Balance of Judgement

The Art of War(craft): A handy guide to winning at everything, part 2 (Zach Yonzon)
Zach enjoys PvP in all its forms, but the form through which he enjoys it most is the winning form.

Today we'll continue our handy guide to winning at everything. By "everything," I mean PvP encounters, and by "winning" I mean as close an approximation as you can get to not embarrassing yourself. Last week, we talked about the absolute basics of heading into battle, which starts with your machine and your internet connection. For a lot of hardcore PvP players, these are investments as much as athletes or hobbyists would invest in sports equipment like better bicycle parts or top-of-the-line running shoes. They won't make you win, but as with all tools, they'll give you the edge with all other things being even.

Sometimes, distance can be a limitation when it comes to our connection, although there are ways to compensate for that. One of these methods is SSH tunneling, which in a nutshell carries your World of Warcraft data on the express lane, while normal connections are on the freeway on which everyone else has to contend with traffic. It's like knowing the shortest route to a destination, while normal routes force you to contend with longer roads, more turns and more stoplights. The technical explanation is more complex than that, but what this basically does is lower your latency -- sometimes by as much as several hundred milliseconds, which in PvP translates to landing that killing blow before your opponent does. There are several paid services that provide tunneling, such as Gamepath or Lowerping, and I know of a lot of players outside the United States who use these services to achieve better response times in the game.
Continue reading The Art of War(craft): A handy guide to winning at everything, part 2
Filed under: PvP, The Art of War(craft) (PvP)
The Art of War(craft): A handy guide to winning at everything, part 2 originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Totem Talk: The myth of the well-itemized elemental shaman shield (Fox Van Allen)
Guest hosting is serious business. Not everyone can live up to the challenge the way Alf did. Still, as part of a mission of mercy, shadow-priest-turned-elemental-shaman Fox Van Allen is rolling the dice and taking the helm of Totem Talk this week. How does mercy fit in, exactly? Well, have you seen what happens when rabid elementals invade the comment sections of Joe's resto version and Rich's enhancement version? Not pretty.

To get our children through their early days of life, we tell them little fictions to make things more magical and more fun.

Hurry up and get to sleep so Santa will bring you lots of presents!

You should take that tooth and put it under your pillow; the Tooth Fairy pays big money for those!

There are plenty of well-itemized spellpower shields out there for elemental shaman!
As you grow up, you learn the sad truth behind it all. That obese man coming sneaking into your house on Christmas Eve is actually trying to perpetrate a home invasion. Those who collect the teeth of others are most likely in need of serious psychiatric help. And for the longest time, we elemental shaman used to suffer the quiet indignation of carrying around gobs of useless MP5 on our shields, just because Blizzard didn't see it necessary to design shields around our specific needs.

Well, my totem-flinging friends, I have some good news -- not regarding Santa or the Tooth Fairy (sorry), but regarding that spellpower shield. You do have options. And there's more good news: With Cataclysm coming right around the corner, we're about to become proverbial kids in a candy store.
Continue reading Totem Talk: The myth of the well-itemized elemental shaman shield
Filed under: Shaman, (Shaman) Totem Talk
Totem Talk: The myth of the well-itemized elemental shaman shield originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Raid Rx: Life at 85 (Matt Low)

Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand pooh-bah of World of Matticus and a founder of No Stock UI, a WoW blog for all things UI-, macro- and addon-related. If you're looking for more healing advice, check out the Plus Heal community.

I reached the level cap on beta over the weekend. For an idea of stats, I have approximately 80,000 HP and 60,000 mana (after a Power Word: Fortitude buff). My gear is a complete mishmash of quest greens, instance blues and Icecrown epics. As I'm gradually closing the gear gap, I can say that its one thing to see what the developers were thinking about when they overhauled healing. It is something else entirely to experience it.

From what I've been hearing, it appears that priests and shaman classes have adapted fairly well to this new environment. Druids and paladins still need a bit of tuning. Anyone out there on the beta want to corroborate (or offer their experience?)
Continue reading Raid Rx: Life at 85
Filed under: Raid Rx (Raid Healing)
Raid Rx: Life at 85 originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Addon Spotlight: Addons for clickers (Mathew McCurley)

Addon Spotlight focuses on the backbone of the WoW gameplay experience: the user interface. Everything from bags to bars, buttons to DPS meters and beyond -- your addons folder will never be the same. This week, please don't berate the clickers too badly in the comments.

Addon Spotlight strives to educate and empower, bringing you tips and tools to enrich your World of Warcraft experience. Playstyles are as varied as the addons that support them, and as a comprehensive writer, I try to cover everyone's specific setups. One playstyle that is a bit of a foreign concept to me is mouse clicking. Clickers are often derided and ridiculed for their point-and-click interaction with the user interface. Sometimes, you will be watching that YouTube video of a heroic kill, and the cursor is flying around the screen a lot more than you are used to. You've found the elusive clicker.
Continue reading Addon Spotlight: Addons for clickers
Filed under: Add-Ons, AddOn Spotlight
Addon Spotlight: Addons for clickers originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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WoW Moviewatch: Sons of Grim Batol (Michael Gray)
SPOILER WARNING: This video has spoilers about Cataclysm. This review has spoilers about the video. This spoiler warning has spoilers about both.

Melvenor is pretty well-known to the fans who love "big book" lore. He creates movies intrinsically tied to the lore of World of Warcraft, putting his own artistic vision and deep effort into the videos. Sons of Grim Batol is the first chapter in his Faces of Cataclysm series, which sets up a pretty exciting followup for later episodes.

My favorite bit came when the dwarves, confronted with the unconquerable might of a lone, shirtless troll, drolly shoot him down. I know this kind of deadpan slapstick isn't exactly bleeding-edge humor, but it still tickles my funny bone.

I love Melvenor's stuff, so here's hoping for a relatively swift second chapter to the Faces of Cataclysm series.
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: Sons of Grim Batol originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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WoW Rookie: These darn kids today need to learn ... (Lisa Poisso)
New around here? WoW Rookie has your back! Get all our collected tips, tricks and tactics for new players in the WoW Rookie Guide.

Some of the most interesting, informative posts at WoW.com start out as rollicking debates in Pandora's Box of Geekery and Chaos (aka the WoW.com staff chat room). A screenshot of the transcript on any given day would show a couple of links to pending articles ready for editorial review, a .jpg of something completely off-topic (usually veering toward the truly bizarre), and clips from the current crop of post comments and Twitter stream, all vying for attention amidst a lengthy, heated argument over game lore or some new beta feature -- and (in regards to the latter debate) capped off with an exhortation from Editor-in-Chief Dan O'Halloran (almost certainly in LOLcat form): "Who's writing this up?"

So I wrote this up.

What piece of sheer new-player obliviousness causes WoW.com writers to snap? Find out what sets off the rage (plus links to some handy resources that'll help put out the fires) after the break. Be sure to drop by the comments to share (and solve) your own most dreaded rookie pitfalls!
Continue reading WoW Rookie: These darn kids today need to learn ...
Filed under: WoW Rookie
WoW Rookie: These darn kids today need to learn ... originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Around Azeroth: The hole (Elizabeth Wachowski)
More Operation: Gnomeregan pics? Don't mind if we do. Cirawin of <Upheaval> on Stormrage (US-A) sent us this lovely picture of what the inside of your colon looks like after eating one of those vending machine sandwiches of questionable provenance ... Wait, no? It's actually an aerial view of a bunch of people parachuting down to Gnomeregan? Shoot. I was hoping we'd get to find out what emerges when the sandwich-parasite eggs hatch.
Gallery: Around Azeroth

Want to see your own screenshot here? Send it to aroundazeroth@wow.com. We strongly prefer full-sized pictures with no UI or names showing. Please include "Azeroth" in the subject line so your email doesn't get marked as spam, and include your name, guild and server if you want to be credited.
Filed under: Around Azeroth
Around Azeroth: The hole originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Scattered Shots: Gear for Cataclysm leveling (Brian Wood)
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.

I'm getting an increasing number of requests to know what kind of gear we should be hoarding for leveling up to 85 in Cataclysm. A lot of hunters are still grinding through ICC and want to know if they should bother with four-piece tier 10, or if making that final push to armor penetration gemming is going to be worthwhile since those ArP gems will change to something else. And what will those gems change to, anyway? What stat are we going to want to stack in Cataclysm?

Well first of all, let me say this: We don't even have a release date for Cataclysm yet. We don't know when it's coming out, but we do know it's not going to be any time real soon. I had originally planned on waiting until Cataclysm was a bit closer before hitting this, but if the amount of emails I'm getting is any indication, people want to know now.

So join me after the cut to learn what you should be paying attention to now and how best to plan for your Cataclysm hunter leveling experience.
Continue reading Scattered Shots: Gear for Cataclysm leveling
Filed under: Hunter, (Hunter) Scattered Shots
Scattered Shots: Gear for Cataclysm leveling originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Breakfast Topic: What enemy would you turn traitor to join? (Kevin Podsiadlik)
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW.com.

World of Warcraft puts players on a relatively fixed path in terms of loyalties. Sure, there are some very deliberate exceptions to this -- notably the Aldor/Scryer rivalry of The Burning Crusade and the Oracles/Frenzyheart feud in Wrath -- but in general, wherever a conflict arises in the game, the decision as to what side you're going to take is made for you. The rogue trainer in Northshire might tease you with the idea that joining the Defias is a potential option for you, but in reality, that can never happen.

WoW is certainly not lacking for "evil" factions one could potentially sympathize with. The aforementioned Defias, whose whole issue stems basically from getting screwed over by Onyxia's meddling, stand out as one such faction. Illidan Stormrage has long sparked controversy as to whether he was really on the side of evil, although that might be a result of his almost hopelessly confused lore. I have read suggestions that Malygos has a large (if misguided) sympathetic following. And even now, I see some already looking to figure out how to take the side of Big Bad Yet to Come, Deathwing himself.

Does this bother you? Do you wish sometimes that you could break the rules and side with a faction or villain you're not supposed to? What hostile faction or enemy character, if any, would you side with, given the opportunity to do so?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Breakfast Topic: What enemy would you turn traitor to join? originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Choose My Adventure: Cataclysm beta live stream (Robin Torres)

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

Note: This stream is full of spoilers. You have been warned.

It's Wednesday night, so it's time for another live episode of Choose My Adventure, Cataclysm beta edition. Tonight I am streaming Robinemia, the Forsaken huntress in Silverpine Forest. As usual, I will be narrating, chatting with everyone in the chat room and taking requests from there. The stream is above and the chat is after the break.
Continue reading Choose My Adventure: Cataclysm beta live stream
Filed under: Choose My Adventure
Choose My Adventure: Cataclysm beta live stream originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 08 Sep 2010 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The Guild season 4, episode 8 (Anne Stickney)

The Guild, the award-winning web series by Felicia Day, is still merrily chugging along with season 4. This season features all kinds of new problems for Codex and her cohorts in the Knights of Good. Season 4 has taken the focus a little further away (but not too far) from the game and moved it to Codex, who is still dealing with the disastrous fallout from the events at the end of season 3.

In the latest episode, "Busted," things are rapidly coming to a head as Codex tries to juggle her real-life, failing, fake relationship with her failing computer and her new job, as well as the return of Zaboo's mother -- which is creating all kinds of chaos. The gaming element is still present, of course, as the Knights of Good struggle to come up with the funds for a new guild hall, and the rakish guild leader of the Axis of Anarchy, Fawkes (played by Wil Wheaton), is stirring up all kinds of trouble in the name of mischief. Or is it in the name of something else? You can check out episode 8 above, and you can find any episodes you've missed and get caught up on The Guild's official series channel.

Looking for more on The Guild? We've previously interviewed Felicia Day at BlizzCon 2009, and Michele Boyd gave us an interview for 15 Minutes of Fame. And of course, the cast of The Guild was also kind enough to stop by our BlizzCon reader meetup and say hello to everyone.
Filed under: News items, Humor
The Guild season 4, episode 8 originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 08 Sep 2010 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Choose My Adventure: Polls for pets and next week's stream (Robin Torres)
Choose the adventures of the WoW.com staff as we level our characters in <It came from the Blog> on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H).

Prupher, the level 11 tauren druid, would like you to choose a vanity pet to accompany her on your adventures. Please suggest level-appropriate ones in the comments below and we'll have a poll for the favorites next week. The poll for next week's stream is after the break.

Schedule
- Robin Torres as Robinemia, the Forsaken huntress: Wednesday, 11 p.m. EDT. Note: This will be streamed.
- 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 17 troll shaman
Continue reading Choose My Adventure: Polls for pets and next week's stream
Filed under: It Came from the Blog, Choose My Adventure
Choose My Adventure: Polls for pets and next week's stream originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 08 Sep 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Win a trip to BlizzCon from the official WoW magazine (Robin Torres)
If you are one of the many people who were unable to get tickets to BlizzCon or just couldn't afford to go, the World of Warcraft Official Magazine is giving away two tickets, airfare and a hotel stay for the event. Andy Salisbury, an editor at the magazine, had this to say about the contest:
I know as well as anyone that getting a ticket to BlizzCon is difficult. Having sat in the ticket queue with six browsers open across two computers I understand that they can go fast, and despite your best efforts you'll be left peeking in through the Anaheim Convention Center's windows.

However, today those of us with the World of Warcraft Official Magazine are announcing a contest which will allow you to get your very own pair of BlizzCon tickets (with your room and airfare paid for) on us. In order to find out more, either crank up your World of Warcraft launcher, or head on over to our website at link
No purchase is necessary to enter, but there are rules and restrictions just like with any contest. Good luck!
Filed under: News items, Contests, BlizzCon
Win a trip to BlizzCon from the official WoW magazine originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 08 Sep 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Gold Capped: How much can I automate? (Basil Berntsen)
Every week, Gold Capped (from Basil "Euripides" Berntsen) aims to educate players about how to make money on the auction house. For the inside line on crafting for disenchanting, transmutation, cross-faction arbitrage and more, check in every Wednesday. Also, feel free to email Basil any comments, questions or hate mail!

Today's inbox contained something that got me thinking about the definitions of botting and how weird the economy would be without the rules.

Pat writes:
I am looking at basic auction and mass-mail answering mods. I've just had a problem where I've found a good deal (Saronite Ore often drops below the vendor trash price once you forge it into bars), but it requires a titanic load of time to watch things. Time I could be using for other things, like sleeping at 4:00 a.m. when prices are super-low. Plus, it's a nuisance just to sit around and answer the mail to pick up the items. When you buy 500 stacks, even quick operations take a long time. Are there any tips or mods you could spotlight?

I have tips and mods a-plenty, but I do not ever advocate making purchases while you sleep. The written rule is that this is Blizzard's world, and they can and will kick you out for "economic manipulation" without needing to provide any justification. The unwritten rule (discovered empirically through hundreds of auctioneer interactions with Blizzard CS reps, as well as letters sent to some mod authors who are on the line between just enough and too much automation) is that you can not have more than one batch run per hardware event.
Continue reading Gold Capped: How much can I automate?
Filed under: Economy, Gold Capped
Gold Capped: How much can I automate? originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The Classifieds: Sing that Sindragosa to me (Michael Gray)

The Classifieds brings you weekly news from around the WoW community, including the famous Random Acts of Uberness shout-outs to players who makeWoW memorable.

I've seen nearly as many methods for maintaining a raid's morale as I have seen raids. Everyone does something a little different. I've even participated in "strip raiding" before. (I really try not to talk about it, you know? Let's just say that wipes affected more than just one's repair cost.) My point is that every raid tends to have its own version of the old carrot and stick.

Elexiari of <Kingship of the East> from Emerald Dream (US-A) tells us that her raid has a rather unique method of keeping spirits high. She says, "We take turns singing after every boss kill, and sometimes at random times for a morale boost." I agree that it's a pretty cool way to keep the guns blazing. Elexiari does say they're struggling with Sindragosa a bit. Our own Mathew McCurley says this group may need to ...

... change its tune. (He then put on sunglasses and drove into the sunlight.)
Continue reading The Classifieds: Sing that Sindragosa to me
Filed under: The Classifieds
The Classifieds: Sing that Sindragosa to me originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 08 Sep 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Spiritual Guidance: Dinosaur Pirate Explosion Carnival (or, why Shadow Orbs is lame) (Fox Van Allen)
After a vicious, brutal campaign, the primary election between light-side Spiritual Guidance writer Dawn Moore and the shadow-specced Fox Van Allen (your host for today's article, of course) has come to a close. Fox had built a strong lead in the polls right up until this weekend, when a confused cadre of Tea Party activists misread Dawn's fondness for Earl Grey as tacit support for a right-wing economic agenda. Stupid democracy -- it just never seems to work.
Being an international superstar, I'm constantly accosted by fans. They walk up to me on the street and they ask, "Fox, what's the best part about working for WoW.com?" There's an awful lot I like about writing, of course. I love that I have groupies. I love that I get to write about priests, internet dragons and magic, and then name my column something ridiculous, random and ill-fitting like "Eight simple rules for dating my teenaged shadow priest." I love that I can actually help people play the game better.

But what's the best part? The groupies. Yeah, hands down. The groupies.

The second best part, though -- I'm free to write whatever the heck I want about World of Warcraft and Blizzard. I don't have to toe a company line. When Blizzard gets it wrong, I can say they've gotten it wrong. A few weeks ago, I wrote a column called The four best things about Cataclysm for shadow priests. I touched on things like Shadowy Apparition and Paralysis, two new talents that I'm loving while leveling in the beta. "But Fox," you ask, "what about those great new Shadow Orbs? You left those off your list!" That's right, I did. I left them off because Shadow Orbs represent one of Blizzard's misses.
Continue reading Spiritual Guidance: Dinosaur Pirate Explosion Carnival (or, why Shadow Orbs is lame)
Filed under: Priest, (Priest) Spiritual Guidance, Cataclysm
Spiritual Guidance: Dinosaur Pirate Explosion Carnival (or, why Shadow Orbs is lame) originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 08 Sep 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Insider Trader: Old alchemy cooldowns (Basil Berntsen)
Insider Trader is a column about professions, written by Basil "Euripides" Berntsen, who also writes Gold Capped. If you're looking for general auction house advice, you'll find it in Gold Capped; Insider Trader focuses on specific profitable markets.

Got this from Thoorull on Steamwheedle Cartel (EU-H):
Blizzard has a long tradition of taking some "special" mats or crafts off of cooldown eventually, to help players along as content progresses. There are many cases: The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King cloth, Transmute: Titanium, Smelt: Titansteel, etc. What I completely fail to understand is why some now-trivial transmutes are still on a cooldown. Not just plain cooldown, but the all-important one which is used also for current epic gems. This includes vanilla iron, truesilver and essences, and TBC primals in addition to the said current-content epic gems and eternals. It completely baffles me why I can transmute a bajillion of titanium bars or current-content meta gems (as long as I have the mats) but not some old and obscure stuff.
This is an excellent observation that's been bugging me for a while. Cataclysm is just around the corner, and everyone will be leveling new characters and doing trade skills from the ground up. It sure would be awesome to have the ability to turn readily available mithril and iron into much harder-to-find truesilver and gold. Let's look into what trade skill cooldowns really do.
Continue reading Insider Trader: Old alchemy cooldowns
Filed under: Economy, Insider Trader (Professions), Wrath of the Lich King, Cataclysm
Insider Trader: Old alchemy cooldowns originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Byron the Tauren Rogue: The cow, the legend, the gnome (Kelly Aarons)
When I approached the editors of WoW.com to ask them if they'd be interested in letting me do some work, I was thrilled when they agreed and took me on. The creative freedom I got was incredible: "Write us an idea, and if it's all right, you can do it."

Thus, Byron the Tauren Rogue was born.

Now, the legend of the tauren rogue is just one of many jokes within the WoW universe, like the cow level, or skilled ret paladins. Even though I was told that this idea was "done to death," I really wanted to try out the lovable oaf sort of character. What I didn't expect is what it would turn into.

The general synopsis of Byron is as such:
Byron is a young, male tauren who dreams of becoming the first rogue of his kind. His friends -- skilled rogues themselves -- dare Byron to sneak into Stormwind and steal the Shield of Fordragon. If he can acquire it and safely escape the city, then he has more than proven himself.
Continue reading Byron the Tauren Rogue: The cow, the legend, the gnome
Filed under: WoW.com's Weekly Comic
Byron the Tauren Rogue: The cow, the legend, the gnome originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 08 Sep 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Encrypted Text: Rogue glyphs in the Cataclysm beta (Chase Christian)

Every Wednesday, Chase Christian of Encrypted Text invites you to enter the world of shadows, as we explore the secrets and mechanics of the rogue class. This week, we discuss the new glyph system and talk about which glyphs look good so far.

Back in the day, before Wrath was even released, I had incorrectly speculated that there would be three tiers of glyphs in the expansion. It was my very first post on WoW.com, and my mistake was clearly pointed out to me by some of the helpful commenters. It turns out that I was actually right -- it just took Blizzard a few years to get around to adding the extra tier of glyphs.

There are now three types of glyph: prime, major and minor. Prime glyphs aren't necessarily fun; they just buff us. Major glyphs are sort of the utility glyphs that give us a measurable benefit, but they're not necessarily mandatory. Minor glyphs are just for fun things that make our lives easier. Luckily for us, many of the new Cataclysm glyphs are available on the beta, complete with the shiny new glyph interface. While scribes may be complaining about their business models going out the window, I'm busy drooling over some of the new glyph options we have available.
Continue reading Encrypted Text: Rogue glyphs in the Cataclysm beta
Filed under: Rogue, (Rogue) Encrypted Text
Encrypted Text: Rogue glyphs in the Cataclysm beta originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 08 Sep 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Know Your Lore: High General Turalyon (Matthew Rossi)
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft.

He saved his people.

Not many people can say that, but High General Turalyon can. On the slopes of Blackrock Mountain, when the greatest warrior the humans of the world of Azeroth had ever produced went down to dusty death, one man turned shattering defeat into hallowed victory. That man was Turalyon, paladin of the Order of the Silver Hand, strategist of the combined forces of the Alliance of Lordaeron during the Second War. It was Turalyon's hand that raised Lothar's broken sword in outrage over orcish perfidy. It was Turalyon's voice that roused the fury of the Alliance at the sight of the dead hero. And it was Turalyon's will that broke the orcs once and for all, that drove Doomhammer to his knees in defeat.

Turalyon beat the Horde at Blackrock Mountain. Turalyon led the Alliance to the very site of the Dark Portal, where Khadgar destroyed its physical form. And beyond that, it was Turalyon who led the Alliance Expedition beyond that same portal, to face the shaman Ner'zhul and his twisted ambitions. Turalyon's forces managed to seal the Dark Portal and prevent Ner'zhul's destruction of Draenor from affecting Azeroth, and in so doing, possibly saved the world entire.

Since then, no word has of his ultimate fate reached those he led, saved and left behind. It is indisputable that this paladin is one of the greatest heroes of his people, possibly even the greatest paladin who has ever lived. (With all due respect to Uther, Turalyon's record is unambiguous in its greatness.) Yet Turalyon never felt himself to be great. Struggling with doubt every day of his life, convinced the death of Lothar was his fault, he endured and pressed on, steadfast unto the edge of death and perhaps even past it.

Continue reading Know Your Lore: High General Turalyon
Filed under: Paladin, Analysis / Opinion, The Burning Crusade, Lore, Know your Lore
Know Your Lore: High General Turalyon originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 08 Sep 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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WoW Moviewatch: Boomdeyada WoW (Michael Gray)
You can't go for a walk down memory lane without stopping to enjoy Boomdeyada WoW. Originally created as an entry for a contest, Boomdeyada WoW has taken on a life of its own. This epic machinima by Irdeen Productions has achieved well over a million views on YouTube and continues to grow with every week.

Boomdeyada WoW does more than just parody the Discovery Channel's video. It celebrates the world of Azeroth with its viewer, throwing both punchlines and gentle jabs at our own community. It's a video that loves its subject and the rest of the world. I think if I had my way, I'd open up BlizzCon with a view of the video. I've not seen many single videos that shares so much enjoyment in just a few minutes.
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: Boomdeyada WoW originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The Queue: Recursive cute (Alex Ziebart)
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column in which the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.

This particular variation of the cute gnome picture was put together by reader Wabbajack. Playing with this picture is almost as fun as pasting Ghostcrawler's head onto various anime characters.

Zef asked:

I have a question regarding jewelcrafting tokens and Dalaran Cooking Awards. I gather we will need to farm new types of tokens/awards for the Cataclysm JC and cooking recipes? If so, is there any reason to hang on to current tokens? Basically wanting to know if I may as well start turning JC tokens in for eyes and selling them while they are still worth something. However, I would hate to do that and find out the tokens could be of worth in Cataclysm. Not so worried about Dalaran Cooking Awards; however, the same question arises. Just get what I can for them now? Not much choice, though; just Northern Spices, I guess.
Continue reading The Queue: Recursive cute
Filed under: The Queue, Cataclysm
The Queue: Recursive cute originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 08 Sep 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Around Azeroth: This can only end in tragedy (Elizabeth Wachowski)
Can the gnomes do anything without causing a massive disaster? While attempting to retake Gnomeregan disguised as radioactive Mekkatorque clones, Taedran of Silvermoon (US-A) and his buddy were unexpectedly met by robot versions of themselves. Nuclear clones versus flying robots? Really? Can't we just drop the H-bomb on the remains of Gnomeregan and be done with it?
Gallery: Around Azeroth

Want to see your own screenshot here? Send it to aroundazeroth@wow.com. We strongly prefer full-sized pictures with no UI or names showing. Please include "Azeroth" in the subject line so your email doesn't get marked as spam, and include your name, guild and server if you want to be credited.
Filed under: Around Azeroth
Around Azeroth: This can only end in tragedy originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 08 Sep 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The Daily Blues (Adam Holisky)
Each day, WoW.com takes you through all the blue posts and other Blizzard news from around the internet. From the latest posts from Ghostcrawler (lead systems designer) to the lowdown on StarCraft 2 and Diablo 3, we'll keep you informed.

In which something something something dark side...

Table of contents
- Ghostcrawler
- Other
- StarCraft 2 / Diablo 3 / Activision-Blizzard news
Continue reading The Daily Blues
Filed under: The Daily Blues
The Daily Blues originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 08 Sep 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Breakfast Topic: Are you catching up on out-of-game activities? (Josh Rose)
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW.com.

Before the maddening world changes of Cataclysm hit and we follow the shark with freakin' laser beams down to level our toons to 85, we are left with the question of what to do for the next few months. As with both previous expansions, it becomes sort of a waiting game for new content. The apathy of "why bother?" hits, and logging on becomes less and less frequent -- logging on just to check the AH, or for a guild raid, or to do dailies, and quickly off again, waiting with anticipation for when you can fly in the old world.

Some of us are hardcore gamers, but like many WoW players who get engrossed in our game of choice, we may have missed some of the other stellar video games that came out this year. Are you catching up on these titles while you wait for the next nugget of WoW content to come out? Or are you a TV and movie viewer, catching up on shows? Or are you catching up on real-life stuff you missed while in game, like spending time with friends and family and getting caught up with work, so you can take those couple of days off when Cataclysm actually launches?

Personally, I found that I fit into multiple categories here, spending time with my girlfriend, gaining relationship points for the inevitable amount I am going to tick her off when Cataclysm launches. I have also been playing some games I missed in the meantime, such as Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age Awakenings -- well, not so much missed, but saw their shortcuts glaring at me, waiting on me to play them, while I logged in to WoW instead.

So where do you fit? Where are your spare hours going, since you aren't in Azeroth as much? Or are you in game just as much as you always were?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Breakfast Topic: Are you catching up on out-of-game activities? originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 08 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The Daily Quest: Accessorizing (Anne Stickney)

Here at WoW.com, we're on a Daily Quest (which we try to do every day, honest) to bring you interesting, informative and entertaining WoW-related links from around the blogosphere.

I have far too many armor sets. In fact, I have mostly completed every armor set except for tier 3, which is no longer obtainable because it existed in the original 40-man Naxxramas instance. I even have the Postmaster's Set -- don't ask how long it took to farm. Needless to say, fashionable accessories are all kinds of fun, and today we've got some links from around the blogosphere about accessories, both virtual and otherwise:
- Like that shirt pictured above? We do, too -- it's from Lee Bretschneider of Adventuring Company, and you can preorder it at his store.
- Letters From Birdfall has a nice list of upcoming Cataclysm accessories.
- Would you like a pirate hat? Daughter of Ravenholdt Manor has a nice post about making friends with the Bloodsail.
Is there a story out there we ought to link or a blog we should be following? Just leave us a comment, and you may see it here tomorrow! Be sure to check out our WoW Resources Guide for more WoW-related sites.
Filed under: The Daily Quest
The Daily Quest: Accessorizing originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Totem Talk: Restoration glyphs (Joe Perez)
Want to be a sultan of swing healing? A champion of Chain Heal? Totem Talk: Restoration will show you how, brought to you by Joe Perez, otherwise known as Lodur from World of Matticus and the For The Lore podcast
.

Last week, we went over some blue posts about healing and restoration shaman, as well as a small discussion of the difference in Healing Waves. We also had news of a new beta build last week, and with that build came the news of brand new glyphs for many or the classes like rogues and shaman, as well as the new glyph system.

Some of the glyphs we use regularly have been updated, as well as some people may not have really given much thought to using. There has even been a return of some that were scrapped in the Wrath of the Lich King beta phases prior to its release. Some of these may offer game-changing, play-altering effects to our mechanics, while others just add a fun flavor to our classes. So what can we look forward to with restoration shaman glyphs in Cataclysm? That is exactly what I would like to talk about this week.
Continue reading Totem Talk: Restoration glyphs
Filed under: Shaman, (Shaman) Totem Talk
Totem Talk: Restoration glyphs originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Shifting Perspectives: Notes from bizarro world (Allison Robert)

Every Tuesday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting druids and those who group with them. This week, we squint at a series of notes scattered around our computer.

So there's a weird new bug on the beta causing people to disconnect whenever they hit a 5-man. I first realized this was happening around the time I finished a laborious sketch of what to expect in Stonecore to a group that hadn't yet seen the dungeon. I assigned group marks, went over mob abilities and gave a detailed explanation of how to handle the first boss. Around the time I finished this triumph of 5-man leadership, I noticed that everyone in the group had gone eerily silent. Moments later, they were -- to a man -- revealed to be offline.

Readers, I cried.

Crazy. But the disconnect bug is pretty common right now. As a reflection of the disjointed and surreal experience that is dungeoneering on the beta, you will find a collection of notes below that I've scribbled over the last week. I'm still not having a great time healing, but tanking's gotten better, and there's a wonderful bug with Ravage that I have thus far managed to avoid reporting in the forlorn hopes that it will stick around.
Continue reading Shifting Perspectives: Notes from bizarro world
Filed under: Druid, (Druid) Shifting Perspectives
Shifting Perspectives: Notes from bizarro world originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Lichborne: Death knight beta diaries, part 4: Two-handed frost and other beta minutae (Daniel Whitcomb)

Welcome to Lichborne, your weekly source for news, guides, tips and opinions on the death knight class.

In the latest beta patch, Blizzard was so kind as to bump the level cap up to 85, in addition to opening Uldum and Twilight Highlands, the last two major leveling zones in the expansion. Unfortunately, neither zone is itemized, but more on that later. In my testing this past week, I've delved in the long-dead, dormant spec of two-handed frost. The spec was officially killed off (at least in the sense of having competitive DPS) in the latter part of Wrath, when Blizzard decided to make frost the official spec of dual wielding. However, with the advent of Cataclysm, that is changing. With blood becoming a dedicated tanking tree, it left unholy as the only two-handed weapon tree. Recognizing that some players might dislike the pet-tending aspect of unholy, Blizzard decided to support two-handed weaponry in the frost tree once again.

That said, deciding to support it and succeeding at it are two different things, and in addition, there seems to be a lot of people who are still confused as to whether or not Blizzard plans to support it. You can put your mind at ease now though. Very recently, Ghostcrawler (lead systems designer) confirmed that, yes, Blizzard is supporting the two-handed weapon playstyle for the frost tree.
Continue reading Lichborne: Death knight beta diaries, part 4: Two-handed frost and other beta minutae
Filed under: Death Knight, (Death Knight) Lichborne
Lichborne: Death knight beta diaries, part 4: Two-handed frost and other beta minutae originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Guest Post: Is your computer ready for Cataclysm? (Derek Day)
This article has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW.com.

The Lich King is dead, your GearScore is 6,000+, and you have enough alts to run your own 25-man ICC. You cannot wait for the upcoming Cataclysm expansion, but along with the new instances, gear and level cap, there are also significantly increased graphics to consider. You may be ready for Cataclysm -- but is your computer?

While we have yet to hear official system requirements from Blizzard, we do know from the Cataclysm FAQ that "there will be incremental tweaks and updates to the graphics engine in this expansion. For example, we've made improvements to the way that water is rendered. We'll announce the exact system requirements closer to the expansion's release."

This is the first part of a three-part series on getting your computer up to speed for Cataclysm. Today, we will cover how to cheaply upgrade your current system. Part 2 will look at how to build a cost-effective, brand new system that will still run WoW at full settings. Finally, part 3 will focus on building a future-proof monster computer capable of soloing the Blood Queen herself!
Continue reading Guest Post: Is your computer ready for Cataclysm?
Filed under: Guest Posts
Guest Post: Is your computer ready for Cataclysm? originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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MMO Roundup: Last week on Massively (Alex Ziebart)

Sometimes you'd like to know that there are other MMOs out there, right? It's not all WoW, all the time! Our sister site Massively can provide you with everything you need to know about all of the other MMOs around: past, present and future.

	*HK-47 steals the show in PAX The Old Republic* trailer** It was starting to feel like forever since any new information had come out of The Old Republic's well-oiled marketing machine. Happily, a new video released at PAX 2010 has temporarily quenched the drought and simultaneously provided a glimpse into ground-based combat in BioWare's upcoming Star Wars opus. Come for the combat footage, stay for the cameo from everybody's favorite snarky droid.
	*PAX 2010: Guild Wars 2* hands-on** Guild Wars 2 is one of the most anticipated upcoming MMO releases, right alongside giants like Final Fantasy XIV and Star Wars: The Old Republic. This past weekend at PAX, Massively's Rubi Bayer had the opportunity to tackle the game head on with her own two hands.
	CCP unveils EVE Online's latest expansion EVE made its fair share of noise at PAX as well. In addition to a brand new trailer (embedded at the top of this post), CCP also officially announced its latest expansion, which will bring improvements to a number of areas of play.

Continue reading MMO Roundup: Last week on Massively

Filed under: MMO Roundup

MMO Roundup: Last week on Massively originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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15 Minutes of Fame: Behind the scenes at WoW.com (Lisa Poisso)
From Hollywood celebrities to the guy next door, millions of people have made World of Warcraft a part of their lives. How do you play WoW? We're giving each approach its own 15 Minutes of Fame.

Who are the people who write all this stuff, and how did they come to start writing about World of Warcraft every day? Being a WoW.com writer is admittedly a pretty cool gig. Readers ask us what it's like on a regular basis. Giving a single, accurate answer, however, would be a mighty difficult proposition. Some of us are full-timers, while others pen a single column each week; some of us spend most of our time behind the scenes, and some remain constantly before readers' eyes. Despite being scattered all across the world, we come together every day (well, it's more like a waxing and waning, 24-hour cycle) in the WoW.com chat room (war room? newsroom? Pandora's box of geekery and chaos?) when we're working. Being on the WoW.com team is a little like being part of an incredibly tight guild, whose members manage to share not only World of Warcraft and many other interests in common but also their workdays, as well.

Although we do have an old, outdated series knocking around somewhere that looks at members of the blogging team, we thought it was about time to give you a fresh look behind the scenes at WoW.com. Without further ado, let's meet a tiny sampling of the people who work at WoW.com:
- Zach Yonzon pens The Art of War(craft) every week and creates many of the graphic images you see on our home page, guides and posts.
- Matthew Rossi, one of the most seasoned hands on the WoW.com crew, is our resident warrior expert who also writes about game lore and general news.
- Michael Sacco, a senior editor, started writing at WoW.com after working at Blizzard itself.
- Alex Ziebart started out as a weekend blogger and is now a senior editor.
- Fox Van Allen joined WoW.com early this year and writes the shadow priest portion of our priest column.
- Lisa Poisso (that's me) started out writing the professions column three years ago and now works behind the scenes as an editor and turning out several weekly columns.
Continue reading 15 Minutes of Fame: Behind the scenes at WoW.com
Filed under: Interviews, 15 Minutes of Fame
15 Minutes of Fame: Behind the scenes at WoW.com originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Operation Gnomeregan and Zalazane's Fall events now available (Michael Sacco)
Players who're able to log on after maintenance is over today will discover that the Operation Gnomeregan and Zalazane's Fall world events are now available! These are two of the introductory Cataclysm world events. Head to Kharanos in Dun Morogh or the Echo Isles in Durotar to take advantage of these limited-time experiences.

To start the Echo Isles quests, you want to talk to Vanira, who is right next to Voljin in the Sen'jin village in Durotar.
To start the Operation Gnomeregan quests, you want to talk to High Tinker Mekkatorque, who is located in the Tinker Town district of Ironforge.

These quests are counting towards the Loremaster achievement.

More information on the event:
- Official Gnomeregan and Echo Isles announcement and information
- Operation Echo Isles / Zalazane's Fall: Transcripts and details
- Operation Gnomeregan: Transcripts and details
- Echo Isles / Zalazane's Fall quest summary and gallery
- PrintWarcraft.com offers original WoW posters
Gallery: Patch 3.3.5 PTR: Zalazane's Fall
Filed under: Wrath of the Lich King, Cataclysm
Operation Gnomeregan and Zalazane's Fall events now available originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The Queue: /facepalm (Adam Holisky)
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column in which the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Adam Holisky, senior editor at WoW.com and webmaster of a new quick-and-dirty MMO news site, will be your host today.

In the last edition of The Queue, you gave me just under four pages of /facepalm-like emotes. So I thought I'd just /facepalm the entire WoW.com community.

Moving on!

WoWie asked:

Do existing dungeons still have the same gear? Do I need to grab a Whitemane's Chapeau before Cataclysm so it isn't gone forever?
Continue reading The Queue: /facepalm
Filed under: The Queue
The Queue: /facepalm originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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WoW Moviewatch: The Device Has Been Modified (Michael Gray)
When my wife and I first saw The Device Has Been Modified by Baron Soosdon, all I could think at the time was, "If only these powers could be harnessed for good." The imagery, action and content of Soosdon's epic video was so compelling that dozens of backstories instantly came to mind. It was an inspirational video, and it doesn't seem an iota dated even now.

While the original song is by JoCo for the video game Portal, the Baroon took that source material and made it something incredibly new. (For the sake of story, however, the good Baron does link this Gnomeregan with Aperture Science.) I think it fits the twisted remains of gnomish technology better than any kind of freaky cube, anyway. The Device Has Been Modified is one of my favorite machinima, and I think it's definitely worth another look.
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: The Device Has Been Modified originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Reader UI of the Week: Aanye's UI (Mathew McCurley)

Each week, WoW.com brings you a fresh look at reader-submitted UIs. Have a screenshot of your UI you want to submit? Send your screenshots, along with info on what mods you're using, to readerui@wow.com.

Welcome, friends, to another Reader UI of the Week. It has been an exciting week for addons ... sort of. User interface customization has been enabled on the Cataclysm beta servers, and addon authors are working hard to create some awesome new mods. Hopefully, in the near future, we will be getting some cool new user interfaces coming out of beta, as well as addons and changes.

In the meantime, we've got some awesome user interfaces to cover. Today's reader submission comes from Aanye on the Cenarius realm. Using Fizzik's UI as inspiration and a set of UI-defining requirements, Aanye has gone and made a very capable and very slim laptop user interface for himself. Let's take a look.
Continue reading Reader UI of the Week: Aanye's UI
Filed under: Add-Ons, Reader UI of the Week
Reader UI of the Week: Aanye's UI originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Around Azeroth Beta Edition: Out of the darkness, into the light (Elizabeth Wachowski)
Want to know what you're missing in the beta? Here's a front-line report from priest Vaelor on Mekkatorque (EU): "I've spent most of my testing time enjoying the ever-so-delightful experience of healing premade tanks with a third of my health, but whenever I can stop tunnel-visioning my party frames, I take a look around to appreciate the artwork. In my opinion, Vortex Pinnacle blows everything out of the water.

"Unfortunately, my little time there has been plagued by players' crashing just by mousing over random air elementals, killing said air elementals, and subsequently getting my ass handed to me, as the air elementals' pals knocked me off the floating complex in retaliation for killing their brethren.

"However, I did manage to snap a few screenshots, and something tells me that Beacon of Light is so last year. As you can see in the picture, Power Word: Barrier is going to be the new hotness in the upcoming fall/winter 2011 Holy Fashion Week. Also, rumor has it Anna Wintour is going to dedicate a spread in Vogue (Dalaran edition) to Divine Aegis and Power Infusion as the must-have accessories of the season."
Gallery: Around Azeroth

Want to see your own screenshot here? Send it to aroundazeroth@wow.com. We strongly prefer full-sized pictures with no UI or names showing. Please include "Azeroth" in the subject line so your email doesn't get marked as spam, and include your name, guild and server if you want to be credited.
Filed under: Around Azeroth
Around Azeroth Beta Edition: Out of the darkness, into the light originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The Daily Blues (Adam Holisky)
Each day, WoW.com takes you through all the blue posts and other Blizzard news from around the internet. From the latest posts from Ghostcrawler (lead systems designer) to the lowdown on StarCraft 2 and Diablo 3, we'll keep you informed.

banterbanterbanter

Table of contents
- Ghostcrawler
- Other
- StarCraft 2 / Diablo 3 / Activision-Blizzard news
Continue reading The Daily Blues
Filed under: The Daily Blues
The Daily Blues originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Breakfast Topic: Are you dodging the Cataclysm beta? (John Zakour)
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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Tuesday Morning Post: Mad science edition (Daniel Whitcomb)
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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