WoW Insider http://wow.joystiq.com WoW Insider http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/wow.joystiq.com/media/feedlogobig.gif WoW Insider http://wow.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2015 AOL, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. View our terms of service here: http://legal.aol.com/terms-of-service/full-terms/ Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/ <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Would you list WoW leadership on your real-life resume?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/05/07/breakfast-topic-would-you-list-wow-leadership-on-your-real-life/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/05/07/breakfast-topic-would-you-list-wow-leadership-on-your-real-life/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/05/07/breakfast-topic-would-you-list-wow-leadership-on-your-real-life/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the AOL guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

I've been to a few resumé workshops in my time, and as a professional writing tutor, I've sometimes been the one helping people with their resumés or CVs. Beyond the listings of education and job history, the section that seems most relevant to employers is that of job skills. Most of us have a number of special skills and talents gleaned from experiences outside of our day jobs, whether in church, volunteer work, coaching a local sports team -- or in my case, in Azeroth.

I run a guild in World of Warcraft, and like every leader in every type of community, be it virtual or actual, I've realized that it takes a lot of skill, attention, and balance to do it right. I have to coordinate events, scout and recruit new members, evaluate the performance of current members both individually and as a team, keep the lines of communication open, and treat everyone diplomatically and with respect. These skills, honed in the virtual world, are extremely relevant to many real-world jobs. The question is, how do I list them on my resume? Should I? Would potential employers be scared away by the knowledge that a job candidate plays World of Warcraft?

Continue reading Breakfast Topic: Would you list WoW leadership on your real-life resume?

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Breakfast Topic: Would you list WoW leadership on your real-life resume? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 07 May 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> facebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionleadershipresumeresumesworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Aiden James Kosciesza) Sat, 07 May 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Behavior unbecoming a player]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/04/29/breakfast-topic-behavior-unbecoming-a-player/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/04/29/breakfast-topic-behavior-unbecoming-a-player/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/04/29/breakfast-topic-behavior-unbecoming-a-player/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the AOL guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

Sometimes we do things that we'd rather forget. Sometimes we do those things in a dungeon. My guild has a few funny stories, such as the paladin tank who forgot to turn on Righteous Fury or DPSers who went through entire runs wearing fishing hats.

In my case, I'm ashamed to say that I let a pushy dungeon group get to me and earned my only dungeon finder kick to date. It was late Wrath, in the early days of the dungeon finder when leaving a random still gave you a long, unavoidable DF cooldown. I queued as a healer and popped into heroic Drak'Tharon Keep. I greeted the group with a cheerful "Hi guys!" but was blindsided when one of the DPS replied, "less talking, more healing." We hadn't even pulled yet.

I shut up, but the comment rankled so much that I immediately decided not to heal the DPSer. As a result, he died a couple times throughout the run and was rezzed by the ret pally. They were all from the same guild, so I knew any attempt I made to vote-kick the rude DPSer would fail. I seethed throughout the dungeon, healing only the tank and two of the DPS, and when we reached the last boss, I was the recipient of an unceremonious vote kick. I was angry at the time, but in retrospect, I deserved it. I should have dropped group the moment the comment was made and let them find a new healer. It's all water under the bridge by now, but that's the one dungeon moment of which I'm ashamed.

Have you ever done something in WoW that you wish you hadn't? Was it with friends or strangers? Is it just a funny story now, or do you still feel sheepish?

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Breakfast Topic: Behavior unbecoming a player originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 29 Apr 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> etiquettefacebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionmannersnetiquetteregretworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Aiden James Kosciesza) Fri, 29 Apr 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Do you like the changes to classic holiday events?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/04/25/breakfast-topic-do-you-like-the-changes-to-classic-holiday-even/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/04/25/breakfast-topic-do-you-like-the-changes-to-classic-holiday-even/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/04/25/breakfast-topic-do-you-like-the-changes-to-classic-holiday-even/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the AOL guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

I distinctly remember the time of year that I started playing WoW because there were Halloween decorations all over the game world. It was October, and Hallow's End was in full swing. Perhaps because of this, I've always looked forward to holiday events in-game, though they've changed over the years. Naturally there was no Headless Horseman boss back then, nor any holiday boss. Noblegarden was a one-day egg hunt in which roleplayers and completionists scrambled to find an Elegant Dress. Stormwind Guards received Valentine's cards during Love is in the Air rather than becoming convenient targets for chemical spray, and the Lunar Festival elders were generous with XP, reputation, and gold when you paid your respects.

Of course, there were no achievements, either.

I think I liked some holidays better the old way. Sure, the RNG problem with many holiday achievements is gone, but it's been replaced by a tedious and time-consuming grind that makes the event feel like more of a chore. I felt the same way about Lunar Festival when finishing it up on my alts. Without the rewards, the only purpose to visiting all the Elders is to tick their names off on the achievement tracker. I happen to like the new Noblegarden format, but I know some people tear their hair out over the egg competition. Brewfest and Pilgrim's Bounty, the new holidays designed with achievements in mind, are more successful in my view.

Do you like the revamped classic holidays? Do achievements make them more or less fun? Did you even do holidays before achievements? How could Blizzard improve its holiday events?

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Breakfast Topic: Do you like the changes to classic holiday events? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> facebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionholidayholidaysworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Aiden James Kosciesza) Mon, 25 Apr 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: How consistently do you run your dailies?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/04/20/breakfast-topic-how-consistently-do-you-run-your-dailies/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/04/20/breakfast-topic-how-consistently-do-you-run-your-dailies/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/04/20/breakfast-topic-how-consistently-do-you-run-your-dailies/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the AOL guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

Daily quests -- love 'em or hate 'em, they've become a staple of WoW's endgame design since their introduction in The Burning Crusade. Some players do all 25 dailies every day, using them as a reliable source of in-game income. Others blast through as many dailies as they need to gain the reputation or rewards they want, then consider their work done; they rejoice in never having to do those quests again. Still others take it slow, doing dailies casually as filler content when they have nothing better to do.

Despite my exhortation to WoW Insider readers to do their dailies, I must confess that I don't always follow my own advice. At the beginning of Cataclysm, I was excited and determined to get all my reps to exalted as quickly as possible, but over time, I got lazy and started to slack off. I only do the Uldum dailies if I happen to be transmuting Volatile Air or digging up Tol'Vir artifacts, and I tend to put off the Tol Barad Peninsula dailies, rationalizing that "they'll be there all day" and I can always squeeze them in. I still try to do Wildhammer every day, but I'm so sick of those quests that it's hard to stay motivated.

Sometimes, to make sure I get my dailies done, I log off in Tol Barad or Thundermar and force myself to do the quests first thing the next day. I find that if I leave my dailies until the end of the evening, they just don't happen.

How do you approach daily quests? Do you stick with them until there's nothing left to gain? Do you see them as easy gold? If you're a slacker like me, how do you motivate yourself to buckle down and do some daily quests?

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Breakfast Topic: How consistently do you run your dailies? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 20 Apr 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> dailiesdaily-questsfacebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Aiden James Kosciesza) Wed, 20 Apr 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Do you rely on game sounds to help you play WoW?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/20/breakfast-topic-do-you-rely-on-game-sounds-to-help-you-play-wow/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/20/breakfast-topic-do-you-rely-on-game-sounds-to-help-you-play-wow/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/20/breakfast-topic-do-you-rely-on-game-sounds-to-help-you-play-wow/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the AOL guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

There are many reasons why WoW is a great game, but to me, one of the things that sets it apart from other MMOs is the sound design. The music is top quality, the voices are entertaining and memorable, and the sound effects are relevant and informative. As a matter of fact, sound effects are critical to the way I play.

Even if I turn down the game music or environment sounds, I leave my sound effects turned way up. Why? Simple. Without them, I would be a less effective player. I rely on the casting sound to tell me when my heals will land and when I can cast the next one, and I listen for the thud of a tank's block or the clink of a parry to let me know when damage has been mitigated. My druid's inarticulate grunts tell me to back away from adds or to move out of the fire, and even when I'm watching the health bars instead of the characters, the game sounds tell me what spells my party members are casting.

I don't always recognize all these things literally, but the presence of Blizzard's sound effects gives me an idea of how the fight is going by sound alone. In the midst of a tense encounter, I can't always keep track of all the visual cues, but sound effects help me follow what's going on.

Do you use sound effects to keep track of what's going on in combat? Which sounds are the most identifiable to you? Without the sound effects, would you be as effective a player?>

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Breakfast Topic: Do you rely on game sounds to help you play WoW? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 20 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> audiofacebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionsound-effectsworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Aiden James Kosciesza) Sun, 20 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: The most memorable raid interruption]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/18/breakfast-topic-the-most-memorable-raid-interruption/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/18/breakfast-topic-the-most-memorable-raid-interruption/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/18/breakfast-topic-the-most-memorable-raid-interruption/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the AOL guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

Way back in the days of yore, before Cataclysm, before Wrath, before even TBC, I was a hunter striving for my Beaststalker pants, and my family had just brought home a new kitten. This was a kitten we'd waited for for over a year, the first purebred Siamese cat we'd owned. She had been welcomed with love into a house full of new toys and kitty beds and expensive cat food, but this kitten had a bad attitude. She yowled. She hissed. She hid under furniture and scratched. Finally, when night fell, we had to shut her up in her special kitten room and hope that the next day proved more encouraging. Dejected, I sat down for an evening of Baron runs to soothe my cat owner's ego.

We had just finished Baroness Anastari when I heard a noise from downstairs, a long, mournful yowl. I immediately feared that the new cat had somehow come to harm. With a quick "brb cat's crying," I rushed down to see what was wrong.

Nothing. The kitten was fine. In fact, she hissed when she saw me. Figures, I thought, and turned away, but when I reached the door, she meowed pitifully again. Experimentally, I opened the door and gathered her up, and she didn't murder me. I carried the kitten upstairs and plopped her on my bed in front of my laptop, where she was immediately entranced by the night elf on the screen. As soon as I announced my return, she pounced on the keys, delighted that she could make the elf move and jump. We finished the dungeon without incident, and I will always remember that run as the night I bonded with that lovely, cantankerous kitten.

What's the most memorable raid or dungeon interruption you've experienced? Do you still talk about it to this day?

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Breakfast Topic: The most memorable raid interruption originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 18 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> facebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussioninterruptionworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Aiden James Kosciesza) Fri, 18 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Lunch Topic: What animal should Blizzard add to the WoW bestiary?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/16/lunch-topic-what-animal-should-blizzard-add-to-the-wow-bestiary/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/16/lunch-topic-what-animal-should-blizzard-add-to-the-wow-bestiary/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/16/lunch-topic-what-animal-should-blizzard-add-to-the-wow-bestiary/#comments This Breakfast Lunch Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the AOL guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

The world of Azeroth is filled with creatures great and small, and a multitude of animal types are represented, both realistic and fantastic. From the beginning, we've had real-world animals such as lions, tigers, bears, ostriches, spiders, bats, hyenas, vultures, and wolves alongside mythological creatures like dragons, centaurs, werewolves, and demons. The Burning Crusade expansion added moths and wasps, dragonhawks and warp stalkers; Wrath brought in rhinoceroses, mammoths, giant worms, and minotaurs; and now, with Cataclysm, we've seen the inclusion of monkeys, mastiffs, eels, fish, sharks, and the much-anticipated fox.

Blizzard is broadening the World of Warcraft bestiary with each new expansion, but there are plenty of animal types left to draw from. How about a tamable sugar glider or a chinchilla vanity pet? Speaking of vanity pets, I'd love to see some of them turned into game mobs. Who wouldn't want to fight (or tame!) a mutant rabbit or Rodent of Unusual Size? With the addition of Vashj'ir, Blizzard has already opened the door for any number of sea creature models. How about a manta ray to join the existing whales and sea turtles?

Is your favorite animal or mythical creature represented in World of Warcraft? What would you like to see added to WoW's bestiary?

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Lunch Topic: What animal should Blizzard add to the WoW bestiary? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 16 Mar 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> animalsbeastsfacebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Aiden James Kosciesza) Wed, 16 Mar 2011 12:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Have rated battlegrounds met your expectations?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/08/breakfast-topic-have-rated-battlegrounds-met-your-expectations/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/08/breakfast-topic-have-rated-battlegrounds-met-your-expectations/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/08/breakfast-topic-have-rated-battlegrounds-met-your-expectations/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the AOL guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

When Blizzard announced the concept of rated battlegrounds, many players, including myself, were ecstatic. Only my old vanilla main has a PvP title, and I'd always wanted to try getting one on my druid. I imagined that we would queue for battlegrounds as usual, but that our ranking on the ending scoreboard would combine with our personal win/loss ratio to create our personal battleground rating. Over time, players would be separated by rating and would wind up in battlegrounds with others of similar skill. The way I imagined it, forming premade groups would be an advantage, but not a necessity for rated play.

Needless to say, that's not how things turned out.

I understand the reason why Blizzard requires full premade groups for rated battlegrounds, and I can see how very good players could wind up with a less than stellar personal rating due to unlucky battleground groups. Still, it's not what I had envisioned, and the fact that my favorite large battlegrounds like Alterac Valley and Isle of Conquest are not represented is disappointing. Blizzard recently announced that it's eliminating the 15v15 bracket, making all rated battlegrounds 10v10, which might help groups that are scrambling to find enough players -- but will (at least for the moment) exacerbate the problem of battleground diversity. Blizzard plans to adapt other maps for the 10v10 bracket, but for now, the available rated battleground scenarios are much less numerous than normal, unrated battleground options.

Have you tried rated battlegrounds? Were they everything you'd hoped for? What do you think Blizzard could do to improve the system ... or do you like it just the way it is?

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Breakfast Topic: Have rated battlegrounds met your expectations? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> 10v1015v15AlteracValleybattlegroundsfacebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionIsleofConquestPvPrated-battlegroundsrated-pvpworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicsWoWwow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Aiden James Kosciesza) Tue, 08 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Is there a class you just can't play?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/04/breakfast-topic-is-there-a-class-you-just-cant-play/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/04/breakfast-topic-is-there-a-class-you-just-cant-play/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/04/breakfast-topic-is-there-a-class-you-just-cant-play/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

I have a lot of alts. They aren't all high-level, but over a number of servers, I have at least two of most classes, three warlocks, three priests, and a veritable army of death knights (come on, who didn't go on a massive DK creation spree the minute we were able?), many of which I've actually played for 10 or more levels. I even dragged my rogue -- one of the toughest classes for me to play -- up to level 80 because I was duoing with my girlfriend's paladin. There's one class, however, that I just can't stand playing: the warrior.

I made my first warrior, a human, because I was impressed by warrior tanks and wanted to see what the class was all about. I'm generally better with casters than melee to begin with, but I can handle my druid's feral spec reasonably well, so I figured what the heck. After five levels, I stripped off the warrior's armor, vendored his sword, put him in a tuxedo and made him my bank alt. I know, I know, it was only five levels, but I just couldn't handle it. Warriors and I do not click.

In Cataclysm, the class revamps made me wonder if I should try a warrior again. I deleted my bank alt, remade him as a worgen death knight, and rolled an adorable little goblin warrior in hopes that the starting zone would get me into the class. I have yet to log into that character. I just can't do it.

Is there a class or spec that you just can't handle playing? What is it about the class that gets to you? Have you tried it just once, or many times?

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Breakfast Topic: Is there a class you just can't play? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 04 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> facebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Aiden James Kosciesza) Fri, 04 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: How has reading WoW Insider changed your game experience?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/01/breakfast-topic-how-has-reading-wow-insider-changed-your-game-experience/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/01/breakfast-topic-how-has-reading-wow-insider-changed-your-game-experience/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/01/breakfast-topic-how-has-reading-wow-insider-changed-your-game-experience/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

Long, long ago, there was a time when I didn't read WoW Insider. When I started playing the game in vanilla WoW, I didn't read anything -- I didn't even know there were WoW sites on the Internet. I got all of my information by word of mouth, and when someone finally told me about Thottbot, it was a game-changer for me. It wasn't until late BC, however, that I even heard about this blog, and I don't think I read it regularly until Wrath.

Keeping track of World of Warcraft news and changes has completely changed how I play the game. Rather than wandering through the world until I come across something interesting, I get a heads-up about new reputation factions, daily quests, mount drops, and craftable items that I can then go searching for. I've learned more about my class, become a better player on my alts, and been assured that it's not just me who hates heroic Grim Batol. I even have an auction addon now, and though I don't play the auctioneer game, I am impressed by those who do.

When did you first start reading WoW Insider? Has the game changed for you as a result? What have you learned about here that you never knew before?

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Breakfast Topic: How has reading WoW Insider changed your game experience? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 01 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> blogbloggingblogsfacebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-insiderwow-issueswow-topics (Aiden James Kosciesza) Tue, 01 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: What makes a great raid leader?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/02/20/breakfast-topic-what-makes-a-great-raid-leader/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/02/20/breakfast-topic-what-makes-a-great-raid-leader/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/02/20/breakfast-topic-what-makes-a-great-raid-leader/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

Raids are a tricky thing. You have to have good tanking, healing, and DPS in the right proportions, people who listen and prepare and pay attention. You have to get those people online and motivated at the same time, and you have to be able to learn from your mistakes and change your strategy for the better. Most important of all, I think, you need a great raid leader.

When I first joined a raiding guild in BC, I was thrilled with the raid leader. He was Australian, so it was great listening to his accent over Ventrilo. I remember him as being very cool-headed and completely on top of what was going on each pull. If we wiped, he'd tell us what had gone wrong and what we were going to do to fix it, and he led us to many victories. He played a tank, a tiny gnome warrior with a shield nearly as big as he was, but he had alts of almost every class and he knew all their abilities perfectly. When he eventually decided to leave WoW due to real-life issues just at the start of Ulduar, the guild tried to go on without him, but it just wasn't the same. I eventually left and went through a few guilds with mediocre raid leaders before finally founding my own. Now I'm once again lucky enough to have a great raid leader, a paladin tank who studies the fights, analyzes the data, keeps his cool and quarterbacks our raids to victory.

What are the qualities that you look for in a great raid leader? Do you need someone calm and relaxed, or does a fiery raid leader push your performance to the next level? Is raid role (tank, healer, DPS) a factor in a leader's quality?

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Breakfast Topic: What makes a great raid leader? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 20 Feb 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> facebookfeedgamer-discussionleaderleadershipraidraid-leaderraidingworld-of-warcraft-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Aiden James Kosciesza) Sun, 20 Feb 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: What's your favorite piece of music in WoW?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/02/16/breakfast-topic-whats-your-favorite-piece-of-music-in-wow/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/02/16/breakfast-topic-whats-your-favorite-piece-of-music-in-wow/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/02/16/breakfast-topic-whats-your-favorite-piece-of-music-in-wow/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

World of Warcraft is a game with great sound and great sound design. Players might not always notice it, but for those of us who play with the music on, these themes can really set the tone for the game. Ashenvale music never fails to remind me of my first foray into the zone; after Darkshore, which was a bit bleak, my baby druid stepped into Ashenvale and it seemed like all of Azeroth opened up, wide and colorful and filled with swelling orchestral tracks. Though the game world seems much smaller to me now, I still remember that moment whenever I hear the Ashenvale theme.

My favorite piece of WoW music, however, has got to be the one in Mulgore. I play mainly Alliance, so I don't go there often, but every time I visit the zone for the Darkmoon Faire or head to Thunder Bluff for some holiday achievement, I'm struck by the beauty and tranquility of the Mulgore music. It really fits the environment, and it never fails to relax me when I fly through. The slow, soft yearning reminds me of the Tauren people and their culture, while the undercurrent of tension hints at the conflict brewing in the world outside that secluded valley.

What's your favorite piece of WoW music? Does it remind you of a particular time or a nostalgic feeling, or is it the pure beauty of the composition that you admire? When do you feel the WoW music is at its most epic?

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Breakfast Topic: What's your favorite piece of music in WoW? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> facebookfeedgame-discussiongame-musicgamer-discussionmusicorchestrasoundsoundtrackvideo-game-musicvideo-game-soundtrackworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issuesWoW-musicWoW-soundtrackwow-topics (Aiden James Kosciesza) Wed, 16 Feb 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Should Blizzard take away earned titles and rewards?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/02/10/breakfast-topic-should-blizzard-take-away-earned-titles-and-rew/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/02/10/breakfast-topic-should-blizzard-take-away-earned-titles-and-rew/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/02/10/breakfast-topic-should-blizzard-take-away-earned-titles-and-rew/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

When patch 4.0.6 hit, I logged into the game excited and eager to see all of the new changes. The first thing that I noticed was that I was no longer The Exalted, a title I'd worked hard to achieve, but had somehow been demoted to Chef. Strange. Maybe Blizzard just reset everyone's titles. I went through my title collection, intending to turn The Exalted back on, and saw that it had been removed entirely. I checked my achievements. I still had 40 exalted reputations, but it no longer conferred a title; nor did 45 exalted reputations, which I don't have yet. The Exalted was my favorite title and the one I wore at all times. What had Blizzard done with it?

Turns out that unlike other achievements and rewards, which stay with you once you've earned them, Blizzard has made the decision to move this title, taking it away from those who had earned it previously. As I understand it, you can get your title back once you've hit 50 exalted reputations, which seems to be the new standard, but it sounds like Blizzard plans to take the title away again every time it adds a new batch of reputations.

Personally, I think that's a terrible idea. Other rewards aren't rescinded when something new comes along. Stinker, the reward for collecting 50 companion pets, was not magically unlearned when the 75 pet achievement was released. Ulduar drakes did not vanish into smoke when ICC drakes came around. Yes, it's true that Blizzard picked the perfect title for The Exalted, and anything else would be inferior. That doesn't diminish the efforts of the people who already worked for it.

What do you think? Was removing the title (and changing it to the 50 reputations achievement) the right thing to do? Or did Blizzard drop the ball on this one?

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Breakfast Topic: Should Blizzard take away earned titles and rewards? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 10 Feb 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> achievementsexaltedfacebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionreputationrewardsthe-exaltedworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Aiden James Kosciesza) Thu, 10 Feb 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: What made you decide to get an authenticator?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/02/08/breakfast-topic-what-made-you-decide-to-get-an-authenticator/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/02/08/breakfast-topic-what-made-you-decide-to-get-an-authenticator/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/02/08/breakfast-topic-what-made-you-decide-to-get-an-authenticator/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

Once again, Blizzard is encouraging its players to use authenticators to protect their Battle.net accounts. In addition to the incentive of a lovable Core Hound Pup pet provided to all World of Warcraft characters on an account that has an authenticator attached, there is now a contest going on to win an iPad for your best Core Hound Pup screenshot, and we've even received reports that free authenticators are being offered to owners of accounts that have previously been compromised. Still, incentives alone aren't enough for some players. Sometimes it takes an incident to drive the point home.

For me, it was a hacking scare involving my girlfriend's account. We had just resubbed to WoW in preparation for Cataclysm and were having a blast when she got a notification from Blizzard that her account had been locked due to an unauthorized break-in. Nothing was gone, no items destroyed, no gibberish-named level 1s created, but she did have to change her password and verify to Blizzard that she was still herself. She was playing on a Mac, used Adblock and had disabled Flash on her browser, and she only visited a handful of websites on a daily basis, all very innocuous places like Gmail and WoW Insider. We figured it was an isolated incident, but just to make sure, she wiped her hard drive and reinstalled WoW. Then, a week later, it happened again. I couldn't believe it, and I still don't know how or why she was targeted, but I ordered our authenticators the very next day. We haven't had a problem since.

What convinced you to get an authenticator? Was it a contest, a promotion by Blizzard, or a hacking scare? If you don't have an authenticator yet, what's holding you back?

Breakfast Topic: What made you decide to get an authenticator? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 08 Feb 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> accountaccount-securityauthenticatorBlizzardcontestcore-houndcore-hound-pupcorehoundfacebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionhackingsecurityworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicsWoWwow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Aiden James Kosciesza) Tue, 08 Feb 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Achievements that should have been]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/02/01/breakfast-topic-achievements-that-should-have-been/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/02/01/breakfast-topic-achievements-that-should-have-been/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/02/01/breakfast-topic-achievements-that-should-have-been/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

The advent of achievements changed the game of WoW in many ways. Not only do they provide recognition for time and devotion put into the game, such as the Loremaster or Justicar achievements, but in Wrath content and beyond, they can actually change players' approaches to game encounters. Consider the meta achievements for the Wrath raids. Who would have actually tried downing Sartharion with all three drakes alive if there had been no reward? Achievements prompt us to try more daring or difficult strategies for boss fights, do crazy or counterintuitive things in PvP combat, or run headlong into live mine fields. They also allow Blizzard developers to work in hard modes for certain bosses, giving them a scaling difficulty that provides accessibility for casual players and challenge for the hardcore.

So what about the vanilla and BC encounters? With a few notable exceptions, classic and Burning Crusade content has not received the achievement treatment.

If achievements had been part of WoW from the beginning, what would they have been like? Which crazy boss strategies deserved their own achievements in classic and BC encounters? Have you ever done something awesome in older content and thought, "Man, that should have been an achievement"?

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Breakfast Topic: Achievements that should have been originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 01 Feb 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> achievementsfacebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Aiden James Kosciesza) Tue, 01 Feb 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: How do you cope with muggles who don't "get" WoW?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/27/breakfast-topic-how-do-you-cope-with-muggles-who-dont-get-wo/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/27/breakfast-topic-how-do-you-cope-with-muggles-who-dont-get-wo/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/27/breakfast-topic-how-do-you-cope-with-muggles-who-dont-get-wo/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

We have a hunter in our guild whose mother does not understand World of Warcraft at all. She's the type who doesn't use computers, refused to have an internet connection in the house until this very year, and thinks that MMOs sound the death knell for her hopes of having grandchildren. My friend the hunter has painstakingly explained that raids are a group activity, that there are real people behind the colorful avatars, and that it's not polite to jump up and leave in the middle of fighting a raid boss -- to no avail. The mother still doesn't understand what could be so compelling on a computer screen that her child can't be at her beck and call.

We all know people who are not WoW players, and most of us have had the experience of trying to explain our favorite game to someone who just doesn't get it, whether that someone is a parent, a significant other, a coworker, or a friend. My own efforts have met with varying results. My family still can't quite wrap their heads around a gaming hobby, but after much persuading I was able to convince my last girlfriend to give WoW a try. She's a valued guildie to this day.

Have you ever had to explain your World of Warcraft hobby to the uninitiated? What was the hardest thing for them to understand? What kind of reaction did you get? Have you convinced any of them to try the game themselves?

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Breakfast Topic: How do you cope with muggles who don't "get" WoW? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> facebookfeedfamilygame-discussiongamer-discussiongamingraidingrelationshipsrelativesworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Aiden James Kosciesza) Thu, 27 Jan 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: What post-launch game features do you most appreciate?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/26/breakfast-topic-what-post-launch-game-features-do-you-most-appr/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/26/breakfast-topic-what-post-launch-game-features-do-you-most-appr/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/26/breakfast-topic-what-post-launch-game-features-do-you-most-appr/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

World of Warcraft has been up and running for six years now, and to anyone who played in the early days, the game is barely recognizable. I'm not talking about the Shattering; I'm talking about the meat of the game, the interface and UI and mechanics that allow us to interact with Azeroth. Blizzard is a great innovator, and over the years we've gained such features as battlegrounds, linked auction houses, meeting stones, heroic dungeons, arenas, the dungeon finder, heirlooms, and the in-game calendar. None of these were present at launch, but they all affect our playstyles today.

These are all great, but that doesn't mean I stop daydreaming about what else Blizzard could do. I love the armory calendar view, but I'd be thrilled if the Blizzard calendar integrated with my Google calendar so I could see raids and guild events alongside my real-life schedule. I also yearn for variable speed scrolling quest text. Instant text encourages me to skip to the end, but the scrolling option is vastly slower than my reading speed, and I just can't handle it.

Which feature added after launch do you think was the biggest game-changer and why? What new innovations would you like to see? Which new Cataclysm features do you think will have the greatest impact on the way we play?

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Breakfast Topic: What post-launch game features do you most appreciate? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 26 Jan 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> facebookfeedfeaturesgame-discussiongamer-discussioninnovationmechanicsmeeting-stonesworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Aiden James Kosciesza) Wed, 26 Jan 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: What makes a guild great?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/23/breakfast-topic-what-makes-a-guild-great/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/23/breakfast-topic-what-makes-a-guild-great/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/23/breakfast-topic-what-makes-a-guild-great/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

With the advent of Cataclysm, Blizzard has dramatically improved guild functionality in World of Warcraft. We have an updated guild UI, new rank options to allow guild masters more control, guild reputation, guild vendors, guild levels, and guild perks. It's fair to say that the guild is more important to the WoW experience than ever. It stands to reason, therefore, that players expect more from their guilds than ever before.

The new expansion is also a huge time for guild recruitment. Lately, you can't step into trade chat without being bombarded by guild advertisements. Maybe you've been shopping around for a new home, or maybe you're a recruiter trying to bring new players into your own guild. Either way, you probably know what you like -- and what you don't like -- in a guild.

Personally, I love my guild. It's a mixture of everything I enjoy about WoW: raiding, PvP, achievement hunting, and altoholism. We put personality before GearScore and encourage new players to raid with us so that they can learn and get better. However, that's not everyone's cup of tea. Many hardcore raiders would get frustrated if they had to put up with less experienced group members, and many guilds prefer to focus on one type of content (raiding, PvP, leveling, roleplaying) and hone their skills in that area.

So what's the magic formula for you? If you're in a great guild, what makes it awesome? If you're searching for a new guild, what are you looking for? What stands out for you in guild advertisements, and what do you think is the best way to recruit players to a guild?

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Breakfast Topic: What makes a guild great? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 23 Jan 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> facebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionguildguild-achievementsworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Aiden James Kosciesza) Sun, 23 Jan 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Cataclysm Daily Quests, Part 5: Uldum, Twilight Highlands and daily priorities]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/18/cataclysm-daily-quests-part-5-uldum-twilight-highlands-and-da/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/18/cataclysm-daily-quests-part-5-uldum-twilight-highlands-and-da/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/18/cataclysm-daily-quests-part-5-uldum-twilight-highlands-and-da/#comments This article has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

Welcome to part 5 of the epic guide to Cataclysm daily quests! Previously, we discussed profession dailies, Therazane dailies, Tol Barad permanent dailies, and Tol Barad dailies received by the faction in control of Tol Barad. Today, we'll wrap up the last few dailies in Uldum and Twilight Highlands and then discuss getting the most out of your Cataclysm daily limit.

Uldum dailies There are only two dailies in Uldum, one infinitely preferable to the other. The first is a short, sweet, entertaining quest called Thieving Little Pluckers. It's fast, fun to do, located near the center of Uldum where you port in, and awards 150 reputation with Ramkahen, otherwise known as the guys who'll sell you a camel when you hit exalted.

The other, Fire From the Sky, is the daily version of the quest by the same name that is part of the Harrison Jones quest line. This was hands down the most broken, miserable quest I had to do on my way to 85. It involves using a cannon vehicle to shoot slow-moving bombs at tiny, moving soldiers on a large map. Initially, all players shared the available mobs; grouped players' kills did not count for other group members; and worst, you couldn't see any bombs except your own. The group you'd been oh so carefully targeting would blow up seconds before your bomb hit, leading to massive nerd rage.

Luckily, this has been hotfixed. Mobs are still shared, but group kills count for everyone, and all players' bomb targets are visible on the map. I still advise skipping it as soon as you get the associated achievement.

Continue reading Cataclysm Daily Quests, Part 5: Uldum, Twilight Highlands and daily priorities

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Cataclysm Daily Quests, Part 5: Uldum, Twilight Highlands and daily priorities originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 18 Jan 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> cataclysm-daily-quest-guidedailiesdaily-questsdailyquestsDragonmawRamkahentwilight-highlandsTwilightHighlandsuldumWildhammerWoW (Aiden James Kosciesza) Tue, 18 Jan 2011 16:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Cataclysm Daily Quests, Part 4: Tol Barad proper]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/12/cataclysm-daily-quests-part-4-tol-barad-proper/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/12/cataclysm-daily-quests-part-4-tol-barad-proper/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/12/cataclysm-daily-quests-part-4-tol-barad-proper/#comments
This article has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

Welcome back to the fourth installment of this comprehensive guide to Cataclysm daily quests! In the first article, we discussed the basics of dailies and the profession dailies in capital cities. In part 2, we covered the Therazane dailies in Deepholm. Then in part 3, we went over the permanently available dailies in Tol Barad Peninsula. Today, we'll pick up where we left off and talk about the dailies obtained when your faction is victorious in the battle for Tol Barad, as well as the rewards available.

Continue reading Cataclysm Daily Quests, Part 4: Tol Barad proper

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Cataclysm Daily Quests, Part 4: Tol Barad proper originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 12 Jan 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> Cataclysmcataclysm-daily-quest-guidedailiesdailyquestsHellscreams-ReachHellscreamsReachPvPqueststol-baradTolBarad (Aiden James Kosciesza) Wed, 12 Jan 2011 20:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Cataclysm Daily Quests, Part 3: Tol Barad Peninsula]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/11/cataclysm-daily-quests-part-3-tol-barad-peninsula/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/11/cataclysm-daily-quests-part-3-tol-barad-peninsula/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/11/cataclysm-daily-quests-part-3-tol-barad-peninsula/#comments This article has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

Welcome back to the Cataclysm daily quests series! Previously, we looked at daily quest basics and profession dailies and the daily quests in Deepholm. Today, we'll examine the world PvP hub of Cataclysm, Tol Barad, and the first half of its wealth of daily quests.

Continue reading Cataclysm Daily Quests, Part 3: Tol Barad Peninsula

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Cataclysm Daily Quests, Part 3: Tol Barad Peninsula originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 11 Jan 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> cataclysm-daily-quest-guidecooking-awardsdailiesdaily-questsdailyquestshellscreams-reachHellscreamsReachquestsreputationtol-baradTolBaradTolBaradPeninsula (Aiden James Kosciesza) Tue, 11 Jan 2011 18:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Cataclysm Daily Quests, Part 2: Deepholm and Therazane]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/07/cataclysm-daily-quests-part-2-deepholm-and-therazane/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/07/cataclysm-daily-quests-part-2-deepholm-and-therazane/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/07/cataclysm-daily-quests-part-2-deepholm-and-therazane/#comments This article has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

Welcome back to our Cataclysm Daily Quest Guide series! In Part 1: Daily basics and profession dailies, we went over the basics of daily quests and why to do them, and we reviewed the Stormwind and Orgrimmar profession dailies. This time, let's delve into the dailies targeted at high-level players, beginning in the very depths of the elemental plane of earth: Deepholm.

Continue reading Cataclysm Daily Quests, Part 2: Deepholm and Therazane

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Cataclysm Daily Quests, Part 2: Deepholm and Therazane originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> beneath-the-surfacecataclysm-daily-quest-guidecrimson-expanse-questscrumbling-depths-questsdailiesdaily-questsDeepholmDeepholm-dailiesdlomdlom-the-collectorfear-of-boringfungal-furyfungalophobiaglop-son-of-gloplost-in-the-deepsmotes-questreputationresonating-blowsoft-rocktabardthe-glop-family-linethe-restless-broodTherazaneTherazane-dailiesTherazane-tabardthrough-persistenceunderground-economywrath-of-the-fungalmancer (Aiden James Kosciesza) Fri, 07 Jan 2011 13:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Guest Post: How to succeed in dungeons without really trying]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/03/guest-post-how-to-succeed-in-dungeons-without-really-trying/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/03/guest-post-how-to-succeed-in-dungeons-without-really-trying/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/03/guest-post-how-to-succeed-in-dungeons-without-really-trying/#comments This article has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

Make no mistake: Early Cataclysm dungeons are not the faceroll that we experienced at the end of Wrath. Not only have everyone's gear levels dropped dramatically relative to the content, but Blizzard has returned to a more BC-style design philosophy wherein crowd control really matters and one live mob can make the difference between an easy pull and a very difficult one.

Of course, the ideal solution is to read up on the dungeons beforehand and make sure you're prepared for them, but we don't live in an ideal world. Sometimes, you'll wind up in a random dungeon that you weren't expecting, and you haven't had time to research. Additionally, dungeon guides don't always give tips for trash, and trash pulls now require some coordination. Luckily, instance design does not expect you to have an encyclopedia in your head. An alert dungeoneer can succeed on the fly by following a few simple tips.

Continue reading Guest Post: How to succeed in dungeons without really trying

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Guest Post: How to succeed in dungeons without really trying originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 03 Jan 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> Cataclysmdungeonsgroupinggrouping-tipsgroupshow-to-play-wowinstancesstrategytacticstipstips-and-trickstricksWoWwow-groupingwow-groupswow-instances (Aiden James Kosciesza) Mon, 03 Jan 2011 14:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Cataclysm Daily Quests, Part 1: Daily basics and profession dailies]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/12/31/cataclysm-daily-quests-part-1-daily-basics-and-profession-dail/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/12/31/cataclysm-daily-quests-part-1-daily-basics-and-profession-dail/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/12/31/cataclysm-daily-quests-part-1-daily-basics-and-profession-dail/#comments This article has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

Read the entire WoW Insider Cataclysm Daily Quest Guide series!

Since their introduction in the Netherwing quest line in The Burning Crusade, daily quests have become an integral part of World of Warcraft's design. Chances are you're familiar with the concept of dailies themselves and probably did your fair share of them during Wrath of the Lich King, but it's a whole new world out there. In this article, we'll go over the new daily quests in Cataclysm, their rewards, and how to get the most out of them.

To make sure we're all on the same page, let's go over the basics of daily quests. In addition to or instead of normal, one-time-only quests, certain NPCs throughout the world will offer "daily" quests. These quests are repeatable and bear a blue exclamation point rather than a yellow one to indicate their status. In the quest log, they'll be marked (Daily) and once you complete one, there'll be a counter at the top of your quest log showing how many daily quests you have completed that day.

When dailies were originally introduced, it was only possible to complete 10 per day, which meant you had to pick and choose which ones you'd complete. The limit has since been raised to 25, meaning you can spend a far greater amount of time on daily quests and also reap greater rewards. To break up the monotony somewhat, many daily quest givers will change their quests each day, picking from a set table of quests they offer. Generally speaking, the number of dailies offered by a particular quest hub will remain the same from day to day, though the specific quests may rotate.

Continue reading Cataclysm Daily Quests, Part 1: Daily basics and profession dailies

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Cataclysm Daily Quests, Part 1: Daily basics and profession dailies originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 31 Dec 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> cataclysm-daily-quest-guidecookingcooking-awardscooking-dailydailiesdaily-questsfishingfishing-dailyorgrimmar-cooking-awardquestsreputationstormwind-cooking-awardWoW (Aiden James Kosciesza) Fri, 31 Dec 2010 17:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Who's your nemesis?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/12/30/breakfast-topic-whos-your-nemesis/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/12/30/breakfast-topic-whos-your-nemesis/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/12/30/breakfast-topic-whos-your-nemesis/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

For every hero, there is a villain. For every light, there is a shadow. Every rose has its thorn, but if you would just pour some sugar on me ... erm. /cough. The point is that we all have our nemeses, from Hogger and Mor'ladim to Fel Reaver, Illidan, M'uru, and the Lich King himself. Maybe you got stomped too many times by the devilsaurs in Un'Goro Crater, or maybe Mimiron had your raid frustrated for weeks on end. For my guild, it was Sindragosa.

When we got into ICC late in Wrath's life cycle, a new, small guild with a mixture of experienced raiders and players who had never ventured past heroic dungeons, we breezed through the first two wings. Blood Queen gave us a bit of trouble, but we soon swept past her and Dreamwalker and found ourselves facing off against the enemy from our loading screens, the last stop before Arthas himself. We went over the strategy, practiced our tomb placement, set up flares, and gave her a try. And another. And another. And yet another.

Though we were all sick of hearing her voice, for some reason, we just couldn't get Sindragosa down. We had trouble with disconnects, lag, Blistering Cold, multi-tombs, tanks getting tombed, clearing stacks, and pretty much everything else imaginable. The whole guild was aching to slay that dragon, and when at long, long last we managed it, the jubilation was unlike anything we'd had before. I doubt even the Lich King's demise would elicit the kind of cheers I heard on Vent when she went down. Our nemesis was vanquished at last.

Which boss or creature was (or is!) your greatest enemy in WoW? How long did you work on beating it? How did you celebrate when it was finally over?

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Breakfast Topic: Who's your nemesis? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 30 Dec 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> bossesfacebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionnemesisworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Aiden James Kosciesza) Thu, 30 Dec 2010 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: What are your resolutions for the expansion?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/12/07/breakfast-topic-what-are-your-resolutions-for-the-expansion/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/12/07/breakfast-topic-what-are-your-resolutions-for-the-expansion/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/12/07/breakfast-topic-what-are-your-resolutions-for-the-expansion/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

In the final days of old Azeroth, before the Shattering, my friends were chomping at the bit. They were farming the elemental bosses for JP, taking screenshots of Darkshore and Stormwind Park, and discussing names for their forthcoming gnome priests. Where was I, while all this was going on? Far out in the Bay of Storms in Azshara, fighting a giant "minnow" named Maws. Yes, that's right: in the final hours of Wrath, I was finishing the Blue Shard portion of the Scepter of the Shifting Sands quest line. A little late? Yeah, you could say that. An eternal procrastinator, I started the entire chain with Only One May Rise exactly three days before the Shattering occurred.

As fellow Scepter-chasers will already realize, my efforts were truly epic -- and alas, all for naught. Though I was able to obtain the Blue and Green scepter shards after a mammoth three days of questing, farming, and running all over Azeroth, the Red scepter shard requires a second, fresh lockout of Blackwing Lair, and I did not have one. No Scepter for me. I don't regret doing the quest line, even if I didn't end up with the Feat of Strength; I'm a big quest nerd, and I loved experiencing the lore. I do, however, regret not starting earlier.

Therefore, in Cataclysm, I've made myself a promise: I will do every quest available to me, from Hillsbrad to Mount Hyjal, Darkshore to Deepholm. As I go through the lowbie zones on my Loremaster druid, I won't move on when I get the achievement; I'll complete everything available, just to see what happens.

Is there anything you were unable to finish before the Shattering? What are your resolutions for playing in a post-Cataclysm Azeroth?

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Breakfast Topic: What are your resolutions for the expansion? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 07 Dec 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> Cataclysmfacebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionloremasterquest-linesquestingquestsregretsresolutionscepter-of-the-shifting-sandsShatteringworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Aiden James Kosciesza) Tue, 07 Dec 2010 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Have you tried your hand at running a guild?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/12/05/breakfast-topic-have-you-tried-your-hand-at-running-a-guild/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/12/05/breakfast-topic-have-you-tried-your-hand-at-running-a-guild/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/12/05/breakfast-topic-have-you-tried-your-hand-at-running-a-guild/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

It happens to all of us at one point or another. You're riding into Stormwind, perhaps admiring the dragon head that someone has strung up on the gates, and you're headed to the auction house when your eyes light upon the Visitor's Center. Inside, a bright-eyed young hero, very much like yourself, is speaking to Aldwin Laughlin, the Guild Master. Suddenly, you think, "That could be me. I could be in there, buying a guild charter and designing a tabard. I could found my own guild."

You dismount, take the first two steps at a bound -- but suddenly, you stop in your tracks. All at once, you stagger under the weight of responsibility. The trouble with starting a guild, you realize, is that once you do it, you actually have to run a guild.

Of course for some, this isn't a drawback -- it's a perk! There are plenty of aspiring guild masters out there who have a vision, execute it, and become great leaders. Then there are those of us who consider starting a guild but balk at the particulars; others who create small, friends-only or alt guilds just to have a fun guild name or a guild bank; and many more who are happy to leave the burden of leadership to someone else.

Have you thought about starting your own guild? If you went through with it, how did it turn out? Is the guild still around today? If you thought better of it, what stopped you? Or are you still making up your mind?

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Breakfast Topic: Have you tried your hand at running a guild? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 05 Dec 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> facebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionglgmguildguild-leaderguild-leadershipguild-masterguild-officerguildmasterofficerworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicsWoWwow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Aiden James Kosciesza) Sun, 05 Dec 2010 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Do you collect non-combat armor?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/12/03/breakfast-topic-do-you-collect-non-combat-armor/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/12/03/breakfast-topic-do-you-collect-non-combat-armor/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/12/03/breakfast-topic-do-you-collect-non-combat-armor/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

Gear is a fixture in the World of Warcraft. Your gear plays a huge role in determining your character's combat abilities -- arguably even more than your level -- and high-level gear is often seen as a mark of skill, or at least experience. But there's a lot more than top-tier gear in Blizzard's data banks. Aside from older armor sets, the game is filled with wedding dresses, bloody aprons, monocles, tiaras, rolling pins, fairy wands, and chainmail bikinis. And who could forget the hodgepodge of Outland greens?

The first piece of gear I ever saved in WoW was the Everglow Lantern. I kept it in my bank long after my baby druid outgrew its +3 spirit, just because I liked the way it looked. Then I started keeping odd pieces of neat-looking gear I came across, eventually dressing up my bank alt in the classic Tuxedo set and Diamond-Tipped Cane. Recently, I've graduated to collecting tier 1 while I work on my Hydraxian Waterlords reputation. It's not good for my bank space, but it sure is fun to complete an eight-piece set.

Do you collect old gear or dress-up gear for your characters? Do you ever wear the gear you collect, for roleplaying or screenshots or just around town? What's your favorite distinctive gear item in World of Warcraft?

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Breakfast Topic: Do you collect non-combat armor? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 03 Dec 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> dress-upfacebookfeedfashiongame-discussiongamer-discussiongeargearsetsmiscellaneous-armornon-set-gearnoncombat-armornonset-gearoutfitoutfitsroleplayingworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicsWoWwow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Aiden James Kosciesza) Fri, 03 Dec 2010 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider