WoW Insider http://wow.joystiq.com WoW Insider http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/wow.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif WoW Insider http://wow.joystiq.com prods@weblogsinc.com (Weblogs, Inc. Producers) (Weblogs, Inc. Web Support) en-us Copyright 2013 Weblogs, Inc. View our terms of service here: http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/ Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/ <![CDATA[Reminder: Deadline for BlizzCon ticket information is tomorrow]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/05/13/reminder-deadline-for-blizzcon-ticket-information-is-tomorrow/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/05/13/reminder-deadline-for-blizzcon-ticket-information-is-tomorrow/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/05/13/reminder-deadline-for-blizzcon-ticket-information-is-tomorrow/#comments Reminder Deadline for BlizzCon ticket information is tomorrow For those of you planning to attend BlizzCon 2013, Blizzard has posted a friendly reminder on its community sites that ticket information needs to be finalized by Tuesday, May 14 at 11:59 p.m. PDT. That's tomorrow night, so get to it if you haven't already done so.
BlizzCon Ticket Reminder: Attendee Information Deadline-May 14
If you purchased BlizzCon 2013 tickets for family or friends, just a reminder you have until next Tuesday, May 14 to enter or edit attendee information, including:
  • The names to be printed on the badges.
  • Battle.net account names for the pre-show online merchandise sale for BlizzCon ticket holders-more details to come. (Please note that only registered accounts will be able to access this pre-show sale.)
  • Optional game information such as World of Warcraft character, realm, clan, and BattleTag.
If this information hasn't been entered by May 14, all badges will default to the name on the purchaser's Battle.net account. Don't miss the opportunity to customize your badges!

For more info, check out the Badge Information page.

Head to your Order History within Battle.net account management to edit attendee information before it's too late!

This information is particularly important if you're getting your ticket through a friend or family member. If the name on your ticket does not match the name on your photo ID, you will not be able to pick up your badge on your own. That, and if you don't select your franchise preferences, you might end up with a Diablo III badge instead of a World of Warcraft one. You wouldn't want that, would you?

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Reminder: Deadline for BlizzCon ticket information is tomorrow originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 13 May 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> blizzconblizzcon-2013blizzcon-2013-ticketsbreaking (Dawn Moore) Mon, 13 May 2013 14:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: What type of character would your mother play in WoW?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/05/12/breakfast-topic-what-type-of-character-would-your-mother-play-i/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/05/12/breakfast-topic-what-type-of-character-would-your-mother-play-i/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/05/12/breakfast-topic-what-type-of-character-would-your-mother-play-i/#comments Happy Mother's Day! I suspect that many WoW Insider readers are probably not mothers themselves (though surely some of you are), but I do know most of you are human, which means most of you have a mother or two. As such, I thought I'd use the day to ask this question: what would your mother play in WoW? Would she be a paladin? A warlock? Would she roll as a gnome or a tauren? What about her spec?

To answer the question myself, I really had to consider all the angles. Generally I think of my mother as being very kind and nurturing, but I've also seen her stand up to people three times her size and threaten the neighborhood bullies with a gaze of death when I got picked on as a kid. All in all, I figure she's probably a druid since she's fairly attuned to nature and can make anything grow. She'd probably go main spec kitty DPS (she has her moments of being super sneaky) and restoration as her secondary spec. As for what race she'd be ... I see her more as a night elf but I know she'd pick tauren since the cows are so cute.

My stepmother, on the other hand, would totally go dwarf elemental shaman. Granted, she'd probably also have four level 90 alts and a bunch of battleground achievements ... She's pretty hardcore when she gets into stuff. She's told me herself that she'd get addicted if she ever started.

So, what about your mothers?

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Breakfast Topic: What type of character would your mother play in WoW? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 12 May 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> Breakfast-Topicmothers-dayMothersDay (Dawn Moore) Sun, 12 May 2013 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[The useful distinction between casual and hardcore]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/05/11/the-useful-distinction-between-casual-and-hardcore/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/05/11/the-useful-distinction-between-casual-and-hardcore/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/05/11/the-useful-distinction-between-casual-and-hardcore/#comments The useful distinction between casual and hardcore Earlier this week, WoW Insider's Matthew Rossi argued that there is no point in distinguishing between hardcore and casual players, and that doing so actually detracts from the game. I, however, don't agree and will be presenting a counterpoint in this article. So, if you haven't read Rossi's side yet, be sure to check it out first.

Now before I explain why I think the distinction between hardcore and casual is useful, I think it's necessary that we all be on the same page as far as what hardcore and casual actually are. I found Rossi's argument against the usage of these words particularly flawed because he was working around an assumed and rigid definition of what a hardcore player and a casual player are. Toward the end of his article he pointed out that the casual/hardcore metric doesn't work when you consider the various ways in which some players are engaging with the game. Not every player raids, he explained, but that doesn't mean they can't be hardcore.

Now, I agree with that for the most part, but I disagree with his understanding of hardcore and casual. You see, hardcore and casual are not and have never been part of any metric. It's actually impossible for them to have ever been since the definition of casual and hardcore is subjective. Ask any two people what kind of behavior distinguishes a casual player from a hardcore player and the answer will be different in some way ... And if the definition of something varies from person to person, it can't logically be used as a standard of measurement.

Continue reading The useful distinction between casual and hardcore

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The useful distinction between casual and hardcore originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 11 May 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> casual-playerscasual-raidinghardcorehardcore-casualhardcore-raidinghardcore-vs-casualraiding (Dawn Moore) Sat, 11 May 2013 14:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[WoW Moviewatch: If WoW Was Easy... er]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/05/08/wow-moviewatch-if-wow-was-easy-er/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/05/08/wow-moviewatch-if-wow-was-easy-er/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/05/08/wow-moviewatch-if-wow-was-easy-er/#comments Today on WoW Moviewatch, Wowcrendor presents us with a simple question: how easy do you think World of Warcraft could become? The context for this question obviously being that players are constantly complaining how easy the game has become over the years. Thoughts, anyone? Rants? Well-argued essays?

Anyway, to answer the question, Wowcrendor employs his usual style wherein which Billy presents the question and Crendor responds with several, increasingly absurd answers. I won't spoil any of the jokes (though I really want that robot) so just give it a watch.

I have to admit, it really is astonishing that Billy has retained his innocence and naivety over the years. You'd think after being slapped around by the harshness of reality so many times he'd have become jaded by now. But I guess he really is resilient ... Or maybe just extremely oblivious. Either way, props to you Billy. I wish I had your tenacity.
Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.

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WoW Moviewatch: If WoW Was Easy... er originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 08 May 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> featuredguide-to-machinimamachinimamoviesow-machinimaworld-of-warcraft-moviesworld-of-warcraft-videoswow-created-movieswow-crendorwow-fan-movieswow-guidewow-machinima-guidewow-movie-guidewow-movieswow-video-guidewow-videoswowcrendor (Dawn Moore) Wed, 08 May 2013 19:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[WoW Moviewatch: Lore According to Ragnaros]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/05/07/wow-moviewatch-lore-according-to-ragnaros/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/05/07/wow-moviewatch-lore-according-to-ragnaros/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/05/07/wow-moviewatch-lore-according-to-ragnaros/#comments Did you ever think Ragnaros might not be such a bad guy, and that maybe he's just really, really misunderstood? Probably not, but you will after you watch the latest machinima from Slightly Impressive. In the video, Ragnaros explains what actually happened in Molten Core back during vanilla WoW. He also makes a fairly good point about how we shouldn't take crazy dreams too seriously. Sound advice, seeing as I once had a dream where the WoW Insider staff tried to recreate The Empire Strikes Back.

Anyway, I think this machinima shows off Griffter's strengths well. The setup and the script are genuinely funny and the voice actors execute it all perfectly. I'd actually really love to see this become a short series with a different boss each episode, provided Griff can keep the jokes fresh. Even if it stays a one-shot though, this is one of my favorites to date.
Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.

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WoW Moviewatch: Lore According to Ragnaros originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 07 May 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> (Dawn Moore) Tue, 07 May 2013 15:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[WoW Moviewatch: Transmog Shop (NSFW)]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/04/25/wow-moviewatch-transmog-shop-nsfw/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/04/25/wow-moviewatch-transmog-shop-nsfw/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/04/25/wow-moviewatch-transmog-shop-nsfw/#comments Warning: This video is Not Safe For Work. There's some occasional cursing and Princess Theradas flaunting her Willendorfer assets for several seconds.

I'm always excited to see new work from renowned machinima artist Ian Beckman. Mind you, I'm a bit biased since the two of us are acquainted (we briefly attended the same university -- he made me choke on my drink once while doing his Azerothian Super Villains Akama voice). Today's video is a parody of the song Thrift Shop by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, featuring Wanz. The parody tells the story of a goblin on his quest to look awesome using vanilla tier gear and transmogrification.

As a machinima parody the piece certainly does its job in recreating the original song and music video, but it's definitely not Beckman's best parody. The lyrics don't really capture the original, lacking both the fun humor of Macklemore's rap lyrics, and the energy and clarity of Wanz's chorus. In regards to the latter point, I think this is part to Beckman doing his best to imitate Wanz's deep vocals but not quite being suited for it. Pulling in another singer to do the part probably would have made it better.

I'm probably being a bit unfair in my critique though, simply because I'm so familiar with Beckman's work. If this was produced by some no name machinima artist I'd probably be perfectly happy with it. You also have to consider what an incredibly difficult song Thrift Shop is to parody, with its many layers of instruments and vocals. Beckman certainly nails the distinct sound of the original and that's no small feat. I really do love the concept of this parody, so I'll keep my fingers crossed that Beckman might keep working on it to fine tune some of the shortcomings.

As an afterthought, I have to say I enjoy how this video clip fits in with the rest of Beckman's work. He's been playing since vanilla and it's always interesting to see how that inspires his present day work, like That's the World of Warcraft That I Used To Play. Transmog Shop gives off a similar vibe to Beckman's Gotye parody, using a new WoW feature to harken back to the old. It offers a nice contrast to other popular machinima and parody artists whose works tend to only reflect the current expansion.
Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.

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WoW Moviewatch: Transmog Shop (NSFW) originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 25 Apr 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> Azerothian-Super-Villainsfeaturedgotyeguide-to-machinimaian-beckmanmachinimamacklemoremoviesow-machinimasomebody-that-I-used-to-knowthrift-shopworld-of-warcraft-moviesworld-of-warcraft-videoswow-created-movieswow-fan-movieswow-guidewow-machinima-guidewow-movie-guidewow-movieswow-video-guidewow-videos (Dawn Moore) Thu, 25 Apr 2013 18:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Icy Veins class guides given stamp of approval by top guilds, theorycrafters]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/04/24/icy-veins-class-guides-given-stamp-of-approval-by-top-guilds-th/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/04/24/icy-veins-class-guides-given-stamp-of-approval-by-top-guilds-th/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/04/24/icy-veins-class-guides-given-stamp-of-approval-by-top-guilds-th/#comments Icy Veins class guides given stamp of approval by top guilds, theorycrafters The WoW community is so old and so large that there's often a dispute about where to go to get the best information about your class. In the past, Elitist Jerks was often recommended as the one-stop, hot spot, but nowadays the best class resources seem to be speckled around the web at sites like HowToPriest.com or Totem Spot. So what do you do if you want to find it all in one place? The WoW resource site Icy Veins (probably best known for their dungeon guides) is looking for an answer to that question.

Earlier today Icy Veins announced that their class guides have been reviewed and approved by players from top guilds and other notable members of the community. Looking for an up-to-date elemental shaman guide? How about one that's been approved by Leeds from the guild Method? Or maybe you'd like a mistweaver monk guide checked off by DREAM Paragon monk, Unpl?

Continue reading Icy Veins class guides given stamp of approval by top guilds, theorycrafters

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Icy Veins class guides given stamp of approval by top guilds, theorycrafters originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 24 Apr 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> class-guidesicy-veinswow-class-helpwow-guidewow-guideswow-resources (Dawn Moore) Wed, 24 Apr 2013 20:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Spiritual Guidance: Discipline and holy priest stat weights and gear in tier 15]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/04/04/spiritual-guidance-discipline-and-holy-priest-stat-weights-and/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/04/04/spiritual-guidance-discipline-and-holy-priest-stat-weights-and/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/04/04/spiritual-guidance-discipline-and-holy-priest-stat-weights-and/#comments Spiritual Guidance Discipline and holy priest stat weights and gear in tier 15 WoW Insider brings you Spiritual Guidance for discipline, holy and shadow priests. Dawn Moore is a discipline priest by reputation, but still enjoys melting faces as shadow and bugging her raid to click the Lightwell as holy.

A while back Spiritual Guidance looked at the various upgrade options for priests in patch 5.2. Today we'll be discussing which of those upgrades you want to take, depending on whether you're a discipline or holy (the weighty topic of shadow will be covered next week). Discipline priests in particular saw some big changes with the release of patch 5.2 and will want to adjust their strategy for selecting new gear from here on. Since we're already talking about disc, let's start there.

Most of you probably know the basics. When gearing, don't take intellect downgrades and be sure to mostly select gear with spirit on it for mana regeneration. How much spirit do you want? There's no hard, set number to aim for; the goal is to find an amount that allows you to get through most encounters without running out of mana too early. This will be different for everyone so just go with what feels comfortable, remembering that you can always supplement a shortage of spirit with consumables (food and flasks) for fights that are more stressful on your mana pool than most others. (Rememeber that it's not necessary to gear for that one tough fight, and then be running surplus mana the rest of the time.)

With that said, let's look at what has really changed: secondary stats.

Continue reading Spiritual Guidance: Discipline and holy priest stat weights and gear in tier 15

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Spiritual Guidance: Discipline and holy priest stat weights and gear in tier 15 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 04 Apr 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> disc-priest-geardisc-priest-gear-guidedisc-priest-spiritual-guidancediscipline-priest-spiritual-guidancefeaturedgear-guideghostcrawlerguide-to-priestsholy-priest-gearholy-priest-gear-guideholy-priest-spiritual-guidanceloot-listpatch-5.2priest-gearpriest-gear-guidepriest-guidepriest-infopriest-talentsshadshado-pan-assaultthrone-of-thunderwow-priestwow-priest-infowow-priests (Dawn Moore) Thu, 04 Apr 2013 19:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Interview: Talking Hearthstone with the developers]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/03/25/interview-talking-hearthstone-with-the-developers/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/03/25/interview-talking-hearthstone-with-the-developers/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/03/25/interview-talking-hearthstone-with-the-developers/#comments Interview with Hearthstones developers Want to know more about Blizzard's new digital card game, Hearthstone? During PAX East 2013, we spoke with Hearthstone Lead Designer Eric Dodds and Production Director Jason Chayes to learn some additional information about the game.

During the 20-minute interview, I asked the developers several questions, some on behalf of the lore nerds, others for the collectors among us. We discussed some of the game features planned for launch, as well as the possibility of implementing e-sports capabilities later. Also touched upon were the game's visual aspects, like the art work and animated game boards.

And for those of you with a history playing other strategy card games like Magic: The Gathering, I learned a bit more about Hearthstone gameplay and how the Forge works.

Continue reading Interview: Talking Hearthstone with the developers

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Interview: Talking Hearthstone with the developers originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 25 Mar 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> blizzarderic-doddsfeaturedHearthstonehearthstone gameplayhearthstone releasehearthstone wowhearthstone-heroes-of-warcrafthearthstonegameplayhearthstonereleasehearthstonewowjason-chayespaxpax-eastwow hearthstonewowhearthstone (Dawn Moore) Mon, 25 Mar 2013 17:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[First impressions of Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/03/23/first-impressions-of-hearthstone-heroes-of-warcraft/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/03/23/first-impressions-of-hearthstone-heroes-of-warcraft/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/03/23/first-impressions-of-hearthstone-heroes-of-warcraft/#comments First impressions of Hearthstone Heroes of Warcraft Yesterday at PAX East 2013, Blizzard unveiled their first free-to-play game, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. The upcoming title is a digital, collectible card game akin to Magic: The Gathering Online, but designed to be easy to learn and accessible to a larger audience. The game is currently being demonstrated on the showroom floor at PAX, and I was able to play it a couple of times yesterday afternoon.

When starting up my first game, I expected to find Hearthstone confusing because I've never played Magic: The Gathering or any other strategy card game (e.g. Pokémon TCG, Yu-Gi-Oh!) before. I am vaguely familiar with some of the terminology of MTG, having spent most of my life around hardcore players, but I don't really know the rules or how the game is played. That unfamiliarity didn't seem to get in the way of Hearthstone, though. Within two turns I understood my resource system, and also how to play and use cards. By the fifth turn I felt like I understood all the basic mechanics of combat. Then, by the time my seventh turn came around, I was cursing paladins for being overpowered and itching to play another game.

Continue reading First impressions of Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft

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First impressions of Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 23 Mar 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> blizzardhearthstonehearthstone heroes of warcrafthearthstone: heroes of warcrafthearthstone:heroesofwarcrafthearthstoneheroesofwarcraftheroes of warcraftheroesofwarcraftpaxpax-eastwow hearthstonewowhearthstone (Dawn Moore) Sat, 23 Mar 2013 20:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Do you dream of a World of Warcraft simulator?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/03/14/do-you-dream-of-a-world-of-warcraft-simulator/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/03/14/do-you-dream-of-a-world-of-warcraft-simulator/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/03/14/do-you-dream-of-a-world-of-warcraft-simulator/#comments Years ago, before vanilla WoW became vanilla WoW, a friend of mine made the passing comment, "If only I ran as much as my night elf. I'd be in amazing shape."

I've been dreaming about a World of Warcraft simulator ever since.

Mind you, I'd suffer the fate of Pheidippides if I ran a fraction of what my night elf runs (I'm a terrible long-distance runner), but I suppose that's what makes the idea of a WoW simulator so appealing. Of course you'd be awful when you first started, but over time you could expect to get better. In my overly optimistic imagination, I saw hardcore raiders becoming sculpted athletes, sprinting from left to right to avoid boss abilities.

But in the absence of a holodeck or some other form of simulated reality, is a WoW simulator even feasible? I got my first look at an answer in 2010, when researchers at the USC Institute of Creative Technologies released a video demonstration of their Flexible Action and Articulate Skeleton Toolkit (FAAST). The middleware toolkit allows motion control to be integrated into games without existing motion control support, by translating gestures into mouse and keyboard inputs. In the demonstration video, a Microsoft Kinect is used to control a mage running around Dustwallow Marsh. Awesome, right?

Continue reading Do you dream of a World of Warcraft simulator?

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Do you dream of a World of Warcraft simulator? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> battlefield-3faastkinectmotion-controlmotion-controlssimulatorthe-gadget-show (Dawn Moore) Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Spiritual Guidance: Priest gear in patch 5.2 and Throne of Thunder]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/03/07/spiritual-guidance-priest-gear-in-patch-5-2-and-throne-of-thund/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/03/07/spiritual-guidance-priest-gear-in-patch-5-2-and-throne-of-thund/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/03/07/spiritual-guidance-priest-gear-in-patch-5-2-and-throne-of-thund/#comments Spiritual Guidance Priest gear in patch 52 and Throne of Thunder WoW Insider brings you Spiritual Guidance for discipline, holy and shadow priests. Dawn Moore is a discipline priest by reputation, but still enjoys melting faces as shadow and bugging her raid to click the Lightwell as holy.

Priests have a tremendous amount of gear choices available to them in patch 5.2. There are several valor point options tied to the Shado-Pan Assault faction. Epics can also be obtained in a new, single player scenario, Troves of the Thunder King. And, well, obviously upgrades can be found in the latest raid instance, Throne of Thunder. To get started, let's take a look at the new tailoring gear priests can pick up.

In patch 5.2, tailors have a chance to learn ilvl 522 cloth armor patterns from their daily cloth cooldown. The new crafted gear is BoE, so if you're not a tailor you may be able to purchase it from the auction house or commission it from a guildmate. These items require Imperial Silk and Haunting Spirits, though, so expect them to be costly.

Head Feet

Continue reading Spiritual Guidance: Priest gear in patch 5.2 and Throne of Thunder

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Spiritual Guidance: Priest gear in patch 5.2 and Throne of Thunder originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 07 Mar 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> disc-priest-geardisc-priest-gear-guidedisc-priest-spiritual-guidancediscipline-priest-spiritual-guidancegear-guideholy-priest-gearholy-priest-gear-guideholy-priest-spiritual-guidanceloot-listpatch-5.2priest-gearpriest-gear-guideshado-pan-assaultshadow-priest-gearshadow-priest-gear-guidetailoringthrone-of-thundertroves-of-the-thunder-king (Dawn Moore) Thu, 07 Mar 2013 19:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[The Queue: Virgin sacrifices, Throne of Thunder progression, and old gods]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/02/27/the-queue-virgin-sacrifices-throne-of-thunder-progression-and/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/02/27/the-queue-virgin-sacrifices-throne-of-thunder-progression-and/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/02/27/the-queue-virgin-sacrifices-throne-of-thunder-progression-and/#comments The Queue Virgin sacrifices, Throne of Thunder progression, and old gods
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Dawn Moore will be your host today.

I was supposed to ritually sacrifice some virgin olive oil yesterday but I completely forgot. Fortunately the sports game the sacrifice was intended for hasn't started yet, and even if it had, it wouldn't be over for days. As it turns out though, I'm a Queue virgin -- that's right, I've never done a Queue before in my three years writing for WoW Insider. Go figure, right?

So how does this being sacrificed thing go? I assume there are cookies.

RussHada asked:

So once Throne of Thunder is released, what will be the official path of progression? Should my group (11/16N) run normal ToT after all 5.0 normal is cleared? Or are there some heroics (MSV?) we should do first, then ToT?

Continue reading The Queue: Virgin sacrifices, Throne of Thunder progression, and old gods

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The Queue: Virgin sacrifices, Throne of Thunder progression, and old gods originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 27 Feb 2013 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> cthunfeaturedguideklaxximantidold-godold-godsqaquestion-and-answerthrone-of-thunderwow-answerswow-daily-answerswow-daily-questionswow-guidewow-player-questionswow-q-and-awow-questionsyogg-saronyshaarj (Dawn Moore) Wed, 27 Feb 2013 11:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[A farewell to yaks]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/02/25/a-farewell-to-yaks/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/02/25/a-farewell-to-yaks/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/02/25/a-farewell-to-yaks/#comments A farewell to yaks It was an evening in early December when I logged in and heard the news. I hadn't taken two steps across the Valley of Strength when a whisper popped up in my chat window.

"There is a Ruthers exploit!"

A rush of excitement shot through me. What kind of exploit could have existed for my beloved yak companion?

"What? How? Explain!" I typed back.

When the answer didn't come immediately I began tugging at my brain for possible explanations. Was there some sort of raid boss mechanic that could be negated with Ruthers? Could Ruthers kill raid bosses?! I became giddy at the thought.

After minutes of trying to work out how Ruthers might tank Sha of Fear, a reply finally came.

"Ruthers isn't on the GCD. You can make a macro with '/cast Ruthers' Harness' a billion times and spam it. Raine just summoned like a thousand of them."

I booked it out to the Barrens straight away, assembling the macro as my Mimiron's Head carried me to a secluded little spot -- If this exploit did what he said it would, I couldn't go spamming it in the middle of Orgrimmar.

After a mere 11 lines I hit the 255 character limit.

"This will have to do," I thought as I landed on the grassy mountain side. Dragging the macro to my action bars, I took a deep breath, then pressed the key.

Gallery: Yaks

Continue reading A farewell to yaks

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A farewell to yaks originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 25 Feb 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> ruthersruthers-harnessyakyaks (Dawn Moore) Mon, 25 Feb 2013 17:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Does anything in WoW bother you?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/02/11/breakfast-topic-does-anything-in-wow-bother-you/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/02/11/breakfast-topic-does-anything-in-wow-bother-you/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/02/11/breakfast-topic-does-anything-in-wow-bother-you/#comments Breakfast Topic Does anything in WoW bother you During Wrath of the Lich King, I used to hate the log in screen with a passion. It all started when I loaded up the client for the first time and was tricked into turning up the volume when I heard a soft, mysterious tune whispering in my ear. A second later I was ripping my headphones off as a massive, skeletal dragon deafened me with her landing and roars. Curse you, Sindragosa!

My dislike for the log in screen peaked one evening after a long raid night in Ulduar. I remember sitting on vent with friends when I was suddenly disconnected. It was just a random connection hiccup but as I sat there waiting to reconnect I realized something ... Why are there chain guard rails in Icecrown? Seriously, what would prompt the Scourge to implement safety measures into their architecture? They're undead, it's not like they need OSHA standards.

Fast forward to Mists of Pandaria and there's still little things like that which bug me. Take, for example, Farmer Yoon. When you first meet him, he is mocked by Haohan Mudclaw for being a "citypaw." But where are there even cities in Pandaria? The biggest settlements in Pandaria are still just rural villages. Nonsense, I say!

Does anything in the game bother you like that?

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Breakfast Topic: Does anything in WoW bother you? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 11 Feb 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> farmer-yoonhaohan-mudclawsindragosawrath-of-the-lich-king (Dawn Moore) Mon, 11 Feb 2013 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Spiritual Guidance: Ongoing changes to priests on the patch 5.2 PTR]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/02/08/spiritual-guidance-ongoing-changes-to-priests-on-the-patch-5-2/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/02/08/spiritual-guidance-ongoing-changes-to-priests-on-the-patch-5-2/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/02/08/spiritual-guidance-ongoing-changes-to-priests-on-the-patch-5-2/#comments Image
WoW Insider brings you Spiritual Guidance for discipline, holy and shadow priests. Dawn Moore is a discipline priest by reputation, but still enjoys melting faces as shadow and bugging her raid to click the Lightwell as holy.

There's been no shortage of priest changes in the development of patch 5.2. Since our last discussion, numerous adjustments and alterations have been made to our talents, spells, and glyphs. The most notable of changes is the continued redesign of Shadow Word: Insanity.
When the talent was first reworked for build 16467, it was designed to increase the damage of Mind Flay on targets afflicted with all three shadow priest DoTs (Devouring Plague, Vampiric Touch, and Shadow Word: Pain). The latest design being tested on the PTR simplifies that effect to this.
  • Your Devouring Plague increases the damage of Mind Flay by 33% per orb consumed.
Developers explained that the previous incarnation undermined the existing shadow rotation, since it eliminated the need to build up Shadow Orbs (after all, a single Shadow Orb is all you need to cast Devouring Plague on a target). The latest version also gives our rotation/spell priority better flexibility, since we wouldn't need to refresh any DoTs that might be falling off at the time we used Devouring Plague.

Continue reading Spiritual Guidance: Ongoing changes to priests on the patch 5.2 PTR

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Spiritual Guidance: Ongoing changes to priests on the patch 5.2 PTR originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 08 Feb 2013 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> featuredguide-to-priestspriest-guidepriest-infopriest-talentswow-priestwow-priest-infowow-priests (Dawn Moore) Fri, 08 Feb 2013 09:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[WRUP: Cast the Warcraft movie, again]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/02/01/wrup-cast-the-warcraft-movie-again/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/02/01/wrup-cast-the-warcraft-movie-again/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/02/01/wrup-cast-the-warcraft-movie-again/#comments WRUP Cast the Warcraft movie, again This week the Warcraft movie secured itself a new director after losing Sam Raimi last year. The new director will be Duncan Jones, the director of Moon and Source Code, who had expressed an interest at directing the film while Sam Raimi was still attached to the project. Personally, I'm happy to see Jones taking on the project ... Not because I love Jones (he's fine) but because I was worried an adaption by Sam Raimi would be too lighthearted for my tastes. If I had it my way every film would be directed by Christopher Nolan.

So now that we have a director, let's write up our dream cast list again. For those of you who have been reading WoW Insider a long time, you'll know I already wrote mine a couple of years ago, so now it's your turn to take a stab at it.

Oh yeah, and what are you playing this weekend? Pfft, just tell us your dream cast list! It's way more fun.

Anne Stickney (@Shadesogrey) I'm currently trying to resist purchasing The Cave on Steam. We'll see if that holds out over the weekend or not. Other than that, a little raiding and a whole lot of writing.

Bonus question: Man I have no idea, but if they don't at least consider Michele Morrow (@michelemorrow) as Sylvanas I am going to be a little sad.

Continue reading WRUP: Cast the Warcraft movie, again

WRUP: Cast the Warcraft movie, again originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 01 Feb 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> warcraft-movieweekendwow-moviewrup (Dawn Moore) Fri, 01 Feb 2013 20:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Why would a top guild not use loot council?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/02/01/why-would-a-top-guild-not-use-loot-council/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/02/01/why-would-a-top-guild-not-use-loot-council/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/02/01/why-would-a-top-guild-not-use-loot-council/#comments Why would a top guild not use loot council A blog post over at World of Matticus caught my eye earlier this week. It's called Why a World Top 10 Guild Doesn't use Loot Council and tells a short story of how our own Matt Low was surprised to find out that a top guild didn't use loot council. While interviewing a potential recruit for his guild Conquest, the applicant explained that his guild used DKP for loot distribution because loot council had proven too time consuming.

Matt goes on to conclude that if you're racing for a world first, you probably wouldn't want to waste your time distributing loot of all things. A fair point, seeing as top guilds often get kills within hours of each other.

I myself have never been in a world top 10 guild, but having been in several competitive US guilds I've seen my fair share of loot council and DKP. Regardless of the system my guild was using, we were always expected to make (and sometimes post) a list of our best-in-slot gear before the start of a tier. For DKP, this was to reduce the amount of surprises in bidding and help us all get an idea of who needed what before we snagged an upgrade. For the more common loot council, this let the council put together a master list to decide who should get what first. But which one was more efficient?

Continue reading Why would a top guild not use loot council?

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Why would a top guild not use loot council? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 01 Feb 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> dkploot-councilloot-sysloot-systemmatt-lowmatticusraidraidingWorld-of-Matticus (Dawn Moore) Fri, 01 Feb 2013 19:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Do cities in Azeroth have nicknames?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/01/31/breakfast-topic-do-cities-in-azeroth-have-nicknames/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/01/31/breakfast-topic-do-cities-in-azeroth-have-nicknames/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/01/31/breakfast-topic-do-cities-in-azeroth-have-nicknames/#comments Outside of Azeroth I found myself clinging to the armrests of my seat, not fearing death but the possibility that I might vomit in sight of the cute guy (with a nice beard) sitting next to me. I was flying into Chicago for a two hour layover, and the turbulence was notably awful. At one point I thought to myself, "Maybe this is why they call it the 'Windy City?'"

Then because I'm a hopeless nerd, I immediately wondered, "Do Azerothian cities have nicknames like the 'Windy City' or the 'Big Apple?'" I had no idea myself, but I knew just the person to ask when I got home: Anne Stickney.

"You know, I don't really think so in official lore anyway," she told me. "Although the Undercity could almost be considered that, because that's actually the capital city of Lordaeron."

Just one nickname out of dozens of cities in Azeroth? Sounds to me like it's time for us to stage an intervention. What kinds of nicknames can you guys come up with for the major cities in World of Warcraft?

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Breakfast Topic: Do cities in Azeroth have nicknames? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 31 Jan 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> anne-stickneyfeaturedgame-discussiongamer-discussionlordaeronundercityworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Dawn Moore) Thu, 31 Jan 2013 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Have you ever wanted to make your own machinima?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/01/18/breakfast-topic-have-you-ever-wanted-to-make-your-own-machinima/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/01/18/breakfast-topic-have-you-ever-wanted-to-make-your-own-machinima/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/01/18/breakfast-topic-have-you-ever-wanted-to-make-your-own-machinima/#comments
Most people know that I play a discipline priest in World of Warcraft. I play holy and shadow a lot too, but nothing really beats hopping around, casting bubbles on people, and preventing near death experiences. In League of Legends, I pretty much do the same exact thing, minus the hopping. In League I play a support champion named Janna, and most of what she does is float around, cast bubbles on people, and prevent near death experiences.

I guess I just like bubbling things. I've always suspected it had something to do with the fact that the first game I ever owned as a kid was Bubble Bobble on the NES. Want to know what you do in that game? You hop around blowing bubbles at things.

Anyway, ever since Wrath, I've wanted to make a video where my disc priest starts out shielding the raid on the heroic Lich King encounter, before accidentally falling through the platform and into a 2-D platform game (similar to Bubble Bobble). There she would have to use her bubbles to navigate levels and fight monsters.

The problem is I don't really think I have what it takes to make machinima. Sure, I can hit the record button and film my character running around on a live server, but I don't think I have the patience or artistic talent to do stuff like Percula or the Hackleman Brothers. What they do is closer to animation, and animation is pretty intimidating to a second-rate artist like myself. Still, it doesn't stop me from dreaming. Maybe one day ...

What about you? Have you ever wanted to make your own machinima? If so, what would it be? A short spoof, a feature length movie, or an ongoing series? Furthermore, what would it be about? Would it be the love story of your blood elf mage, or an epic war drama starring your human paladin?

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Breakfast Topic: Have you ever wanted to make your own machinima? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 18 Jan 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> blindbubble-bobbleclint-hacklemandisc-priestdiscipline-priestjannaleague-of-legendsmachinimamyndflameperculapercula-blind (Dawn Moore) Fri, 18 Jan 2013 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Patch 5.2 PTR: Patch notes update for Jan. 16]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/01/17/patch-5-2-ptr-patch-notes-update-for-jan-16/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/01/17/patch-5-2-ptr-patch-notes-update-for-jan-16/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/01/17/patch-5-2-ptr-patch-notes-update-for-jan-16/#comments World of Warcraft Patch 52 PTR patch notes Blizzard updated the official 5.2 patch notes a few hours ago. Some of the updates are consolidated changes from the last few PTR builds, but many of them are new. You can see the full update at the official WoW community site, but we've compiled all the changes. Check out some of the highlights below.
  • The continuation of the Wrathion questline will unlock a new legendary metagem, Crown of the Heavens.
  • Three new spectral porcupine spirit beasts have appeared across Pandaria as tameable beasts.
  • There is now an option to show absorb effects (such as Power Word: Shield) on player, target, party and raid frames. This feature is currently enabled if you turn on the predictive healing option. Unlike predictive healing, absorb effects will display for enemy targets.
  • The Reputation panel on the character screen will now let players know which reputations they have purchased and used Grand Commendations for.

Continue reading Patch 5.2 PTR: Patch notes update for Jan. 16

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Patch 5.2 PTR: Patch notes update for Jan. 16 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 17 Jan 2013 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> breakingpatch-5.2patch-5.2-patch-notespatch-5.2-ptrptr-patch-noteswow-patch-5.2wow-patch-5.2-ptrwow-patch-notes (Dawn Moore) Thu, 17 Jan 2013 09:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Examining the tier 15 priest set bonuses]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/01/16/examining-the-tier-15-priest-set-bonuses/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/01/16/examining-the-tier-15-priest-set-bonuses/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/01/16/examining-the-tier-15-priest-set-bonuses/#comments Spiritual Guidance Examining the tier 15 priest set bonuses
WoW Insider brings you Spiritual Guidance for discipline, holy and shadow priests. Dawn Moore is a discipline priest by reputation, but still enjoys melting faces as shadow and bugging her raid to click the Lightwell as holy.

Last week, priests (and other less amazing classes) got a first look at the tier 15 set bonuses in the works for patch 5.2. The reactions so far have been mixed. Most discipline and holy priests seem to have had their interests piqued, while many shadow priests were seen grumbling discontentedly during the first few days. Have a look for yourself.
  • Healer two-piece Your Prayer of Mending heals for 10% more each time it jumps to a new target.
  • Healer four-piece Your Penance and Circle of Healing have a 40% chance to summon a Golden Apparition, which moves to a nearby ally and heals for an additional 92500 to 107500.
  • Shadow two-piece When your Shadowy Apparitions damage their target, they have a 65% chance to extend the duration of your Shadow Word: Pain and Vampiric Touch, causing each to deal damage one additional time.
  • Shadow four-piece Periodic damage from your Vampiric Touch has a 10% chance to trigger your Shadowy Apparition.
Blizzard has been fairly responsive to many complaints and inquiries made about these bonuses. For example, when shadow priests pointed out that Shadowy Apparitions were slow, buggy, and only a small portion of shadow DPS, Blizzard responded by letting us know that the cap was going to be raised for priests with the two-piece bonus, if not removed entirely. The developers also mentioned that work had been done to improve the AI on Shadowy Apparitions and get rid of bugs. Sound good?

Update: This article has been updated for build 16467, with changes notated in bold.

Continue reading Examining the tier 15 priest set bonuses

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Examining the tier 15 priest set bonuses originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 16 Jan 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> df-maindivine-aegisfeaturedguide-to-priestshow-to-priesthowtopriest.compower-word-shieldprayer-of-healingpriest-guidepriest-infopriest-talentsshadow-word-insanityspirit-shelltier-15wow-priestwow-priest-infowow-priests (Dawn Moore) Wed, 16 Jan 2013 20:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[WoW Moviewatch: Malfurion and Sylvanas: Episode 3]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/01/15/wow-moviewatch-malfurion-and-sylvanas-episode-3/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/01/15/wow-moviewatch-malfurion-and-sylvanas-episode-3/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/01/15/wow-moviewatch-malfurion-and-sylvanas-episode-3/#comments If you haven't been keeping up with Malfurion and Sylvanas, the series explores what it would be like if major lore characters Malfurion and Sylvanas were married ... And in a sitcom. This latest episode explores how Malfurion and Sylvanas first met, and also explains what happened with Tyrande.

Personally, I think this is the best episode so far. I've always thought the set-up of this machinima series was pretty cute, but I'm now really looking forward to the next one because Slightly Impressive just keeps nailing it. Michael Gray mention that the voice acting and machinima had really started to come together in Malfurion and Sylvanas: Episode 2, and I would say that's still happening. At no point while watching this did I feel like the voices were off.

The only problem with this episode is that I don't have any cookies in the house, which will make more sense to you after you've watched the episode. Seriously ... I think I need to bake cookies now.
Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.

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WoW Moviewatch: Malfurion and Sylvanas: Episode 3 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> featuredgriffterguide-to-machinimamachinimamalfurion-and-sylvanasmoviesow-machinimaslightly-impressiveworld-of-warcraft-moviesworld-of-warcraft-videoswow-created-movieswow-fan-movieswow-guidewow-machinima-guidewow-movie-guidewow-movieswow-video-guidewow-videos (Dawn Moore) Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Tier 15 set bonuses unveiled in latest PTR patch]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/01/10/tier-15-set-bonuses-unveiled-in-latest-ptr-patch/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/01/10/tier-15-set-bonuses-unveiled-in-latest-ptr-patch/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/01/10/tier-15-set-bonuses-unveiled-in-latest-ptr-patch/#comments Tier 15 set bonuses unveiled in latest PTR patch The latest build in development for the patch 5.2 PTR has brought us a first glimpse at the tentative set bonuses for tier 15. Wowhead released the datamined information yesterday evening and some of the set bonuses are mighty interesting. Take for example, the rogue two-piece bonus, which increases the duration of finishing moves as though the rogue had an additional combo point ... Up to a maximum of six points. The DPS death knight two-piece also sounds a bit interesting; check it out below.

Death knight
  • Blood two-piece Reduces the cooldown of your Rune Tap ability by 10 sec and removes its Rune cost.
  • Blood four-piece Your Bone Shield ability grants you 15 Runic Power each time one of its charges is consumed.
  • DPS two-piece Your attacks have a chance to raise the spirit of a fallen Zandalari as your Death Knight minion for 15 sec.
  • DPS four-piece Increases the duration of Army of the Dead by 15 sec.

Continue reading Tier 15 set bonuses unveiled in latest PTR patch

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Tier 15 set bonuses unveiled in latest PTR patch originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 10 Jan 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> 5.2patch-5.2patch-5.2-ptrthunder-kingthunder-king-raidtier-15 (Dawn Moore) Thu, 10 Jan 2013 19:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Spiritual Guidance: Priests and the 5.2 patch note preview]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/12/27/spiritual-guidance-priests-and-the-5-2-patch-note-preview/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/12/27/spiritual-guidance-priests-and-the-5-2-patch-note-preview/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/12/27/spiritual-guidance-priests-and-the-5-2-patch-note-preview/#comments SG WoW Insider brings you Spiritual Guidance for discipline, holy and shadow priests. Dawn Moore is a discipline priest by reputation, but still enjoys melting faces as shadow and bugging her raid to click the Lightwell as holy.

Looks like there are some big changes in store for priests on the patch 5.2 PTR. Blizzard released a PTR patch note preview late last week and I'm honestly a bit baffled by some of the changes. Keep in mind, I am not often baffled.

The biggest change is that Power Word: Solace is being redesigned. The talent will now replace Holy Fire in the player's spellbook, but interact with other priest spells and abilities just as Holy Fire does. The new version of Power Word: Solace will be instant cast, cost no mana, and restore 1% of your maximum mana on cast. Surprisingly, the patch note preview makes no mention of redesigning Shadow Word: Insanity, the shadow portion of the talent.

Now it's no shock that Blizzard decided to redesign this talent. A quick glance at WoW Popular will tell you that almost no priests are taking it (in fact, it looks like more of us are taking Dominate Mind than Power Word: Solace). Shadow priests certainly aren't taking the talent, and most healers will tell you it returns too little mana per cast to be worth it.

Continue reading Spiritual Guidance: Priests and the 5.2 patch note preview

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Spiritual Guidance: Priests and the 5.2 patch note preview originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 27 Dec 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> 5.2angelic-featherbody-and-souldisc-priest-spiritual-guidancediscipline-priest-spiritual-guidancedominate-mindfeaturedguide-to-priestsholy-priest-spiritual-guidancepatch-5.2-ptrpower-word-solacepriest-guidepriest-infopriest-talentsraptureSHADOW-PRIEST-SPIRITUAL-GUIDANCEshadow-word-insanityspirit-shellwow-priestwow-priest-infowow-priests (Dawn Moore) Thu, 27 Dec 2012 19:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: What's your favorite vanity item in Mists of Pandaria?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/12/27/breakfast-topic-whats-your-favorite-vanity-item-in-mists-of-pa/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/12/27/breakfast-topic-whats-your-favorite-vanity-item-in-mists-of-pa/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/12/27/breakfast-topic-whats-your-favorite-vanity-item-in-mists-of-pa/#comments Breakfast Topic What's your favorite vanity item in Mists of Pandaria Holy punchable turnips, Batman! Mists of Pandaria is packed with an extraordinary number of vanity items to amuse us (while simultaneously stealing away our bag space). There are flippable tables, Botticelli clam shells, puppy hordes, and lovable (albeit misunderstood) yaks. Anne wrote up a nice guide to getting some of them earlier this month, but I'm certain there are still more out there.

So here's a question: which one is your favorite? Obviously my favorite is Ruthers' Harness ... Nothing beats a yak by your side, gently nuzzling you with love and affection so you don't have to be scared of the dark (and rogues). But I also like Mr. Smite's Brass Compass, since I suffer from height envy whenever I play my tiny blood elf.

What about bag space? How are you managing it all, given that the Royal Satchel is so expensive to make? Have you had to delete anything to make space for a new vanity item, and which items were worthy of that space? I myself deleted the Magic Banana and Puntable Marmot (I've never been impressed with the Prairie Dog model) but kept the Turnip Punching Bag and Covered Basket. You know, so I could go on picnics with a turnip ... And Ruthers.

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Breakfast Topic: What's your favorite vanity item in Mists of Pandaria? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 27 Dec 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> flippable-tablemr-smiteruthersvanity-itemvanity-itemsyakyaks (Dawn Moore) Thu, 27 Dec 2012 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Reminder: Don't forget your in-game Winter Veil gifts]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/12/26/reminder-dont-forget-your-in-game-winter-veil-gifts/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/12/26/reminder-dont-forget-your-in-game-winter-veil-gifts/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/12/26/reminder-dont-forget-your-in-game-winter-veil-gifts/#comments Reminder Don't forget your ingame Winter Veil gifts No matter how busy you may be over the holidays, try to find a few minutes to log in and collect your Feast of Winter Veil gifts in Orgrimmar or Ironforge. As you probably know, the Feast of Winter Veil brings us a new gift each year which can be quite difficult to obtain once the holiday is over.

This year players will actually receive two items in their 2012 Feast of Winter Veil gift, Foot Ball and The Pigskin. So, basically we got a soccer ball and an American foot ball ... Meaning our WoW characters will continue to get more exercise than most of us. (Even if you only raid two nights a week for four hours, you'd have to work out more than an hour every day of the week to keep up with your night elf.) Players will also earn the achievement They're Both Footballs? when opening their present.

In years past, exclusive gifts included the Clockwork Rocket Bot, Crashin' Thrashin' Racer Controller, Red Rider Air Rifle, MiniZep Controller, and the Gaudy Winter Veil Sweater. All those items are still obtainable, though most of them have only a small chance to drop when opening Stolen Present, the quest reward from You're a Mean One... (a daily quest which can only be completed during the Feast of Winter Veil).

Players typically have until the end of the Feast of Winter Veil to collect their gifts, so grab them before Jan. 2, 2013.

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Reminder: Don't forget your in-game Winter Veil gifts originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 26 Dec 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> winter-veilwinter-veil-2012winter-veil-achievements (Dawn Moore) Wed, 26 Dec 2012 19:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: The end of the World (of Warcraft)]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/12/21/breakfast-topic-the-end-of-the-world-of-warcraft/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/12/21/breakfast-topic-the-end-of-the-world-of-warcraft/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/12/21/breakfast-topic-the-end-of-the-world-of-warcraft/#comments Breakfast Topic The end of the World of Warcraft Supposedly the world is ending today. If you're reading this, it means we've at least made it through the first eight hours OK. Just 16 to go! Granted, I'm not sure how this end of the world thing works with the international date line, since technically the Australians have already survived the end of the world.

Anyway, assuming the world doesn't end today, how do you think the World of Warcraft is going to end? Let's say we digest a few more expansions and there comes a day where it simply has to end. What will be the reason? Will it be to lead into the next Warcraft RTS game? Or maybe the Warcraft film? Will Blizzard simply decide they need to upgrade the infrastructure and segue seamlessly into a new version of the game with a World of Warcraft 2? Do you think Blizzard would ever end the franchise, and would it end with WoW?

One also has to wonder how it would end from a story standpoint. We already showed Deathwing what we do to major lore figures who try to destroy the world, so I sort of doubt Azeroth would ever be destroyed. But how else could Blizzard wrap the game up? Will it end once we've killed all the bad guys we haven't faced yet, like Sargeras or the other old gods? Or will it all resolve when the Horde and the Alliance finally find peace? Or who knows, maybe the game will end with the formation of a new, third faction?

What do you think?

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Breakfast Topic: The end of the World (of Warcraft) originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 21 Dec 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> deathwingend-of-the-worldmaelstromwarcraft-4world-of-warcraft-2 (Dawn Moore) Fri, 21 Dec 2012 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Spiritual Guidance: Choosing the best priest talents for you, pt. 2]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/12/20/spiritual-guidance-choosing-the-best-priest-talents-for-you-pt/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/12/20/spiritual-guidance-choosing-the-best-priest-talents-for-you-pt/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/12/20/spiritual-guidance-choosing-the-best-priest-talents-for-you-pt/#comments Choosing the best priest talents for you, pt 2 WoW Insider brings you Spiritual Guidance for discipline, holy and shadow priests. Dawn Moore is a discipline priest by reputation, but still enjoys melting faces as shadow and bugging her raid to click the Lightwell as holy.

Last time on Spiritual Guidance we began a thorough look at level 15 and level 30 priest talents and considered when and why you would take one talent over the other. This week we're continuing that discussion with level 45 and level 60 talents.

From Darkness, Comes Light For healers, this talent serves as a regen talent by saving players mana instead of returning it. The performance of it is very dependent on your spell usage, which means the regen cannot be easily quantified down to a simple number.

From Darkness, Comes Light can only be triggered by a handful of spells (Heal, Flash Heal, Greater Heal, Binding Heal, and Smite) making the talent practically useless to some players. For example, a holy priest who spends most of her time raid healing her 25-man raid (that always stands in fire) could go a whole fight without seeing a single proc from this talent. On the other hand, a 10-man disc priest who spends most of his time swapping between healing the paladin tank and spamming Smite heals could expect several procs during a fight.

Continue reading Spiritual Guidance: Choosing the best priest talents for you, pt. 2

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Spiritual Guidance: Choosing the best priest talents for you, pt. 2 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 20 Dec 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> angelic-bulwarkdesperate-prayerdisc-priest-spiritual-guidancediscipline-priest-spiritual-guidancefdclfeaturedfrom-darkness-comes-lightguide-to-priestsholy-priest-spiritual-guidancemindbenderpower-word-solacepriest-guidepriest-infopriest-talentsSHADOW-PRIEST-SPIRITUAL-GUIDANCEshadowfiendspectral-guisewow-priestwow-priest-infowow-priests (Dawn Moore) Thu, 20 Dec 2012 12:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Where is my mahjong minigame in Mists of Pandaria?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/12/14/where-is-my-mahjong-minigame-in-mists-of-pandaria/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/12/14/where-is-my-mahjong-minigame-in-mists-of-pandaria/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/12/14/where-is-my-mahjong-minigame-in-mists-of-pandaria/#comments Why doesn't Mists of Pandaria have a Mahjong mini game During Wrath of the Lich King, Blizzard gave us the Peggle and Bejeweled addons. In Cataclysm, we got an amazing in-game version of Plants vs. Zombies (which rewarded a Singing Sunflower pet that actually sang). Now in Mists of Pandaria, the latest addition to the growing collection of games within the game is the new pet battle system which is reminiscent of the beloved Pokémon series.

Well, beloved to everyone else anyway. See, Pokémon and I have a bitter past. It started when I was 12, and I told my mother the only thing I wanted for Christmas was a Gameboy and a copy of Pokémon Blue. It was an expensive gift to ask for from a single parent working two jobs, but I was desperate. In the months prior, all my friends at school had ceased socializing about comics and fantasy novels in favor of playing Pokémon. Every day at lunch they'd scarf down their meals then whip out their link cables and start dueling. Not having a Gameboy myself though, I was completely left out.

Sadly, when Christmas came there was no Gameboy. Instead I received a Pocket Pikachu, which was a weird toy pedometer crossed with a Tamagotchi. The idea was that you'd keep it in your pocket and as you took steps you'd earn currency to buy presents for Pikachu, who would then be your friend. The problem was the pedometer wasn't very sensitive to normal steps, so you were better off shaking it over and over. So for the next few months, while my friends continued to ignore me to play Pokémon, I shook a stupid, yellow pedometer up and down.

Anyway, long story short, I'm not too crazy about a pet battle system. And while I appreciate that Blizzard has made great efforts to integrate such an indepth feature into the game, I feel like they've missed out on the perfect opportunity to add a minigame to the game that would fit perfectly into Mists of Pandaria: mahjong.

Continue reading Where is my mahjong minigame in Mists of Pandaria?

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Where is my mahjong minigame in Mists of Pandaria? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 14 Dec 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> farmer-yoonlorewalker-chomahjongmini-gamesminigamespet-battle-systempet-battlespokemonvalley-of-the-four-winds (Dawn Moore) Fri, 14 Dec 2012 19:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Transmog an outfit to match your exalted Klaxxi tabard]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/12/13/transmog-an-outfit-to-match-your-exalted-klaxxi-tabard/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/12/13/transmog-an-outfit-to-match-your-exalted-klaxxi-tabard/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/12/13/transmog-an-outfit-to-match-your-exalted-klaxxi-tabard/#comments Image Sometimes I think I'm the only person who likes the Klaxxi. It seems like everyone either hates them because they're bugs, or hates them because all their quests are in the Dread Wastes (people hate the Dread Wastes too, for some reason). I love them though. Their daily quests can all be done in one go, they have lots of fun buffs, and they remind me of Zorak. You know, from Space Ghost Coast to Coast.

Anyway, the transmog outfit I've put together for today is based around the Klaxxi Tabard and one of my favorite pieces of plate gear, Swiftsteel Shoulders.

Continue reading Transmog an outfit to match your exalted Klaxxi tabard

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Transmog an outfit to match your exalted Klaxxi tabard originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 13 Dec 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> death-knight-transmogdeath-knight-transmogrificationklaxxipaladin-transmogpaladin-transmogrificationplate-transmogplate-transmogrificationthe-klaxxiwarrior-transmogwarrior-transmogrification (Dawn Moore) Thu, 13 Dec 2012 14:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Blizzard store pets and more on sale]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/12/12/blizzard-store-pets-and-more-on-sale/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/12/12/blizzard-store-pets-and-more-on-sale/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/12/12/blizzard-store-pets-and-more-on-sale/#comments Blizzard store pets and more on sale Have you've been wanting a Lil' Ragnaros at your side to make cooking in Halfhill more convenient? Did it recently occur to you that having the Pandaren Monk companion pet next to your playable pandaren monk would be amazingly cute? If so, you might want to check out the latest sale at the Blizzard store.

Following up last week's sale on mounts, Blizzard has announced that most Blizzard store pets will be 50% off until Jan. 1, 2013. (The sale is good for you too, EU players.) The new Cinder Kitten is not on sale, since funds collected from Cinder Kitten purchases are still being donated to the American Red Cross for Superstorm Sandy Relief. The Wind Rider Cub and Gryphon Hatchling plush toys aren't on sale either, even though they accompany redeemable digital pets. That leaves the following pets on sale.
And if you happened to miss Blizzard's Black Friday sale late last month, the World of Warcraft Battle Chest is on sale again, along with the two latest expansions, Cataclysm and Mists of Pandaria.

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Blizzard store pets and more on sale originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 12 Dec 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> blizzard-pet-storeblizzard-storeblizzard-store-holiday-salecompanion-petsnon-combat-petpet-store (Dawn Moore) Wed, 12 Dec 2012 19:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[WRUP: The Ghost of Azeroth Past]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/12/08/wrup-the-ghost-of-azeroth-past/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/12/08/wrup-the-ghost-of-azeroth-past/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/12/08/wrup-the-ghost-of-azeroth-past/#comments WRUP The Ghost of Azeroth Past What are you playing this weekend? Are you raiding or PvPing in WoW? Playing something on the new Wii U? Maybe helping out Benjamin Franklin in Assassin's Creed III? The WoW Insider staff certainly have some plans of their own, but it looks like some of them are also going to find themselves on a Dickensian journey as they are visited by the mysterious Ghost of Azeroth Past. OooOOOOoooo!

The Ghost of Christmas Past from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol showed Ebenezer Scrooge the significant moments from the past which shaped him into who he was in the present. So I guess the Ghost of Azeroth Past will probably show many of us scenes of our first characters being eaten alive by murlocs. I wonder if that gets redundant for him?

So let's say you are visited by the Ghost of Azeroth Past this weekend. What does he show you?

Adam Holisky (@AdamHolisky) LFR for me this weekend, and then leveling my monk.

The Ghost of Azeroth Past shows me the awesome time I had in Defenders of The Pass in classic WoW, especially with the other warrior tanks. Then he takes me to Christmas future, where I look like Matt Rossi. But PLOT TWIST. My beard isn't that long and/or manly.

Continue reading WRUP: The Ghost of Azeroth Past

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WRUP: The Ghost of Azeroth Past originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 08 Dec 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> weekendwrup (Dawn Moore) Sat, 08 Dec 2012 14:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[WoW Moviewatch: Hunters Are Just Awesome]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/12/07/wow-moviewatch-hunters-are-just-awesome/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/12/07/wow-moviewatch-hunters-are-just-awesome/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/12/07/wow-moviewatch-hunters-are-just-awesome/#comments Did you know hunters are just awesome? If you didn't, you may want to check out today's video. The song is a collaboration by many notable members of the hunter community, organized by WoW Insider's Brian Wood, also known as Frostheim of the Warcraft Hunters Union and the Hunting Party Podcast.

The video isn't too complex, but the song should warm the hearts of our many hunter readers out there, and remind them how awesome their class is. It may also make the rest of us envious that our own communities don't have multiple theme songs (I guess rogues do, actually).

This collaboration is two years in the making. I remember at WoW Insider's BlizzCon 2012 party, Frostheim ran up to me with a big grin on his face and said he'd just recorded one of our notable guests (Aron Eisenburg? Felicia Day, perhaps?) saying, "hunters are just awesome!" To find out who it was, check out the video.

Oh, and don't forget to heal hunter pets!

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WoW Moviewatch: Hunters Are Just Awesome originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 07 Dec 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> brian-woodfeaturedfrostheimguide-to-machinimahunterhuntersmachinimamoviesow-machinimawarcraft-hunters-unionworld-of-warcraft-moviesworld-of-warcraft-videoswow-created-movieswow-fan-movieswow-guidewow-machinima-guidewow-movie-guidewow-movieswow-music-videowow-video-guidewow-videos (Dawn Moore) Fri, 07 Dec 2012 18:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Blizzard comments on how to deal with harassment]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/12/06/blizzard-comments-on-how-to-deal-with-harassment/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/12/06/blizzard-comments-on-how-to-deal-with-harassment/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/12/06/blizzard-comments-on-how-to-deal-with-harassment/#comments Blizzard comments on how to deal with harassment Community Manager Daxxari made several comments earlier today, detailing how players should respond to and report harassment in WoW. The comments were made in response to a thread on the official forums asking what Blizzard is doing to combat bad behavior in the WoW community. The original poster cited some of the visible efforts Riot Games is making to combat bad behavior in their game, League of Legends, and wanted to know if Blizzard had done anything similar.

Daxxari gave the following response, as well as some advice for players being harassed in-game or on the forums.

Daxxari -- Curtailing bad behavior
Quote:

What is Blizzard doing to curtail bad behavior in their playerbase?

Harassment is a serious issue, and we've dedicated significant resources toward dealing with it. In fact, we have a large support team, and we've (comparatively) recently implemented faster tools to deal with harassment.

If you're experiencing harassment in-game, there are a few steps to take.
  • Don't respond, or get involved in an argument. Stooping to using language that violates our policies simply opens yourself up to suspension, and doesn't accomplish anything. Seriously, don't do it.
  • Use right-click Report on their name next to any lines of text that contain offensive language--the appropriate category should be Language.
  • Use /ignore to close the lines of communication.
  • If your harasser by-passes the /ignore feature and contacts you on an alternate character, immediately place that character on ignore, then open a support ticket to report Ongoing Harassment, and include that phrase, as well as the offending player's name, realm, the exact phrase that they used to harass you and that they by-passed the /ignore feature to do so. Please be detailed, our Support team works hard, but they aren't wizards. Mostly.

On the forums, just mouse-over the offending post, then click the 'downvote' hand, then select the 'Report' option.

You won't receive notification when another player receives any kind of disciplinary action due to our privacy policies, but rest assured that we like to make sure that everyone is on the same page regarding what constitutes acceptable conduct in-game.


In a later post, Daxarri also included links to Blizzard's harassment policy, should players need clarification on what Blizzard considers harassment, and a guide for reporting bad language and names in WoW.

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Blizzard comments on how to deal with harassment originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 06 Dec 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> community-managerdaxxariharassmentharassment-policyleague-of-legendsofficial-forumsriot-games (Dawn Moore) Thu, 06 Dec 2012 17:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Spiritual Guidance: Choosing the best priest talents for you, pt. 1]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/12/05/spiritual-guidance-choosing-the-best-priest-talents-for-you-pt/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/12/05/spiritual-guidance-choosing-the-best-priest-talents-for-you-pt/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/12/05/spiritual-guidance-choosing-the-best-priest-talents-for-you-pt/#comments Spiritual Guidance Choosing the best priest talents for you, pt 1 WoW Insider brings you Spiritual Guidance for discipline, holy and shadow priests. Dawn Moore is a discipline priest by reputation, but still enjoys melting faces as shadow and bugging her raid to click the Lightwell as holy.

One of the most interesting things about the new talent system added in Mists of Pandaria is that it encourages priests (and all classes) to choose which talent is best for them at almost every turn. No longer is one talent clearly better than another when examining them in a bell jar. Now instead you have to look at how and where the talent will be used; one talent might shine brightly in certain scenarios but be so utterly awful in others that it's practically unusable. The result of all this? We're now adjusting our talent builds more than ever.

Of course, this isn't a new thing for DPS, who frequently swapped to alternative talent builds on each encounter to get the best possible damage (got to beat those 'locks!) but for healers it's more of a change. In the past, a healing priest might have considered switching between disc or holy, but rarely did that involve altering individual talents in our trees. Usually healers had an all-purpose build that was good for everything; changing around talents was only done on the rare occasion. That makes this new talent system a bit of a shake up for us, since the majority of priests are healers (two healing specs and all). So today I thought we'd look at the new priest talents as thoroughly as we could so it's easier to decide which one you want.

Continue reading Spiritual Guidance: Choosing the best priest talents for you, pt. 1

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Spiritual Guidance: Choosing the best priest talents for you, pt. 1 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 05 Dec 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> angelic-featherbody-and-souldisc-priest-spiritual-guidancediscipline-priest-spiritual-guidancedominate-mindfeaturedguide-to-priestsholy-priest-spiritual-guidancemind-controlphantasmpower-word-shieldpriest-guidepriest-infopriest-talentspsyfiendSHADOW-PRIEST-SPIRITUAL-GUIDANCEvoid-tendrilswow-priestwow-priest-infowow-priests (Dawn Moore) Wed, 05 Dec 2012 19:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Spiritual Guidance: A quick look at Patch 5.1 for priests]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/11/30/spiritual-guidance-a-quick-look-at-patch-5-1-for-priests/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/11/30/spiritual-guidance-a-quick-look-at-patch-5-1-for-priests/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/11/30/spiritual-guidance-a-quick-look-at-patch-5-1-for-priests/#comments Spiritual Guidance A quick look at Patch 51 for priests WoW Insider brings you Spiritual Guidance for discipline, holy and shadow priests. Dawn Moore is a discipline priest by reputation, but still enjoys melting faces as shadow and bugging her raid to click the Lightwell as holy.

Since launch, priests have received most of their buffs and nerfs through hot fixes, but the arrival of patch 5.1 still brings some changes for us. Holy priests in particular have received several buffs which will improve their quality of life. One such change allows Chakra to persist through death, meaning the days of seeing Holy Word: Chatise on your bars when you're 2 minutes into a pull, frustratedly wondering why Holy word: Sanctuary isn't working, are over.

Another holy change buffs Chakra: Chastise so that damage dealt by shadow and holy spells while in the stance will now do 50% increased damage, instead of 15%. An excellent change, since prior to the patch, it took holy priests 15*(2^27) Smite casts to kill a mob. Now it should only take about 10.

Continue reading Spiritual Guidance: A quick look at Patch 5.1 for priests

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Spiritual Guidance: A quick look at Patch 5.1 for priests originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 30 Nov 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> 5.1disc-priest-spiritual-guidancediscipline-priest-spiritual-guidancefeaturedGhostcrawlerguide-to-priestsholy-priest-spiritual-guidancemultidotpatch-5.1priest-guidepriest-infopriest-talentsSHADOW-PRIEST-SPIRITUAL-GUIDANCEwow-priestwow-priest-infowow-priests (Dawn Moore) Fri, 30 Nov 2012 16:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[What's the perfect transmog?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/11/29/whats-the-perfect-transmog/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/11/29/whats-the-perfect-transmog/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/11/29/whats-the-perfect-transmog/#comments What's the perfect transmog

When Mists of Pandaria was first released, my boyfriend asked me if I'd put together a transmog outfit for his pandaren monk. He didn't give me any guidelines on what he wanted to look like though, so I settled on gathering him all the appropriate pieces for an Orgrimmar Grunt's outfit. I figured since he's an officer in an Alliance guild, he'd find it funny.

Unfortunately, he didn't even recognize what the outfit was supposed to be when he put it on (/cough Alliance noob) and as such, didn't really like it all that much. He opted to just wear the chest piece (he enjoyed how the male pandaren's belly stuck out the front) and left the rest in his bank. Sigh, silly boys.

Though mildly annoyed, I wasn't especially bothered by my boyfriend's rejection of the outfit I sent him... At least, I wasn't initially. A few weeks later he sent me a link with the proclamation that this was, "the best transmog ever."

I curiously brought up the link, wondering what would make him respond in such a way. Would it be a recreation of a recognizable character he liked? Maybe it would be something he thought looked cool? Unfortunately, it was nothing like that and honestly, what I saw made my heart sink. The "best transmog ever" was just a mismatched outfit. Yellow leaf shoulders, silly red hat, there might have even been a piece of Wrath-era frost resist in there. Was this all it took to impress him? Sigh, stupid, silly boys!

So the question is, what kind of transmog do you like? What kind of transmog outfits do you want help putting together? Answer the poll below, or give us some ideas in the comments so we can make them for you!

View Poll

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What's the perfect transmog? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 29 Nov 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> clown-armorclown-gearclown-suitstransmogtransmoggingtransmogrificationtransmogrification-suggestionstransmogrify (Dawn Moore) Thu, 29 Nov 2012 19:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[WoW Moviewatch: Pandaren Style]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/11/20/wow-moviewatch-pandaren-style/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/11/20/wow-moviewatch-pandaren-style/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/11/20/wow-moviewatch-pandaren-style/#comments We've seen a couple of Gangnam Style parodies on WoW Moviewatch at this point. They all had their charms but personally, I'm still holding out for a Gangnam Style parody which combines a perfect execution of lyrics, music, and machinima .... One parody to rule them all, you could say. (23 days left, by the way!) For now though, we must wait.

But in the interim, we have today's machinima, which I think is a step in the right direction. The music from the original song has gone mostly untouched, but the accompanying animation is astonishingly well-done. Who knew a pandaren could show so much expression when screaming at a girl's butt? I'm no 3D animation expert, but I'd guess this is the work of all those extra "bones" the pandaren models have. Amazing stuff.

It may also be of some interest to know that the creator of today's machinima, Animpinabox, also made the old video World of Warcraft: Dancing. If you've never seen it, World of Warcraft: Dancing features the dances of several character races and NPCs alongside the footage that may have originally inspired Blizzard developers. It's a classic machinima, so be sure to check it out if you've never seen it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go dig out my old Alizée albums.

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WoW Moviewatch: Pandaren Style originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 20 Nov 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> alizeeanimpinaboxcharacter-modelsfeaturedgangnam-styleguide-to-machinimamachinimamoviesow-machinimapandarenworld-of-warcraft-moviesworld-of-warcraft-videoswow-created-movieswow-fan-movieswow-guidewow-machinima-guidewow-movie-guidewow-movieswow-video-guidewow-videos (Dawn Moore) Tue, 20 Nov 2012 18:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[WoW Moviewatch: The Tale of Cloran Hastings by Oxhorn]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/11/19/wow-moviewatch-the-tale-of-cloran-hastings-by-oxhorn/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/11/19/wow-moviewatch-the-tale-of-cloran-hastings-by-oxhorn/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/11/19/wow-moviewatch-the-tale-of-cloran-hastings-by-oxhorn/#comments The latest work from beloved machinima artist Brandon M. Dennis, a.k.a. Oxhorn, is ... A book! Apparently Oxhorn's writing talents go beyond clever song lyrics and comedic shorts, as he's just published his first novel, a fantasy called The Tale of Cloran Hastings. To publicize the release of the book, Oxhorn has made a machinima teaser trailer to introduce us to the story.

Watching the trailer, we're given glimpses of far off lands, man-killing crabs, and a mysterious, watery hand reaching out from the sea. We're only given a vague sense of the story though, which is reminiscent of the Odyssey, but with a darker and tense mood. What do you think? Does the trailer make you want to read the book?

If you're curious, here's an excerpt from the back cover.

"A wave of water in the shape of a clawed hand crashes onto the deck of Wavegrazer. The wheel spins violently; the ship lurches and Cloran's men are flung into the sea. As the masts break and the sky goes black, one name flutters across Cloran's lips. 'Adaire...'

"Cloran has spent his life at sea and is set to retire. He hopes to marry his long-suffering fiancée Adaire, but his hopes are dashed when King Bozin sends him on one final journey to the far-flung icy island city of Miotes. This time, however, the Sea is jealous of Cloran, and will never give him up to Adaire freely. Alas, Cloran has no choice, and accepts the mission begrudgingly. 'One final journey,' he tells himself. No matter what happens, it will be his last."

More information can be found at the book's official site.

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WoW Moviewatch: The Tale of Cloran Hastings by Oxhorn originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 19 Nov 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> featuredguide-to-machinimamachinimamoviesow-machinimaoxhornworld-of-warcraft-moviesworld-of-warcraft-videoswow-created-movieswow-fan-movieswow-guidewow-machinima-guidewow-movie-guidewow-movieswow-video-guidewow-videos (Dawn Moore) Mon, 19 Nov 2012 18:00:00 EST WoW Insider