Schedule Change -- Again!

I know.  I know.  Its only been about six weeks since the last change.  But I think this new schedule will not only fit the week better, but it also allows my family some together time right in the middle of busy school and work schedules.  So . . . .

Monday --      8:30pm - 12pm
Tuesday --      Day Off
Wednesday -   8:30pm - 12pm
Thurday --      8:30pm - 12pm
Friday -          Alternating Weeks
                       On week - 8:30pm - 12pm
Saturday -       Alternating Weeks
                       On week - 8:30pm - 12pm
Sunday -         Varies - check Twitch

All times are in Moutain Standard Time and at this point anything goes with what game I play.  I'm more inclined to play Star Wars:  The Old Republic, but every once in a while I'll get a wild hair to play Hearthstone.  I only play World of Warcraft if my husband forces me too.  [Insert teenagery pout].  Hey, and what do you know!  Halloween happens to fall on a Tuesday this year so I won't have to take any extra days off for that!

Speaking of Halloween -- what do you think of my new overlay?  Let me know either in chat when I'm live on Twitch or make a comment below.  I love FALL!!

Don't forget!  Twtich if offering half price subs for the month of September!  You've got three days left to take advantage of this!

Also, any bits donated or direct Paypal donations made while my nephew is in the hospital will be going entirely to his cancer fund.    You can also make a direct donation at YouCaring in his name if you feel so prompted.

And working on getting the Umbara Train Stronghold today so please join me in the fun!

www.twitch.tv/scrappywheelz

~~~  Scrappywheelz   ~~~

Scrapping Cancer

I remember I was at my daughter's parent teacher's conference.  I got a call from my sister, who through her tears, told me that my nephew had been diagnosed with cancer.  I'm pretty sure getting hit in the head with a brick would have been less surprising.  My 15 year old nephew, my brother's son, has cancer.  No one else in our family had cancer.  Ok well, melanoma.  We're all of northwestern European descent - Irish, Scottish, English, German.  We don't do sun.  But melanoma caught early almost never kills you.  But this was different.  This was lymphoma and that definitely could kill you.  And that's what rang through my head when I heard the news - No one in our family has cancer!  We don't have risk factors for cancer (except melanoma)!  What is going on?

We still don't know what is going on for sure.  At this point we know its T-cell lymphatic cancer.  It hasn't spread to his bone marrow, his spinal fluid looks good, and the doctors were pretty sure that it was contained to the lymph nodes under his jaw.  That's all fine and well - all that stuff. But as anyone who has had or has known someone with cancer, cancer's only the tip of the iceburg.  He's dealing with fluid around  his heart and lungs, with kidneys that are malfunctioning.  Having to get naked in front of female nurses!  Its all so overwhelming to me, I can't image what its like for him.  The doctors that have seen him have all had encouraging words for us.  Its as good as it could be if its going to be cancer, which to me really is like them pointing up to a mountain peak where the sun is peeking over and saying, "Once you get to the top, you'll be fine."  Its great that you can see the peak, the sun.  But you still have a long way to get there.  And its going to be hard, frustrating, terrifying, hurtful, and altering that as you go along you just hope its all worth it.

For about the next month or so, any bit you donate, or any direct donation made to my PayPal will 100% go to Gabriel's hospital fund.  I'll donate it for as long as he's in the hospital, which from optimistic estimates will be for at least a month.  Let's mitigate the nausea my brother and sister-in-law will feel when they get the bill for the hospital when he gets better.  If you'd rather go a more direct route I've also included a link for his YouCaring fundraiser below.  Any little bit helps - seriously.

Team Gabe You Caring Fundraiser

~~~   Scrappywheelz   ~~~

Schedule Shakeup

So tonight I normally don't stream.  Except I am.  And this Friday I wouldn't normally stream either, and I won't, however I will be doing a short live stream.  Why, you ask??

Cause I'll be at Salt Lake Comic Con!

Super excited to be going to one of my favorite places with the family.  We won't be doing any celebrity hounding this year but its ok because there's so much more to do than stand in long lines and listen to two dudes argue the virtues and vices of Kirk and Picard.  (Picard completely blows Kirk out of the water in intelligence, sophistication and sexiness - just sayin.)

So tonight in my semi-obsessive need to have all the healers, I might be leveling my agent some.  One thing I haven't really tried in Star Wars: The Old Republic is PvP healing.  None of the classes are really great for that.  Merc healers can be quite mobile with their heals and they get some nice shield procs and protective bubbles, but they only have one really good 'get out of stun lock free' and its cooldown makes it pretty unimpressive.  Sorcerer heals just got a nice big nerf stick to the face not too long ago and so while they have some nice abilities for heals on the run and escapes, they've seen a big loss in pure healing umph.  Which leaves me with the agent.

I have to admit.  Agent was fun to level but its not very much fun to play otherwise (note: IMO). As I've said before, I'm not a fan of melee DPS.  I much prefer ranged but agents as much as Gunslinger Smugglers suffer from ridiculously long cast times for their abilities with little to no mobility at all, if you want to cast the hard hitters.  I seriously tip my hat to the players that make the Sniper/Gunglslinger a viable and deadly class in PvP.  I just can't find the knack for it.  Which leads into some of the things I do not like about the agent heals.  Agent heals are less mobile than mercs, and they have more potential healing ability than sorcs.  But their abilities suffer from longish cast times.  The only thing, for me, that makes the agent rise above the rest for PvP is all its lovely escapes.  Which, having rarely played stealth classes, will be the hardest thing for me to learn and make intuitive.

So here's to throwing myself in the pool and making myself learn to swim so to speak.  And I'm going to do all for your enjoyment!

Here goes nothing -    www.twitch.tv/scrappywheelz

Also remember, you still have time to sub to your favorite Twitch-er for half off the normal sub price!  SubTember is almost over so make sure you take advantage of this fantastic offer while it lasts.


~~~   Scrappywheelz   ~~~

Bits and Scraps

Like I promised, I have finally implemented a few new features!  Not only do I have a tip mug

You can now visually see those bit cheers when you tip!  Throw as many bits as you like in my mug, and watch the magic.

Bits are fun but you do not need to donate them to participate in my stream.

Introducing - scraps!  For every 5 minutes you watch my live stream, you will receive 5 scraps!  Scraps can be used for playing games on my stream, or redeeming prizes.

You might have noticed that there is a button on the lower righthand of my screen.  This is the menu button where you play games, redeem scraps and request songs from SoundCloud.

Here is the initial offerings for scraps:

Also watch for the bouncing chest!  If you see one bouncing around my screen, click on it for a reward!  The amounts contained in the chest will change from time to time so you'll never know how much you're going to get.

I'll be streaming tonight at 9pm MST.  Tonight's adventure will be the follow up chapter to the Revan series - Ziost!  Please feel free to join me and earn those scraps!

And don't forget - September is SubTember at Twitch.  All month long any level of subscriptions are 50% off for your first month's subscription to your favorite streamer.  My sub button is in the upper right hand corner of my stream!

www.twitch.tv/scrappywheelz

~~~   Scrappywheelz  ~~~

Half Price Subs! and Revan

No, not that kind of sub!  Subscriptions!  During the month of September, Twitch is offering you the chance to support my stream for your first month for only $2.99 - half off the normal $4.99 pricetag.  SUBtember is here! (That one wasn't mine.  Blame Twitch.) Do you have to sub to enjoy my awkward and nerdy antics?  Of course not.  I don't normally pander the fact that I'm affiliated.  I figure if that's something you are interested in the button in the upper right hand corner of my screen next to the Follow button should be enough of a clue.  But since this something outside the norm, I'd figure I'd let you know about it!  If this something that interests you, great!  Let's rock and roll.  If not, great!  Let's rock and roll.

Did you also know that if you are an Amazon Prime member you are also eligible for an upgrade to Twitch Prime for free?  Yes!  Meaning commercial-free streams, access to monthly gaming specials and freebies and the ability to subscribe to one of your favorite Twitch channels for no extra out of pocket (meaning you don't have pony up another $5 [normally] a month).  That would be me, right?

So all this information directs you to one big question - "Why would you do that?".  Well, outside of the fact that I'm awesome which would be fairly specious of me to say, I've got lots of fun things planned for the folk who do subscribe to me coming up in the near future.  I've already hinted at one of them in a previous post, so keep your eye out for more updates.

DarthTemoc Deviantart

Revan!  What more can I say about this enigmatic force-user other than he is fascinating?  Now don't get all excited.  I have not read one word of any other EU Star Wars books on him (don't worry I have had friends chastise me on this already).  I didn't even know he was a thing until I started playing my first warrior in Star Wars: The Old Republic.  But ever since I played that first questline in Dromand Kaas (now located at The Wall), the duality of his nature, his seeming inability to assimilate both his light and dark sides has intrigued me.  Because let's be honest.  Who hasn't warred with aspects of their own nature in their way?  Who hasn't discovered that one decision changed the whole direction of your entire future, for good or for bad?

So for the next few play dates, I'll be focusing on playing out the entire Revan storyline that should take me from Mask of Revan on Dromand Kaas to Call to Arms for Boarding Party and The Foundry to Shadow of Revan on Rishi andYavin 4.  It should be a fun ride!

Hope to see you there!


~~~   Scrappywheelz   ~~~

Get all the CXP!

So in case you haven't heard, the powers that be at Star Wars: The Old Republic decided to unintentionally extend the bonus command experience gained in Black Hole, Oricon, Czerka, Yavin 4, Ziost, and Section X  dailies.  Apparently due to a glitch with this last patch, the bonus experience continued past maintenance this last Tuesday.  Sooooo, have fun and hurry and taken advantage of it while you can!  They've stated that they will not be doing anything to fix this until patch 5.5 comes out sometime at the end of September or beginning of October.

I admit I came to appreciate CXP a little late to the game and so I'm trying make up for lost time.  One tip I've found extremely useful, especially if you play on a high population server, is the PvP zone instance.  Certain nodes and updates can be positively painful to obtain with rude people ganking them while you're fighting the mobs around them or waiting for overly long respawn times.  Not to mention just the simple fact that you've got 20 other people in the same zone doing the same things and well, you get the picture.  Transferring to the PvP instance has in most, if not all of the incidences that we've done, have been fairly empty of other players, regardless of faction.  Of all the times we've run in the PvP instance, we've had only two events where we actually had to PvP.  First was two stealthies decided to jump us in Section X.  Problem for them was that we were better geared and probably had more PvP experience than them.  They managed to kill 2 of the 3 of us, but made the mistake of sticking around long enough for us to pop back up and get some health back.  Suffice to say, there were two dead stealthies after that.  The other was a target of opportunity that one of my guildies could not resist taking.  I actually felt sort of bad for the guy since he was only trying to get his dailies done and probably didn't expect to be messed with.  So while its mostly peaceful on the PvP instance, just be prepared.

I should also mention that the Umbara exploit is still in place until the next maintenance.  As stated in the above link, Eric Musco has warned that they are fully aware of this exploit and plans on penalizing anyone who took advantage of it!

Lastly, I want to sending out prayers of safety to my viewers and friends in the Southeast right now as they prepare for Irma to make landfall.  Just as with Harvey, Irma is expected to be particularly devastating as one of the largest documented hurricanes on record.  I encourage everyone to take a minute or two to consider making donations to agencies who are surely on call at this minute to help people get back on their feet again.  Heaven knows they are going to need it.

Here are some reputable charities with proven track records:

Global Giving
Red Cross
Salvation Army
LDS Church Humanitarian Aid Fund (100% of funds donated are used for relief services, not administration)
Florida Humane Society
Florida SPCA

Again, I can't stress enough - please know who you are giving your money to before you hand over your credit card or cash.  Unscrupulous people are out in force right now trying to take advantage of the misfortune of others by swindling you of your money.

Join me tomorrow while stream World of Warcraft tomorrow afternoon!  www.twitch.tv/scrappywheelz

~~~~   Scrappywheelz    ~~~

Houston Strong

On August 25, 2017, Hurricane Harvey made landfall at Corpus Christi, TX,  near Houston.  And once again history repeated itself, sort of.  Anyone that was alive in the early 2000's remembers Hurricane Katrina and the disaster that was.  And I'm not really talking about the hurricane itself.  Or the floods.  Or the poorly maintained levys breaking.  I'm talking about the human disaster that played out in the weeks and months after the storm had subsided.  All the news reported was efforts to help.  People transporting people by boat when they had been living out in the open on the tops of their roofs for days.  Animals clinging to logs too exhausted to swim anymore.  Old and disabled people abandoned by their 'caretakers' to roll the dice with fate.  Lousisana's Superdome became a gigantic shelter with thousands upon thousands of displaced people camping out practically on top of each other.  People who had no place else to go sat in the heat, wondered if they were going to eat that day and worried about sending their family members to the bathroom because they never knew if they were going to be physically attacked or sexually assaulted by the predators that shared their roof.  And the worst of it - the politicians on both sides of the aisle in Washington DC and in the affected areas playing the blame game with pointed fingers instead of rolling up their sleeves and putting their power to do good to work, delaying help and funding for weeks!  It was a pretty bleak picture for a long time.

Its not going to be like that this time.  People in the wake of Katrina saw that the most effective help that those people and areas received were not government agencies.  They were by organizations, old and new, whose sole purpose was to intervene in times like these.  And this time, while the support of government agencies are important (why should we pay taxes if all its going to do is pay politician salaries?), this time we know where our time and money should be going.

Today, Wednesday, September 6th at 8pm EDT, a group of us who stream on Twitch** are going to have a fundraising stream to help those affected by the hurricane.  Our group specifically plays the game Star Wars: The Old Republic.  As the guild Unholy Alliance on the Harbringer server, we'll gather to raid, to goof off, laugh and help raise awareness of the different ways you can help.  Join us for the fun, but also consider making a donation too.  Think about it.  There were 114.8 million families living in the United States in 2010.  If each family in this country donated just $1, that would be $114.8 million going towards helping put people back on their feet, returning animals to their owners and cleaning up the mess Mother Nature made.   That's a lot of power to do good for just $1.

I've included of list of reputable organizations you can make donations to, that have proven track records of effective emergency help:

Global Giving
Red Cross
Salvation Army
LDS Church Humanitarian Aid Fund (100% of funds donated are used for relief services, not administration)
Houston SPCA
Houston Humane Society

US Only

Text HARVEY to 90999 to donate $10 to American Red Cross adds $10 to monthly cellphone bill.

Text STORM to 51555 to donate $10 to the Salvation Army adds $10 to monthly cellphone bill.

Keep in mind -- donating money without making sure where your money goes risks it going to the wrong people and there will always be people whose purpose it is to defaud others at the expense of people who could use it more!  Do your due diligence before handing over your cash or credit/debit card numbers to anyone!

I never want to see Katrina happen again.  I have family and friends that live in the Houston and southern Texas areas, or personally know people who were displaced to different states because where they lived was destroyed or no longer safe to live in.  Most of ones I know that lived in Texas during Harvey had the ability to get their families to safety, but not everyone has the means or the ability to do that.  Let's make sure everyone gets back on their feet - in a safe home, with food, clothes, pets and family members.

See you at 8pm EDT on my Twitch channel! - www.twitch.tv/scrappywheelz


**  Disclaimer:  I am an affliated broadcaster with Twitch.  Any monies raised during this event will be strictly for relief effots and will not be used for personal gain or to pad Twitch's pockets!  This is not a Twitch sponsored event.

~~~   Scrappywheelz  ~~~