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Breakfast Topic: Game time

by Dawn Moore on Aug 20th 2010 (41 minutes ago)

The other day, I was talking to a good WoW friend about some RL stuff. None of it was anything you all would find terribly interesting, until we came upon the topic of my health. I told him I had started a probiotic regimen recently in hopes of resolving an antibiotic treatment I had taken the year before. When I tried to recount the time that it happened, my mind momentarily drew blank before I was able to spit out "it was around Ulduar."

He knew what I meant of course, but I immediately realized the absurdity of me relaying events about my real life in game time.

When I thought about it though, I figured I couldn't be the only one ... So, do your weeks start on Tuesdays? Do you say you have to be somewhere in server time? Do in-game holidays remind you an actual holiday is coming up? Was the last time you went to the dentist when you got your first Anub'arak kill?

Filed under: Breakfast Topics

Guest Post: Long exposure WoWtography

by Brad Reiss on Aug 19th 2010 (12 hours ago)

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

Long exposure photography is an intriguing photographic technique that involves slowing a camera's shutter speed, thereby allowing light more time to strike the film. The technique often produces otherworldly images in which there is a sharp contrast between stationary and moving objects -- perhaps you have seen long exposure photos of cars at night, their headlights melting into long streaks of color. Because long exposure photography often reveals hidden patterns, its applications can go far beyond generating simple eye candy.

Last summer, I had the opportunity to do research on interactive digital media (read: video games) at the University of Rochester, and I thought it might be fun to try some long exposure photography within my favorite game, World of Warcraft. Rather than do real long exposure photography, however (difficult when one has no camera!), I opted to emulate the effect using video clips captured with Fraps and processed with a program called Exposure. Both of these programs have free versions available.

Gallery: Long-exposure WoWtography

Filed under: Arts and Crafts, Guest Posts

Raid Rx: 5 reasons why you're not getting healed

by Matt Low on Aug 19th 2010 (13 hours ago)

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.

You ever reach a point in the game where you just want to throw your arms up in the air, throw in the towel and cease all casting of spells related to healing? I'm not ashamed to admit that I've been there myself on more than one occasion. Not exactly my finest moments, I'll admit. Moments of frustration aren't exactly legitimate reasons not to heal. But as a healer, you'll come across moments in your healing careers where you have to make a split-second decision. Will it be action or inaction? Choose carefully, because the well-being of the raid depends on it. Sometimes inaction (or at least, not healing) is the correct choice. Besides, you might have some druids around that can bring players back to full with Rebirth. (If you're looking for some tips on the ideal usage, here's a guest post I wrote on Rebirth procedures from the perspective of the druid, the raid leader and the player getting the resurrection.)

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Raid Rx (Raid Healing)

The OverAchiever: The 25 most entertaining achievements finale

by Allison Robert on Aug 19th 2010 (14 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.

Here it is, folks; the last two achievements in our hit parade of World of Warcraft's 25 most entertaining achievements. This is the full series, if you're catching up:

OverAchiever: Pure Win
The 25 most entertaining achievements, #25-21
The 25 most entertaining achievements, #20-16
The 25 most entertaining achievements, #15-11
The 25 most entertaining achievements, #10-6
The 25 most entertaining achievements, #5-3
And today's post, the finale

Filed under: Achievements, The Overachiever

WoW Rookie: Coming back to WoW after a break

by Lisa Poisso on Aug 19th 2010 (15 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.

You're not really a rookie -- but man, it's been ages since you last played! Azeroth feels like a whole new world. A "dungeon finder" -- huh? And why are all these people pelting you with friend invitations that have real-life names attached?

As more and more former players start peeking their heads back into the game in anticipation of the launch of Cataclysm, we'll be seeing more and more uncertain vets fumbling through mechanics and features even those rookies among us now take for granted. What's the best way to get back up to speed after an extended time away from WoW? Reader Anthony writes:

I used to be an avid WoW player but quit about a year ago (just before patch 3.1). I have been entertaining the idea of getting back in the game but am kind of intimidated, because I think there probably have been so many addons to the game since I left, I'll be totally lost. I used to use your website as a resource and visited it daily when I did play, but I stopped after I quit playing. So I'm not really sure what has changed.

And I am also not really sure if it's a good time to pick up playing again because of the expansion that's supposedly coming out. So I was wondering if there could be any way that someone on your team could give me a quick little up-to-speed brief on some of the changes that have happened, mostly with the gameplay aspects; I'm not overall concerned about new raids and stuff. I used to raid all day, every day when I played before but would rather just ease into that later. So if there's maybe a link or something, I would greatly appreciate it.

A "link or something"? WoW Rookie can certainly oblige. Join us after the break for a healthy dose of tips on getting your bearings if you've been away from WoW for quite some time.

Filed under: WoW Rookie, Cataclysm

The Art of War(craft): Tol Barad field report from the beta

by Zach Yonzon on Aug 19th 2010 (16 hours ago)

Zach, who writes the weekly PvP column The Art of War(craft), is having the time of his life in the Cataclysm beta now that they've enabled testing of the new battlegrounds. He logs out in Tol Barad and is constantly in queue for Twin Peaks and the Battle for Gilneas. Now if only those other battlegrounds would actually open up for a game or two ...

The latest beta patch had a lot of goodies from the obvious, such as new talents, to the subtle, like changed items. The most interesting news for me, of course, was that Twin Peaks and Tol Barad are finally open for testing. I didn't have much luck getting into a Twin Peaks game even after hours of being in queue, but I did manage to get more than my fair share of Tol Barad battles. Granted, it was far from massive -- neither side barely managed more than two parties, let alone a full raid -- but it was easy enough to learn how everything works.

Today we'll dive right into Tol Barad, from the landscape to the gameplay to other random notes about the new world PvP zone. The isles of Tol Barad's actual geographical location is a bit curious at the moment. From the games panel at last year's BlizzCon, the developers showed a map where Tol Barad was in a body of water west of Khaz Modan, south of the Hillsbrad Foothills and east of Gilneas. The current Cataclysm beta map isn't the same, although there are two small islands west of Gilneas and north of Vashj'ir that could represent Tol Barad. There is currently no physical means to go to or leave Tol Barad -- players must enter by queuing for the battle and leave through other means such as a hearthstone. The zone currently does not permit flight, even between battles.

Gallery: Cataclysm Beta: Tol Barad

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, PvP, The Art of War(craft) (PvP), Cataclysm

Totem Talk: Shields, totems and buffs, oh my!

by Matt Sampson on Aug 19th 2010 (17 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. He's also the shaman behind TotemSpot and is currently leveling a mage alt ... sshh, don't tell anyone!

Welcome to another post on Cataclysm beta information for the best spec of all: elemental. There have been one or two changes in the latest patch, along with things being fixed (Unleash Elements, for example). This means we can start doing some testing, play with the mechanics and get a better feel for how elemental is looking. First, patch notes!

Elemental

Magma Totem now costs 18% of base mana, down from 27%.
Lava Burst damage has been increased by 25%.

Restoration

Totem of Tranquil Mind *New* - Summons a Totem of Tranquil Mind with 5 health at the feet of the caster for 5 min, causing party or raid members within 30 yards to lose 0% less casting or channeling time when damaged. (Value NYI, Concentration Aura)

As you can see, the patch notes are fairly small and are mostly balancing tweaks. The additional 25 percent damage on Lava Burst only applies to the base damage, so instead of dealing 1,441 damage (on average) it now hits for 1,801. This extra damage will be multiplied by talents as well, so that becomes 460 extra damage before considering the critical strike multiplier, which brings it up to 1,022. In other words, that 25 percent base damage increase turns out to be a 6.4 percent increase in overall damage, assuming an average critical of 16,000 before the change.

Filed under: Shaman, (Shaman) Totem Talk, Cataclysm

Addon Spotlight: Loremaster addons

by Mathew McCurley on Aug 19th 2010 (18 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.

Happy Thursday, addon nerds. I hope your week is going as splendidly as mine is. Why is my week going splendidly, you ask? I decided to begin the Loremaster achievement process on my new warrior in preparation for Cataclysm. Potentially, only a few more months remain until the world goes kaboom, and I'd like to have that title ready to roll -- which, conveniently, brings me to the topic of this week's Addon Spotlight.

This week, Addon Spotlight brings you the core collection of addons that make Loremaster less of a giant pain in the butt. For a comprehensive Loremaster strategy, I recommend, nay, compel you, to read Lisa Poisso's excellent Loremaster rookie article. I am here to give you all the information on the addons that make this achievement a snap. Let's read some quest text together! Awww, yeah!

Filed under: Add-Ons, AddOn Spotlight

Scattered Shots: Beast mastery rotation in Cataclysm

by Brian Wood on Aug 19th 2010 (19 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.

We've now covered what the MM Cataclysm rotation and the SV Cataclysm rotation are looking like in the beta, so it's time for BM. Ghostcrawler, lead systems designer, recently identified SV as the least-polished spec in the beta currently. While that may be true, it is also true that BM is the least functional spec at the moment.

While BM has come a long way in the beta, it still has not-yet-implemented talents and not-yet-functional talents. But the main problem with BM is that the pet design pass hasn't been done yet. BM relies on its pets far more than any other spec, and until we know how the pet design will play out, we are left with big questions in our rotation.

Join me after the cut as we take a look at exactly where BM is right now, why our pets are more important than ever, why big red pet is better than ever, and why we can't say for certain just what the final BM rotation will look like.

Filed under: Hunter, (Hunter) Scattered Shots

WoW Moviewatch: Alexstrasza

by Michael Gray on Aug 19th 2010 (20 hours ago)

This is Alexstrasza by Sharm and Tyranno. Sharm did the singing, while Tyranno did the lyrics and the machinima. It's fairly obviously a parody of Lady Gaga's Alejandro, but this version takes a second to get rolling. I highly recommend taking the time to let it get started in earnest.

I just happened to be in the WoW.com war room when this video hit the internet, and I was able to collect some quotes from your intrepid WoW.com staff about Alexstrasza. In lieu of my usual blathering, I thought I might share those today:

Matt Low called it "the best thing since chopsticks," while Ziebart himself said, "I love it, it's hilarious." By comparison, Mathew McCurley said, "I went from hate you to love you almost weirdly fast." I think we were all struggling with initial Gaga-related revulsion, but couldn't help be won over by the good time parody. But I assure you that this song is insanely catchy, and it will stay with you. Robin closed, saying, "I really, really love that video."

Also, please welcome Deathwing to his first musical performance on Moviewatch.

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

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