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[Shattered Sun Offensive phase 4: Monument to the Fallen]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/02/27/shattered-sun-offensive-phase-4-monument-to-the-fallen/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/02/27/shattered-sun-offensive-phase-4-monument-to-the-fallen/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/02/27/shattered-sun-offensive-phase-4-monument-to-the-fallen/#comments It's been awhile since I've had the time to hop on the patch 2.4 PTR and a lot has changed with the Shattered Sun Offensive. Sun's Reach Harbor has been captured, bringing with it several new quests and conveniences to the Isle of Quel'danas. For one thing, the harbor building now acts as an inn, with a water/food vendor, a place to set your hearthstone, a mailbox, a poison vendor for rogues and, of course, the granting of rest experience. Of course, the main attraction of the new phase is undoubtedly going to be the four new quests, three of which are repeatable dailies.

Two of the new quests directly relate to the last new structure to be built on the isle, the Monument to the Fallen. One of them, "A Magnanimous Benefactor", is a non-repeatable quest, available at exalted reputation, that allows you to purchase the title "of the Shattered Sun" for 1,000 gold. The other quest, "A Charitable Donation", can be repeated every day and is probably the most simple and straightforward quest found in the game so far. In order to earn some quick reputation, you simply have to give 10 gold to the quest giver. I suppose Blizzard decided they need new gold sinks with the limit on daily quests being raised to 25 from 10. Regardless, this second quest is tied to the construction of a statue near the other buildings you've helped capture. The Monument to the Fallen, pictured above, has a statue of a Draenei on one side and a Blood Elf on the other to commemorate the unity of the Aldor and Scryers against Kael'thas.

Continue reading Shattered Sun Offensive phase 4: Monument to the Fallen

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Shattered Sun Offensive phase 4: Monument to the Fallen originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 27 Feb 2008 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> 2.42.4-patch2.4-ptrdailiesdaily-questsisle-of-quel'danaspatchpatch-2.4ptrpublic-test-realmshattered-sun-dailiesshattered-sun-offensivesunwellsunwell-isle (John Himes) Wed, 27 Feb 2008 20:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[2.4 PvP sets: Gold and rep requirements]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/02/20/2-4-pvp-sets-gold-and-rep-requirements/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/02/20/2-4-pvp-sets-gold-and-rep-requirements/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/02/20/2-4-pvp-sets-gold-and-rep-requirements/#comments There's a lot to get excited about in patch 2.4, without a doubt. A lot of raiders will be looking to the Sunwell to provide new content and those addicted to daily quests will certainly find a lot to do as well. I'll certainly appreciate these things, but there was one new item that piqued my interest as an altaholic: the new blue PvP sets available from reputation vendors.

While a lot of players will likely overlook or outright dismiss these new sets, they are a godsend to someone, like me, that has a ton of high-level alts. While these sets are clearly geared towards PvP, they'll definitely help fill out some of my alts' PvE sets. Additionally, they'll make good starting sets for anyone that wants to get more involved in the arena or battlegrounds.

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2.4 PvP sets: Gold and rep requirements originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 20 Feb 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> 2.4cenarion-expeditionhonor-holdkeepers-of-timelower-citypatch-2.4player-vs-playerptrpublic-test-realmpvprep-rewardsreputationreputation-rewardssha'tarthrallmar (John Himes) Wed, 20 Feb 2008 13:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Shattered Sun Offensive phase 3: Sun's Reach Harbor]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/02/18/shattered-sun-offensive-phase-3-suns-reach-harbor/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/02/18/shattered-sun-offensive-phase-3-suns-reach-harbor/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/02/18/shattered-sun-offensive-phase-3-suns-reach-harbor/#comments Friday afternoon, when I checked the PTR, only about thirty percent progress had been made on retaking the Sun's Reach Armory. Less than twenty four hours later, we were about ten percent into the next phase, retaking Sun's Reach Harbor. Either a lot of new testers hit the PTR due to the weekend and the new patch build or Blizz helped us along. Either way, here's a quick overview of the new content that's unlocked in this third phase of the Shattered Sun Offensive.

Once the Armory is retaken, it's filled with Shattered Sun guards, three new daily quests become available and several new vendors are spawned in the building. Dragonhawks, piloted by Kael's minions, circle the building, doing battle with the archers on the upper level. On the bottom floor, you'll find an ammo vendor, the only one I've been able to find on the Isle. Upstairs are several new "Exotic Gear Purveyors". This is where you'll find all the PvP gear available for Badges of Justice or T4/5/6 armor tokens.

Continue reading Shattered Sun Offensive phase 3: Sun's Reach Harbor

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Shattered Sun Offensive phase 3: Sun's Reach Harbor originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 18 Feb 2008 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> 2.42.4-ptrdailiesdaily-questsisle-of-quel'danaspatch-2.4ptrpublic-test-realmshattered-sunshattered-sun-dailiesshattered-sun-offensivesunwell-isle (John Himes) Mon, 18 Feb 2008 18:30:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Shattered Sun Offensive phase 2: Sun's Reach Armory]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/02/14/shattered-sun-offensive-phase-2-suns-reach-armory/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/02/14/shattered-sun-offensive-phase-2-suns-reach-armory/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/02/14/shattered-sun-offensive-phase-2-suns-reach-armory/#comments The second phase of quest and NPC progression on the Isle of Quel'danas began a couple days ago on the US PvE PTR. Yesterday I covered the retaking of Sun's Reach Sanctum and the second phase is all about the building just across the road, the Sun's Reach Armory. The Armory is infested with demons, as you can see in the screenshot, and the new daily quests are all about driving them away.

First of all, let me state that the daily quests from phase one were still available on the PTR even after the Sanctum was taken from the Wretched. The names and quest text are a little different to reflect the changed state of the Isle, but the quest objectives and rewards remain exactly the same. It should be safe to assume that this trend will continue throughout every stage of the Shattered Sun Offensive.

Continue reading Shattered Sun Offensive phase 2: Sun's Reach Armory

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Shattered Sun Offensive phase 2: Sun's Reach Armory originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 14 Feb 2008 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> 2.42.4-ptrbombing-questbombing-rundailiesdaily-questdaily-questsisle-of-quel'danaspatch-2.4portalptrpublic-test-realmshattered-sunshattered-sun-offensiveshattrathsunwell-isle (John Himes) Thu, 14 Feb 2008 17:40:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Shattered Sun Offensive phase 1: Sun's Reach Sanctum]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/02/13/shattered-sun-offensive-phase-1-suns-reach-sanctum/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/02/13/shattered-sun-offensive-phase-1-suns-reach-sanctum/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/02/13/shattered-sun-offensive-phase-1-suns-reach-sanctum/#comments

When you first arrive at the new zone, the Isle of Quel'danas, in patch 2.4, you'll find a chaotic scene, even if there aren't hundreds of naked, level two Blood Elves running around getting slaughtered by level seventy creatures, as there are on the PTR. The Shattered Sun Offensive, the united group of Scryers and Aldor, have a small presence on the isle, consisting of a few tents and a boat, and they're combating a large group of demons and Blood Elves. As time goes on and more daily quests are completed, the new faction will gradually retake buildings on the isle, unlocking vendors, quest givers and a portal to Shattrath. Here's a quick run down of the quests and NPCs involved in the first phase of the offensive, which came to a close a couple of days ago on the US PvE PTR.

The first building that is retaken is the Sun's Reach Sanctum, pictured above. It's infested with Wretched, the undead-looking, lowest form of Blood Elves and it's security measures are non-functioning. This of course leads to our first daily quest, "The Sanctum Wards". In this quest, you must obtain four Mana Remnants from the Wretched and then use them on one of the large red crystals near the Sanctum to help recharge them. The crystals are wards that, when recharged, begin to zap nearby baddies with magic. Basically, you need to kill a few Wretched (the drop rate of the quest items is pretty high) and then click on the items in your bag while standing near a crystal. This quest was quick and easy to complete even with a lot of competition from other players.

Continue reading Shattered Sun Offensive phase 1: Sun's Reach Sanctum

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Shattered Sun Offensive phase 1: Sun's Reach Sanctum originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 13 Feb 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> 2.42.4-ptrdailiesdaily-questisle-of-quel'danaspatch-2.4ptrpublic-test-realmquestquestsshattered-sunshattered-sun-offensivesunwell-isle (John Himes) Wed, 13 Feb 2008 17:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Fishing in 2.4: Daily quests and more]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/02/12/fishing-in-2-4-daily-quests-and-more/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/02/12/fishing-in-2-4-daily-quests-and-more/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/02/12/fishing-in-2-4-daily-quests-and-more/#comments One of the first things I checked out on the PTR was the new fishing daily quests. Call me a glutton for punishment, but I actually enjoy fishing in WoW and have been increasingly interested in this quest ever since it came to my attention via the official forums. Now that the 2.4 test realm has been up for a few days, I've been able to do three of the new, randomly rotating quests which start from Old Man Barlo just outside of Shattrath City.

The first quest I discovered, and the one that I've seen the most so far, is called "Shrimpin' Ain't Easy". It requires you to fly to Zangarmarsh and fish up a few Bloated Barbed Gill Trout. You can catch these by fishing in any of the lakes in the zone. Once you reel one in, you can open it like any other package in the game to collect a few shrimp and gray items. One fish can hold multiple shrimp and this quest can be completed pretty quickly, assuming that you don't encounter any bugs. Currently, I often encounter a bug where I'm unable to catch any fish (aside from the special fishing pools, which don't yield the quest fish) in Zangarmarsh while on this quest. Abandoning and retaking it has fixed the problem every time so far.

Continue reading Fishing in 2.4: Daily quests and more

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Fishing in 2.4: Daily quests and more originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 12 Feb 2008 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> 2.42.4-patch2.4-ptrdailiesdaily-questfishingfishing-dailyfishing-daily-questfishing-hatfishing-lurefishing-questhellfire-peninsulaisle-of-quel'danasmysterious-old-mannagrandogrimmarold-man-barlopatch-2.4ptrptr-2.4public-test-realmshadowmoon-valleystormwindsunwell-isleterokkar-forestwowheadzangarmarsh (John Himes) Tue, 12 Feb 2008 20:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[New World PvP quests: Your daily dose of war!]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/02/11/new-world-pvp-quests-your-daily-dose-of-war/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/02/11/new-world-pvp-quests-your-daily-dose-of-war/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/02/11/new-world-pvp-quests-your-daily-dose-of-war/#comments I was one of the lucky few that was able to copy my character and log onto the public test realm over the weekend. Playing more than I probably should have, I was able to check out all the new daily quests and snap screenshots of much of the new content. In the midst of my frenzied trek around Outland and the Isle of Quel'danas (the new zone that hosts the upcoming dungeons), I made certain to check out the two new PvP daily quests mentioned in the patch notes. These are not the new Battlegrounds Daily PvP quests that are being introduced with the same patch, but all new quest options for World PvP objectives.

First off, I headed to Allerian Stronghold in Terokkar Forest. Near the Spirit Shard vendor, I found a new NPC, Exorcist Sullivan, offering that zone's daily quest. The objective is simple enough, merely help in the capture of one of the Spirit Towers in the Bone Wastes. In return you'll be awarded some cash and honor: 11 gold, 99 silver and 209 honor, to be exact. While I haven't been able to check out the Horde version of the quest yet, I'd imagine the NPC should be easy to spot in Stonebreaker Hold, near Spirit Sage Gartok, the Horde Spirit Shard vendor.

Continue reading New World PvP quests: Your daily dose of war!

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New World PvP quests: Your daily dose of war! originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 11 Feb 2008 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> 2.4allerian-strongholdbone-wastesdailiesdaily-questgaradarhalaahonornagrandpatch-2.4player-versus-playerptrpublic-test-realmpvppvp-questquestspirit-towerstonebreaker-holdtelaarterokkar-forestworld-pvp (John Himes) Mon, 11 Feb 2008 19:30:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Tigole hits the forums]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/01/17/tigole-hits-the-forums/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/01/17/tigole-hits-the-forums/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/01/17/tigole-hits-the-forums/#comments
Tigole has been busy on the forums today, and that always tends to bring out interesting tidbits about the future of our favorite game. While it is certainly not earth-shattering, the most interesting thing that he mentions has to do with the future of the PVP battlemasters. In patch 2.4 these guys will be put on a pedestal, literally. Much like the auctioneers in many cities, the battlemasters will be placed on a raised platform that is inaccessible to players in order to keep people from blocking them with their character's model. He also hints that Wrath will see even better improvements. This is certainly a welcome change to remove a minor annoyance that is sometimes imposed upon us by our fellow players.

Other posts hint at the future of guild banks, the title system, and a possible reward for Wrath's Lake Wintergrasp. First of all, he mentions that they're "exploring" the option to allow guild masters to set prices for items in the guild bank. I know in my guild this would be great for the guild leader, since it would probably save him a lot of time in the auction house and also provide an easy solution to those situations where he gets a valuable item and is not sure how to distribute it to the rest of the guild. I imagine that this could be exploited, to an extent, by guild leaders who might suddenly slap a price on everything in the bank rather than allowing free withdrawals, but that would probably fix itself over time as people leave the guild and/or stop donating to the bank.

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Tigole hits the forums originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 17 Jan 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> 2.4battlemasterbattlemastersguildguild-bankguild-banksguild-masterguild-mastersjeff-kaplanlake-wintergrasplord-of-the-rings-onlinelotropatch-2.4player-versus-playerpvptabula-rasatigoletitletitlestrwar-onlinewarhammer-onlineworld-pvpwotlkwrathwrath-of-the-lich-king (John Himes) Thu, 17 Jan 2008 16:30:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Apparently you can have too much gold]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/01/16/apparently-you-can-have-too-much-gold/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/01/16/apparently-you-can-have-too-much-gold/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/01/16/apparently-you-can-have-too-much-gold/#comments


Today, while skimming over various WoW sites, I noticed two forum posts about the same topic: Players have discovered that there's a cap on how much money you can carry in the game. Apparently that amount is 214,748 gold, 36 silver, 48 copper. After you reach that lofty sum, you'll no longer be able to receive money from any source in the game. While some responses to the original posts claim that this exact limit had previously been theorized to exist, there have been no reports of anyone in the game actually achieving this amount via legal means.

Dorgabas on the official forums and meth on MMO-Champion's forums both reported the discovery today, each with a screenshot to provide veracity to their claims. You can check them out by clicking here. The shots are of two different players, one of whom is on a German-speaking server. In the shot you can read his conversation with a GM, which supposedly translates to him asking the GM about the limit and the GM scratching his head in response.

You can check out both threads linked above for more information, including a rough translation of the German conversation and an explanation of why this amount is the limit due to the game's coding.

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Apparently you can have too much gold originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 16 Jan 2008 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> forumsgoldgold-capgold-limitmmo-championmoneymoney-capmoney-limitwow-forums (John Himes) Wed, 16 Jan 2008 15:30:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Grimtotem Spirit Guide, I hardly knew ye]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/01/14/grim-totem-spirit-guide-i-hardly-knew-ye/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/01/14/grim-totem-spirit-guide-i-hardly-knew-ye/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/01/14/grim-totem-spirit-guide-i-hardly-knew-ye/#comments

Gentlemen, start your whining: Hunters can no longer tame Grimtotem Spirit Guides, the ghostly looking wolves from Dustwallow Marsh. Drysc announced earlier today that this is an intentional change that was recently hot-fixed into the game. If you've already gone through the arduous process of obtaining the pet for yourself, you'll get to keep it, but they will be unavailable for taming from this point forward.

Of course this all comes as a big surprise since a Blizzard rep had previously said that this very change would not take place. While Drysc hints at some of the reasons for this change and mentions that it was a difficult decision to make, it's difficult for me to comprehend why these wolves will no longer be available. The process of taming them and then leveling them up to seventy was already difficult enough to make them a rare appearance on the servers I call home. Why would a difficult-to-obtain graphic novelty be removed from the game? It's not like they have any special traits or abilities that make the more powerful than other hunter pets.

I was sad to hear about this change, since I've been procrastinating on taming one of these wolves for my hunter alt. Maybe I'll go and tame that Ghost Saber I've been thinking about, just to be safe in case Blizzard decides to wipe out that other unique pet. What do you think about this? Does anyone think this is a good change?

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Grimtotem Spirit Guide, I hardly knew ye originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 14 Jan 2008 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> dustwallow-marshghost-petghost-wolfgrim-totem-spirit-guidehunterhunter-petpetpet-tamingwolf-pet (John Himes) Mon, 14 Jan 2008 23:30:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Level 1 cow raid downs 70 mage]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/01/07/level-1-cow-raid-downs-70-mage/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/01/07/level-1-cow-raid-downs-70-mage/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/01/07/level-1-cow-raid-downs-70-mage/#comments The Eagles Pride guild on Malygos US had an interesting idea for a guild event. They all rolled level 1 Tauren alts and staged a raid boss encounter where they had to take down a level 70 mage. Apparently, a lot of thought went into the encounter, with the mage's gear and abilities tuned to create a realistic opponent for the little cows. Additionally, the mage, Belise, limited himself to using his abilities on certain cues and made good use of emote macros to further mimic a scripted boss encounter.

You can check out the thread on the official WoW forums which includes links to the two videos of the entire event. The thread also contains more information regarding how they balanced the event and speculation concerning how similar fights would work with other classes. It would also be a good place to express your interest if you'd like to participate in another similar event in the future.

I've heard of some interesting guild events in the past, but personally, this one trumps them all. Have you ever taken part in something like this?

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Level 1 cow raid downs 70 mage originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 07 Jan 2008 21:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> beliseeagles-pridegeneral-forumguildlevel-1level-1-raidlevel-70-magemagemalygos-serverraidtaurenwow-forums (John Himes) Mon, 07 Jan 2008 21:35:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Raid dungeons for everyone?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/01/03/raid-dungeons-for-everyone/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/01/03/raid-dungeons-for-everyone/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/01/03/raid-dungeons-for-everyone/#comments
Earlier today, WoW player Blabberwort posted on the official forums with an interesting suggestion: Create a new dungeon setting that allows players to explore dungeons on a lower level of difficulty. According to the poster, this "Tourist" setting (as opposed to "Heroic") would allow curious players to experience the content although they wouldn't be able to earn any loot from killing creatures in the dungeons. For many players, this would likely satisfy their raiding urges, since it seems that a lot of non-raiders would simply like to experience the content once or twice without the pressure to continually farm it for loot.

Prior to the expansion, I didn't have a lot of opportunities to raid and a similar idea occurred to me. At the time I thought it would be pretty cool if there was a quest for each major raid dungeon that gave the player the chance to explore it without being able to engage in combat with any of the creatures. For instance, at the end of a lengthy quest line throughout Blackrock Mountain and the surrounding zones, you're finally tasked with a reconnaissance mission into the heart of Ragnaros's lair. You'd be able to enter the zone just like normal, but when you arrived inside the Core, you'd be wearing a non-removable Dark Iron dwarf costume. All the creatures would be friendly to you and you could talk to them as you made your way through the dungeon, completing the requirements of your quest. (Check out the quest "Who Are They?" for an example of what I'm talking about.) Perhaps you'd have to deliver a message to one of the bosses or simply visit certain locations in the dungeon, but the quest would have a definite objective and ending. If you chose not to complete the quest, you could keep it in your log and continually explore the zone.

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Raid dungeons for everyone? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 03 Jan 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> forum-postheroicheroic-dungeonofficial-forumraidraid-dungeonraidingwow-forum (John Himes) Thu, 03 Jan 2008 16:30:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Celebrating the new year with a GM]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/01/02/celebrating-the-new-year-with-a-gm/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/01/02/celebrating-the-new-year-with-a-gm/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2008/01/02/celebrating-the-new-year-with-a-gm/#comments

A guildmate drew my attention to this interesting video of the New Year celebrations outside of Ironforge on the US Proudmoore server. Apparently, a GM appeared as a fire-spewing gnome and had some fun with the players gathered to see the fireworks. Check out the video above to get a complete look at his antics.

Continue reading Celebrating the new year with a GM

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Celebrating the new year with a GM originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 02 Jan 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> game-mastergmmovienew-yearnew-year'snew-yearsproudmooreproudmoore-serverus-proudmoore (John Himes) Wed, 02 Jan 2008 18:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Happy Winter Veil's Eve!]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/12/14/happy-winter-veils-eve/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/12/14/happy-winter-veils-eve/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/12/14/happy-winter-veils-eve/#comments Late tonight (or early tomorrow morning, depending how you look at it) the decorations on your server should roll out and the Feast of Winter Veil will begin in Azeroth once again. We've already seen previews of some of the new toys we'll be getting this year. We've also pondered what other changes may be unannounced this year, and we'll be able to experience everything first-hand soon.

Just as a reminder, there is one item in particular that always sells well the first few days of the holiday: Small Eggs. Today's your last chance to head out to one of the lower level zones and kill a few thousand birds (or bird-like oviparous creatures) in order to make your fortune. Remember that you'll need at least five eggs yourself in order to complete the quest that creates the clamor for these items in the first place, so even if you don't wish to make a killing on the auction house, it would probably be wise to grab some eggs before the farming gets out of control. Check out Robin's earlier article for a good tip on a farming spot as well.

Continue reading Happy Winter Veil's Eve!

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Happy Winter Veil's Eve! originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 14 Dec 2007 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> feast-of-winter-veilgingerbread-cookiegingerbread-cookiesholidaymaking-moneypreserved-hollysmall-eggsmall-eggswinter-veil (John Himes) Fri, 14 Dec 2007 15:30:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Are you a recipe completist?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/12/13/are-you-a-recipe-completist/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/12/13/are-you-a-recipe-completist/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/12/13/are-you-a-recipe-completist/#comments Earlier today I was perusing the official WoW forums, looking for any new info about our favorite game, when I noticed a particular post. Warla, the player in question, was announcing that they had collected all of the cooking recipes in the game. At first glance, this might not seem like much of an accomplishment, but there are a lot of recipes that are more readily available to one faction or the other, such as Dig Rat Stew. Taking into consideration that Warla is on a PvP server and can't easily do a trade through the neutral auction house, this is actually quite a feat.

I'm not really a perfectionist when it comes to my professions (and I'm definitely not the type who would announce such accomplishments in a public forum), but I have known other people that were. One guy I know is a blacksmith and spent hours researching and tracking down every last pattern that was available to him. The same guy was making a point to complete every single available quest in the game too, so his blacksmithing goal wasn't really his loftiest.

Continue reading Are you a recipe completist?

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Are you a recipe completist? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 13 Dec 2007 11:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> completistcookcookingpatternperfectionistprofessionprofessionsreciperecipessecondary-skill (John Himes) Thu, 13 Dec 2007 11:01:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Winter Veil mysteries]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/12/10/winter-veil-mysteries/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/12/10/winter-veil-mysteries/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/12/10/winter-veil-mysteries/#comments

The Feast of Winter Veil will be upon us in less than a week and we already know that there will be new elements added to WoW's biggest holiday. Item database and news sites have been publishing information about this year's festivities for quite awhile now, but nonetheless there are still two mysteries that are pestering me.

First of all, as you are probably aware, there is a Winter Veil quest to kill the Abominable Greench and retrieve the stolen Smokywood Pastures' treats in the Alterac Mountains. Upon completion of the quest, you're rewarded with a box that can contain a special profession recipe. Alchemy, Engineering, Enchanting, Leatherworking, Blacksmithing and Tailoring have all been represented in the possible rewards. This brings us down to my burning question: Will jewelcrafters have a new design added to the gift box this year? If so, what could it possibly be?

Continue reading Winter Veil mysteries

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Winter Veil mysteries originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 10 Dec 2007 23:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> designfeast-of-winter-veilhatholidayholiday-hatjewelcrafterjewelcraftingprofessionrecipesanta-hatwinter-veil (John Himes) Mon, 10 Dec 2007 23:45:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Bugs confirmed for Cloak of Shadows and Vanish]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/12/07/bugs-confirmed-for-cloak-of-shadows-and-vanish/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/12/07/bugs-confirmed-for-cloak-of-shadows-and-vanish/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/12/07/bugs-confirmed-for-cloak-of-shadows-and-vanish/#comments A fairly lengthy thread on the official Bug Report forum today led to the discovery of a problem related to two Rogue skills. Cloak of Shadows and Vanish were both reported by players as simply not working. For whatever reason, rogues were unable to escape the attacks of their opponents in PvP when using these skills.

Reports of problems with Vanish often plague the forums. Most often these issues are caused by client/server latency, as Hortus reminds us, but this time they've identified a separate problem. While not disclosing the nature of the bug, Hortus has informed the rogues in the thread that their feedback has resulted in the discovery of a problem with these two skills and they're currently investigating the issue in hopes of finding a fix.

It's nice to see that players are able to help contribute to fixing the game. If you've had any problems with these skills recently, I'd suggest that you read over the thread and see if your experience adds anything to the discussion.

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Bugs confirmed for Cloak of Shadows and Vanish originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 07 Dec 2007 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> blue-posterbugbug-forumbugsc-o-scloak-of-shadowscosrogueroguesvanishvanish-bug (John Himes) Fri, 07 Dec 2007 18:30:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[New cooking recipes in 2.4]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/12/07/new-cooking-recipes-in-2-4/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/12/07/new-cooking-recipes-in-2-4/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/12/07/new-cooking-recipes-in-2-4/#comments In the current state of the Cooking profession, it is necessary to take up Fishing in order to progress one's skill to the maximum level. For some unknown reason, Cooking recipes between 275 and 285 skill have been changed in the recent patches. As community MVP Highlander points out, all but one of the recipes that grant skill-ups in this range require materials that can only be gained through fishing (which, I suppose, can also be purchased off of the auction house). The only recipe that doesn't require fishing is only attained through running Dire Maul, which seems to be an unrealistic requirement.

While not offering any explanation as to why these recipes were ever changed in the first place, Blizzard poster Salthem gives hope of a solution. New recipes are set to be added in patch 2.4 which should hopefully fix this problem. While not providing a lot of details, he does mention that the recipes will definitely bridge this gap.

Only time will tell exactly what recipes are being added, but perhaps they'll add a few more reliable ways to acquire skill points between 350 and 375 as well. What type of cooking recipes would you like to see in the patch?

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New cooking recipes in 2.4 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 07 Dec 2007 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> 2.4cookingcooking-recipecooking-recipesfishingpatch-2.4reciperecipes (John Himes) Fri, 07 Dec 2007 16:30:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Doomguard & Infernal getting buffed]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/12/06/doomguard-and-infernal-getting-buffed/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/12/06/doomguard-and-infernal-getting-buffed/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/12/06/doomguard-and-infernal-getting-buffed/#comments

Yesterday, a player posted on the official WoW forum asking about the current state of the Doomguard and Infernal Warlock pets. It's a hassle to learn how to summon these demons, requiring the completion of multiple quests for each, and summoning them requires reagents, including the death of one of your party members (for the Doomguard at least). With all these requirements, one would think the pets would be worthwhile, but their cost and unpredictability (they have to be continually enslaved, which is on diminishing returns and may break at any time) make them worse than the normal Warlock pets.

Eyonix answers the original poster, saying that the devs are concerned about these pets and will buff them sometime in the future. That "future" may be the next expansion, but this is a better answer than the class has received on the subject in a long time. To the best of my knowledge, previous answers were something along the line of "These spells may have situational uses and will not be changed from that role". Now there is once again hope that these cool and iconic (watch the original WoW cinematic, if you don't recall) Warlock pets will become more than simple novelties.

Continue reading Doomguard & Infernal getting buffed

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Doomguard & Infernal getting buffed originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 06 Dec 2007 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> blue-postbuffdemondemonsdoomguardexpansioninfernallocklock-petlock-petswarlockwarlock-petwarlock-petswotlkwrathwrath-of-the-lich-king (John Himes) Thu, 06 Dec 2007 13:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[No incoming fix for long arena queues]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/12/05/no-incoming-fix-for-long-arena-queues/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/12/05/no-incoming-fix-for-long-arena-queues/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/12/05/no-incoming-fix-for-long-arena-queues/#comments With the popularity of the new arena season, queue times across the servers are getting pretty long. This is especially noticeable in the 2v2 bracket, which is the most popular team size. When a player posted his complaints about the long queues today, Drysc chimed in to give indication that there will be no quick fix incoming. Instead, the devs are going to wait to get the big picture on the influx of PvPers instead of making rash decisions.

I don't know what your experiences have been like lately, but the queues on my main server seem to be getting longer and longer rather than diminishing. The new season has only been out for about a week now, so perhaps it's too early to expect interest to be fading, but I hope there is some sort of solution soon. I've contemplated moving up to the 3v3 bracket, but I've heard via word of mouth that those queues are getting pretty lengthy as well. Perhaps it's time to give 5v5 a chance once again, if I can corral some of my guildmates to chose a specific time to do our matches and stick with it.

What has your experience with the arena queues been like since the new season began?

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No incoming fix for long arena queues originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 05 Dec 2007 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> 2v23v35v5arenaarena-pvparena-queueplayer-versus-playerpvpqueue-timeseason-3season-three (John Himes) Wed, 05 Dec 2007 23:30:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Wowhead adds new item links]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/12/03/wowhead-adds-new-item-links/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/12/03/wowhead-adds-new-item-links/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/12/03/wowhead-adds-new-item-links/#comments My favorite database site has recently added a new feature to their item listings. When you look an item up on Wowhead.com, you'll notice a new link to the right of the item's name which says "Get in-game item link". When you click on it, a new window will pop open with some highlighted text. Simply copy the text into your in-game chat window and hit enter. You'll be given an in-game item link for the equipment you looked up on Wowhead, so you can check yourself out in the dressing room or pass the info on to another player.

This is certainly a cool feature and one I'll probably play around with quite a bit. This may allow me to do away with some of the item database addons I currently use in-game. I'm already alt-tabbing out to read Wowhead all the time, so it won't be much hassle at all to copy their links into the game when necessary.

Will you be using this feature at all? What do you think about it?

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Wowhead adds new item links originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 03 Dec 2007 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> equipmentgearitemitem-databaseitem-linkitem-linksitemslootwowhead (John Himes) Mon, 03 Dec 2007 20:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[L2p Paladin with Eyonix]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/12/03/l2p-paladin-with-eyonix/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/12/03/l2p-paladin-with-eyonix/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/12/03/l2p-paladin-with-eyonix/#comments Earlier today, Eyonix created a rather unique thread on the official WoW Paladin forum. He made it clear that he wasn't asking for feedback to give to the developers on the class, but rather that the questions would come from him as a player of the game. Apparently he made a Paladin alt a couple of weeks ago and is seeking advice regarding the best leveling strategy.

Threads like this pop up in the class forums quite commonly. When faced with the grind from level one to seventy, players often turn to the more experienced members of their class for advice on talent builds and leveling strategies. Of course, those players are not also community managers, posting with the hallowed blue text.

As you can imagine, the thread is already quite long and only promises to grow longer since Eyonix has mentioned that he'll be keeping it updated through the week with new questions. It's interesting to see a Blizzard employee posting his talent spec and asking typical player questions and there is actually a lot of good advice on playing the class. Head on over to the Paladin forum to check out the thread yourself and L2p Paladin along with Eyonix.

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L2p Paladin with Eyonix originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 03 Dec 2007 11:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> cmcommunity-managereyonixlevling-strategynoob-questionspaladinpaladin-forumspaladin-strategyquestionswow-forums (John Himes) Mon, 03 Dec 2007 11:45:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Armory updated for Season 3]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/12/01/armory-updated-for-season-3/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/12/01/armory-updated-for-season-3/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/12/01/armory-updated-for-season-3/#comments

Recently, Blizzard updated their Armory page with information pertaining to the new arena season. The addition that will likely be most helpful for players is the new listing of personal arena ratings which can be found in both the character and team profiles. The other changes include the listing of the new titles from last arena season. These will appear on character profiles, but only if they have already been selected in game. Additionally, all the new arena and honor loot has been added to the item database. Finally, the update page informs us that the Arena Hall of Fame will soon include the winners from Season 2.

If you'd like to check out the full listing of changes for yourself, be sure to click on the "Read" link below.

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Armory updated for Season 3 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 01 Dec 2007 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arenaarena-season-3arena-season-threearmoryarmory-updateblizzardseason-3season-threewow-site (John Himes) Sat, 01 Dec 2007 21:30:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[New WotLK screens]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/12/01/new-wotlk-screens/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/12/01/new-wotlk-screens/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/12/01/new-wotlk-screens/#comments

A couple of days ago the European WoW site updated their Wrath of the Lich King page with a couple of new screenshots. If you're like me, any chance to devour new information about the expansion is welcome. You can see the first new shot at the top of this article and I've included the second below.

The first shot looks like a different angle of an area we've seen in previous pictures. There doesn't seem to be a lot we can glean from this photo, but you can see a Forsaken town in the far distance. If I had to guess from the terrain, I'd wager that we're looking at one of the starter zones, the Howling Fjord. What do you think? See anything I'm missing?

Continue reading New WotLK screens

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New WotLK screens originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 01 Dec 2007 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> expansionexpansion-screenshotslich-kingnew-screenshotsscreenshotscreenshotswotlkwrathwrath-of-the-lich-king (John Himes) Sat, 01 Dec 2007 20:30:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[You feel normal]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/30/you-feel-normal/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/30/you-feel-normal/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/30/you-feel-normal/#comments I've leveled up my share of alts in the past and I tend to be fairly strategic about doing so. The most important rule was to only play them when they had rest XP accumulated. Sometimes I'd enjoy a certain class so much that I'd occasionally break this rule, but I usually stuck to it. I know I'm not the only one that has done this. In all the various guilds I've called home over the last few years, I've often seen messages like "Well, time to switch over. Out of rest experience on this character."

The last patch dramatically increased the rate of character progression between levels twenty and sixty. Over the last week or so, I've popped over to my Shaman alt to check out some of the new content for lower levels. Running around, completing mostly green quests, I got carried away and now find myself at level fifty. I progressed ten levels over the span of a few days with hardly breaking a sweat. This quick leveling has become addicting, but now my rest experience has run dry. I'm tempted to keep playing, but a voice in the back of head is nagging me to log off in an inn and to go play another character for a few days.

What have your experiences with the new experience rate been like? Are you a rest XP fanatic, like me? Or do you just keep plugging away, regardless of your rested state?

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You feel normal originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 30 Nov 2007 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> altaltsexperiencelevelingrest-experiencerest-xpxp (John Himes) Fri, 30 Nov 2007 18:30:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[2.3.2 patch notes updated]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/30/2-3-2-patch-notes-updated/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/30/2-3-2-patch-notes-updated/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/30/2-3-2-patch-notes-updated/#comments Earlier today, Salthem posted updated patch notes on the European WoW site and Teza has reposted them at World of Raids with all the changes highlighted. From my quick scan of the list, it appears that resto druids are getting nerfed, mages' Mana Emeralds as well as rogues' Hemorrhage ability are receiving some rather neutral changes, and rogues' Shadowstep is getting buffed.

From my understanding, tree druids are currently able to maintain a high level of healing per second through careful upkeep of Lifebloom on their targets. This is due to the fact that a druid can pop all his trinkets to maximize his +healing and then cast the spell. As long as he keeps refreshing the HoT before it "blooms", it will maintain that maximized level of +healing, thus making for a very efficient and powerful spell. As I understand the new patch notes, this will no longer be possible since the incoming Lifeblooms will overwrite the +healing value of the previous ones. I don't play a tree druid, but I'm sure some of my guild mates will be ranting over this in tonight's raid.

Continue reading 2.3.2 patch notes updated

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2.3.2 patch notes updated originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 30 Nov 2007 15:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> 2.3.2buffbuffsclass-changesdruidmagenerfnerfspatchpatch-2.3.3patch-notesroguetest-realm (John Himes) Fri, 30 Nov 2007 15:37:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA["Welfare epics"]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/29/welfare-epics/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/29/welfare-epics/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/29/welfare-epics/#comments To the best of my recollection, one of the WoW developers first coined the terminology "welfare epics" at last August's Blizzcon. I've had difficulty finding the original source, but as I recall, the context of the talk had to do with the goal of the WoW designers to make all players put forth some degree of effort in obtaining quality gear. The specific gear in question was that purchased with arena points.

New arena loot was released to the clamoring masses a couple of days ago, and some of the items have arena rating requirements on them, thus setting in motion the designers' plan to avoid a proliferation of welfare epics. As per usual with changes of this magnitude, the official forums are rife with controversial topics. This time around, its the PvE players arguing with PvP players regarding the quality and accessibility of arena loot. Some of this debate spilled over into the comments on one of my own recent posts, piquing my interest in the issue even further.

Continue reading "Welfare epics"

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"Welfare epics" originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 29 Nov 2007 23:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arenaarena-ratingarena-weaponforum-postplayer-vs-playerpvepvpwelfare-epicwelfare-epicswow-forums (John Himes) Thu, 29 Nov 2007 23:45:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Season 3 aspirations]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/28/season-3-aspirations/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/28/season-3-aspirations/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/28/season-3-aspirations/#comments The third arena season started yesterday amidst a flurry of activity on my server. Trades people were making gold by the handful. Non-raiders and alts everywhere suddenly received a huge boost from the first-season gladiator's gear which was moved to honor vendors. Last season's winners showed off their bugged titles and mounts while players across the servers began competing to win those rewards for themselves next time around.

I haven't been much of a PvPer on my main character, an Alliance rogue. In fact, I've been rather horrible at it. (I suppose I do better from range, since I always had much better luck as a hunter or warlock.) Nonetheless, I've been learning a lot in the past few weeks and have decided to aim for at least an 1850 rating this time around. For many hardcore PvPers, that goal is probably laughably easy to attain. For someone like me, who has basically died ten times each week to grab a few welfare epics, it seems rather lofty.

Continue reading Season 3 aspirations

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Season 3 aspirations originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 28 Nov 2007 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arenaarena-seasonarena-season-3merciless-gladiator'spvpseason-3vengeful-gladiator'swelfare-epicwelfare-epics (John Himes) Wed, 28 Nov 2007 23:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Progressing through Zul'Aman]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/27/zulaman-progression/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/27/zulaman-progression/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/27/zulaman-progression/#comments Zul'Aman was released with the rest of patch 2.3 two weeks ago today. Due to its place in the progression chain, many guilds were able to burn through it on the first day it was released. Downing Zul'jin is nothing when you're raiding in Hyjal and Black Temple, apparently. Of course, the intended audience for this dungeon seems to be those raiding groups that hadn't seen much action past Karazhan.

My own guild has had some success in ZA. While most of us have at least one or two pieces of tier 5 quality loot, we're not up to Vashj or Kael yet, so ZA still holds some challenges for us. We are still dedicated to pushing through the twenty-five player raids, so we haven't spent a lot of time in ZA, but we've been able to take down three bosses without much difficulty. It's a nice change of pace to face encounters where there is a learning curve, but still a lot of room for error. We haven't had much luck at all with the timed aspect of the dungeon, often with silly mistakes costing us those precious few minutes we needed to rescue the prisoner.

Continue reading Progressing through Zul'Aman

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Progressing through Zul'Aman originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 27 Nov 2007 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> 2.3guildpatch-2.3raidraid-experienceraid-progressionraidingraiding-groupraiding-guildzazul'amanzul'jin (John Himes) Tue, 27 Nov 2007 16:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Cheating on WoW]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/27/cheating-on-wow/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/27/cheating-on-wow/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/27/cheating-on-wow/#comments Most of the other WoW gamers I know are simply gamers that play WoW, meaning that they play other games in addition to their Azerothian addiction. My guild forums often have a thread or two going about other games that members are playing, recommending them to everyone else, and there are many references to other games within the world of Warcraft itself. It's obvious that the core audience for this MMO plays other games as well.

Personally, with an aging computer and a smallish gaming budget, I've missed out on a lot of the "must play" games of the last few years. World of Warcraft has served me well in that regard, since I haven't really needed to upgrade my hardware to keep playing it and it's a good value for the amount of entertainment it provides. Nonetheless, I have played other games from time to time, but I still find myself logging into Azeroth (and/or Outland) most days of the week, sometimes just to check auctions and mail. Oftentimes, playing other games gives me a needed break from Warcraft, even if only for a week or so. Undoubtedly, these short breaks are one of the things which have kept me playing WoW all these years.

All of this leads me to wonder how other players balance their WoW time with their other gaming pursuits. Are you a WoW purist, only playing the one game? Do you own multiple consoles and buy every table-top and computer game that's released? The last few patches have coincided with the release of some pretty big titles and there are more on the way this holiday season. Have you had to make some difficult decisions about how to spend your time and money?

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Cheating on WoW originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 27 Nov 2007 01:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> console-gamesleaving-wowtable-top-gamestaking-a-breakvideo-gameswow-break (John Himes) Tue, 27 Nov 2007 01:30:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Making money from Season 3]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/26/making-money-from-season-3/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/26/making-money-from-season-3/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/26/making-money-from-season-3/#comments

Tomorrow morning Arena Season 3 is scheduled to start up and, among other things, this will bring a lot of new loot into the game. I'm sure many of you are like myself and have been hoarding up honor and arena points in order to buy the new gear as soon as it appears on the vendors. This season, due largely to the new rating requirements placed on some of the new items, I've decided to actually put forth effort to be competitive in the arena.

With that in mind, picking up the new PvP gear becomes a priority, and I imagine other people are going to be in a similar position. Gone are the days of dying in the arena week after week in order to finally pick up that amazing weapon. Of course, for many players, there's a much more important aspect to preparing for Season 3: making money on the auction house.

Continue reading Making money from Season 3

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Making money from Season 3 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 26 Nov 2007 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> arenaarena-geararena-lootarena-pvparena-season-3arena-season-threearena-weaponenchanterenchantingenchantmentgemgemsjewelcrafterjewelcraftingpvppvp-equipmentpvp-gearresilienceseason-3season-threestaminawelfare-epicwelfare-epics (John Himes) Mon, 26 Nov 2007 15:30:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Shaman changes in 2.3.2]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/21/shaman-changes-in-2-3-2/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/21/shaman-changes-in-2-3-2/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/21/shaman-changes-in-2-3-2/#comments Following the trend of releasing information about class changes today, Eyonix has chimed in again to give hints of what's in store for Shaman shields in the next patch. Lightning and Earth Shield will both have their mana cost reduced. Water Shield will receive a change in its function to keep the poor shammies from having to refresh it all the time. Apparently it will still return the same amount of mana, but in a less annoying fashion. Eyonix suggests that it will essentially give a sizeable chunk of MP5.

I don't play a Shaman much, but I've been chatting with the ones in my guild about these changes. So far they seem most excited about the new Water Shield. What do the rest of you think?

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Shaman changes in 2.3.2 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 21 Nov 2007 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> earth-shieldlightning-shieldpatchpatch-2.3.2patchesshamanshamanswater-shield (John Himes) Wed, 21 Nov 2007 18:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Upcoming Hunter changes]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/21/upcoming-hunter-changes/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/21/upcoming-hunter-changes/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/21/upcoming-hunter-changes/#comments Hunters received a lot of changes in patch 2.3 and now Salthem on the european WoW forums has announced even more. Patch 2.3.2 will bring three buffs to the class, or two buffs and one un-nerf, depending on how you look at it. Check out the list of changes below.

Continue reading Upcoming Hunter changes

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Upcoming Hunter changes originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 21 Nov 2007 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> aspect-of-the-viperdouble-trapdouble-trappinghunterhunter-changeshunter-petshunterspatchpatch-2.3.2patchespetpet-experiencepet-levelingpet-xppetstraptraps (John Himes) Wed, 21 Nov 2007 17:30:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Mage changes in next patch]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/21/mage-changes-in-next-patch/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/21/mage-changes-in-next-patch/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/21/mage-changes-in-next-patch/#comments A few weeks ago, Eliah reported that buffs to the Mage class were slated for an upcoming patch and more details were released today. A few hours ago, Eyonix posted a listing of the changes that will be included in the next patch, 2.3.2. It sounds like the frost tree will be getting some nice buffs, but magi of all types will have reason to rejoice. Read the entirety of his post below.

Continue reading Mage changes in next patch

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Mage changes in next patch originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 21 Nov 2007 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> 2.3.2frost-mageice-blockmagemagesmagimana-gempatchpatch-2.3.2patchestalenttalents (John Himes) Wed, 21 Nov 2007 16:30:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Valentine's in November]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/20/valentines-in-november/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/20/valentines-in-november/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/20/valentines-in-november/#comments Teza at World of Raids has posted some information about changes that will be coming to the "Love is in the Air" holiday this February. Apparently, a player named Mushuu has kept a stash of the pledges from last Valentine's day. Upon opening them recently, he found several new items, including the new fireworks, Love Rockets, pictured next to this article. These items have made appearances on item database sites and were added in recent patches, but their exact use and purpose were unknown up to this point.

Check out World of Raids for the full story, including pictures of the other new item, the Romantic Picnic Basket.
Love is in the Air and on WoW Insider. Check out our continuing coverage of the event and our guide to earning the achievement. And you better hurry; the holiday only lasts five days!

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Valentine's in November originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 20 Nov 2007 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> heartholidaylovelove-is-in-the-airlove-rocketvalentine'svalentine's-dayvalentinesworld-of-raids (John Himes) Tue, 20 Nov 2007 23:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Wowhead adds rating conversions]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/19/wowhead-adds-rating-conversions/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/19/wowhead-adds-rating-conversions/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/19/wowhead-adds-rating-conversions/#comments
My personal favorite database site has recently updated their item listings with a new feature. While not currently listed on their under development page, Wowhead has started listing the items in their database with the combat ratings converted into percentages, much like another one of my favorites, the RatingBuster addon. You can take a look at the picture above to get an idea of what I'm talking about. In this case, the Veteran's Band of Triumph has +22 critical strike rating which converts to a +1%critical strike chance at level 70, while its +22 resilience rating converts to -0.56% critical damage taken (among other things).

Undoubtedly this relatively small change will make the site even more useful. Rating conversions are especially helpful when comparing gear choices and attempting to decide if a particular item is an upgrade or not. I know I'll be utilizing this new feature when doing just that.

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Wowhead adds rating conversions originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 19 Nov 2007 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> armorcombat-ratingcritical-strike-ratingitemitem-databaserating-conversionresilience-ratingweaponwowheadwowhead.com (John Himes) Mon, 19 Nov 2007 20:30:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Practical and impractical jokes]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/18/practical-and-impractical-jokes/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/18/practical-and-impractical-jokes/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/18/practical-and-impractical-jokes/#comments

The other day I was invited via the LFG queue to join in on a heroic Mechanar run. The other four players were all in the same guild and seemed to be good friends, based upon the way they were joking around while we all made our way to the instance. Not long after we entered the dungeon, I received private messages from three of the other group members telling me that they were going to play a practical joke on the tank. As soon as he attacked the first creature, the rest of us were going to run out of the instance, leaving him alone to die. I wasn't really sure what to make of the idea, but when they all ran out, I followed, not wanting to die myself. The guy seemed to take it well and laughed it off with some good natured teasing, but I've seen similar situations where the outcome wasn't as pleasant.

For instance, several months ago, when my guild was trying to enlist new members to raid the larger dungeons, we were in an alliance with another guild for a short period. A lot of the people in my guild like to joke around and one of them decided to play a prank on the hunters in the raid while we were learning how to take down Gruul. After the tanks died on one of our attempts, this player decided it would be funny to run to the area near the doorway where the hunters were feigning death, hoping to avoid repair bills. Of course, he pulled Gruul right on top of the hunters, turning their fake deaths into real ones. Most of them laughed it off, but one guy in particular became really upset and made a big commotion in raid chat. It took him awhile to calm down, but the group eventually pulled it together and went on to kill Gruul.

Ever had an experience like this? Does this sort of thing annoy you or do you think it has a place in WoW?

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Practical and impractical jokes originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 18 Nov 2007 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> deathdungeonsGruulGruul's-LairjokejokesMechMechanarpractical-jokesraidingraidsrepair-bills (John Himes) Sun, 18 Nov 2007 23:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Repetitive heroic dailies]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/18/heroic-daily-repetition/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/18/heroic-daily-repetition/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/18/heroic-daily-repetition/#comments I've enjoyed the heroic daily quests recently added to WoW. In addition to the new badge rewards, they give me a reason to run five-player dungeons again, which is really one of my favorite parts of the game. While some of the quests have led to frustrating situations where the group is trying to learn the strategy for a heroic dungeon that none of us have attempted before, most of my experiences have been good ones.

One downside of the random nature of the quests is the fact that the same dungeon can be selected several days in a row. On my main server, Auchenai Crypts has been selected three times over the last four days. This dungeon was considerably nerfed in the last patch, but some of the encounters are still annoying and many of my guildmates have expressed their growing distaste for the instance.

Have you had much repetition in the new daily quests on your server?

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Repetitive heroic dailies originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 18 Nov 2007 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> 2.3acauchenai-cryptscryptsdaily-heroicdaily-questdaily-questsheroicheroic-dungeonpatch-2.3 (John Himes) Sun, 18 Nov 2007 21:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Armory updated]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/16/armory-updated/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/16/armory-updated/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/16/armory-updated/#comments

Earlier today, Blizzard updated their Armory database to support many of the new features that were added to the game in patch 2.3. I've listed a quick summary of the changes below, but the most important one is the addition of guild bank support. Players will now be able to view the contents of their guild bank via the website. You'll have to log into the Armory with your WoW user name and password, so no worries about unguilded people snooping on your hoard. Additionally, a complete bank log will be maintained on the site, which is handy since the in-game log doesn't hold many entries.

Check out my summary of the rest of the changes below.

Continue reading Armory updated

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Armory updated originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> armoryblizzardguild-bankguild-banksguild-tabardguild-tabardsitem-databaseplayer-databasethe-armorywow-databasewow-website (John Himes) Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[More item changes incoming]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/15/more-item-changes-incoming/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/15/more-item-changes-incoming/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/11/15/more-item-changes-incoming/#comments Earlier today I posted regarding a change coming to the Chaotic Skyfire Diamond in a future patch. Not long after that, I noticed a couple of other posts on the WoW forums regarding more changes to two other new items that will help make them easier to sell on the auction house.

First off, Drysc let us know that one of the new ammo pouches will be changed. While its functionality will remain the same, the Knothide Quiver will no longer be tagged as a "unique" item. This will make it easier for leatherworkers to craft multiple copies of the bag for other players.

Secondly, in another thread, Drysc mentioned that the new engineering-created ammo machines will be easier to sell and purchase on the auction house. Currently they are not listed under "Projectiles", unlike all the other ammunition. This was making them difficult to find for some players and will be changed in a future patch as well.

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More item changes incoming originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 15 Nov 2007 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> adamantite-arrowadamantite-bulletadamantite-shelladamantite-stingerammoammo-pouchammunitionarrow-machineauction-housebullet-machineengineerengineeringknothide-quiverleatherworkerleatherworkingquivertrade (John Himes) Thu, 15 Nov 2007 21:00:00 EST WoW Insider