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Cataclysm screenshot of the day

by Michael Gray on Jul 29th 2010 (3 hours ago)

The latest Cataclysm screenshot from Blizzard is shown above. Check it out! The greens are so much more green in Cataclysm. You can almost touch those wonderful green feathers.

If you've missed any of the previous Cataclysm screenshots of the day or you want to see a high-res version of today's image, check out the gallery below.

Gallery: Cataclysm Daily Screenshots

Filed under: Cataclysm

A look at the new WoW figures at SDCC 2010

by Kelly Aarons on Jul 29th 2010 (4 hours ago)

Last weekend saw one of the greatest comic book conventions in North America, the San Diego Comic Con, come and go. One of our own WoW.com crew attended the great event and came back with photos of DC Unlimited's newest (and some older) World of Warcraft action figures. These displays featured many from the Premium Series 2 and 3, along with the regular series 6 and 7.

I personally have a few of these around my apartment. They're of superb quality, and the regular series usually costs around or under $20. The larger premium series goes for quite a bit more (usually hovering around the $50 mark) but is undoubtedly worth it. You can actually preorder some of these (including those not show, like the Lich King) right from DC Unlimited's website.

Check out the full gallery below!

Gallery: SDCC 2010: WoW Figures

Filed under: Events

Addon Spotlight: Equus Infinata

by Mathew McCurley on Jul 29th 2010 (5 hours ago)

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, Addon Spotlight reaches into the addon grab bag and pulls out some delicious randomness for you.

Salutations, friends. Welcome to another exciting week on Addon Spotlight, where addons reign supreme amongst the pitiful, smelly masses of other crap you could talk about related to World of Warcraft. Addons encompass it all! We are champion.

This week, Addon Spotlight is heading into mount and pet territory, discussing a wonderful little addon called Equus Infinata. Equus not only caught my eye because of how simple and pretty the addon looks, but how it integrates straight into your already existing mount and pet interface pane. As a special treat, I asked Robert, the addon's author, a couple of questions about creating his first addon. Click for more!

Filed under: Add-Ons, AddOn Spotlight

WoW Rookie: Cataclysm changes to early and middle levels

by Lisa Poisso on Jul 29th 2010 (6 hours ago)

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

If you're not a leveling player -- and sorry, but that does not include you wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am types zipping up your latest alts -- then as I tell my family when they're hovering around me when I'm trying to write, "I love you; now go away." Today's WoW Rookie is all about stuff that matters to players who focus on WoW's leveling game. If you've got the whole leveling thing down pat ... if leveling is just a chore to get to the end game, where "the game begins at 80" ... if your pre-80 character is just one among your entire stable of toons ... then move along, big guy. Your secret handshake didn't pass muster at this clubhouse.

For those of us gleefully picking our way through the levels, we're going to take another look this week at what's ahead for us in the expansion. First, I've got a lead to share on a friendly place to tuck into for companionable leveling. Then we'll round up a whole collection of facts and developments on how Cataclysm will change the game for players in the 1-60ish range. If you're an assiduous reader of The Queue, none of this will be new news; we've cherry-picked some recent goodies that apply to players in the early to middle levels.

Filed under: WoW Rookie, Cataclysm

WoW Insider Show Episode 150 - Thunderfuryyyy! Awayyyy!

by Michael Sacco on Jul 29th 2010 (6 hours ago)

Every week, we present you with the WoW Insider Show podcast -- an hour's worth of WoW community discussion, covering everything from the week's top stories here on WoW.com to emails from our readers to what's been going on with our particular characters in Azeroth.

Along with your hosts, WoW.com Senior Editor Michael Sacco and Contributing Editors Matthew Rossi and Mat McCurley, we also feature rotating guest hosts, whether regular WoW.com contributors or personalities from other sites. And this week we're pleased to announce that Mat McCurley will start being considered a regular host of the show!

Want to have your question answered on the air? Email theshow@wow.com!

Get the podcast:

[iTunes] Subscribe to the WoW Insider Show directly in iTunes.
[RSS] Add the WoW Insider Show to your RSS aggregator.
[MP3] Download the MP3 directly.

Warning: This episode has a lot of Cataclysm spoilers. Don't listen if you don't want to be spoiled!

Filed under: Podcasts, WoW Insider Show

The OverAchiever: The 25 most entertaining achievements, part 3

by Allison Robert on Jul 29th 2010 (7 hours ago)

Every so often, I get tired of the self-seriousness that infests some of (OK, most of) the other work I do here and get the urge to write something purely for fun. After our series on evil achievements and the relentless misery of School of Hard Knocks, I'd like to spend some time on achievements that are nothing but an absolute joy from beginning to end.

This week we continue our series on World of Warcraft's most entertaining achievements. This is the full series to date, if you're just catching up with us:

OverAchiever: Pure Win
The 25 most entertaining achievements, #25-21
The 25 most entertaining achievements, #20-16
The 25 most entertaining achievements, #15-11 (today's post)

Filed under: Achievements, The Overachiever

Buffing for BlizzCon: The Convention Challenge

by Michael C. McGreevy on Jul 29th 2010 (8 hours ago)

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.

BlizzCon is still three months away, but convention season is in full swing. The San Diego Comic-Con ended a few days ago, and in the seemingly endless days that stretch out between now and Blizzardpalooza, there are several huge conventions that may be occupying your time. I'll be leaving next week for Gen Con, and a month after that you'll be able to find Rafe and me (along with a large handful of staffers from Massively) at Dragon*Con. I often wonder if we geeks have not subconsciously scheduled some of the biggest conventions of the year over the summer months as a result of the countless dull hours in our youth because we didn't appreciate the "traditional" summer activities. Whatever the reason, though, this is the time of the year when it's truly grand to be a geek.

It is not, however, such a grand time if you are trying to make healthy dining choices.

Filed under: BlizzCon, Guest Posts

Totem Talk: Elemental changes, part two

by Matt Sampson on Jul 29th 2010 (9 hours ago)

Welcome to another article by elemental shaman specialist Matt Sampson, otherwise known as Binkenstein. By day, he's a geek; by night, he's also a geek, but with spreadsheets.

Hello again, dear readers. It's time for me to waffle on again about elemental shaman. A few weeks ago, we saw the talent tree revamp down to seven tiers, and there have been a number of changes in the builds since then. Some of the changes are small, but there's one or two in there that I think you'll like, if you haven't heard about them already.

I've also spent a little time on the beta, and aside from being totally unfamiliar with the UI, I'm enjoying it. Earthquake is fun to use, although I do wish that the cooldown didn't exist. As you can see from the image above, the current animation isn't quite finished yet, but looks promising.

But before we get started, I'd like to let you in on a little project I've been working on lately: TotemSpot. TotemSpot is our new Shaman Community Site that's been set up by a few shaman bloggers, and we're currently in beta (everything is there, but there are a few layout issues and changes we are working on). There is a forum, a blog/news front page, and a Wiki as well. Pop on over and have a look.

Filed under: Shaman, (Shaman) Totem Talk

Scattered Shots: How to tell your friend he's a huntard

by Brian Wood on Jul 29th 2010 (10 hours ago)

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 term "huntard" stretches all the way back to vanilla, when all the gold farmers were hunters (and actually farmed). While usage of the term has died down a bit due to widespread educational programming, it still exists, and we now know more about the huntard than ever before. Sometimes these bad players are just teenagers with parasitic worms burrowing through their brains, driving them slowly mad; other times, they're hillbillies destabilized from imbibing massive quantities of impure corn liquor and generations of profoundly unbiblical procreation.

But more often than not, the classic huntard behaviors aren't directly related to mental acuity. Modern medical science now knows that huntardism is a disease, often infecting newer players who just honestly doesn't know any better. They're trying their best. All too often, they're newer players who got some crazy and foolish advice (usually from other classes) and, not knowing any better, have done their best to follow it. But here is hope. Recent studies show that 90% of huntardism is, in fact, curable.

Join me after the cut as we take a look at how to identify the warning signs that a friend might be a huntard and how to break the news.

Filed under: Hunter, (Hunter) Scattered Shots

Cataclysm Beta: Twilight Highlands and Uldum galleries

by Michael Sacco on Jul 29th 2010 (11 hours ago)

Twilight Highlands and Uldum aren't technically open yet in the Cataclysm beta, but when have invisible walls ever stopped someone who really wanted to get into a zone? Resourceful tester Lemon King sends us these monster galleries of questing through both zones, although both are unfinished (especially Uldum). Even so, they look beautiful, and there are some nice surprises in the quests. Obviously, spoilers abound!

Check out the galleries by clicking below.

Gallery: Cataclysm beta: Twilight Highlands