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Ask WoW Insider: Stay at home mom wants to give back to the community
by
Mark Crump
on Jul 21st 2008 (4 years ago)
Welcome to today's edition of Ask WoW Insider, in which we publish your questions for dissection by the peanut gallery -- now with extra snark and commentary by one of our writers. This week "stay at home mom" writes in:
[Edit: The original image was of Clara from the Guild. Upon further review, I felt it did not go with the title of the article and what I wanted to be a discussion of community, as well as bringing the post to a low level. I offer my apologies. -mtc]
[Edit 2: For some reason the photo credit isn't coming through. It was taken by carf.]
As a stay at home mom, I have 16+ hours a day that need filled. Before the "omg, spend more time with your kids" posts, I have two things in my life that I truly have a passion for, my family and WoW. My family ALWAYS comes first. But let's face it, after a few diapers are changed, books are read, and naps are taken, I have a LOT of time on my hands.
I fill that time playing WoW, reading about WoW, thinking about wow, etc but I want to do more! My dream job (don't laugh) would be as an in-game GM but my husband's job doesn't let me be in an area where that is possible. I spend way too many hours a day trolling various forums; Customer Service, Guild Relations, server forums, etc. I participate in nearly all PTRs that are released. I subscribe to practically every wow related blog on the planet. But it comes down to this: How can I really help? Find a bug, it's already been reported. See a question, it's already been answered.
Didn't go to Paris -- no beta key for you! (kidding, kidding, but that's the rumor, no?) I have a huge desire to help and want to do something that will make a difference with this game and the people who play it. I feel like the places I'm used to hanging around already have all the help they need and don't need another troll spouting off the typical "wrong forum, customer support is that way ->>" kind of stuff. So, any advice on how I can take my WoW knowledge and experience and give back to the community that would actually be effective and useful?
I'm not looking for some special title or recognition, I truly want to help here and I actually prefer something with a little anonymity. Did I mention 16+ hours a day? There's only so much farming and raiding a girl can do before she goes crazy.
Stay-at-home-wow-player
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Ask WoW Insider
New Player's Guide: Class Psychology
by
Mark Crump
on Jul 16th 2008 (4 years ago)
This week, we get to tackle a fun topic: personality disorders. I mean, how your personality type can help determine what class you might feel comfortable playing. Now, it's prudent I mention that I am not a degreed mental health professional -- heck, I'm not even a degreed writer. I tried to play a doctor on TV but was told I had a face made for writing, preferably in seclusion in a fortified compound. So, while these may do a good job at matching your personality type to a class, I'm not making any judgment on whether I think you're nuttier than a bar mix. There's also a certain amount of tongues and cheeks involved here, as well. In fact, if you pretend the guy that does the voice-overs for the "Real Men of Genius" ads is reading these you'll get an idea of how tongue in cheek they are. Aside: Holy Cow, the original Survivor vocalist does the background singing on those? I did not know that.
- The Tank: Your job is hold the monster's attention. Your going to have decent defense, but your main job is just generating threat. You may not contribute a ton of damage towards the kill, but keeping the monster's attention focused on you will make it a smooth ride.
- The Healer: Primarily, your job will be keeping the tank alive. Sure, you'll also be healing the rest of the party, but the tank will be your focus.
- Damage Per Second (DPS): With the tank contributing slow but steady damage, and the healer, well, healing, it's your job to actually bring the monster down.
Filed under: Druid, Hunter, Mage, Paladin, Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Warlock, Warrior, New Players' Guide
Ask WoW Insider: What does an ex-GL do?
by
Mark Crump
on Jul 7th 2008 (4 years ago)
Welcome to today's edition of Ask WoW Insider, in which we publish your questions for dissection by the peanut gallery -- now with extra snark and commentary by one of our writers. This week Nickiter writes in:
Hi WoW Insider -
Until tonight, I was the GL of a raiding guild - a new guild, to be sure, and not terribly accomplished. But, after a night of listlessly wiping on The Lurker Below, I gave up.
Maybe I don't have guild leadership in me, maybe I do, but that's immaterial.
What I'm asking of WI and your sometimes kind, sometimes harsh, but always vocal readership, is what do I do now?
I'm a Protection Warrior in T5-level gear, aka the least in-demand class in the game for guild recruitment. I also have a Hunter... which I'm not even going to bring up.
I love raiding... PvP is a diversion, at best... What have those of you who've been in this situation done?
Reroll a Resto Shammy and find a guild to Brain Heal for? Quit 'til Wrath? Something else entirely?
Thanks in advance for your input.
- Nickiter, Smolderthorn (H)
I'm pretty much going to throw this out to the audience -- you're having problems I couldn't even dream of having, but I'm sure you're not alone in. Plus, I thought it was a good question even if I couldn't throw some snark in.
So, bring it, boys (and girls).
Got questions? Don't wait! Send them to us at ask AT wowinsider DOT com and your query could be up in lights here next week.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Raiding, Ask WoW Insider
Ask WoW Insider: Ding before Outland?
by
Mark Crump
on Jun 30th 2008 (4 years ago)
Welcome to today's edition of Ask WoW Insider, in which we publish your questions for dissection by the peanut gallery -- now with extra snark and commentary by one of our writers. This week Houldlum writes in:
I'm wondering if it's possible to hit level 70 before ever heading out to Outland. I've been working through every zone trying to hit every quest, even if it's grey (they do give a bit of XP). So far I've only skipped the dungeon quests and any group quest I can't solo. My goal is to hit 70 before Outland so I can maximize the gold return from those quests... and to see if I can do it.
I have managed to get to 63 on my Alliance Rogue before I hit Outland, but I skipped several Zones.
What are your thoughts?
Thanks,
Houldlum (Falsehould, Fatherhould)
It was a light week on questions, so I'm going to dig down and use this one. Short answer: I'm pretty sure you can't. Long answser: Why the heck would you want to? Even if you got xp from anything in the Azeroth, even Cartman would think that grind was nuts.
So, anything out there -- at all -- that will give him or her xp until 70.
Got questions? Don't wait! Send them to us at ask AT wowinsider DOT com and your query could be up in lights here next week.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Ask WoW Insider, Leveling
Ask WoW Insider: When to gem and enchant?
by
Mark Crump
on Jun 23rd 2008 (4 years ago)
Hi! After nearly two years of fiddling around with far too many alts, I finally got a rogue to 70. I'm working on gearing to be able to do heroics and maybe some of Kara with friends before Wrath comes out. My question is this: at what point is it worth it to drop money on nice gems and enchants? I'm mostly still in quest rewards and I'm still saving for my epic flyer, so I'm somewhat loath to drop the gold just yet. At the same time, I want to be a solid addition to my group and I know that maximizing gear is part of that. Any advice on when this is a practical expense?
Thanks,
Greta
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Raiding, Ask WoW Insider
Ask WoW Insider: /roll abuse?
by
Mark Crump
on Jun 16th 2008 (4 years ago)
Hey WoW Insider,
This week I have a question about rolling, as in /roll, and the proper use of it. I was recently on a run of Zul'Farrak with my Shaman, a guildmate Fury Warrior, a Healadin, and a Tankadin. The 2 *adins were dating or some such, I'm not sure but it's important to the story. The run had been going really well, and everyone was being very polite on loot drops. Whenever a Blue item would drop everyone would pass and we would discuss it. This is generally not a practice I approve of (The Need and Greed buttons are there for a reason, blizzard was nice enough to provide them) but that was the group's consensus so I kept my mouth shut and did it.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Ask WoW Insider
Ask WoW Insider: Seeking motivation to level
by
Mark Crump
on Jun 8th 2008 (4 years ago)
Welcome to today's edition of Ask WoW Insider, in which we publish your questions for dissection by the peanut gallery -- now with extra snark and commentary by one of our writers. This week JJ writes in:I was wondering if you could give any advice to those who struggle with leveling. I guess you could call me a very casual wow player as I hardly have any time for it.
Recently my friend let me look at his level 70 and once I saw those in action, I have a hard time committing to leveling. When I play WoW I generally hang out around cities chilling with the other players. I just can't seem to get myself to level. I get bored very easily and I don't have a very high-level character. My highest is a level 29 hunter on a PvE but i recently rolled a warlock (level 12 -.-).
Please explain how you go about leveling. Is there a state of mind that you use to continue?
Thanks in advance
JJ
Filed under: Tips, Ask WoW Insider, Leveling
New Players Guide: Your first login
by
Mark Crump
on Jun 3rd 2008 (4 years ago)
Ok, you're done clicking sliders and choosing your race and class as part of the character creation process. You've watched the opening cinematic - you watched the cinematic, right? Did you stay through the credits to see the bonus scene? No? Good thing there wasn't one. Now you're sitting in starting area for your race, staring at the user interface (UI) for the first time and could be going, "Oh, man. What do all these buttons do?"
As far as UIs, World of Warcraft's isn't that bad actually. If you want to see a game with a horrid interface, take a gander at Second Life; that UI will scar your brain.
Filed under: Tips, Tricks, How-tos, New Players' Guide
Ask WoW Insider: Any point to starting to raid before Wrath?
by
Mark Crump
on Jun 3rd 2008 (4 years ago)
Hi,
I'm wondering what people think about starting to raid (as in, starting Kara) now, with WotLK on the horizon. Is there any point?
Thanks.
Filed under: Raiding, Ask WoW Insider
New Players' Guide: Your life as a Hunter.
by
Mark Crump
on May 30th 2008 (4 years ago)
The WoW Insider New Player's Guide is a series of features designed to help those brand new to World of WarCraft get up to speed as fast as possible. It's our way of giving back to the community, without the paparazzi mob that usually follows celebrities when they try this.
As a Hunter, your primary role will be to provide ranged damage-per-second and crowd control with your traps. Actually, I lied, your primary role will be spent convincing everyone you group with you're not one of those brainless morons that seem to end up playing Hunters.
You see, Hunters, hands down, are the easiest class to level in the game. At level 10 you get your first pet. This pet will tank for you while you stand back and hail arrows at your target. This means that your overall deaths and repair bills will be lower than other classes, while at the same time your kills will be faster since your pet adds to your damage output.
Combat with your Hunter is fairly straightforward: send in your pet, wait a few seconds for it to build sufficient aggro and then start plinking away. It's worth installing an add-on like Omen so you can tell when you're in danger of out-aggroing your pet. You will need to do some damage yourself to get xp or be able to loot the corpse, so even if you're just out farming easy mobs, make sure you hit it once or twice with your bow.
Filed under: Hunter, Tips, How-tos, Leveling, Guides, New Players' Guide
