[1.Local] serves up a smattering of reader comments from the past week, from the sublime to the ridiculous.

WoW Insider readers have frenzied like a pack of rabid murlocs on speculation over Blizzard's splash screen changes. Theories abound – and we're keeping an eye on all of them, for your reading (and speculative) pleasure. Another hot topic this week proved to be, of all things, the faction segregation of Brewfest mounts.

Readers pulled together to offer up tips and encouragement for downing Midsummer boss Lord Ahune, before going at each other's throats over whether today's BGs are all about the zerg rush for honor -- or "real" PvP. And finally, one reader offered up his advice to another player's Arena newbie question about his prospects going up against seasoned Arena players in Season 4 – ouch.

Be sure to dive into the comments area of each thread (not this one!) and add your own thoughts – unlike your mama, we like us some hot, fresh backtalk.

	Splash screen changes for June 27th For those of you who look to WoW Insider to inject some diversion to a long, boring work day ... It's been a good week! Speculation over Blizzard's splash screen changes has kept readers in knots, pounding WI comments and mailboxes with theories about what the big, impending announcement may be. Amidst the furor, vlad sends up a shout-out to Daniel Whitcomb's most recent recap of the daily conspiracy theories: "i think you have done a hell of a job putting these articles together. good commentary and collection of all the different rumors. news reporting. not just silly fluff and quota fillers like some folks. gg whitcomb." Be sure to visit the thread to check out currently popular theories and add some insights of your own.
	Brewfest mount changes get players steamed Plenty of readers were upset at Blizzard's decision to segregate Brewfest mount rewards by faction. "Hey. This takes the cake as far as I'm concerned," declares Alveredus. "I suspended my account several months ago after getting the 'Shattered Sun' title and my epic flyer. As someone in a guild of RL friends that had dwindled down to around five players, there was nothing left to do. I was doing arena around once a month, sometimes joining a team just to lose 10 games. "Gear is always going to be obsolete. Things like tabards and mounts are really what you get to keep, the things that never go out of date, the souvenirs that say you were there and that you did something fun. I did Brewfest last year and even got the Ram on my Alliance main. And during Brewfest last year, Blizz employees were alluding to the Kodo as a reward for Alliance players. Heck, I knew it was going to be the Kodo and I even designed my own custom skin for it to see what it would look like, complete with kegs for drums. And when I suspended my account, I told myself I'd come back when I could get the Brewfest Kodo for my Alliance alt and give the game another try. "That isn't going to happen as it stands and it leaves me disappointed... because I enjoyed WoW and I do miss it. But I don't miss it enough when I see stunts like this, when I'm reminded of the Hunter Ghost Wolf nerf or when I see that Blizzard puts its design sensibilities or maintaining rigid Alliance vs. Horde boundaries over opportunities for dumb fun and shiny knock knacks and character customization. It's Blizzard's commitment to dumb fun through things like Haris Pilton, Hemet Nestingwary, Interrogator Vicious and his wide Nancy, Easter eggs, trinkets and doodads that made me enjoy WoW. I could never really enjoy games built around serious fantasy like Conan or LoTR but crazy freebies, tabards, custom mounts and wacky Gnomish Steampunk technology was my window into appreciating WoW. "When I see that commitment to 'Alliance vs. Horde' mentality (which prompts most of the most obnoxious behavior in the game; seriously, people who still have intense faction pride after they logout make me want to punch them) over a commitment to dumb fun and opportunities for crazy possibilities, I realize that this isn't the kind of game being developed that I want to come back to. "I'm not going to reactivate my account just to post my displeasure on the WoW forums over this. But I am frustrated because this is not only something I was prepared to come back for but something that I had multiple RL friends who were willing to come back to WoW for and transfer to my server so we could all experience the Kodo grind together, ride into BGs on our matching Kodos as Alliance and give the game a fresh try. If Blizzard's staff changes their mind, I may come back and I may bring more with me. If they stand by their decision to promote rigid factionalism over fun and 'rulebending,' freewheeling fun, there really isn't a game I'd be interested in returning to. "I plan to call customer service over this today and lodge my concerns. I urge others to do the same. The 80+ page thread on the official forums may not result in anything more than periodic extensions to keep the complaints isolated to a single thread. But this is probably the one thing that would prompt me to call Blizzard... and if we keep the lines ringing, perhaps they'll realize how deep the disappointment runs for Horde players who still want rams (I'm one of those) and Alliance players who have been looking forward to Kodos since last Brewfest (I'm one of those too). "This decision is obnoxious and offends me, even as someone who doesn't currently play."
	Lord Ahune strategy and walk-through Readers had plenty of advice to share on the Midsummer event's Lord Ahune fight. "This boss was tricky for my group in partial kara/badge gear, admits Debricashi. "We wiped a few times with a team of Bear Tank, Tree Healer, 1 mage, 2 hunters. We then switched over to a Pally Tank, Tree Healer, 3 hunter formation and got him immediately. We were not overgeared for the encounter, and found it tough but fair (although it hoses frost mages). The keys to the fight were: "1. Avoid the ribbons that turn into the frost spikes that toss you for a bunch of damage. This is especially critical for the healer, and because you can actually be thrown into the water and forced to swim back around before you can do anything. As bear tank, I found that kiting the elemental back and forth across the area in front of the boss was the easiest way to avoid the ribbons, which were often obscured by my body. "2. Bring an AoE. You have to deal with a lot of squishy adds. That makes this the perfect place for Seed of Corruption or Consecrate. If you do not keep the adds away from the healer, either by killing them off immediately or by grabbing their aggro, the healer will quickly be overwhelmed by adds in the third cycle. "3. Show the core what your business is! And that business should be brutally punishing cores. Use all your cooldowns as soon as he is exposed. Have your healer and tank do whatever they can. This will make all the difference. "This encounter is, in my opinion, well balanced for the level of gear it provides, which is equivalent to the 25-badge cloak. For my bear tank, the cloak would be an upgrade and the dps or healing versions would be great to have for questing or off-spec. (I'd also love for the enchant to drop.) For my hunter, I am using the badge version of the cape, which suggests it is at his gear level. Others in the party fell into about the same category. The encounter was tough, but doable, and the drops were commensurate. "In the end, the pally AoE was very helpful at keeping the healer up, but the increased damage my hunter (with no t4 and still sporting several blue pieces) brought let us down the boss during his second phase 2, which my bear tank (with no kara drops) was able to get the group to. I suspect any entry level warrior or pally tank worth his salt could do the same. This is a fair (but tough) encounter that I suspect does not require any special group composition or overgearing to finish."
	Battleground fallacies It's honor-grinders against BG fanatics! "@ lechter and everyone else who feels we PvPers should shut up and lose so you can get more games in," begins Ktok. "OK, so let me get this straight ... You want us to slack off and lose on purpose so you can get more honor (and rushing with no D *is* a loss Horde side 90% of the time, as our side of the map is built to win with D), because you don't want to play *right* and also don't want to go farm badges to get your PvE gear that way. So because you've chosen to use the BG system to gear yourself for PvE, we must suffer you in our BGs demanding that we lose quickly because that's what you want. "I really wish Heroic instances could work this way. Or raids. How I would love to join someone's raid and demand that we all wipe quickly so we can get two badges in a hurry rather than actually trying to win and getting more. Then when people tell me I'm an idiot, I could whip out the 'But I only have an hour of free time' card and somehow make it sound like I'm only being a douche because I have less free time, and therefore more of a life than people who don't agree with me. "If you choose to play BGs, then play BGs. Don't ruin PvP for those of us who enjoy it just because you've chosen to inflict yourself upon us for your own gain and can't be bothered to try to win. When you join a BG, you are every bit as much a part of a team as when you join a group or raid. Act like it."
	Arena for Dummies Finally, reader Phi takes advantage of our post on "Arena for Dummies" by asking this question: "I've been wanting to form an Arena team for awhile, but I'm afraid of being matched up against a team with much better gear. How well does the matching system in the game work?" Newellrp1's reply is short and sweet: "Phi, short answer to your question: Grab some lube... you are going to get some brutal beatdowns as you start out fresh here in S4. All of the guys with super high ratings have been reset to 1500 and are going to have you (and me) for breakfast." A sore prospect, indeed.

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Battlegrounds, Wrath of the Lich King, Mounts, Bosses, Features, Expansions, Blizzard, Ranking, Tips, [1.Local]