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Breakfast Topic: Where will your character rest for the last time?

Breakfast Topic Where will your character sit for the last time
Back in the era when playing an MMO was an all-or-nothing proposition, choosing a final logout location could be an emotionally overwrought event. Today, however, players drop in and out of games with regularity. We may skip patches or even expansions that don't particularly appeal to us. We may temporarily step out of Azeroth to focus on real-world goals. We may fall out of love with a character and pick up an alt, only to return months or even years down the line.

Even so, I confess to remaining sentimental about where I log out before an extended (or final) absence. I can still tell you exactly where each of my EverQuest characters is camped out, and I've bookmarked a couple of YouTube videos that run past those areas so that I can occasionally recapture their spirit even without access to the game. I'm a little less attached to logout spots for my WoW characters simply because I use nearly all of them at one point or another for screenshots or in-game contacts for WoW Insider. After this many screenshots, they've ended up scattered across some fairly odd spots.

Where will your main character log out for the very last time? Is it someplace you've grown comfortable with over the years? Somewhere representative of that character's adventures or character? A familiar spot behind the counter of a favorite vendor or banker? Or perhaps, like the screenshot above, somewhere holding a tinge of tragedy?

Filed under: Breakfast Topics

Review of Dawn of the Aspects, part four

Review of Dawn of the Aspects, part four
It is absolutely official, now -- I have no idea how the Aspects actually came to be Aspects. For that matter, Tyr's purpose seems to be just as mysteriously vague. However, there was far more light shed on both questions in part four of Dawn of the Aspects, now available for a variety of e-readers. Despite the muddied waters of draconic origins, it is apparent that more of these mysteries will be answered in full by the time the fifth and final installment rolls around.

What did we know, to date? We knew that the Aspects were empowered by various Titans and charged with watching over the world. But that's about it -- the process of how that empowering came about is by and large a giant unknown and has been for years. What surprises me is just how willing I was to let the origin of the dragonflights slide as something that wasn't terribly important, in the long run. But when one considers that their origin appears to be tied to the fate of Tyr, it suddenly bears far more interesting implications.

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, Lore

What's the best way to get Lesser Charms of Fortune?

What's the best way to get Lesser Charms of Fortune
What's the best way to get Lesser Charms of Fortune every week? Although Blizzard recently reduced the amount of Lesser Charms of Fortune players need each week (by lowering the requirement for the weekly quest Mogu Coins of Fate from 90 charms to 50 charms) we've still got to get them somewhere. So what's the best way?

Prior to patch 5.3, it seemed like everyone was swearing by pet battles. Players were claiming they'd earned hundreds to thousands of Lesser Charms just killing critters in Stormwind. A hotfix eventually nerfed the drop chance for Lesser Charms in lower level pet battles, but higher level pet battles are still rewarding charms to anyone who wants to put in the time. Is it still worth it?

Patch 5.3 has also added a couple of changes to Lesser Charm collection to really mix up the equation. Level 90 creatures that are outdoors in the world now have a chance to drop Lesser Charms of Fortune, while rare spawns in Pandaria and bosses in Battlefield: Barrens are guaranteed to always drop the charms. The result of this? Hordes of players in Northern Barrens farming Lesser Charms off the new Kor'kron mobs there.

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion

WoW Moviewatch: ROFLMAO!

I can't remember the last time we ran this video, which is a shame since it's one of the breakthrough machinima hits that brought the hobby to the masses. And by the "masses," I mean me. One of Oxhorn's biggest hits, ROFLMAO remains as hilarious to this day.

Enjoy a few moments of silly WoW song. Sorry if it gets stuck in your head all weekend. Then again, it's better to have in your head that Tik Tok. ROFLMAO!
Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.

Filed under: WoW Moviewatch

Have you done any heroic scenarios?

new scenarios

Have you done any heroic scenarios?


So, the new patch has been out for a few days now, and one of it's more touted features -- heroic scenarios -- has left us here at WoW Insider all scratching our heads a bit. See, surprisingly, there's no Dungeon Finder option to queue for them, meaning that currently the only way to do them is to get a premade group of three and zone into the scenario from its Azerothian starting point. Talk about a blast from the past! Suddenly visions of Shattrath trade chat in 2009 whirl before me, in which never ending whispers from those poor souls trying to get through heroic Shadow Labyrinth filled my chat log. "Will you tank?" they'd ask. "No," I'd respond. "I'm a healer!" (These were the days before dual specs.)

Ahem. In any case, trade chat has once more filled with calls of "LFM heroic scenarios," something that hasn't been seen around these parts in a while. We're all relearning how difficult it can be to round up a group without the Dungeon Finder around to grease the wheels. So, have any of you managed to successfully corral your groups and get through a heroic scenario or two?

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Mists of Pandaria

Death Knight one-per-realm restriction lifted

Death Knight one per realm restriction lifted
WoW Insider received an email this morning about a small change that has us all a'fluster. Saruya sent us a notification that the restriction preventing players from having more than one death knight per realm has been lifted. We immediately logged into WoW to check this out, and as the eagle eyed among you will be able to see, this is definitely the case. I was able to make six death knights on Argent Dawn, with no issues whatsoever, and many more on other realms.

What's got us a little confused, though, is that we're not entirely sure when the restriction was lifted. Nethaera posted on the official US forums on April 14th, after the release of patch 5.2, that there was no update on when it would be lifted. This implies to us that it's a recent change, but it is conspicuously absent from the patch notes! Funny enough, when you assume there is not the possibility to create more than one DK per realm, you don't often try. So, we thought we'd post this here to clarify: you can now have all the DKs your cold, frostbitten heart desires.

Filed under: Death Knight

If you could create a minor glyph

If you could create a minor glyph
A great question was posted on the official EU forums today by Ferwyn, who asked "if you could make your own minor glyph what would it be?" They had a few suggestions, from a paladin-specific perspective, one of which I quite liked: Glyph of the Ascended, which Ferwyn suggested might make a paladin levitate and their wings flap during Avenging Wrath. This is a fantastic idea! Sure, the animation might be a bit tricky, but who'd let that stand in the way of a floating paladin, right?

Blizzard Community Manager Taepsilum weighed in with their own suggestions, which might randomly switch your title to Murloc on the Inside or Minion of Taepsilum. Title switching is a great idea, but even better, what about a minor glyph that allowed you to shapeshift into a murloc for a few seconds?

And while we're on this topic, what is your favorite minor glyph in the game right now? My high rated ones would be the Paladin Glyph of Winged vengeance, the butterfly wings during Avenging Wrath, and Glyph of the Falling Avenger, which adds slow fall to Avenging Wrath. But the absolute number one minor glyph for me is Glyph of Confession. The secrets are fantastic, and I have spent many a happy while running around my raids and PvP teams making them confess to things. My only complaint is that it's not useable on hostile targets -- how great would that be in arenas?

So if you could make a minor glyph, what would you call it and what would it do?

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Mists of Pandaria

Phat Loot Phriday: Girdle of Eternal Memory

Phat Loot Phriday Girdle of Eternal Memory
It's Memorial Day weekend in the United States. And so we feature the Girdle of Eternal Memory. It's a silly, meaningless gesture in the face of the overwhelming sacrifices made by the members of our uniformed services, but it's the one we have. So this weekend, I hope you take a moment or three of silence and consider the words spoken by TIrion:

"We shall take heart in his shining example and in your selflessness. Thank you for all that you have done."
Phat Loot Phriday brings you the scoop on some of the most ... interesting ... loot in the World of Warcraft, often viewed through the eyes of the stalwart Throgg and indelible Lolegolas. Suggest items you think we should feature by emailing mikeg@wowinsider.com.

Filed under: Phat Loot Phriday

WoW Archivist: Launch classes' 9 biggest aggravations, part 2

PallyPower
WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold?

Vanilla WoW is properly considered the golden age of this beloved MMO. The evolutionary ideas behind the game were exciting, the art style was fresh, and the world was full of mysteries. Some yearn for a return to that time. But many forget that classes at launch suffered from some truly aggravating designs. Last time on Archivist, we looked at priest racials, hunter mana, warlock shard farming, and shaman weapon skill resets. This week, we review the most aggravating aspects of warriors, mages, druids, rogues, and paladins.

Warriors: The leather conundrum

Let's be fair: warriors, for the most part, had it pretty good in vanilla. Back then, they were the only class that could viably tank and their DPS was better than most hybrids. Rage had its share of problems early on, it's true, but the mechanic worked -- warriors just needed more of it. Stance dancing was annoying to some but the mark of a pro to others. Warriors also had a crippling bug at launch that would register all enemy dodges and parries as misses, preventing skills like Overpower from ever proc'ing. The bug made early leveling painful, but it was solved a few months after launch.

The biggest aggravation for warriors throughout vanilla -- and beyond -- was leather.

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Filed under: WoW Archivist

WoW Insider's guide to the battle pets of 5.3

unborn val'kyr
Patch 5.3 has added a ton of new content to the game, including some additional battle pets for us all to collect. We've compiled a a rundown of them, including where to find them and what they do. Have at y, pet collectors, and happy hunting!

Burning Crusade raid pets
There are a total of ten new battle pets that can be found in Burning Crusade-era raids. And you thought you were done farming the Karazhan opera!

Karazhan
L'il Bad Wolf
The L'il Bad Wolf has a chance to drop from the Big Bad Wolf at the Karazhan opera event. Sadly, the Big Bad Wolf is not a guaranteed boss from the opera, so this pet is likely to be one of the more difficult ones to add to your collection this patch. For the lucky ones who do manage to grab the L'il Bad Wolf, you'll be rewarded with a Humanoid pet possessing Claw, Mangle, Howl, Counterstike, Dodge, and Pounce. While none of those are unique abilities, Mangle is possessed only by two other pets in the game.

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Filed under: News items, Achievements, Mists of Pandaria

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