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: What will you do over the holiday season?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/11/25/breakfast-topic-what-will-you-do-over-the-holiday-season/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/11/25/breakfast-topic-what-will-you-do-over-the-holiday-season/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/11/25/breakfast-topic-what-will-you-do-over-the-holiday-season/#comments Winter Veil 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'm sure we've all heard or seen by now that summer and holiday breaks can be hard on the WoW playerbase. With school semesters wrapping up, many of us are returning back to our homes, jobs, and less World of Warcraft. I know some people will stick around and raid or hit up Rated Battlegrounds till their eyes bleed, but some people are heading off to other things.

I've had several guildies take breaks for a week or two with some pretty fun stories. Someone took part in a bass fishing tournament and did quite well, but sadly the tournament is for catch and release, so no one got to taste the winners. One of my guildmates returned to Korea for a bit and came back quite refreshed, ready to jump back into raiding and world PvP. Another guildmate came back from a rather short trip with an epic story involving alcohol, fireworks, and getting banned from a campsite.

Will you be doing anything interesting while away from WoW this holiday season? Will you meet a guildmate? Have a fling with another game? Maybe got some extra work done so you can pitch in more when people came back from their school breaks?

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Breakfast Topic: What will you do over the holiday season? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 25 Nov 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 (Andrew Ross) Fri, 25 Nov 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: What's your character's job?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/11/12/breakfast-topic-whats-your-characters-job/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/11/12/breakfast-topic-whats-your-characters-job/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/11/12/breakfast-topic-whats-your-characters-job/#comments trade chat This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the AOL guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

No no, this isn't about roleplay. You've got gold in your pockets, but it didn't just magically end up there. You've done something to earn it (unless you've, you know, bought it -- for shame!).

In-game gold's always been easy for me, but I think it's partially because I love gathering. Yeah, you heard me. I'm the guy who has a bank character, bank, and mailbox full of ore, leather, gems, and odds and ends. Sure, I do my share of adventuring, getting dailies done while I search for blood and glory -- but you better believe that if I find someone messing with my Azshara's Veil when I'm trying to do an escort, there will be blood. I'm a farmer, plain and simple.

It wasn't always this way, though. There have been times where I offered my services for a significantly reduced fee so that people would buy from me instead of the Auction House. I'd gather loads of ore and gems, find the AH prices of them, and offer them at a much lower price than what was on the AH (but still at a profit compared to the cost of crafting). It got to the point where I didn't even need to use trade chat to get customers -- they'd PM me while I was gathering resources. My ignore list was filled with names of my AH-PVP victims who wanted to make higher profits with less effort. I was a jewelcrafter for hire.

What is your character's job? Do you make money by teaming up with lesser-skilled PVPers for Arena ratings? Maybe you lead raids for cash? Or perhaps you run a shady tavern in Elwynn Forest doing odd jobs for people?

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Breakfast Topic: What's your character's job? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 12 Nov 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 (Andrew Ross) Sat, 12 Nov 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: What WoW holidays need to be improved?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/11/08/breakfast-topic-what-wow-holidays-need-to-be-improved/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/11/08/breakfast-topic-what-wow-holidays-need-to-be-improved/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/11/08/breakfast-topic-what-wow-holidays-need-to-be-improved/#comments Kwee 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 a lot of holidays, but some are rather ... bland. Take the Harvest Festival, for example. No, really, take it back in its current form. I did it back when it was first released on several alts, and I don't think I've noticed any real changes since then. Let us do more Peacebloom vs. Ghouls to save the harvest, or let us go to Caverns of Time to meet the fallen ... um, heroes we're celebrating. Give us a new mini-feast perma-item to lay out for the event, similar to the celebration mug that Brewfest almost always got.

What about Day of the Dead? It's got a few fun things in there, but remember when we first heard about it via datamining and thought it was the return of the zombie apocalypse? What if Blizzard actually brought that back, just for a few days a year? I know people who don't play WoW anymore who'd resub just to get in on that.

Hallow's End got a facelift, so which other events should be considered? Is New Year's not new enough? Does Love is in the Air need some more love? Is there not enough "Yarr" in Pirate Day?

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Breakfast Topic: What WoW holidays need to be improved? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 08 Nov 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> facebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionholidaysworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Andrew Ross) Tue, 08 Nov 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: How do you transition in and out of playing WoW?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/11/03/breakfast-topic-how-do-you-transition-in-and-out-of-playing-wow/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/11/03/breakfast-topic-how-do-you-transition-in-and-out-of-playing-wow/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/11/03/breakfast-topic-how-do-you-transition-in-and-out-of-playing-wow/#comments Cataclysm PTR login screen 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 all know it: Other games are coming. We say it'll be what we're sticking with this time, but after a few days, weeks, months, or maybe years, we end up back in WoW. The question is, what do you do before you leave?

For me, I go with friends. It's what always brings me back to WoW anyway. We go as a guild usually, maybe bring some server mates, but we don't quit cold turkey (and maybe that's our problem!). We still play WoW a bit, to make sure the guild doesn't die and so others can chip in, but after awhile, we find ourselves back in WoW, sometimes bringing a few new friends with us.

I know other people who just quietly leave, play a new game, and then server/faction/name change as a way of not having to face their old contacts again (unless they decide to contact a few choice ones). Some just don't think about it but have talked about a new game for months and hit it up, then come back because they missed something about WoW.

What do you do? Plan things out, escape WoW duties, or just take a short vacation into a new world?

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Breakfast Topic: How do you transition in and out of playing WoW? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 03 Nov 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 (Andrew Ross) Thu, 03 Nov 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Who'd be next to die in WoW Faction Leader Survivor?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/10/17/breakfast-topic-whod-be-next-to-die-in-wow-faction-leader-surv/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/10/17/breakfast-topic-whod-be-next-to-die-in-wow-faction-leader-surv/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/10/17/breakfast-topic-whod-be-next-to-die-in-wow-faction-leader-surv/#comments Sylvanas This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the AOL guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

Cataclysm killed off Cairne Bloodhoof and apparently Magni Bronzebeard (I'm still hoping that one can be reversed!). Before that, we (apparently) killed off Kael'thas, the Blood Elf leader, and Zul'jin, one of the Troll leaders. Heck, Fandral Staghelm, while not exactly a leader, was just killed off in 4.2. Blizzard isn't afraid to kill off its own creations, so who do you think Blizz will kill off in the future?

I'm sure Magatha Grimtotem is up next. Revenge is sort of a theme we got going on in WoW, and I doubt that old meatloaf-to-be will be useful in the next expansions as anything other than a raid boss. But she can't be the only one.
Personally, I'm betting on Sylvanas. Something big is brewing, and despite the fan hate of Garrosh, I have a severe doubt Metzen will let us off the hook on that guy any time soon. The Undead are going to need to be brought further into the Horde, and unless we're getting a third faction (/pray), I'd be we'll be finally putting that Undead to rest.

Who else do you think will be going the way of Cairne? Will the death knights' leader, serving no known purpose, get the axe next? Will Thrall perhaps die for real? Or will someone bump off the cheese master?

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Breakfast Topic: Who'd be next to die in WoW Faction Leader Survivor? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 17 Oct 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 (Andrew Ross) Mon, 17 Oct 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: How do you handle game mechanics when RPing?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/10/12/breakfast-topic-how-do-you-handle-game-mechanics-when-rping/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/10/12/breakfast-topic-how-do-you-handle-game-mechanics-when-rping/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/10/12/breakfast-topic-how-do-you-handle-game-mechanics-when-rping/#comments Dungeon Finder 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'm going to be honest: I could never get into Warcraft roleplaying. RP can be hard enough with the different approaches people have (accents, interpretation of lore, Pollyannas), but in-game mechanics can often make things incredibly difficult. For example, in past games, I knew people who refused to RP in any channel other than /say. Why? Because they felt that only psychic characters would be able to communicate across mountains without cell phones or other modern-day conveniences. It's a bit picky, but I get it.

What about other things, though? Our players constantly come back from the dead without an explanation. From Asheron's Call to Rift, other games have made the death situation take a front and center position in lore. AC characters are magically bonded to lifestones for a seedy purpose unknown to them for several years; Rift players have spirits anchored to the world via technology or divine intervention; and WoW players ... have more resilient ghosts than most NPCs? Or at least, most of the time, since Cairne was ganked a lot prior to Cataclysm and always came back until someone gave Garrosh a poisoned blade.

How do you deal with game mechanics when RPing? Are levels "birthdays"? Is earning an achievement an epiphany? Maybe cross-faction dungeons with instant transportation are similar to finding Dr. Who's telephone booth?

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Breakfast Topic: How do you handle game mechanics when RPing? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 12 Oct 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 (Andrew Ross) Wed, 12 Oct 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Have you ever seen anyone RP a peon?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/10/11/breakfast-topic-have-you-ever-seen-anyone-rp-a-peon/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/10/11/breakfast-topic-have-you-ever-seen-anyone-rp-a-peon/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/10/11/breakfast-topic-have-you-ever-seen-anyone-rp-a-peon/#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.

Let's face it -- most roleplayers are heroes, villians, peerless veterans, or other Mary Sues. We want to feel awesome from time to time, and games let us do that. But after awhile, it gets old. Every guild leader you meet seems to be the head of a secret organization, the leader of one of Thrall's elite group of warriors, or a famous mercenary group that, for some reason, only works for the Alliance.

But they're not all like that. I'm not on an RP realm, but I've had a guildie who has been lightly roleplaying a simple Undead priest hell-bent on making babies with a Dwarf warrior. They both keep things within the game's context -- they don't speak each other's language but (not so) secretly try to meet up and communicate. It ends rather badly when the guilds shows up to kill the enemy lover, but the two still press on, shouting in Common and Orcish and emoting strange gestures in order to better try to express their love.

I've had people from RP servers try to get me to rally to their cause in the random Dungeon Finder, but they get shot down fast most of the time, and ... well, the game already calls me a hero every other quest, so it's lost its shine. However, when my guildie cries about seeing her potential Dwarven lover with another woman, then later finding out it was his evil twin, I can't help but chuckle a bit and even do some very light roleplaying myself.

Have you ever met someone who RPed something unique? A seer who was always wrong? A farmer's guild? A hard-working peon?

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Breakfast Topic: Have you ever seen anyone RP a peon? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 11 Oct 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 (Andrew Ross) Tue, 11 Oct 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Which WoW Insider column would you like to guest write?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/10/05/breakfast-topic-which-wow-insider-column-would-you-like-to-gues/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/10/05/breakfast-topic-which-wow-insider-column-would-you-like-to-gues/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/10/05/breakfast-topic-which-wow-insider-column-would-you-like-to-gues/#comments Inscription tools 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 know, this topic was already addressed in The Queue, but let's ignore that for the moment. Someone at WoW Insider gets sick/has a baby/is trapped in Azeroth due to a bad writing plot, and the site visitors are needed to save the day. What column do you think you could handle?

Personally, I think I could step in for Officers' Quarters or Drama Mamas (Drama Daddy for me, I suppose). I always end up dealing with the social aspects of WoW, especially the ones that require hard choices and hurt feelings. Gold Capped might be something I could handle, depending on the timing. I've helped a good amount of folks learn how to stop losing money on the AH (and no, I'm not just telling them to ignore their alts). I normally sit in my chair nodding when I read these articles, and I often point my fellow players to them if we've had a similar situation come up in which one of the articles comes to a similar conclusion we discussed.

What column do you think you could fill in for at WoW Insider? Can you take the reins from Alex Ziebert and be the WoW Archivist for day? Fill in for Michael Grey and post a winner for WoW Moviewatch? Or maybe you, like Michael Sacco, have some connections and can conduct the interviews for Ask a Faction Leader?

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Breakfast Topic: Which WoW Insider column would you like to guest write? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 05 Oct 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 (Andrew Ross) Wed, 05 Oct 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Would you play WoW if it had no levels?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/10/04/breakfast-topic-would-you-play-wow-if-it-had-no-levels/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/10/04/breakfast-topic-would-you-play-wow-if-it-had-no-levels/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/10/04/breakfast-topic-would-you-play-wow-if-it-had-no-levels/#comments Recruit-A-Friend This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the AOL guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

A recent discussion in The Queue brought up the idea that perhaps WoW's Recruit-A-Friend could have been done differently. The point of RAF's bonus XP is to help you friend get to the max level as fast as possible to play with you. This is essentially so that they can experience endgame content, as opposed to leveling content. Unfortunately, WoW as an RPG relies on story for raids to be meaningful as anything other than a loot grind. Players who level too quickly may miss out on lore. In addition, quick leveling also means less time learning character skills needed to raid, and we've all seen the guy who bought a level 85 warrior but still didn't know how to taunt.

But what if leveling speed isn't RAF's problem? What if the problem is the concept of levels themselves? If you want to play Mario Kart with a friend, you just jump in. Skill becomes the only barrier, and fun gameplay mechanics take over the grind. It also makes it a lot easier to close the gap between you and your friend in a fun way. The same goes for most FPS, RTS and fighter games ... Only RPGs put this artificial barrier in place.

However, removing level would affect other areas of gameplay. Quests could be lore- and appearance-centric, rather than grind- and gear-centric. Since all players are at the same level, queues for instanced content would go down and it would be easier to get bodies for raids. The rest of the game world would also be easier to expand and utilize, since developers wouldn't need to worry about sheltering level 15s against level 80s. It would, though, make alts more common, which may be problematic in gear acquisition for people's mains for those who raid.

Would you play a WoW without levels, or is there something about levels that is still needed?

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Breakfast Topic: Would you play WoW if it had no levels? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 04 Oct 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> facebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionlevellevelingRAFrecruit-a-friendworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Andrew Ross) Tue, 04 Oct 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: How do you want WoW crafting to change?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/10/03/breakfast-topic-how-do-you-want-wow-crafting-to-change/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/10/03/breakfast-topic-how-do-you-want-wow-crafting-to-change/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/10/03/breakfast-topic-how-do-you-want-wow-crafting-to-change/#comments professions This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the AOL guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

Face it: WoW crafting is boring. Learn a recipe, put in the materials, click to create. Repeat again and again to skill up and get new recipes. The end. We have exciting-sounding skills such as engineering and alchemy, but we have no experimentation and little customization! While we've gotten crafting dailies to make the skill-ups a little more fun outside the usual materials grind, Blizzard should probably update how crafting skills work.

Personally, I'd love a system that favors some creativity. Imagine if materials for alchemists were in certain classification: increase or decrease, physical or mental, strength or speed, endurance or power, etc. If you mix an increase reagent with a physical, mental, or power one, you'll make a strength potion. Choose decrease, mental, speed, and endurance, and maybe you make a consumable potion that lowers mana/rage/energy/runic power/focus to targets within the blast radius. No premade recipes, just players experimenting with the game. I can see a similar situation for cooking (mm, spicy chocolate gator bacon!).

Gathering could be redone a bit, too. Imagine if you could break down items to get certain materials, sort of like enchanting. Skinners can break down leather for rare hides, miners can melt down armor to retrieve rare minerals, herbalists could ... pick mushrooms out of pies?

What would you like to see change in WoW crafting? Dyes added to change armor color results? Choosing blades and hilts when crafting a weapon? RP leather armor and whip options tied to custom emotes for those nights in Goldshire?

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Breakfast Topic: How do you want WoW crafting to change? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 03 Oct 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> craftingfacebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionprofessionsworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Andrew Ross) Mon, 03 Oct 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: What holiday does Azeroth still need?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/09/28/breakfast-topic-what-holiday-does-azeroth-still-need/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/09/28/breakfast-topic-what-holiday-does-azeroth-still-need/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/09/28/breakfast-topic-what-holiday-does-azeroth-still-need/#comments Tauren with two mugs 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 won't lie: I've resubbed to WoW for Brewfest. No joke. I don't even drink in real life, but I love Azeroth's in-game event. The fun toys, the celebration, getting folks together to do things in game that aren't just for progression but for fun ...

Sure, some events get revamped, but there are some dead spots on the calendar. Wouldn't it be cool to have St. Patrick's Day in March, to ease the lull between the Love is in the Air and Noblegarden events? Make it some sort of Goblin celebration (neutral Goblins, not Horde). The real-world counterpart's largely a secular holiday these days, so all we need is some green and drinking. Perhaps a celebration of some Goblin businessman finding enough money to start the Steamwheedle Cartel?. Heck, maybe even make it so we can actually visit a small portion of the Undermine until Blizz wants to fully flesh it out; make it a holiday dungeon where we save Undermine from something Deathwing woke up.

Or maybe something new altogether ... August is kind of a dead month, and since summers are slow anyway, why not spice things up? Perhaps an Azerothian Scholars holiday honoring prominent members of the WoW community, from addon creators and theorycrafters to people who try to help make the official WoW forums useful. Other games do bonus XP weekends, so WoW could have something like that, where honor, justice points, loot drops and so on could be increased for a few days and load screens have the names of players who've stood out in the community.

What kind of holiday would you like to see added to WoW? Explorer's Day? Teacher Appreciation Day? Tigule and Foror Ice Cream Day?

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Breakfast Topic: What holiday does Azeroth still need? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 28 Sep 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> facebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionholidayworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Andrew Ross) Wed, 28 Sep 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: What could WoW borrow from console games?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/09/22/breakfast-topic-what-could-wow-borrow-from-console-games/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/09/22/breakfast-topic-what-could-wow-borrow-from-console-games/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/09/22/breakfast-topic-what-could-wow-borrow-from-console-games/#comments Mario in WoW? This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the AOL guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

Does anyone remember when Blizzard said it wanted to add Animal Crossing-style fishing to WoW? What about the idea of a more personalized daily experience for the Molten Front? MMOs are great, but console games still offer a few things that could add some additional depth to genre, and Blizzard already knows this.

Personally, I'd love to see combat get revamped to be more like Monster Hunter. Dodges and attacks are based on real skill, not arbitrary stats (though damage taken and received is still stat-based), plus enemies have specific parts you can hit to eventually break or cut off pieces of a creature. I mean really, wouldn't it be cool if a whole raid focus fired on Nefarion's neck in order to chop his head off and haul it back to Orgrimmar?

Or what about random power-ups appearing, à la Mario Kart or Super Smash Bros.? You're just running around the game world, and suddenly a giant sword appears, increasing your damage dealt by 1,000% and giving you a single move that constantly fires up for 15 seconds. Take that, murloc scum!

What kinds of console-like features would you like to see Blizzard implement in WoW? Enemies that can be knocked out and dragged? Randomly appearing pipes to secret treasure caves? Open-world, mounted combat?

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Breakfast Topic: What could WoW borrow from console games? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 22 Sep 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> animal-crossingfacebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionmarioMario-Kartmonster-hunterSuper-Smash-Brosworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Andrew Ross) Thu, 22 Sep 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Where does your character live?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/09/20/breakfast-topic-where-does-your-character-live/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/09/20/breakfast-topic-where-does-your-character-live/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/09/20/breakfast-topic-where-does-your-character-live/#comments Alliance inn This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the AOL guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

Most people spend their afk time these days in Orgrimmar or Stormwind. Before that, it was Dalaran, and before that, it was Shattrath. It wasn't always like this, and for some of us, it never has been.

For example, in vanilla WoW, my home was Ratchet. Despite the guards, I felt the town belonged to the Horde, and my friends and I made any alliance in Ratchet KoS. Naturally, we weren't welcomed in Booty Bay when we hit STV, but that's another story. In The Burning Crusade, it was Halaa. Come Hellfire Peninsula or Azerothian tsunami, I was in Nagrand watching for that place to go hot. In Wrath, if you asked my guildies where I was, they'd tell you I was in Wintergrasp, sitting on the steps talking to passersby.

It's not that there's anything wrong with my computer (anymore), but I like world PvP. I like being able to escape trade chat spam without turning it off (because sometimes, people actually use it for trade). But mostly, I like feeling like part of the game world is under my protection.

Do you have an in-game home, and how did you choose it? Are you the secret spouse of an NPC in Dustwallow Marsh? Do you AFK in Exodar because you know no one else will bother you there? Or are you one of the last protectors of Astranaar after weeks of watching it get overrun by Horde in vanilla WoW?

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Breakfast Topic: Where does your character live? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 20 Sep 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> facebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionhomehouseworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Andrew Ross) Tue, 20 Sep 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: What skills would you like to see in WoW?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/09/17/breakfast-topic-what-skills-would-you-like-to-see-in-wow/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/09/17/breakfast-topic-what-skills-would-you-like-to-see-in-wow/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/09/17/breakfast-topic-what-skills-would-you-like-to-see-in-wow/#comments Navigating a ship 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 won't lie: I cheat on World of Warcraft. It happens, but she's a forgiving game. She keeps my friends in largely the same place while I'm gone and sometimes lets me introduce new ideas from other games to her. Usually they're features, such as XP from battlegrounds or guild quests, but sometimes other skills too, like gemcrafting. Blizzard has even previously mentioned borrowing skill mechanics from other games. I'd love to see more skills added for the next expansion!

Woodworking's come up a few times, but perhaps it's too similar to things we already have. Dual-wield pistols came up as well, but for some reason aren't coming quite yet. However, what about animal husbandry? You could potentially breed new companion pets, mounts, or even hunter pets! Or maybe add in a whip skill, allowing people who choose to give up their ranged slot for a bit for to use a consumable whip that works similar to Death Grip, Root, or even a taunt or silence, depending on the variant.

What kind of skills would you like to see added to WoW? Masonry for house construction? Zeppelin licenses to pilot large, multiplayer airships? Bug catching as a fishing/archaeology hybrid?

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Breakfast Topic: What skills would you like to see in WoW? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 17 Sep 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 (Andrew Ross) Sat, 17 Sep 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: How does a guild win you over?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/08/05/breakfast-topic-how-does-a-guild-win-you-over/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/08/05/breakfast-topic-how-does-a-guild-win-you-over/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/08/05/breakfast-topic-how-does-a-guild-win-you-over/#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 it comes to real (i.e., non-trade-chat-spamming) guilds, some people complain about the process. "It's like finding a job," or "There's so much drama involved that I just stopped trying." Often times, I find it easier to compare finding guilds to dating.

For example, one guild got me to join by slowly wooing me. They invited me to dungeon runs, PMed me just to chat, waved at me in at the auction house, and generally just made me feel like a guildmate before popping the question. It was so romantic ... until I found out that the leaders weren't treating their allies the same way.

I was stolen from another guild when the former guild started to treat people badly, both guild members and members of the server. In vanilla WoW, we ran raids with two other guilds. One of those guilds' officers was my first PVP victim in another game (but it was an epic hunt). Another officer and I were co-class leaders who bonded over ninja-AFKing bio breaks when we were supposed to be instructing our underlings on things we'd already gotten them to do -- oh, and having a very open guild system, as opposed to "the guild leader is God; obey his commands." When the ship was ready to sink, I knew who to ask for a lifeboat.

More often than not, though, I've hit my server forums or even popular fan sites to see who's active in the community and whose guild structure seems to fit my needs the best.

How have guilds won you over? Did you date? Were you mutual friends first? Or was it something you found in The Classifieds?

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Breakfast Topic: How does a guild win you over? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 05 Aug 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 (Andrew Ross) Fri, 05 Aug 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: When RL Jekylls go in-game Hyde]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/07/21/breakfast-topic-when-rl-jekylls-go-in-game-hyde/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/07/21/breakfast-topic-when-rl-jekylls-go-in-game-hyde/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/07/21/breakfast-topic-when-rl-jekylls-go-in-game-hyde/#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've all had that friend -- the real-world model citizen who ninja loots a purple and gets gkicked from your guild, leaving you to deal with your game community while trying to find out what came over your RL buddy.

I was in a similar situation many years ago. A friend of mine joined our raiding guild. He was a nice guy, but in game, he frequently taunted others, even on Vent. He openly told others to ignore the guild leader's wife during raids because she wasn't the raid leader (though she was a class lead and usually ended up leading the raid when the guild leader was dealing with loot). When I tried telling him that his actions didn't seem like him and that he was doing things that undermined our guild structure, he simply said, "It's a game. These people aren't real."

Suffice to say, I don't play with him any more, but I also don't talk to him in real life anymore. He was kicked from the guild, and then he and asked me to leave. I told him that while he was a good friend in real life, I felt that the way he acted in game didn't match up to who I saw him as, and I told him I'd like to keep our friendship based in reality. Didn't hear much from him after that.

Have you had a friend who turned into an online jerk? What happened? Were you able to save the friendship, or did in-game drama lead to real-world problems?

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Breakfast Topic: When RL Jekylls go in-game Hyde originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 21 Jul 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 (Andrew Ross) Thu, 21 Jul 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: What type of player are you?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/07/06/breakfast-topic-what-type-of-player-are-you/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/07/06/breakfast-topic-what-type-of-player-are-you/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/07/06/breakfast-topic-what-type-of-player-are-you/#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 you ask someone what type of player he or she is, you usually get the answer "hardcore" or "casual." Expanding on that, you might get "I'm a hardcore PVPer" or "I'm a casual raider." Casual and hardcore can mean so many different things to so many people that it's hard to pick just one or the other. A person who raids three nights a week might not see himself as a hardcore raider compared to the person who raids five nights a week. What about the person who doesn't raid but has an army of alts? Is he casual because he logs on and does his own thing?

I don't consider myself a casual or hardcore player. I'm the guy who has a crafting empire across his alts that I play frequently. I PVP when the mood strikes me, and while I haven't raided any of the new content yet, I run Baradin Hold every week. You can blame the alts for the lack of raiding. Some days, I might spend an hour doing my dailies or putting auctions up, and another day, I might spend 8 hours in game with a break here and there. If I had to give myself a title for the type of player I am, I would say I'm a "frequent player." A "serious player" doesn't fit right; when I think of a serious player, I think of a high-ranking arena player or one of the top raiders on his or her server.

What type of player do you consider yourself? Do you log on once a week and do a few dailies? Maybe you log in every day and do all 25 dailies before raiding for a few hours.

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Breakfast Topic: What type of player are you? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 06 Jul 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 (Andrew Ross) Wed, 06 Jul 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: What do you during Tuesday maintenance?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/07/05/breakfast-topic-what-do-you-during-tuesday-maintenance/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/07/05/breakfast-topic-what-do-you-during-tuesday-maintenance/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/07/05/breakfast-topic-what-do-you-during-tuesday-maintenance/#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.

While a good portion of WoW's players hold down full-time jobs or are in school full time, there are those of us who work from home, are stay-at-home parents or have a rotating schedule and wind up with a Tuesday off. Unless it's a patch day, everyone knows that come 5 a.m., regardless of whether you're ready or not, you will be logging off for the morning. For people on the east coast like me, that usually means my morning and part of my afternoon.

What do you do if you're home during Tuesday maintenance? When I know I'll be home when the servers are down, I plan to spend the first half of my day taking care of things around the house and running any errands I might have. My daily routine doesn't change much when Tuesday rolls around, aside from getting a few more things done. Having three high-strung dogs means lots of walking, throwing of the squeaky toys, and attacking the carpets with the Dyson vacuum. If there's a movie I've been wanting to see for a while, I'll pick it up and watch that after the dogs pass out. When the servers go down, I treat it like I would if I were taking a break for a few hours or a few days and take the opportunity to take care of my real-world obligations.

Do you plan your day around Tuesday maintenance if you know you will be home? What do you do while the servers are down?

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Breakfast Topic: What do you during Tuesday maintenance? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 05 Jul 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 (Andrew Ross) Tue, 05 Jul 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Borrowing features from other games]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/06/29/breakfast-topic-borrowing-features-from-other-games/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/06/29/breakfast-topic-borrowing-features-from-other-games/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/06/29/breakfast-topic-borrowing-features-from-other-games/#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've all cheated on WoW before. Whether it was Warhammer or Free Realms, we've all come back to the game. While Blizzard does a lot of things right, once in awhile, we play another game, see something cool, and ask ourselves, "Why doesn't Blizz do that?"

We've all seen talk about an appearance tab, where players can, for example, wear their Christmas clothing for looks while actually having the stats of their raid gear -- the only real difference is the looks. Rift recently announced this feature, so with any luck, much like with guild quests/challenges, the Blizz team will feel like borrowing this as well.

Housing's another idea that gets tossed around. It was actually being worked on in alpha, but Blizz decided not to go with it. In other games like EverQuest 2, player housing is also what makes towns. Why not allow players to use some space in capital cities and outposts to house their guilds?

In a similar vein, I'd love to see some world PVP that can be captured only by guilds. Darkfall's player housing is linked with a conquest system in which players get to keep their houses but the conquering guild gets some cash for their guild bank and their name in lights. Every, say, six hours, a town gets "hot." Imagine if guilds could "capture" Crossroads and have their guild advertised as its protector or take over a rival guild's home town to start some world PVP guild wars?

What features from other games would you like to see in WoW? Player-owned ships? Terraforming? Factionless PVP servers?

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Breakfast Topic: Borrowing features from other games originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 29 Jun 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 (Andrew Ross) Wed, 29 Jun 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: How do you make your characters?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/06/22/breakfast-topic-how-do-you-make-your-characters/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/06/22/breakfast-topic-how-do-you-make-your-characters/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/06/22/breakfast-topic-how-do-you-make-your-characters/#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 like to consider making characters a bit of an art. My girlfriend's brother just chooses a class/race he doesn't have an alt of, hits the random appearance button, and then gives himself a name based on obscure foods or food companies. Her sister ... let's just say she could spend the whole day making her characters. My girlfriend seems to start out with a general popular character in mind and then twists it where she needs differences (or where the game forces imperfections of that character).

I'm a former roleplayer, but I'm also team oriented ... mainly for PUGs. For example, my current main is a DK I made when WotLK launched. I liked the idea of the class, I loved Death Grip, and I wanted to play a needed class without the option of a possible healer spec. (I've been a healer for years, so I feel like I've earned retirement.) Based on the character skills and theme, I chose the name of a well known nomadic warrior, but shortened his name tremendously because I love having a name that's easy to type.

For his appearance, I looked at what other people did, and tried to steer clear of a few things, like popular skin options. I love having beards (mainly because my beard in real life always develops a cowlick when it reaches epic lengths), but once in awhile I can make a feminine looking character without actually rolling a lady. I'm fickle that way.

So how do you come up with your characters? Do you randomize? Pick names based on Street Fighter characters? Or just go with the flavor of the month?
Have you ever wanted to write for WoW Insider? Your chance may be right around the corner. Watch for our next call for submissions, and be sure to sign up for Seed, the AOL guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider. The next byline you see here may be yours!

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Breakfast Topic: How do you make your characters? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 22 Jun 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> avatarchoicesbreakfasttopiccustomizationfacebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Andrew Ross) Wed, 22 Jun 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Do you miss any of the old content?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/06/19/breakfast-topic-do-you-miss-any-of-the-old-content/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/06/19/breakfast-topic-do-you-miss-any-of-the-old-content/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/06/19/breakfast-topic-do-you-miss-any-of-the-old-content/#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 that Deadmines and Shadowfang Keep would be coming back as level 85 heroics, players went crazy with speculation. Would Blizzard make other classic instances into heroics? One of the most frequently requested revamps since Cataclysm has launched has been Scarlet Monastery.

Revamping old content has been met with mixed reactions recently, though. The biggest complaint since a revamp to Zul'Aman and Zul'Gurub was announced was that the classic version of Zul'Aman was going the way of Onyxia and Naxxramas. How many people really visited the original raids once they were considered dated content? How many of those people who did visit the raids did so at the appropriate level?

With every new expansion we find ourselves yearning for parts of the previous expansion. Once we've had an expansion for a year or so we want something new -- we get bored with the same routine, the same sights and raids. A new expansion comes along and we reminisce about the way things were.

I am guilty of missing old content that I can no longer visit. I do miss parts of each past expansion, but I also welcome a new expansion when it's announced. In The Burning Crusade I loved Nagrand's beautiful scenery and the story line with the Isle of Quel'Danas. In Wrath I loved the music in each zone, with the Howling Fjord being my favorite. The scenery in each zone was amazing and the quests connected all the zones together.

Do you miss anything from the previous expansions? What do you miss from each expansion and why? Do you ever go back and visit your favorite content?
Have you ever wanted to write for WoW Insider? Your chance may be right around the corner. Watch for our next call for submissions, and be sure to sign up for Seed, the AOL guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider. The next byline you see here may be yours!

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Breakfast Topic: Do you miss any of the old content? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 19 Jun 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 (Andrew Ross) Sun, 19 Jun 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: How do you keep WoW fresh?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/06/11/breakfast-topic-how-do-you-keep-wow-fresh/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/06/11/breakfast-topic-how-do-you-keep-wow-fresh/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/06/11/breakfast-topic-how-do-you-keep-wow-fresh/#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.

WoW is over 6 years old. Newer, flasher games come out, are deemed "WoW clones," but still manage to keep a portion of their playerbase just because some folks are tired of WoW itself. How many times do people reroll, regrind, re-earn achievements on alts, etc, before burning out? While community certainly helps with retention, I'm sure a lot of us have some special activity that keeps us going.

On Dragonmaw, we have something called Friday Night Fights. A multi-guild, cross-faction group hosts usually one open server event per month, but the rest of the time, it's limited to only certain guilds, to keep the sides fair (at least at the start, till others see what we're doing and join in, hehe). Each week has us fighting in a different zone, usually over an interesting feature in the zone. We've fought on the Deepholme airship, on the Thandol Span that links Wetlands to Arathi Highlands, even got folks doing Halaa again.

Recently, we tried something totally different: nub races based on guild names. For example, members of The Earthbound ended their names with "bound," so "Leeroy" came to the event as "Leeroybound". First nub to die on the designated faction leader as their guild-nub got bragging rights for their guild, and the other participating guilds had to lavish praise on the winners. Cries of "Tigers!" and "Not the murlocs!" were heard all night, and guildies who didn't have time for the whole race popped in just to watch/kill the nubs during their epic adventure.

I burn through patches quickly, especially dungeons, but I always look forward to Friday Night Fights. Do you have some sort of special playstyle or event that you use to keep WoW feeling fresh?

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Breakfast Topic: How do you keep WoW fresh? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 11 Jun 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 (Andrew Ross) Sat, 11 Jun 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: What's your favorite class?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/06/10/breakfast-topic-whats-your-favorite-class/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/06/10/breakfast-topic-whats-your-favorite-class/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/06/10/breakfast-topic-whats-your-favorite-class/#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.

"Hunter." That's all I should have to say. Well, that and "dwarven hunter," because the only thing better than a hunter is a dwarven hunter. Unfortunately, not everyone agrees with the proven fact that hunters are by far the best class in the game. Some people like to wear dresses and conjure brownies, while others like to sneak through the shadows pickpocketing the unsuspecting NPC.

I myself am a die-hard and loyal hunter. My very first class was a rogue that didn't last very long before I made a hunter and never looked back. The hunter is my class of choice for a number of different reasons. In real life, I'm a huge animal person, with multiple animals in the house. WoW is no exception. My stables are nearly full with a wide variety of pets. My favorite pets are named after my real-life pets that have since passed or the ones that like to lay on my feet while I raid. I like that I'm able to not only DPS but have my pet tank or even heal when in a pinch. Those reasons aside, my absolute favorite reason I love the hunter class is always having a pet by my side. After moving and being forced to leave my cat and dog with my mom, I found myself missing them even after I had gone to visit. I took my two favorite pets in the game and named them after my cat and dog. While I have since been reunited with my dog, she still follows me everywhere in game when my cat isn't.

If for some reason you don't agree with the science behind how awesome hunters are, what is your favorite class? What makes them appeal to you over the other classes in WoW?

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Breakfast Topic: What's your favorite class? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 10 Jun 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> (Andrew Ross) Fri, 10 Jun 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Are you emotionally attached to your character?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/05/30/breakfast-topic-are-you-emotionally-attached-to-your-character/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/05/30/breakfast-topic-are-you-emotionally-attached-to-your-character/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/05/30/breakfast-topic-are-you-emotionally-attached-to-your-character/#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 very immersive game. You pick your race/class combination on the creation screen and then take the character all the way to the level cap. Whether your avatar is a progression raider that has knocked on the Lich King's door and now taking down Cho'gall or your avatar is a gladiator who lives for PVP, it's hard to not get attached to your avatar to some degree.

I myself have been playing for just over four years, and while I have numerous alts, my pride and joy is my dwarven hunter. Not only is he good-looking, he can charm a night elf just by looking at her. I have the more time played on him than all my alts combined. He's been to Outland to take down Illidan and gone toe-to-toe with the Lich King, and he's taken down a number of night elves who think they can drink me under the table.

When I first started playing, if I died, it was no big deal (and it happened a lot). The longer I played, the more I tried to avoid death. Not only do I try and avoid death as much as possible, I find myself taking better care of my hunter. I'll log out at an inn with my favorite cat by my side and my armor fully repaired. I'm not a roleplayer, but in the back of my mind, I've developed a story for my hunter and find myself treating my hunter as more than a pixelated avatar. I treat him to all the luxuries Azeroth has to offer and keep him looking good . After all, you never know when the elusive female dwarf will appear.

Have you developed a bond with your avatar over the weeks, months or years that you have played WoW? How close are you to your avatar -- or are you close to multiple avatars? Do you do anything special for your avatar after a long night's raid or a night of battlegrounds?

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Breakfast Topic: Are you emotionally attached to your character? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 30 May 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 (Andrew Ross) Mon, 30 May 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: What keeps you playing?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/05/23/breakfast-topic-what-keeps-you-playing/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/05/23/breakfast-topic-what-keeps-you-playing/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/05/23/breakfast-topic-what-keeps-you-playing/#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 around for seven years this November. Over the course of those nearly seven years, we've seen three expansions, countless content patches and a world event to usher in each expansion. That's a lot of content to experience for someone who has been playing since WoW first launched. Even for a relatively new player, there's a lot of content to experience on the way to 85.

What does someone who has leveled to 85, experienced all the endgame content and seen all the sights of Azeroth do next? What keeps them playing after they see and do everything Azeroth has to offer? I myself have various alts that are all at different levels. I'm an achievement seeker and always going after various achievements that I can do on my own or with the help of some friends. Even pushing the limits of my class by seeing what past raids and current dungeons I can solo is something I enjoy.

Not everyone likes alts, the achievement system or playing alone. Everyone has their own definition of what they consider fun while visiting Azeroth. What do you consider fun, and what keeps you playing WoW?

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Breakfast Topic: What keeps you playing? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 23 May 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 (Andrew Ross) Mon, 23 May 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: What's the one class you just can't stand?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/05/20/breakfast-topic-whats-the-one-class-you-just-cant-stand/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/05/20/breakfast-topic-whats-the-one-class-you-just-cant-stand/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/05/20/breakfast-topic-whats-the-one-class-you-just-cant-stand/#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 10 classes to choose from in WoW. You can play a class whose one and only job is to DPS or a class that can tank, DPS or heal. While some classes are similar in their spells and abilities, each class is unique. Some people play every class at the endgame, and others pick one and stick with it. What about the one class that you just can't play past level 10 or 20?

I suffer from an alt problem and have an alt of every class, save for a death knight. My favorite class is by far the hunter, for multiple reasons, and I love playing my paladin but I just can't get into the death knight. I tried them out during the Wrath beta and thought the story was excellent, but they couldn't keep my interest. I gave them another shot a few months after Wrath launched and never made it past the first few quests in the starting area. The class overall just doesn't appeal to me. I'm not fond of the playstyle and can't seem to grasp the proper rotation. I find myself mashing buttons until the mob dies, more often than not. Even the lore behind the death knights hasn't been able to keep my attention. The death knight class and I get along about as much as my former neighbor's Pomeranian and I did.

What class or classes do you not like? Have you leveled them out of the starting zone, or do the descriptions of the class drive you away?

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Breakfast Topic: What's the one class you just can't stand? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 20 May 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 (Andrew Ross) Fri, 20 May 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Have you met any WoW players in real life?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/05/06/breakfast-topic-have-you-met-any-wow-players-in-real-life/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/05/06/breakfast-topic-have-you-met-any-wow-players-in-real-life/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/05/06/breakfast-topic-have-you-met-any-wow-players-in-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.

World of Warcraft is the largest MMO on the market and by far the most popular. It's nearly impossible to not strike up a conversation or make a few friends while playing WoW. After all, it is a game that revolves around taking 9 or 24 other people into a raid and defeating pixelated dragons with overbite problems. When you're in a raiding guild, you tend to grow close to the players you raid with daily. You may or may not know them on a first-name basis, but you know their voices when they come into Vent. You share stories about your toddler running through the house chasing the family dog with the remote-controlled car he got for Christmas.

What about taking it a step farther and meeting the people behind the avatar? I myself have only met two people in real life who I met first in WoW. I was meeting up with a group of friends after class for a drink, and one of the girls in our class brought her boyfriend. I had never met the guy in person prior to that night, but when he introduced himself, I recognized the voice almost instantly. He was my guild's gnome tank who was always cracking jokes. Little did I know, he not only lived in my area but was dating my classmate.

The other person was a girl I had been talking to for a number of months. She was looking at colleges and was going to be in my area to check out a local college. We met up for lunch and spent the afternoon touring the college I was already attending. I was scolded for doing the tour guides' job.

Have you ever met anybody in real life who you knew first in WoW? How did you know them in the game? Did you meet your significant other in Azeroth?

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Breakfast Topic: Have you met any WoW players in real life? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 06 May 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 (Andrew Ross) Fri, 06 May 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Do you have a favorite race?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/04/22/breakfast-topic-do-you-have-a-favorite-race/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/04/22/breakfast-topic-do-you-have-a-favorite-race/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/04/22/breakfast-topic-do-you-have-a-favorite-race/#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 majority of the people who play chose their main character's race because it appealed to them for one reason or another. Some people play a certain race because of the racial traits and the benefits they provide in a raid. The extra crit or intellect can be the defining choice when a raider is picking his or her race. A serious PvP player may choose his race based on the offensive or defensive racial traits for that race. For the average player, though, we choose our race because something appealed to us: the look of that race, the lore, or maybe it was the thought of how playing a certain race and class combination would play out.

My very first toon in WoW was a gnome rogue. The thought of something so small jumping out from the shadows and stabbing you in the kneecaps before vanishing made me laugh. I moved onto a dwarf hunter a few weeks later and never looked back. The dwarven race has always been my favorite because of their lore, the way they carry themselves, their attitude. When I think of dwarves, I think of Scotland and bagpipe music. In Wrath of the Lich King, I spent more time in the Howling Fjord than any other zone. If I could have taken the music from the Fjord and put it in Ironforge, my dwarf would have been drunk on ale and in heaven. Every character I have, save for my first rogue and my priest, is a dwarf.

What is your favorite race? Why does that race appeal to you? Are there any races that you can't stand to play or dislike in general?

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Breakfast Topic: Do you have a favorite race? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 22 Apr 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> facebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionraceracesworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Andrew Ross) Fri, 22 Apr 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Has your account ever been compromised?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/04/19/breakfast-topic-has-your-account-ever-been-compromised/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/04/19/breakfast-topic-has-your-account-ever-been-compromised/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/04/19/breakfast-topic-has-your-account-ever-been-compromised/#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.

Account security is a serious matter in Azeroth. If a player's account is ever compromised, it can be a devastating blow. You work hard to reach the level cap, run the dungeons and raids for the gear your character needs and level your chosen professions. Chances are, you also have a fair amount of gold from questing, dailies, and your professions. If hackers gain access to your account, they wreak havoc while inside, stripping your characters of everything they have, taking all your gold, and selling anything of value.

My account has only been hacked into once, but it was more than enough for me to doublecheck my security settings, wipe my hard drive, and buy an authenticator. When my account was hacked, I was beyond devastated. All of the hard work I put into my characters was gone in an instant. Hackers move a lot like a fire.

Continue reading Breakfast Topic: Has your account ever been compromised?

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Breakfast Topic: Has your account ever been compromised? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 19 Apr 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> facebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionhackedhackingworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Andrew Ross) Tue, 19 Apr 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: How do you and your guild benefit one another?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/30/breakfast-topic-how-do-you-and-your-guild-benefit-one-another/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/30/breakfast-topic-how-do-you-and-your-guild-benefit-one-another/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/30/breakfast-topic-how-do-you-and-your-guild-benefit-one-another/#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.

While I'm a veteran MMOer, I often end up coming back to WoW, at least for a few months. I have friends who play, but as soon as I come back, they change servers, get busy, or stop playing, which is partially why I only come back for so long.

I've been in guilds in other games, but WoW guilds to me are much more ... impermanent. Raid progression would do something to kill the guild out from under me, so I figured, for Cata, I'd try a PvP guild. However, we're a few months into the expansion, and I'm not getting the PvP I came back for. I have to raid again, which is what always drives me away. The guild perks aren't really anything I need, either, especially since I avoid alts and reputation and I love BGs, so I'm always rolling in honor. The other day, I stopped and asked myself, "What has my WoW guild done for me lately?"

While people may complain about how bad the WoW community is, I think its accessibility brings in a good mix of people, and often I can find a few who I honestly enjoy. I do things I don't normally want to do in WoW because I want to see my guildmates happy. Even when we lose in PvP, my guildies stay motivated for the next game, rather than exploding, unlike my real-life friends. In essence, my guild's given me a reason to keep playing that transcends just the game.

What's your guild done for you lately? Did they help you get an awesome mount? Maybe they helped you with a dream achievement or feat of strength, or maybe something we often overlook when looking for guilds.

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Breakfast Topic: How do you and your guild benefit one another? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> facebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionguildguildsworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Andrew Ross) Wed, 30 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: What's your dailies routine?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/23/breakfast-topic-whats-your-dailies-routine/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/23/breakfast-topic-whats-your-dailies-routine/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/23/breakfast-topic-whats-your-dailies-routine/#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.

Love them or hate them, daily quests have become a staple in WoW. In The Burning Crusade, you had your cooking, fishing, daily dungeons, Sha'tari Skyguard and the Shattered Sun dailies (toward the end of BC). In Wrath of the Lich King, you had profession, dungeon, faction-specific dailies and the Argent Tournament. You could do all 25 dailies and still have a handful you weren't able to complete.

In Wrath, I made sure I always did my cooking and fishing dailies. I was determined to get one of the rare fishing poles (which I still have yet to get, by the way). I also did one faction at a time until I was exalted. When the Argent Tournament was introduced, that became my first stop of the day. I would start at the tournament, move onto The Storm Peaks for the Sons of Hodir, back to Dalaran and then to Sholazar Basin to convince the Oracles that I needed a Green Proto-Drake. (Turns out the Oracles don't have any Green Proto-Drakes and the Mysterious Egg they sell is really just a scam.)

Do you follow a routine while you're in WoW? Do you have a route that you follow religiously, or do you pick your dailies at random each day?

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Breakfast Topic: What's your dailies routine? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 23 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> dailiesfacebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Andrew Ross) Wed, 23 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Do you still play your first character?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/15/breakfast-topic-do-you-still-play-your-first-character/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/15/breakfast-topic-do-you-still-play-your-first-character/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/15/breakfast-topic-do-you-still-play-your-first-character/#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 many, World of Warcraft was the first (and to some, the only) MMO we have ever played. In WoW, our first step into Azeroth is the level 1 character we choose for the first time. That race and class combination can be the reason you fell in love with WoW, or it may the reason you never made it past the 10-day trial. Luckily, we aren't committed to just one class, and we can take each class for a test run until we find the one we like.

With the number of race and class combinations available today, it can be hard to find people who still play their first gnome warrior or night elf priest. That gnome warrior may have become a human warrior when race changes became available, or the gnome was sent into the nether. The night elf priest may now be a worgen priest. Some people still play the first class they ever made. Others have a menagerie of alts because they love to play every class.

I myself made a gnome rogue when I first started to play WoW. My friends played Alliance, so my choices were already narrowed down. I looked over each of the races, decided that humans were too boring. The night elves resembled hippies, which didn't suit me. It came down to the dwarves and the gnomes. I looked at the gnomes first, and when I looked at a gnome rogue, I visualized what it might be like to play one. The thought of a pint-sized terror stealthily moving through the shadows, popping out and stabbing you in the knees, then vanishing again, made me laugh. A few weeks later, I created a dwarf hunter that fast became my main. My rogue is still around; he just doesn't see very much action aside from an occasional Arathi Basin match.

Do you still play the first character you ever created? Has he or she gone through a race change or even a faction change?

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Breakfast Topic: Do you still play your first character? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 15 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> character-creationfacebookfeedfirst-charactergame-discussiongamer-discussionworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Andrew Ross) Tue, 15 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: How do you make time for WoW?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/12/breakfast-topic-how-do-you-make-time-for-wow/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/12/breakfast-topic-how-do-you-make-time-for-wow/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/12/breakfast-topic-how-do-you-make-time-for-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 is such a wide variety of WoW players. Everyone from college students to 70-year-old gaming grandmothers play. Some people play for an hour or two every few days. Other people play for hours every night.

No matter what your play schedule is, you more often than not have to find time to play, and that can be hard. School, work, family, friends, other commitments ... All those things and more make a huge impact in finding time to play WoW without interruption. Making time to play can feel like planning a rocket launch sometimes. If you're a full-time college student, you spend a good portion of your day in class, you have to study almost daily, and when exams roll around, you live in your books. Someone with a full-time job and a family might as well feel like planning a rocket launch. There are so many things to do in one night that you can't even begin to list them all.

I knew a nurse who was working full time in the trauma room of the ER, going to school full time and had three kids. She was not only in one of the best raiding guilds on the server but also managed to do arena and go just over a 1,900 rating. I asked her how she made time for everything. Her answer? She took her laptop to work when she knew there would be a slow night and could do arenas. She would rotate on her nights off with the kids. Her husband was also a raider, so they would take turns getting the kids to bed for the night. Luckily, they were both gamers, so it was easier to find time to play.

How do you make time to play WoW? Are you limited to a few hours every night, or do you plan for a weekend of WoW?

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Breakfast Topic: How do you make time for WoW? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 12 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> facebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionplay-timescheduletime-managementworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Andrew Ross) Sat, 12 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Are you happy with the new races?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/06/breakfast-topic-are-you-happy-with-the-new-races/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/06/breakfast-topic-are-you-happy-with-the-new-races/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/06/breakfast-topic-are-you-happy-with-the-new-races/#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.

One of the most anticipated changes next to a revamped Azeroth for Cataclysm was the announcement of two new races. The goblins would be joining the Horde, and the worgen would join the Alliance. These were two races the players have been asking Blizzard to make playable for a number of years. You couldn't browse the forums without seeing threads about what people would name their new goblin rogue or which class should Worgenfreman should play.

Cataclysm has been out for nearly 3 months, and most people have formed an opinion of the new races, whether it be positive or negative. Many people thought it would be a repeat of The Burning Crusade when you saw more draenei and blood elves running around than anything else. Surprisingly, this was not the case. Once Cataclysm went live, a number of people race-changed to one of the new races, while others started with a fresh level 1 to experience the new starting zones.

I played through the goblin zone first. I enjoyed it for the most part but at times it felt bloated or that Blizzard was trying too hard to mold the goblins into a certain image. It was still a blast, and I loved the Escape from Kezan cinematic. The only complaint with the goblins are the faces; all the faces look angry or like they are walking around with something "stuck." The worgen starting zone was fun but felt bloated and too repetitive at times. Overall, I'm not as thrilled with the worgen as I thought I would be. I'm not a fan of the appearance of the worgen, and the Running Wild animation is just weird to me. Seeing a worgen in a robe on all fours is even worse.

What do you think of the new races? Did your main undergo a race change, or are you leveling a new worgen or goblin?

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Breakfast Topic: Are you happy with the new races? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 06 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 (Andrew Ross) Sun, 06 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Do you use heirlooms when leveling?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/02/26/breakfast-topic-do-you-use-heirlooms-when-leveling/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/02/26/breakfast-topic-do-you-use-heirlooms-when-leveling/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/02/26/breakfast-topic-do-you-use-heirlooms-when-leveling/#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.

If you ask the guy or girl with the army of alts what they think of heirlooms, he or she will most likely tell you how great heirlooms are. When heirlooms were announced in Wrath, the players suffering from altitis all screamed out in joy. Something that would save them gold while leveling and make life just a little easier on the way to 80? Now 85? Yes, please!

At first, we had shoulder and weapon heirlooms that were only purchasable in Dalaran or Wintergrasp. The shoulder heirlooms sold in Wintergrasp were identical to the ones in Dalaran, save that you sacrificed a sometimes useful stat for resilience. In patch 3.2, the Argent Tournament was introduced and with it, chest heirlooms and another way to buy heirlooms. Once you obtained the title you could buy shoulder, chest and weapon heirlooms with Champion's Seals. This was a much more viable and cheaper option to those who didn't want to dungeon crawl to gather the badges needed or who were spending your badges on gear for raiding.

To some, the downside to these heirlooms is that they don't scale past 80. Cataclysm did introduce two new heirlooms that scale from 1 to 85: cloak and helm heirlooms purchasable once your guild hits the required level and you are honored.

I myself have a number of different heirlooms for my alts, everything from cloth to plate, with different weapons for each class and their specific role. I stopped using them on my priest because I was flying through the revamped zones and couldn't finish all the quest chains before they turned gray.

Do you have heirlooms for your alts? Do you prefer to use them while leveling, or do you keep it old-fashioned while leveling?

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Breakfast Topic: Do you use heirlooms when leveling? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 26 Feb 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> altsfacebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionheirloomheirloom-itemsheirloomslevelingworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Andrew Ross) Sat, 26 Feb 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: I can do what all weekend?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/10/07/breakfast-topic-i-can-do-what-all-weekend/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/10/07/breakfast-topic-i-can-do-what-all-weekend/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/10/07/breakfast-topic-i-can-do-what-all-weekend/#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 all responsibilities and obligations in the real world: a full-time job, the big exam that you've been dreading for weeks, the moment your kid decides to learn about gravity by jumping off the back of the couch and onto his or her sibling ... WoW time is a precious commodity -- and to some, a very rare one at that. We don't always get to play the game when we want due to real life, and sometimes we might plan a night of WoW only to have something come up at the last minute

I recently had a medical procedure done and was told to relax over the next three days. My fiancée went to visit friends that Saturday and had to work Sunday. She told me to play WoW while she gone so that I wouldn't hurt myself trying to do things around the house I wasn't supposed to do. The only thing that stood between me and my precious WoW time was an ice pack that wouldn't stay cold for more than 30 minutes at a time. It was a surprisingly productive weekend. I was able to do all my dailies between my three characters. I ran Karazhan and Tempest Keep, and we took down Sartharion for the Nightfall title.

What would you do if you were able to play WoW all weekend without any interruptions? Would you farm until your bags were stuffed full of herbs and ore? Would you visit all the old content you missed when it was considered current, or would you dust off that lowly level 20 alt you haven't touched in six months?

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Breakfast Topic: I can do what all weekend? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 07 Oct 2010 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 (Andrew Ross) Thu, 07 Oct 2010 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Slowbies, what's first on your Cataclysm to-do list?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/10/06/breakfast-topic-slowbies-whats-first-on-your-cataclysm-to-do/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/10/06/breakfast-topic-slowbies-whats-first-on-your-cataclysm-to-do/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/10/06/breakfast-topic-slowbies-whats-first-on-your-cataclysm-to-do/#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.

Eventually Deathwing will make it to Azeroth and tear the world apart. If I had to make a guess as to why he isn't here yet, it would be because he's having some issues making it to the surface. Those tunnels are only so big. Much like the doorways to the AH and other buildings, they are not mammoth-friendly.

Once Deathwing does make his grand entrance, a lot of players will be racing to level 85 and gearing up via heroics so they might enter the raids and go for a server- or even world-first kill. What about those of us who aren't interested in blowing through the content as fast as humanly possible? What about those of us who aren't going to be leveling as fast as possible?

I myself am torn. Part of me wants to fly over Dun Morogh and take in the scenery, while the money-maker part of me wants to spend the first week or two farming ore. It's a proven fact that people will pay nearly any amount of gold for materials to craft an epic. Many people will be leveling their crafting professions as quickly as they can level. The first few weeks are a goldmine for herbs, ore and leather, depending on your server.

If you're a slower player, what is the first thing you plan on doing once Deathwing finally makes his appearance? Maybe you have a list of things you want to do but you have no idea where to start, and you'll randomly pick something from the list. Are you going to fly throughout the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor, taking in the new scenery?

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Breakfast Topic: Slowbies, what's first on your Cataclysm to-do list? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 06 Oct 2010 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 (Andrew Ross) Wed, 06 Oct 2010 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: What would you tell your level 1 self?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/10/01/breakfast-topic-what-would-you-tell-your-level-1-self/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/10/01/breakfast-topic-what-would-you-tell-your-level-1-self/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/10/01/breakfast-topic-what-would-you-tell-your-level-1-self/#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 were all once level 1 and new to WoW. Some of us migrated from a different MMO, while for others, WoW was their first MMO. Some of us started during vanilla WoW, some came in during The Burning Crusade and some started after Wrath went live. No matter when you first started WoW, you were a level 1 with no money or gear -- and if this was your first time playing an MMO, you more than likely had no idea what to do.

Fast-forward to level 80 and look at your character now. Are you raiding Icecrown on heroic? Maybe you're one of the gladiators in your battlegroup. How about a Seeker/Loremaster? Did you picture yourself doing the things you're doing today? Did you have a goal from Day One? I myself started with a gnome rogue. The thought of something so small popping out of the shadows was both funny and awesome. I rolled a hunter a week later, and the race to 70 was on. I hardly knew anything about the game at the time. I just knew that I wanted to hit 70 because that is what all the cool players were doing.

In Dragonblight, there is a quest where you meet the Future You at the Bronze Dragonshrine. The Future You helps you battle the Infinite Dragonflight and makes a few comments about your gear and how you fight during the encounter. Would you ask the Future You for any tips on your adventure to 80? What advice would you give yourself? I would tell myself that he doesn't know it yet, but one day he will be a great seeker, a hunter who not only loves his ale but his pets. Most importantly, I would tell him he will be a hero of the Alliance one day and to train hard, for he will face the Lich King.

What if at level 1 you met the future version of yourself? What if you could visit yourself in the past? What would you tell the level 1 you, or what would the level 1 you ask?

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Breakfast Topic: What would you tell your level 1 self? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 01 Oct 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> facebookfeedfuture-yougame-discussiongamer-discussionworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Andrew Ross) Fri, 01 Oct 2010 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Have you visited any old friends lately?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/09/18/breakfast-topic-have-you-visited-any-old-friends-lately/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/09/18/breakfast-topic-have-you-visited-any-old-friends-lately/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/09/18/breakfast-topic-have-you-visited-any-old-friends-lately/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to our pages.

It's September, and we're still waiting on Deathwing to give Azeroth a makeover (especially Desolace -- I don't know anyone who has ever had anything good to say about that zone). While Deathwing has said many times he's going to make an appearance in 2010, he has yet to say when he's coming. So for now, we're left hanging out with Arthas. I've spent more than enough time with Arthas. All he ever talks about is how cold his frozen throne is, how nobody comes to visit and when they do they bring that jerk Tirion along.

One day, I finally got tired of hanging around Arthas and decided to visit some old friends. I went to say hi to Hakkar, but he was still bitter that I took his heart, so I said my goodbyes and left. After visiting Hakkar, I went to the Molten Core; that was a very bad idea. Apparently, the Core Hounds think dwarves are a snack no matter what level they are.

After running back to my body and forcing my turtle to distract the corehounds so I could get away, I decided to visit my good friends in Shattrath. That was also a bad idea. I waved at A'dal, and as I turned to walk away, he invaded my mind and started complaining about Kael'thas. I guess people are going back to kill Kael just for laughs, so he in turns appears in Shattrath to taunt A'dal. He was also complaining about how the new adventurers refuse to help him or anyone else in the city.

You know what? Forget it. I'm done being nice. I'm not going to visit anyone else. Let me know when Deathwing comes. I'll be at the Ironforge inn with my cat. At least she doesn't hold a grudge when I leave her at the stable master ...

What about you? What old friends have you called on recently, in the slow weeks before Cataclysm?

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Breakfast Topic: Have you visited any old friends lately? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 18 Sep 2010 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 (Andrew Ross) Sat, 18 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: What is your city of choice?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/09/17/breakfast-topic-what-is-your-city-of-choice/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/09/17/breakfast-topic-what-is-your-city-of-choice/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/09/17/breakfast-topic-what-is-your-city-of-choice/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to our pages.

Whether you're Alliance or Horde, you have a variety of choices when it comes to your favorite city. Maybe you like Silvermoon because it's quiet and the only people there aside from you are the Alliance who are going after Lor'themar Theron for their black war bears. If you're Alliance, you might prefer Stormwind because there is a mailbox literally right outside the auction house.

As someone who primarily plays Alliance, I prefer Ironforge. I love the dwarves and the lore behind them. The city of Ironforge is housed in a mountain. Whoever had the idea to put a city inside of a mountain deserves a keg of ale. There is only one way in and out of the city, which is good for the defenders, bad for the attackers. It's also impossible to get lost in Ironforge. It's a giant circle with one floor of buildings. Unlike Darnassus, you can easily move between the auction house and the bank.

Of course, Ironforge does have its flaws. While the layout is simple, that is also a major drawback. The architecture of the buildings was awesome in 2004, but in 2010, it's rather bland. Everything looks the same, which can cause some confusion when looking for a certain vendor or trainer.

What goes into choosing your favorite city? Do you prefer Dalaran for the portal room? What does your favorite city lack that others have?

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Breakfast Topic: What is your city of choice? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 17 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> capital-citiescapital-cityfacebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Andrew Ross) Fri, 17 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider