World of Warcraft

This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW.com.

I could have taken part in the Cataclysm beta, but I chose not too. Here are my Top 10 reasons why I decided to wait to play Cataclysm until it is released some time later this year:

1. I only have so much time -- might as well put it toward making my toons stronger.
2. I'll let other people work the kinks out.
3. I get bored enough repeating quests as it is. Why do the quests when they don't really count?
4. I don't want to get accustomed to playing a level 85 mage, only to have to go back to my level 80 mage.
5. Why level (or for that matter, play) with a character you can't bring into the "real" non-beta world? I'm not that ambitious.
6. I've done the beta before: fallen in love (well, strong "like") with certain spells or abilities, only to have them taken away. (Mirror Image so rocked when it first appeared in the Wrath beta ...) I don't want to experience that pain again.
7. Most of my guildmates won't be there. I like having my guild around.
8. I actually don't think I'm a skilled enough raider to be any help with my feedback. I really need to do a boss encounter four or five times before I start to get it down well.
9. If I am going to risk wife aggro, I want to risk it for something that counts.
10. I'm not a fan of spoilers. I'd rather experience it all when it goes live.

Are you playing in the Cataclysm beta? Why or why not? Would you, if you had the chance?

Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Cataclysm, Guest Posts

Breakfast Topic: Are you dodging the Cataclysm beta? originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Happy Tuesday morning, everyone! We got a new patch in the beta this past week, which has led to much rejoicing, as goblins are playable again. Of course, as one bug is squished, a few thousand more pop up -- but the bug in the screenshot above? I rather like it. My worgen is not only a ferocious werewolf, but also a twisted Victorian mad scientist, his visage forever corrupted by his own experiments, dooming him to stalk the night bereft of love and companionship forever.

Never fear, though, the latest patch blitz from the beta servers has bought also brought the good stuff. There's a veritable cornucopia of new goodies to pore over, including new racial character introductions, new guild achievements and updates to archaeology and inscription. There's much more, of course, and you can read all about it here on WoW.com. You'll have plenty of time do so, too, as realm maintenance is scheduled for the usual 5-11 a.m. Pacific time today. And thus, dear reader, read on, for the tragic cautionary tale of Dr. Worgenstein -- I mean, more WoW news.

Continue reading Tuesday Morning Post: Mad science edition

Filed under: Realm Status, News items

Tuesday Morning Post: Mad science edition originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Vortex Pinnacle - Skywall 5-Man Video
TotalBiscuit released a long (28 minutes) video of the new Vortex Pinnacle 5-man instance located in Uldum/Skywall.

Choose the adventures of the WoW.com staff as we level our characters in <It came from the Blog> on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H).

I'm so sorry I never had the stream last week as promised. I got sick, then The Spawn got sick and we had to go visit Great Grandpa who was sick. Boo! (The Spawn and I are fully recovered and Great Grandpa is well cared for.) You may have also noticed we didn't have our usual polls on Friday. That's because we are going to have them on Wednesdays from now on. Our adventures will be recapped on Mondays, which begins today with the return of Foxlight and Patent after the break. Ch-ch-ch-changes! But first, the schedule:

Schedule

• Adam Holisky as Adammentat, the level 62 tauren druid, will play on Monday at 10 p.m. EDT.
• Robin Torres as Robinemia, the Forsaken huntress: Wednesday, 11 p.m. EDT. Note: This will be streamed.
• Amy Schley as Patent, the level 29 troll rogue: Thursday, 10 p.m. EDT
• Anne Stickney as Annephora, the level 42 troll warrior, will play on Saturday at 1 a.m. EDT (which is Friday at 11 p.m. Zangarmarsh time).

Adventurers who play when they can

• Fox Van Allen as Foxlight, the level 25 blood elf paladin
• Lisa Poisso as Prupher, the level 11 tauren druid
• Michael Sacco as Shockbroker, the goblin shaman
• Christian Belt, as Selfloathius, the level 16 blood elf warlock
• Robin Torres, as Robinemia, the level 29 Forsaken mage
• Matthew Rossi as Andrenorton, the level 17 troll mage
• Michael Gray as Grayfields, the level 17 tauren hunter
• Gregg Reece as Sandwichdoc, the level 16 troll shaman

Continue reading Choose My Adventure: Patent and Foxlight

Filed under: It Came from the Blog, Choose My Adventure

Choose My Adventure: Patent and Foxlight originally appeared on WoW.com on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Every Monday evening, WoW.com brings you a long list of WoW podcasts that were published the week (and weekend) before. If you don't see your favorite podcast listed, just let us know in the comments. Be sure to leave a link to it, and we'll pick it up next week.

All podcasts and content belong to their owners. WoW.com is not responsible for what you hear, and some of the content may not be safe for work.

• All Things Azeroth Shade (By Calvin Klein)
  
• Blue Plz! Season 4 -- Episode 28
• The Instance Mixed Marital Sippy Cup Parasailin'
• Rawrcast Double Up!
• Twisted Nether Blogcast Party Like It's 99

Continue reading Weekly Podcast Roundup: Aug. 30-Sept. 5, 2010

Filed under: Weekly Podcast Roundup

Weekly Podcast Roundup: Aug. 30-Sept. 5, 2010 originally appeared on WoW.com on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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: Stevie Wonder. I listen to this stuff when I play arena -- teammates think I'm ridiculous. I think they're ridiculous for not appreciating Stevie. Although, I guess it is a bit weird to hear kill targets shouted while You Are the Sunshine of my Life ... is blaring in the background.

Understanding the big picture

Gladiators look at arena battles very differently than most. This isn't because they're naturally gifted at solving complex riddles or puzzles -- they just have enough arena experience to understand things that others might not. Well, get ready, because this is the start of your crash course in seeing what we see, how we see it.

So sit back, relax and crack open a cold one.

Continue reading Blood Sport: Good momentum

Filed under: PvP, Add-Ons, Blood Sport (Arena PvP)

Blood Sport: Good momentum originally appeared on WoW.com on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music, fan fiction and more. Sample the whole spectrum on WoW.com's Arts and Crafts in WoW page.

Mario, we know and love you best as our favorite plumber -- but don't think we haven't figured out that you're sneaking around out there as a druid, too. So what would happen if you tucked the beloved characters of Mario into the World of Warcraft? The result is David Stonecipher's "WoW Meets the Mushroom Kingdom" art series. Stonecipher's drawn up his own vision of how the Mario universe's most famous characters would look inside Azeroth.

Mario as a druid? Bowser as a warrior? Try all 10 classes on for size. "I did something a little different with these pieces this time," Stonecipher wrote us. "I've created a video that shows each artwork be created from blank canvas to finished completion. This allows people to get a look at how the art is created in various stages."

See more of Stonecipher's video game character mashups at GameArtOnline.com, or click past the break to see the other five WoW classes in Part 2 of the WoW/Mushroom Kingdom series.

Continue reading World of WarCrafts: Hey, it's-a me, WoWio!

Filed under: World of WarCrafts, Arts and Crafts

World of WarCrafts: Hey, it's-a me, WoWio! originally appeared on WoW.com on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ghostcrawler : I'm one guy, Jimmy, and I've got a full time job. Ghostcrawler Lead Systems Designer...

Unlike rogue and shaman glyphs, warrior glyphs do not appear to be finalized as of this beta push, but there have definitely been some changes and alterations that are worth discussing. We discussed the change to the philosophy of glyph design already this week but neglected to point out the specific new glyph options. Several glyphs are either entirely new or changed to reflect the "unambiguous increase" design goal.

Continue reading Cataclysm Beta: Warrior glyphs

Filed under: Warrior, Cataclysm

Cataclysm Beta: Warrior glyphs originally appeared on WoW.com on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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.

News broke last week of a new Cataclysm beta patch that added a host of guild achievements to the game. MMO Champion has the full list. Some of these achievements -- such as looting 200,000 gold from creatures -- you may decide to allow to simply accumulate over time. After all, most of them can be earned through the natural course of events, assuming your members participate in all aspects of the game.

However, if you'd like to pursue these guild achievements aggressively, this column is for you. Let's take a look at how you can accelerate some of these achievements and how you can motivate your guild to help.

First of all, let's talk about the motivation that the game itself will provide. Earning guild achievements, according to August's guild advancement Q&A, provides "nice, fat chunks of experience [that] feel great when you get 'em." We also know from blue poster Mumper that "anything that grants guild XP will also grant guild faction." Putting two and two together, we can conclude that earning a guild achievement will also award the players who earned it a hefty dose of guild reputation. This extra guild rep and guild experience may be motivation enough.

But why stop there? Let's take an active role, as officers, in providing organization and incentives.

Continue reading Officers' Quarters: Accelerating guild achievements

Filed under: Officers' Quarters (Guild Leadership)

Officers' Quarters: Accelerating guild achievements originally appeared on WoW.com on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ghostcrawler : Quote: It worked, really. It's just the evolution of Holy Paladins stacking Int since 3.2 and only ever spamming Holy Light that doesn't fit in Cataclysm. The BC- and Pre-TotC-way worked perfectly and can also work in Cataclysm! It's a shame they're removing THAT aspect of Holy Paladins just because almost every Holy Paladin switched to a somewhat ...

Ghostcrawler : Quote: 10.) Amount of Damage Taken - Probably a little early to comment on this, though I wanted to give some rough numbers. I'm currently sitting at 99k health or so fully buffed (Fort, Kings). I have around 7-8% dodge, 7-8% parry, and 30% Block. Bosses typically hit me for 15-20k unmitigated damage. Healers usually don't have a problem keeping me...

Ghostcrawler : Quote: Exorcism needs a cooldown. At the moment, the most effecient way of questing is casting Exorcism x3 and a Judgement to replenish mana. A crusader strike will kill that which still draws breath. I'm back at 100% mana, mob dead before he reaches me, ???, PROFIT. With the added cooldown to Consecration and the enormous amount of mana regen I ...

Ghostcrawler : Quote: While I'm not sure that this thread is being very productive I on the other hand am pretty sure that it is not productive. If you can't confine your feedback to class design, then please refrain from posting. Ghostcrawler Lead Systems Designer...

Ghostcrawler : Quote: We're being asked to deal with a total change in healing philosophy and approach, but the model is broken in a way that seriously disadvantages us at the same time. The devs say that they're not focusing on numbers - fine, but don't expect any useful feedback until you have focused on numbers We get plenty of useful feedback in the current ...

Welcome to Scattered Shots, written by Frostheim of Warcraft Hunters Union and the Hunting Party Podcast. Each week, Frostheim uses logic and science (mixed with a few mugs of dwarven stout) to look deep into the hunter class. Got hunter questions? Feel free to email Frostheim.

The level cap in the Cataclysm beta has been raised up to level 85, which means that we finally get to have a look at our badass level 85 ability: Camouflage. While it's true that this is primarily a PvP ability, it does not in any way disappoint. It looks amazing. It works even more amazingly, granting us more than we had ever imagined based only on the description.

You can only enter Camouflage while out of combat. It lasts a minute and has a 1-minute cooldown. When you're standing still, it is stealth. When you're moving, it's sweet-looking awesomeness. You can target someone moving in Camouflage, but you cannot cast any spell at him. Camouflage makes you immune to ... just about everything. You can't be tracked, your nameplate doesn't show up, you aren't affected by AoE, fears, mass dispels. If you attack, you leave Camouflage. If you take damage -- say, from a DoT ticking -- you leave Camouflage. Everything else you're are safe from, as long as you aren't fighting.

The video gives a pretty good preview both of how Camouflage looks, and how the mechanics of it work. Enjoy!

[Update: Question: would a rogue be willing to give up Stealth -- and all its associated combos and benefits -- for Camouflage? If they answer is yes, then I'll agree that this is OP, otherwise nerf the rogue first.]

[2nd Update: Please keep personal attacks out of the comments! You can disagree with someone's point without insulting the person. Instead, stick to the point.]

Scattered Shots is dedicated to helping you learn everything it takes to be a hunter. See the Scattered Shots Resource Guide for a full listing of vital and entertaining hunter guides, including how to improve your heroic DPS, understand the impact of skill vs. gear, and getting started with Beast Mastery 101 and Marksman 101.

Filed under: Hunter, (Hunter) Scattered Shots

Scattered Shots: Camouflage originally appeared on WoW.com on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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On this lovely Labor Day, you may be enjoying a rocking barbeque with friends. But not our orc hero Boar Thrills. He's stranded in Winterspring and is forced to struggle for survival. In Orc vs. Wild: Winterspring, Wowcrendor executes a stunning send-up of both Man vs. Wild and a good half-dozen WoW memes.

This is, of course, the second Orc vs. Wild video. I'm curious to see how you feel about these videos. Wowcrendor has always been a fan favorite, and I think he's found a great voice and outlet as Boar Thrills. This series could turn into something as epic as his How to videos, especially if he keeps expanding his options through the world.
Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at machinima@wow.com.

Filed under: WoW Moviewatch

WoW Moviewatch: Orc vs. Wild: Winterspring originally appeared on WoW.com on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ghostcrawler : Quote: You know what's going to happen, right? We won't be making spur-of-the-moment decisions about using it. We'll learn the encounters, plan the moment to use it for each encounter, and then do exactly that without thinking twice. The actual decision will be made in advance, long before we use the ability, and as such it is not an interesting de...

Ghostcrawler : The 10% spell power isn't offered by a ton of specs (nor are there any other specs that we want to add it to), but the buff makes a really big difference to casters. The 6% buff is there so we could make sure you weren't totally without any kind of buff if you lacked one of the 10% guys. Ghostcrawler Lead Systems ...

Ghostcrawler : Adding a secondary effect to Heroic Leap, like a Thunder Clap or letting you get out of roots might be a good role for a glyph. We don't like to glyph new high level abilities immediately because then players don't appreciate what the glyph does for them, since they have never used the ability unglyphed. It's something we could consider for a futur...