Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsCross-realm raiding resource guide
by Mathew McCurley 
Feb 20th 2012 at 5:00PM
Over the last few weeks, many cross-realm raiding websites and resources have popped up. If you're looking to get into a cross-realm raid, here's a handy list of many places out there that are putting together old raids without the hindrance of those pesky servers.
- Twitterland Raiding http://twitterlandraiding.com/
- LFRaid.com www.lfraid.com
- Cross Raid www.cross-raid.com
- OpenRaid US http://www.openraid.us/
- OpenRaid EU http://www.openraid.eu/
Ever wanted to get a group to do Firelands achievements for your mount? What about a chance at the heroic Lich King fight on 25-man? All of this and more is out there for you with cross-realm raiding. Go have fun.
If you have any other cross-realm raiding resources, please let me know at mat@wowinsider.com or in the comments and I will add them to the list.
A quick disclaimer Giving out your RealID email address to anyone is risky business because it is your Battle.net account name. BattleTags, a new feature that will let you give out user names instead of an email address, will be coming soon, so if you want to wait for that because you are leery about giving away your email, wait. If you are protected in the best ways you can be by having an authenticator on your account and a good password, you should be fine.
Brace yourselves for what could be some of most exciting updates to the game recently with patch 4.3. Review the official patch notes, and then dig into what's ahead: new item storage options, cross-realm raiding, cosmetic armor skinning and your chance to battle the mighty Deathwing -- from astride his back!
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
nycblackout89 Feb 20th 2012 6:12PM
I don't like giving anyone my email or name. I am waiting for Battletags to be implemented in a way like xbox gamertags.
Revynn Feb 20th 2012 6:28PM
Yeah, I'm in the "waiting for battletags" group. I'm sure most people doing this are pretty reasonable people that just want to have fun raiding, but I'm still too hesitant about the whole thing to use my RealID address (which is also my work email).
Plus, waiting for Battletags gives me time to level my Rogue to 70 for some BC raiding.
veemac10 Feb 20th 2012 6:56PM
Also, if you are hesitant to give out your email address (which I can totally understand, especially if it's a work email, or personal email, etc.) and you are just waiting until Battle Tags come out, why not create a separate email address just for your WoW account? Gmail, Yahoo mail, etc., those are free. It also will cut down on any WoW-related spam you might get too. I do get the occasional WoW related spam in my WoW email account.
If you think about it, getting a "disposable" email address just for your WoW account is a bit like having a Battle Tag, in a way. And really, if you want to cross-realm raid, you could give out your Real ID, and then later on you might change your mind. You can always disable Real ID in Battle.net (which will delete all your Real ID friends) and change your email address to something else.
Cennic Feb 20th 2012 9:54PM
^^^ This. As soon as I got my Authenticator I also went and made an email specifically for my WoW account and haven't had a problem since. The email even has WoW in the name. Totally worth the tiny little bit of trouble it was to make the email. I wouldn't recommend doing any of this without an authenticator, but really, unless you're worried about the email account itself (which can be solved with previously stated solution) theres really no way anyone can hack your account with an authenticator. Before I got mine I got hacked all the time, especially when I stopped playing for more than a couple of weeks. I've had it for almost a year now and haven't had a problem at all even during the time I didn't play for almost 2 months. Just saying, it makes things pretty secure. Or at least seems to. It would be pretty hard to guess a number with millions of possible combinations.
Also, I joined LFRaid recently and haven't had a problem yet. Not that I can say I won't, but it seems pretty legit so far.
Mycroft Feb 21st 2012 1:08AM
That's only addressing part of the hesitation. You're still giving out your login name, and will still have your legal name displayed to others (or whatever name you signed up with).
Miri Feb 20th 2012 7:01PM
Twitterland is safe and I can say that because 1/ I'm on there and 2/ I interact with almost all the members on a daily basis.
Truth of the matter is such: Trust your gut instinct. If you don't know the people, then follow your instincts and don't click the link. That being said, I take offense to everything being labeled a "OMG IT'S GONNA HACK YOU" site.
I'm on the site and I even have a thread up for my team that I run weekly. That in mind, I posted about it looking for other Tweeps who I engage with regularly to gauge their interest--I'm in no way looking to give out my RealID to people that I haven't communicated with before.
The WoW Twitter community is a great bunch of folks who like to get together and have fun =)
--Miri
@wowmiri
Vhei Feb 20th 2012 7:49PM
I am the owner of Cross-Raid.com and I want to stress that your RealIDs are viewable ONLY to the staff. This is so you can get an invite to the raids. Completely confidential. If you have any questions on the process or in general feel free to ask.
Dreadpirate Feb 21st 2012 2:58AM
So all it takes is one corrpt member of staff to decide to sell te database info and user's have a deluge of hacking attempts and spam
Mycroft Feb 21st 2012 1:14AM
I'm Also in the 'waiting for battletags' category. And unless they implement more privacy features, probably limit 'friending' to just before an event, and remove afterwards.
Saz Feb 21st 2012 2:00AM
For those of you who may read this article before (if) it gets edited, Twitterland Raiding can now be found at a new URL: http://www.twitterlandraiding.com/
Don't be frightened off by the fact that it has Twitter in it's name. That's just where the idea originally started, and we've since branched out to anyone who is friendly, longing to run cross-realm raids, and are looking a good time. We've been having a blast so far : )
~ Saz of Twitterland Raiding
Chris Gonzalez Feb 21st 2012 2:59AM
It would be cool if there was a mobile app version of these sites that would notify you when a raid you might be interested in is about to form, just in case you're not on the site but have time to raid (because you're doing dailies/laundry/etc). I'm sure it will happen in time, though, since these things are still in their infancy.
I really like Cross-raid's Dungeon section. I have a few fresh-85 alts that I'd like to gear up without having to sit in a DPS que, and none of the other sites offer a 5-man section (can't yet speak for Twitterland Raiding, though; I don't have full access to their forums since I just registered).
Lars Petersson Feb 21st 2012 8:29AM
With an authenticator, I don't see what the problem is.
And to be honest, I think it's borderline crazy not to use an authenticator these days with all the threats out there...
jaoul Mar 12th 2012 7:19PM
Hey guys
I created wowpugs.com would love your feedback.
I know its not cross-realm but still its great for finding raids
Check it out and let me know what you think
samer.yacoub Mar 12th 2012 7:22PM
Hey guys
I created wowpugs.com and would like to hear your feedback
I know it is not cross-realm but still its very useful for old school raids
check it out and let me know what you think