The best of WoW.com: October 2009
by Allison Robert 
Dec 29th 2009 at 8:00PM
Ask a Faction Leader: Cairne Bloodhoof: Among all the AAFL columns he's done so far, Sacco's personal favorite is Cairne.
Spiritual Guidance: Don't be that priest: Matt Low not-so-gently lectures his fellow priests on the failings to which the class is prone while not paying attention or entering an encounter unprepared.
Searching for the most popular server: Schramm takes a look at some data and wonders -- what's the busiest and/or most crowded server out there?
Patch 3.3 PTR: New Tauren skins found: So what are those things anyway? A new set of NPCs for Icecrown? A new barbershop option? Tribal markings for the Grimtotem?
Chill of the Throne: Dodge nerfed 20% in Icecrown Citadel: The debuff is quickly termed "Icewell Radiance" by disgruntled tanks everywhere.
Patch 3.3 PTR: Forge of Souls first impressions: Greg Reece grabs some WoW.com staffers and Tristan from The Elitists to venture deep into the scary wilds of new 5-mans on the PTR.
Holy crap, Blink has sort of been fixed: I'm just going to quote Christian Belt on this one:
- 2004: World of Warcraft is released. Mages, the single best class in the game, have a bunch of spells. One of them is Blink. It purports to teleport the caster 20 yards forward. It doesn't really work.
- 2009: Blink still doesn't really work.
Lich King animation found: And this just lends support to that theory.
Patch 3.3 PTR: Jaina gets a makeover: The comments section on this article is funny as hell, but my personal favorite was Kylenne's: I know Jaina's basically a peacemaker and everything, but I didn't realize she'd been passing the pipe with Cairne. Girlfriend looks higher than a kite now. Then again, if Varian was my king I'd be toking too.
WoW Moviewatch: I'm on a mount: We had to slather this one in NSFW messages, but if you can deal with constant profanity (you've pugged VoA-25, right? Then you should be fine), you're in for a treat.
Patch 3.3 PTR: Dwarf, orc, and troll totem gallery: Other shamanic races (including the upcoming Dwarven shaman) finally get customized totem graphics. Tauren wonder -- can we get an update to ours?
Drama Mamas: Don't let others control your fun: A wonderful Drama Mamas; what happens when "that guy" shows up in your guild (and he eventually shows up in every guild)?
Race change available: Faction change had been live for some time, and now Blizzard lets you switch between races for better racials, better looks, or just for fun.
Cataclysm: For Gnomeregan!: Gnomes may finally get their long-lost capital city back in the upcoming expansion, but the news we saw is rather coy on exactly how long they'll keep it.
The Art of War(craft): Absolute beginner's guide to the Battlegrounds: Great guide by Zach for those lost in the battlegrounds, which at one point or another has been all of us.
Shifting Perspectives: The disappearance of the bear: Most players have noticed a huge fall in the number of druid tanks between now and the end of BC, and we ask -- why?
Blood Pact: The birth of a warlock: Dominic's article inspired me to dust off my own long-forgotten channeler of darkness, and is particularly user-friendly for new players uncertain of the lore and story behind the various racial options.
15 Minutes of Fame: Quadriplegic player attacks progression raiding: Quadilious of Sisters of Elune-H is a C4-5 quad stomping Trial of the Grand Crusader and -- with a look at his current Armory -- now Icecrown-25 as well.
2009's drawing to a close, and we're wrapping up the most interesting articles we've published all year, one day at a time. Join us every day for the next twelve days with this year's best of WoW.com!Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Features
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Leviathon Dec 29th 2009 8:04PM
You can see the new tauren skins used (as assumed they would be) on the Grimtotem NPC's.
ben Dec 29th 2009 8:22PM
"besides that one tauren kid in shattrath" remains my favorite AAFL quote of all time.
Myf Dec 29th 2009 8:45PM
The old Jaina looked like a nice sweet girl.
The new one looks like an angry old hooker.
zappo Dec 30th 2009 11:35AM
Times have changed. I made a note to some guildies the first time I ran through ICC 5 mans that although she was mage, she had decided to melee Arthas. So I guess maybe the "angry old hooker" look is more appropriate for a woman who chooses to beat her old boyfriend with a stick while her friends are over.
zikkun1 Dec 29th 2009 9:29PM
The changes about Jaina were amazing, she finally got her own unique model (Which EVERY leader should have, yes, even Mekkatorque. >.>;)
But there's something missing... they have her a huge play in Icecrown Citadel, nobody can even forget her voice now from all her talking.
And yet they didn't give her new clicking voices.
I guess "Welcome to Theramore Isle." won't work since we see Jaina about anywhere in-game, maybe "I shall destroy the evil from within."?
Blacksmithking Dec 29th 2009 9:48PM
I liked the old Jaina better.
And when I met her in the first instance, the Ice Caves of Whateverness, she was 12' tall. My warrior was staring into her...
drakolord Dec 29th 2009 10:07PM
Seriously, you should be glad they didn't replace those.
Blizzard's recasting of voices are just down right terrible. Its not even confined just to Warcraft *looks angrily at Tricia Heifer as the new Kerrigan*. Hell, they don't even get all the new voices right; Alexstraza's voice is awful. But I'm getting offtopic
Drakkenfyre Dec 29th 2009 11:20PM
I got to say, casting Tricia Heifner as the new Kerrigan is, what?
Just because she was on BSG, and just because some people liked it, doesn't mean she needs to be the next Kerrigan.
Cameron Dec 29th 2009 11:20PM
Sometimes I feel like i'm the only one that actually likes New Jaina....
Bronwyn Dec 30th 2009 12:49AM
I like the detail, but not the look on her face.
Ryan Dec 30th 2009 12:14AM
She gained a bit of weight in the left picture.
deluded spider Dec 30th 2009 3:29AM
Yes, now she almost looks like a normal human female.
PvtDeth Dec 30th 2009 7:25AM
Yes, normal human female, that's what I payed all this money for: to see the same thing I could in any mall in America on an average Tuesday night.
Excile Dec 30th 2009 8:58AM
Isnt that Willow from Buffy on the right and Anna Nicole Smith on the left?
Sarabande Dec 30th 2009 10:30AM
I do think the old Jaina looked much better. More friendly, thoughtful and approachable.
But then I'm biased . . as it turned out that I chose the same face model for my Mage (my main) and later, for my Warlock. To see if it was the same, I made my lock have the same hair and visited Jaina in Theramore (before the patch . .. does she also look different in Theramore now?) And they were identical, except that Jaina was much taller.