zangarmarsh who either have you kill the same mobs over and over again or do endless turn ins. Take your pick. The torturous daily quests were first introduced by the Sha'tari Skyguard and Ogri'la. It was perfected by the Shattered Sun Offensive, who then passed all their knowledge on to the Kalu'ak and the Sons of Hodir. That knowledge seems to only grow as the years go on.

This leaves us with just a few stragglers. The Thorium Brotherhood, who now have a slightly more pronounced presence this expansion but you can still only find the higher reputation items inside Molton Core or via mining the few Dark Iron nodes found outside.  Unless your a Rogue or manage to sweet talk one, your going to have a hard time getting past honored with Ravenholdt as it requires pick pocketed Locked Boxes.  Darkmoon Faire is only in select locations once a month and unless you are a Scribe getting the Darkmoon Faire Decks you need to gain favor with them will cost you a pretty penny.

Finally we have the Steamwheedle Cartle.  Now before Cataclysm there was a fairly easy way to gain reputation with these guys inside Dire Maul, as part of the tribute run. As they are still part of the Insane in the Membrane achievement I will assume you can still do it but I haven't been able to verify that yet. Booty Bay, Everlook, Gadgetzan, and Ratchet are all part of this goblin cartel (not to be confused with the group that joined with the Horde). Their reputations are unique even though they all work for the same trade prince. Think of it as getting in good with each separate store manager for the chain. The others might put in a good word for you but each of them would like to see for themselves what you have to offer. (Typical goblins.)

So where does that leave us? If you happen to have some of the old reputations like Argent Dawn, Zandalar Tribe and Shen'dralar as well as having the benefit of being a Rogue so you have Ravenholdt, you would have the nice amount of Fifty eight reputations available to you to do this achievement. That is right, fifty eight out of fifty five.  In other words if you DO NOT happen to have ANY of the old reputations, you will not be able to get this achievement until one of two things happens. Either Blizzard fixes the bug or they add additional factions. Either way, all you non combat fanatics are going to have to do the one thing you hate, which is wait.

Thankfully for my peace of mined I have all of them, I am actually sitting at fifty three exalted reputations at the moment with my guild anxiously awaiting me to get my last two.  The question is just what I will hit exalted with first.  I just pray I can get it done within the next day or two so I can have some peace. I have been slacking on my dungeon crawls to focus on some other things much to their great frustration.

Fishing for Rogues

I do A LOT of fishing. Not because I find it relaxing or am an avid angler. Rather it is because, as I have stated over and over again, I am cheap and fishing generally provides me with buff food for little more than time. (Beyond that I hear the Omega 3's are great for you.) When I was a skinner, my diet tended more towards the red meats (Ravager Dog or Warp Burger anyone?)  Even after that I wouldn't turn my nose up at a good Mega Mammoth Meal, but I hated leaving behind the evidence of my presence. Fishing doesn't do that.

The irony of this expansion is that very few of our best foods do not come from water sources. Even those you have to hunt down (Baked Turtle, Seasoned Crab, Salted Eye from sea eels and Crocolisk Au Gratin) live in or near the water. Yeah, you could have a Basilisk Liverdog or the Grilled Dragon, but sadly the Dragons mostly give you scales when you skin them and really who wants to eat LIVER? You can make it look like a hot dog all you want but it is STILL liver.

Now beyond all the foods already named there are others we can specifically fish up. The fresh water Boiled Mountain Trout from Mt Hyjal's streams and lakes. Lavascale Fillet and Lavascale Minestrone both come from fishing the lava pools in Deepholm. Skewered Eel is made using Fathom Eels which can be found along the coast of Uldum or Tol Barad making it one of the more plentiful sources out there for us.

There is one difficulty with all these, they do require you to also know how to COOK. However if you have never managed to learn this basic skill you may still be in luck. Many guilds are pursuing their guild achievements Set the Oven to "Cataclysmic" and Time to Open a Restaurant. So you might be able to persuade another guild member to cook them all up for you, since unlike the Wrath recipes they don't require any special spices.  Even better if you state you are working on the That's A Lot of Bait achievement. (Of course this only works if your guild actually CARES about the achievements and the feasts they unlock.) Unlike the Fish Feasts of Wrath these new feasts cater to our most desired stat, like the Fortune Cookies.

For some of you even all of this is not enough persuasion to consider taking up fishing. There have to be additional perks like Non Combat pets or mounts. Well, if you haven't learned by now they already have those in game and have had them for years. There is one overwhelming problem however. The fish all seem to know that when I catch them I plan on eating them. So when it comes to the more "vanity" items you get from fishing, I can't seem to catch any of them to save my life. Now this is only true for Daraia, none of my alts seem to have this curse, but Giant Sewer Rat?, Mr Pinchy? and the very bane of my mount collection the Sea Turtle? They all have played least in site for YEARS while my alts somehow manged to pick them up not even trying. I have some information for you all though, I do know for a fact that you can at least get the Sea Turtle from fishing the high end fishing pools. Tol Barad Eel pools. I love you.