Posts with tag tips

Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook, available from No Starch Press.

Amazingly enough, exactly five years ago today -- at 11:15 a.m. on May 7, 2007 -- the very first Officers' Quarters went live on WoW Insider. It was so long ago that I actually used Thottbot links. Since then, yours truly has composed more than 250 OQs. At about 1,000 words per column, I've written enough words on the topic of guild leadership to fill up a large fantasy novel. (Of course, I've also written an actual book on the topic.)

For this column, I briefly thought about pulling out the best and worst of OQ to share my personal favorites (and my shame) from the past five years. I decided against it. Maybe some day I'll do that -- maybe right before I hang up my WoW Insider columnist sash -- but that day is not today.

Rather, I thought I'd do something more personal. OQ has always been about learning how to do a better job as an officer and a guild leader, both for your members and yourself. During the past five years, I've done my best to give advice on exactly that.

However, I've never claimed to have it all figured out. I've also learned a lot, too. On this anniversary, I'd like to share four things that I've learned over the past five years. (Five would have been better, but I'm long-winded.)

So you finally got into the Mists of Pandaria beta, along with all of the Annual Pass holders. You now have a chance to impact the final product, at least reducing the number of bugs it gets released with. But how do you do that, and what can you expect? We've got you covered in our Beta Testing 101 series.

• 5 things you should always report
• How to write a good bug report on the forums
• What to, and what not to, expect from the MoP beta
• Addons and the Mists of Pandaria beta
• Good group etiquette
• How to stream your beta sessions

If you have further questions not answered in the above posts, you can always try The Queue. Or you can let us know in the comments what other beta guides you'd like to see.

See you in the Wandering Isle!

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It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!

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Every week, WoW Insider brings you Gold Capped, in which Basil "Euripides" Berntsen and Fox Van Allen aim to show you how to make money on the Auction House. Check out Fox and Basil's reboot of Call To Auction, and email Basil with your questions, comments, or hate mail!

Gold making is one of those games you can play without much cooperative interaction with other players. If I hadn't been set straight about how to raid by cooperative guildies when I started, I'd still be as bad as I was when I started, minus any progress I'd have made myself. This type of environment is a breeding ground for less-than-optimal gold making strategies, so here are five myths about gold making that continue to require banishment.

1. Mats are free if you don't pay gold for them. It doesn't matter whether you picked up a gem from a Satchel of Exotic Mystery, farmed a stack of herbs, procced a bonus somehow, or mugged someone. If you figure your cost on the mats for whatever you're selling as what you actually paid for it, you're doing it wrong. The value of crafting mats is what you could sell them for.

I think we all like to save time in game when doing mundane things so that we can get back to the fun stuff. I also find that World of Warcraft is unable to read my mind and know that I really meant "armor" when I typoed "amror." So out of necessity, I've discovered some tricks to let WoW know what I really mean in a timely fashion.

• Shift-clicking a crafting material in your inventory with the appropriate craft box open will search for patterns that include that mat. I can never remember if my jewelcrafter has already leveled past some gem or other, but with this trick I can easily check. Also, if I pick up some meat and don't know if I have a recipe for it, shift-click searching lets me know. You probably already use this trick for searching in the Auction House, as well.
• Shift-clicking the icon for a letter in your mailbox will put all items from that letter into your inventory. I find this invaluable for sending items to my bank alt. Note: This will delete the letter from your mailbox if there is nothing written in the letter itself.

Looking for the best approach to a certain boss? How about gearing guides for all flavors of 85s, whether you just hit the level cap, are working your way through rep rewards and heroics, or are already digging into raiding? What if you're just getting around to figuring out best practices for your newly 85 alt?

WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm has you covered! We add fresh links every week to keep you up to date with the latest tips, tricks and strategies for the Cataclysm era. Here's what's new from the most recent weeks:

Best class tips

• Cataclysm tanking for warriors, part 1 / part 2 / part 3 / part 4
• Blood DK Tanking 101
• Protection Paladin 101
• Shadow Priest 101

Best gear

• Pre-raid gear for resto shaman
• Gear your tankadin for heroics
• Gear your tankadin for raids
• Raid-level gear for DKs

Best raid tactics

• Raiding Blackwing Descent as a shadow priest, part 1 / part 2 / part 3
• Raiding strategies for feral cats, part 1 / part 2 / part 3
• Priest healing strategies
  • Ascendant Council
  • Cho'gall
  • Maloriak and Nefarian
  • Chimaeron and Atramedes
• Holy paladin healing strategies for Bastion of Twilight, part 1 / part 2
• The enhancement shaman guide to Nefarian
• Best practices for healing heroic Chimaeron
• A Blackwing Descent healing playbook
• Healing heroic Halfus

More

• Blackwing Descent and the Prestor legacy

There's much, much more where this came from -- get the whole scoop on WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm!

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World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from leveling up a new goblin or worgen to breaking news and strategies on endgame play.

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Looking for the best approach to a certain boss? How about gearing guides for all your level-capped characters at their various levels of play: new 85s, heroic instancing and raiding? What if you're just getting around to figuring out best practices for your newly 85 alt?

WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm has you covered! We add fresh links every week to keep you up to date with the latest tips, tricks and strategies for the Cataclysm era. Here's what's new from the most recent weeks:

• Blizzard's Tom Chilton discusses Cataclysm design, talent and zone revamps
• Bear weapons, trinkets and relics
• Datamining Cataclysm's legendary staff
• Entering the Bastion of Twilight as a balance druid
• Top 10 trinkets for the pre-raiding shadow priest
• Warlock strategies for Cho'gall
• Gearing your feral cat for raiding, part 3 and part 2
• Balance druid strategies for the Twilight Ascendant Council
• Level 85 shadow priest gear
• Warlock strategies for the Twilight Ascendant Council
• Holy paladins tips for healing Chimaeron
• Balance druid strategies for Cho'gall

Read WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm.

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World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from leveling up a new goblin or worgen to breaking news and strategies on endgame play.

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This article has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

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

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

Today we'll be touring the zone of Azshara, newly remade in the image of the Horde. We'll cover the achievements you can get in the zone as well as visit the major and minor landmarks of the area. As usual, I will be answering questions and comments from the chat room, which is after the break.

Update: The stream is now over. You can watch the video replay by clicking on the image above.

Hello, class, and welcome to Archaeology 101. Today, we'll show you how to get started in this profession, as well as where to go, what to do and how to do it. I know I'm not as dreamy as Indiana Jones, so I won't be expecting apples on my desk or eyelid tattoos. But I'll also not be interrupting class to run after Nazis, so I've got that going for me ... which is nice. I will be taking questions and comments from the chat room, however, which is after the break.

Update: The stream is now over. You can watch the video replay by clicking the image above.

I love the updated look of Orgrimmar, but it's hard to get used to the new layout. Blizzard didn't just give the city a more rugged, old-school paint job; almost everything has been moved! Today's live stream guide will be a mapping-out of the new Org, pointing out the important things from how to catch a zeppelin to where to get your hair cut. I'll also be taking questions from the chat room, which is after the break.

Update: The stream is now over, but you can watch the video replay by clicking on the image above.

Choose My Adventure is on a hiatus as we discuss its future and wait for Cataclysm to arrive. In its place today, I am going to be streaming my strategy for beating the Plants vs. Zombies minigame in Hillsbrad Foothills. I will take you through step by step from getting to the quest through to getting your pet. I will also be answering questions as we go, so please join us in the chat after the break.

Update: The stream is now over. You can click on the above screenshot for the video replay. Stay tuned for a full text guide to accompany the video soon.

Want to crush your enemies, see them driven before you and hear the lamentation of their women? Blood Sport investigates the entirety of all things arena for gladiators and challengers alike. C. Christian Moore, multiple rank 1 gladiator, examines the latest arena strategy, trends, compositions and more in WoW.com's arena column.

Listening Music: Massive Attack's "Teardrop." Apparently this song is the Dr. House theme...or something. I only noticed this because of the comments on this video. I wouldn't know, I don't watch the show. Maybe I should start because obviously someone from that drama has taste in music.

Default to damage

Oh, Wrath of the Lich King, how we had such great hopes. Damage is almost always the most successful strategy. Defaulting to damage is something I have to explain often, especially when I start playing with new teammates who are trying to push for their first gladiator title.

Players who have high technical skill (for instance, being able to Spell Reflect an escaping druid's Nature's Grasp) often try to win games by doing things more "skilled" than the enemy. They'll preach for seemingly endless hours about how often they Counterspelled their opponent's Incinerates, yet they still lost the match. Sometimes, the opportunity cost it takes to interrupt one of your spells to interrupt an opponent is better spent by doing damage, especially if an enemy is low on health. Why bother Counterspelling an enemy damage spell when you can get a kill? [EDIT: I removed confusing language concerning interrupts and global cooldowns.]

These same players look down on opposing compositions for being "faceroll" or "noob comp" because they win games by just pumping damage into the enemy. There's a reason why "bad players" can get to high ratings by using certain compositions -- damage is the premier strategy.

Buff(ing) for BlizzCon is a bi-weekly fitness series written by ShrinkGeek authors Rafe Brox and Michael McGreevy. Join the WoW.com team in getting in shape for the ultimate WoW geek event: BlizzCon 2010.

There are two words that can seriously take the shine off of anyone's efforts to lead a healthy lifestyle: "I can't." The minute you start saying that, you start stacking up the frustration debuff, which almost invariably leads to some kind of indulgent meltdown that can cause a huge setback or completely derail all the good work you've done. We want to feel good about the choices we are making, and most people don't feel good when they say the words, "I can't."

... Unless, you know, they are responding to a question like, "Can you stick this razor-sharp sword into your eye?" That question, fortunately, doesn't come up much in polite conversation. One that does, however: "Would you like to go out to eat?"

Ah, yes. Our old nemesis, the restaurant. I've written in the past about how it's easier to eat at a restaurant after some advance research to find the good choices on the menu -- but what if it's a spontaneous outing or the restaurant doesn't have any obviously good choices? What if you don't know where you're going before you get there, or the restaurant doesn't have its menu available online? There are a lot of factors that can make dining out a challenge when you're trying to watch your caloric intake, but that doesn't mean you have to avoid those situations altogether. There are several tricks you can stash up your sleeve to keep the "I can't" debuff at bay and enjoy your meal without taking too much damage in the process.

New around here? WoW Rookie has your back! Get all our collected tips, tricks and tactics for new players in the WoW Rookie Guide.

Let's face it: Crowdsourcing is king. Every company that beta tests its products (hello, Cataclysm!) knows the benefits of having hundreds, thousands or even millions of creative (and not-so-creative) minds plinking away at its features. If we put our heads together ...

Today's WoW Rookie rounds up recent posts at WoW.com that spawned info-rich comments ready to mined by us newbies. Before we dive in, though, I'd like to remind everyone (even you old hands out there who happen to be reading along) to keep sending in your favorite pointers for new players -- things it took you months to realize when you first started playing, things you wish you'd known back in the day. Send 'em in to lisa@wow.com, and we'll run one every week in WoW Rookie.

One more piece of business: Got a question or wondering about something in WoW that has you stumped? WoW Rookie is opening a mailbag section especially for new and leveling players. Send in your questions to lisa@wow.com.

Now, with thanks and much love to our prolific Breakfast Topic commenters, let us unleash the wisdom of the masses!