WoW Insiderhttp://wow.joystiq.comWoW Insiderhttp://wow.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gifWoW Insiderhttp://wow.joystiq.comen-usCopyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only.Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/WoW Insider ShowEvery week, the WoW Insider Show brings you news and views from the World of Warcraft and the site that covers it all, WoW Insider. We introduce a panel of rotating guests, including bloggers from WoW Insider and other WoW blogs, and many popular personalities from around the WoW community. From the live listener chat and polls during the show, to the emails direct from listeners (reach us at theshow@wow.com), right on to the "meat" of the show -- in-depth discussion of the most popular news and posts on WoW Insider -- the WoW Insider Show is a terrific source of news and entertainment about what's going on with Blizzard and their World of Warcraft. Listen live every Saturday at 3:30 pm Eastern on our Ustream page (http://www.ustream.tv/channel/wow-insider-show) or subscribe to the feed and let us know what you think by reviewing the show right here in iTunes.Skill Mastery: Shield Barrier takes the beating for youhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/16/skill-mastery-shield-barrier-takes-the-beating-for-you/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/16/skill-mastery-shield-barrier-takes-the-beating-for-you/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/16/skill-mastery-shield-barrier-takes-the-beating-for-you/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Image
Shield Barrier is one of my favorite new abilities. One of the reasons I love it is that it scales both with the amount of rage you have when you use it and with your attack power, meaning that it will continuously get better as you level and gear up. Shield Barrier provides you with a damage absorption shield that, when used with the minimum amount of rage (20 rage), puts up a respectable amount of absorption. On my level 89 tauren warrior, above, it did roughly 6k with a baseline use, eating more than half of that Agitated Seedstealer's fire spell.

But when used at full rage, it can do significantly more. The most I've seen was a 20,000 absorption shield, which will admittedly be fairly rare because it's hard to ensure you have exactly 60 rage when you use the ability. You're more likely to pepper the area with 10k or 12k absorbs that make soloing an absolute dream. Tanking in 5-mans, it's still a potent part of your arsenal, but you're much more likely to alternate it with Shield Block there.
Image
Shield Barrier is an ability warrior tanks have probably needed for a very long time, a way to mitigate incoming damage no matter what it is. I personally love the ability.
It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!

WoW InsiderSkill Mastery: Shield Barrier takes the beating for you originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 16 May 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>mists-of-pandariamists-of-pandaria-betamists-of-pandaria-specializationShield-BarrierShield-BlockWarriorWarriorsMatthew RossiWed, 16 May 2012 17:00:00 ESTKnow Your Lore: The Burning Legionhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/16/know-your-lore-the-burning-legion/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/16/know-your-lore-the-burning-legion/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/16/know-your-lore-the-burning-legion/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

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.

They burn worlds to ash. They render the verdant uninhabitable. Theirs is not the evil of mad chaos, leaping to corrupt for amusement or decadence. They are the means by which the mad Titan seeks to unmake everything. They are the Burning Legion, and it is their purpose to end existence. Nothing less will satisfy Sargeras.

Yet even within the seemingly monolithic forces of the Legion, there's room for political intrigue of a sort. While Sargeras has seemingly caused his own exile from the seat of power, his former lieutenant Kil'Jaeden now leads the Legion, a position he seemingly aspires to hold indefinitely. And Azeroth is directly in his crosshairs.

Continue reading Know Your Lore: The Burning Legion

WoW InsiderKnow Your Lore: The Burning Legion originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 16 May 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>Archimondefeaturedguideguide-to-loreIllidanKilJaedenlorelore-guideNathrezimNerzjulrole-playrole-playing-guiderp-guideSargerasThe-Burning-LegionThe-Lich-KingVelenworld-of-warcraft-lorewow-guidewow-lorewow-role-playingwow-role-playing-guidewow-rpwow-rp-guidewow-rpingMatthew RossiWed, 16 May 2012 15:00:00 ESTHow I learned to love tanking againhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/16/how-i-learned-to-love-tanking-again/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/16/how-i-learned-to-love-tanking-again/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/16/how-i-learned-to-love-tanking-again/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Image
So yeah, I'm tanking again. There are a few reasons for this. Reason #1 is my experiences testing prot in the Mists of Pandaria beta. Quite frankly, I think it's going to be much easier to level to 90 as a tanking warrior, what with the spec working quite well on the beta at the moment. Since I expect us to be doing so by August at the latest, I wanted to get a jump on things.

Another reason is simple necessity. We needed a tank; I happen to be capable of doing the job and doing it well. Even back when threat was harder than it is now, I always knew I was a respectable tank. I pay attention to my positioning, I know how to use my cooldowns, and I've got a lot of experience with the role. When my guild found itself short a tank, it seemed like the right thing to do. It's just plain easier to recruit a DPSer and have someone established doing the tanking.

I've asked before if it's time to kill tanking. Almost a year down the road from that question, here I am tanking again. I think what I'm learning is that, at present, it's fairly easy to tank decently and not very hard to tank well, but tanking itself is now split into two halves, and one of them is actually more difficult than it has ever been. It's easier to learn but not easier to master.

Continue reading How I learned to love tanking again

WoW InsiderHow I learned to love tanking again originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 16 May 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>DPSfeaturedguide-to-warriorstanktankingtankswarrior-guidewarrior-infowarrior-talentswow-warriorwow-warrior-infowow-warriorsMatthew RossiWed, 16 May 2012 14:00:00 ESTThings to do while everyone in your guild is out playing Diablo 3http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/16/things-to-do-while-everyone-in-your-guild-is-out-playing-diablo/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/16/things-to-do-while-everyone-in-your-guild-is-out-playing-diablo/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/16/things-to-do-while-everyone-in-your-guild-is-out-playing-diablo/#commentsFiled under: ,

Image
Is it just me, or are the realms kinda dead today? Well, that's probably because everyone in the known universe (with the possible exception of on-call firefighters and paramedics or surgeons who are not currently engaged in removing brain tumors) is off playing Diablo III. That's fine. I don't judge.

But sometimes you need something to do whenever other people aren't around to provide mental stimulation. Here are a few quick suggestions that will make your in-game life slightly more interesting until everyone gets back (and a lot more interesting afterwards):

  1. Submit a GM ticket asking if WoW's orientation around gear upgrades constitutes a dismissive critique of the nudist lifestyle. (Editor's Note: Don't do this.)
  2. If you have guild bank privileges, feng shui the contents.
  3. If you don't have bank privileges, spam the officers with letters accusing them of betraying the proletariat.
  4. Macro /y BOING to your space bar.
  5. Edit guild ranks to more accurately describe members. "Officer" is a less descriptive term than "Untrustworthy Gurthalak-Stealing Suck-Up."
  6. Run through Stormwind/Orgrimmar shouting that the Rapture has occurred.

WoW InsiderThings to do while everyone in your guild is out playing Diablo 3 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 16 May 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>diablo-3diablo-iiifeng-shuigurthalaknot-diabloAllison RobertWed, 16 May 2012 09:00:00 ESTMists of Pandaria says bye-bye to cookie-cutter buildshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/15/mists-of-pandaria-says-bye-bye-to-cookie-cutter-builds/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/15/mists-of-pandaria-says-bye-bye-to-cookie-cutter-builds/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/15/mists-of-pandaria-says-bye-bye-to-cookie-cutter-builds/#commentsFiled under: ,

Image
I had no idea that talents existed in vanilla WoW. I wasn't really stupid -- I just didn't know what talents were or that they were something I should be getting. I expect they were detailed somewhere in the instruction booklet that I didn't bother reading before I started running around Azeroth. I was finally clued in to their existence around level 40 or so on my first character, when a friend asked what spec I was putting points into. My blank "... points?" response garnered an immediate lesson on talent trees.

Talents received a massive overhaul between Wrath and Cataclysm, one that saw a vast majority of talents culled and the trees themselves shortened considerably. It took a little time to get used to the changes, but in the end, the changing of talents wasn't really as huge a deal as I thought it'd be. Choosing talents on a character is still just as easy as it used to be. Don't worry so much about what you pick while you're leveling, and when you reach 85, you'll find plenty of sites online that will tell you the best stuff to grab at max level and why.

Which is sort of the problem, isn't it?

Continue reading Mists of Pandaria says bye-bye to cookie-cutter builds

WoW InsiderMists of Pandaria says bye-bye to cookie-cutter builds originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 15 May 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>mists-of-pandariamists-of-pandaria-talent-changesmists-of-pandaria-talentsnot-diablotalent-calculatortalent-changesworld-of-warcraftworld-of-warcraft-talentswow-talent-treeswow-talentsAnne StickneyTue, 15 May 2012 15:00:00 ESTDrama Mamas: When a guild splits in twohttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/14/drama-mamas-when-a-guild-splits-in-two/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/14/drama-mamas-when-a-guild-splits-in-two/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/14/drama-mamas-when-a-guild-splits-in-two/#commentsFiled under: ,

Drama Mamas Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are experienced gamers and real-life mamas -- and just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of the checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your realm.

Dig those groovy threads, man. Being caught in the middle of a feud between the raid leader and guild leader does not require you to wear baby blue bell bottoms, but it may help.
Dear Drama Mamas,

I find myself at a loss for words about recent events in the guild I belong to. Since I can not figure out if I am being unreasonable I've decided to seek outside help.

Recently a Raid Leader and our Guild Master had a fight. The Raid Leader and his Raid Team quit the guild we belong to and settled into a level 1 guild together. They were the only people raiding in our guild and the raid leader was instrumental in helping each of them gear and I understand why they followed them. They did not have an issue with the fight between the GM and RL, they just followed the person who had helped them the most and who would see them through their raids. Our guild has a lot of followers and very few leaders so I am not surprised. This was a loss for our guild, but since drama always seemed to follow that Raid Leader its probably for the best.

Continue reading Drama Mamas: When a guild splits in two

WoW InsiderDrama Mamas: When a guild splits in two originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 14 May 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>advicedramafeaturedguild-adviceguild-breakupguild-dramanot-diabloplaying-wowwarcraft-advicewow-advicewow-dramawow-drama-guidewow-player-guidewow-q-and-aRobin TorresMon, 14 May 2012 16:00:00 ESTSkill Mastery: Ascendance takes shaman to new heightshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/14/skill-mastery-ascendance-takes-shaman-to-new-heights/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/14/skill-mastery-ascendance-takes-shaman-to-new-heights/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/14/skill-mastery-ascendance-takes-shaman-to-new-heights/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Image
Ascendance is a new ability coming to level 87 shaman of all specs in Mists of Pandaria. For 15 seconds every 3 minutes, you'll transform yourself into an Ascended elemental form that looks very much like the trash mobs in Grim Batol or Bastion of Twilight. The actual Ascendant's appearance and the function of the form vary based on your current specialization.

For enhancement, you take on the form of an air Ascendant, making your melee auto-attacks and Stormstrike become ranged attacks that are able to be used at up to 30 yards away. They also deal pure nature damage, which means they're benefited by Enhanced Elements and ignore armor. From a PvP standpoint, melee attacks from a 30-yard range that ignore armor will be frustrating for escaping clothies and plate-wearers that you're trying to keep your distance from.

Elemental morphs into a fire Ascendant. In this form, your Chain Lightning morphs into Lava Beam. Lava Beam is similar to Chain Lightning but hits a total of five targets and doesn't reduce its damage when it jumps, which is potent AoE. For single targets, your fire Ascendancy makes your Lava Burst have no cooldown during its duration, which means back to back critical hits for 15 seconds.

The last Ascendant form is restoration's water form, which functions very similarly to the Essence of Dreams in Ultraxion. For 15 seconds, every heal you cast duplicates its healing done and splits that secondary healing amount among all nearby targets. If you cast a 100k Greater Healing Wave on your tank, she'll be healed for 100,000 and another 100,000 healing will be split among allies near her. It's very potent.

If you want more in depth views of Ascendance and the benefits and cons, Joe Perez and I recently wrote Totem Talks covering Ascendance for DPS and resto shaman.
It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!

WoW InsiderSkill Mastery: Ascendance takes shaman to new heights originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 14 May 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>ascendancefeaturedguide-to-shamansmists-of-pandariamists-of-pandaria-abilitiesmists-of-pandaria-betamop-shamannot-diabloshaman-guideshaman-infoshaman-talentsskill-masteryskill-mastery-mopwow-shamanwow-shaman-infoJosh MyersMon, 14 May 2012 14:00:00 ESTKnow Your Lore: A look at the lore of Diablohttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/14/know-your-lore-a-look-at-the-lore-of-diablo/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/14/know-your-lore-a-look-at-the-lore-of-diablo/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/14/know-your-lore-a-look-at-the-lore-of-diablo/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

This special edition of Know Your Lore presents an overview of the lore of the Diablo games and their setting, the world of Sanctuary. Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. Enjoy this week's diversion into the world of Diablo III.

The Diablo games are very different from anything in the Warcraft setting, a far more black-and-white morality played out in endless cosmic war between absolute forces of order and righteousness opposing evil and chaos. This war, the Great or Eternal Conflict, is so massive in scale and scope that it can almost be said to be endless. The war predates the world of Sanctuary, the realm where mortal men and women are born and live out their lives. Indeed, Sanctuary itself was created by a rogue angel and his demonic lover and ally as a place to find an end to the war.

But before the conflict, before the universe itself existed, there was only Anu. Anu existed as a pearl, a central point which contained all evil and all good, all possibilities and all dualities contained within its mirrored surface. Yet Anu felt imperfect in its duality and sought purity in the rejection of its negative aspects, casting them aside to become a being of glittering diamond -- a perfected warrior. Yet what Anu rejected, his cast-off impurities themselves became perfection of a dark bent, forming the monstrous Tathamet. This seven-headed dragon declared war on the glittering Anu, who in turn sought to destroy that which he had cast out of himself.

Continue reading Know Your Lore: A look at the lore of Diablo

WoW InsiderKnow Your Lore: A look at the lore of Diablo originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 14 May 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>Angiris-CouncilBaalBarbarians-Are-AwesomeDiabloDIablo-3Diablo-IIIfeaturedguideguide-to-loreLesser-Evilslorelore-guideMariusMephistoMount-ArreatPrime-Evilsrole-playrole-playing-guiderp-guideSanctuaryTheDark-WandererTyraelMatthew RossiMon, 14 May 2012 13:00:00 ESTThe Queue: For shamehttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/14/the-queue-for-shame/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/14/the-queue-for-shame/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/14/the-queue-for-shame/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.

Today's another short one. You have only yourselves to blame! Ask more questions!

@ravingsockmonky asked:

Do you think hunters will ever get more stable slots, or will we start having to release pets? :(

I think I might be a bad person to answer this question. The whole hoarding hunter pets thing is totally bizarre to me. Aren't you guys supposed to be bonding with your closest companion, not piling a thousand wild animals in a barn? That can't be healthy. Those animals are probably forced to stand in their own filth all day long while you're out having adventures. Do you ever stop and clean them? Do you take them all out for exercise? Do you even feed them? I don't think so. You hunters are all terrible. I'm pretty sure you can get arrested for that sort of thing.

That being said ... Blizzard might do it one day, I guess? The devs haven't said anything about it, but I think they grasp that WoW players have a weird pet/mount obsession going on and have been willing to cater to it so far.

Continue reading The Queue: For shame

WoW InsiderThe Queue: For shame originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 14 May 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>featuredguidemists-of-pandarianot-diabloqaquestion-and-answerwow-answerswow-daily-answerswow-daily-questionswow-guidewow-player-questionswow-q-and-awow-questionsAlex ZiebartMon, 14 May 2012 11:00:00 ESTSunday Morning Funnies: Tree-trunk armshhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/13/sunday-morning-funnies-tree-trunk-armsh/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/13/sunday-morning-funnies-tree-trunk-armsh/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/13/sunday-morning-funnies-tree-trunk-armsh/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Image
Sunday Morning Funnies is your weekly list of WoW-related web comics.

This week's list features all sorts of shenanigans. A ghostly romp across the landscape? Check. Blood? Of course. A party? Duh.

Do you know of a WoW-related web comic that isn't featured on this list? Link to it in the comments section below!

Continue reading Sunday Morning Funnies: Tree-trunk armsh

WoW InsiderSunday Morning Funnies: Tree-trunk armsh originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 13 May 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>featuredworld-of-warcraft-comicworld-of-warcraft-comicsworld-of-warcraft-funnieswow-comicwow-comicswow-funniesAmanda MillerSun, 13 May 2012 12:00:00 ESTArcane Brilliance: Archmage Pants expounds on Mists of Pandaria magery and magichttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/12/arcane-brilliance-archmage-pants-expounds-on-mists-of-pandaria/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/12/arcane-brilliance-archmage-pants-expounds-on-mists-of-pandaria/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/12/arcane-brilliance-archmage-pants-expounds-on-mists-of-pandaria/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Pandaren Female Mage
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. Even when the guy who usually writes it is trapped by the ancient warlockian curse known as Long-work-hours-and-three-kids-and-no-free-time-makes-it-hard-to-write-about-Warcraft ... Bolt. A deeply sincere thank you goes out to the incredible Josh Myers, who stepped in and handled my business for me with uncommon style and undeniable skill for the past month and a half. Josh, the next warlock I kill, I will kill for you.

Holy crap, it's good to be back.

I'd toyed with the idea of quitting entirely, seeing no practical way to consistently scrape together enough time each week with the current demands on my time to provide you guys with quality mage columns. But as the weeks went by, I found I simply couldn't abide not writing about turning warlocks into sheep and then hurling volleys of Arcane Missiles at those sheep until they explode. There was a gaping hole in my life that could only be filled with a massive Pyroblast.

So this past week, after squeezing in some quality time with the Mists beta, I sat down at my keyboard and began typing. At first, I wasn't even writing with a clear goal in mind. I had no intention of posting any of my thoughts. But as I played, and wrote, and played, and wrote, I found I was becoming more and more stupidly excited about the prospect of talking to you guys about new stuff. So I had to come back, you see. And it's all your fault. I hope you're happy with yourselves.

Josh has already done a marvelous job of sharing his beta analysis with you over the course of several columns. If you haven't already, check them out here, here, and also here. Though some of the ground we cover today may overlap, what follows isn't anything resembling analysis. As I get myself back up to speed, I'll go more in-depth -- but this week, we're going the full stream of consciousness, random observational impression route. Strap in, and for God's sake, keep your arms, legs, and wands inside the vehicle.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Archmage Pants expounds on Mists of Pandaria magery and magic

WoW InsiderArcane Brilliance: Archmage Pants expounds on Mists of Pandaria magery and magic originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 12 May 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>aoe-lootingarcane-barragearcane-mage-arcane-brilliancefeaturedfire-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-arcane-brilliancefrostfire-boltguide-to-magesi-hate-warlocksmage-arcane-arcane-brilliancemage-fire-arcane-brilliancemage-frost-arcane-brilliancemage-guidemage-infomage-talentsmists-betamists-of-pandariamists-of-pandaria-betamists-of-pandaria-magemistsofpandariamop-betamop-beta-testingmop-changesmop-expansionmop-mage-changesmop-mage-spellsMoP-mage-talentswandswow-magewow-mage-infowow-magesChristian BeltSat, 12 May 2012 16:00:00 ESTWoW Insider's Weekly Recap, now featuring TradeChat's Panserhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/11/wow-insiders-weekly-recap-now-featuring-tradechats-panser/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/11/wow-insiders-weekly-recap-now-featuring-tradechats-panser/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/11/wow-insiders-weekly-recap-now-featuring-tradechats-panser/#commentsFiled under: ,

Welcome to the all-new, all-exciting weekly news recap featuring Panser of TradeChat! In our weekly recap, we'll be tackling the hottest news and whatever other kickin' rad items have come our way throughout the last week. This week's topics include:
If you enjoyed the new show, make sure to subscribe to TradeChat, leave a comment, and come back next week for the next episode!

WoW InsiderWoW Insider's Weekly Recap, now featuring TradeChat's Panser originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 11 May 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>account-wide-mountsarenaarena-passavengers-transmogrificationpansertradechatweekly-news-updateweekly-recapworld-of-warcraft-newswow+insider+tradechatwow+insider+weekly+recapwow-newswow-weekly-recapwowinsidertradechatwowinsiderweeklyrecapAlex ZiebartFri, 11 May 2012 20:00:00 ESTThe Lawbringer: 7 tips on holding the security linehttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/11/the-lawbringer-7-tips-on-holding-the-security-line/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/11/the-lawbringer-7-tips-on-holding-the-security-line/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/11/the-lawbringer-7-tips-on-holding-the-security-line/#commentsFiled under: ,

Image
Pop law abounds in The Lawbringer, your weekly dose of WoW, the law, video games and the MMO genre. Mathew McCurley takes you through the world running parallel to the games we love and enjoy, full of rules, regulations, and esoteroic topics that slip through the cracks.

Data breaches cost a lot of money, consumer satisfaction, and trust. In the MMO world, the trust that exists between the game's developer and the player is a tricky relationship to navigate and extremely fickle. Any number of wrong moves or postures can turn your profitable subscription MMO into a public relations nightmare forced to turn the wagon around mid-trip. Security compromises a large part of that MMO trust.

Blizzard has had its fair share of security issues and trust problems between the players and itself. As the first MMO to have to battle hackers and not just gold farmers to the scale present in WoW, Blizzard had to invent its own way to do business in the world as it was -- an insecure place dominated by gray-market gold sellers and account hackers looking to sell to an eager, ready-to-spend playerbase. While WoW isn't the astronomically large service that some others affected by recent and notorious hacks are, it serves as an example of one of the big guys in the industry doing their best to navigate a minefield.

Greg Boyd and Gary Kibel wrote an article for Gamasutra discussing seven steps to improved security in the online and gaming space. After reading over the article, I felt that many of the points discussed had Blizzard and WoW-specific analogs and real-world examples that might shed some light on the security concerns still out there, what WoW has accomplished in the MMO security space.

Continue reading The Lawbringer: 7 tips on holding the security line

WoW InsiderThe Lawbringer: 7 tips on holding the security line originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 11 May 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>blizzard-securityfeaturedgamasutragary-kibelgreg-boydlaw-bringersecurityworld-of-warcraft-lawworld-of-warcraft-legalwow-lawwow-legalwow-terms-of-usewow-touMathew McCurleyFri, 11 May 2012 15:00:00 ESTThe Queue: Friday night invasionhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/11/the-queue-friday-night-invasion/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/11/the-queue-friday-night-invasion/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/11/the-queue-friday-night-invasion/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Whoa whoa whoa, why is Alex doing The Queue on Friday? Nobody likes that guy! Get out of here, Alex!

Never.

vocenoctum asked:

I know a lot of folks that don't currently play Warlocks will try it with Mists, hopefully the changes make it fun enough to play for many. Do you think the changes are big enough that some current lock's will leave the class? (I didn't play a paladin pre-cata, but know a couple ret pal's that just ditched the class as "being too different".)

Continue reading The Queue: Friday night invasion

WoW InsiderThe Queue: Friday night invasion originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 11 May 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>featuredguidemists-of-pandariapet-battlesqaquestion-and-answerTGIFtransmogrificationvoid-storagewow-answerswow-daily-answerswow-daily-questionswow-guidewow-player-questionswow-q-and-awow-questionsAlex ZiebartFri, 11 May 2012 11:00:00 ESTGhostcrawler talks warriors on the Mists of Pandaria beta forumshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/10/ghostcrawler-talks-warriors-on-the-mists-of-pandaria-beta-forums/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/10/ghostcrawler-talks-warriors-on-the-mists-of-pandaria-beta-forums/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/10/ghostcrawler-talks-warriors-on-the-mists-of-pandaria-beta-forums/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Image
Ghostcrawler has contributed a great deal to an already large list of consolidated warrior issues on the Mists of Pandaria beta forums, and then just kept on posting. It's actually a lot to consider -- so much so that I'm fairly certain I can get two big posts out of it. This post will be the one that tries to break down what it all means.

Some of what he's posting is of more concern to beta testers than the general population (for instance, how the devs prefer their feedback), but we can still take some interesting points from the two posts where GC lays everything out for us. If you'll forgive me for a lot of paraphrasing and selecting:
  • Tanking for warriors (the oft-discussed active mitigation system) is designed around the concept of turning rage into survival. Shield Block and Shield Barrier are designed that keeping them up reliably will improve your survival, but in cutting-edge content, you'll want to use them in a smart way (that is, save them for big damage situations) rather than just hitting them as soon as you have the rage. Tanking for new tanks will be designed so that missing a Shield Block now and again won't wreck you.
  • Rage is the limiting mechanic for the class, not cooldowns, at least so far as the design vision of the class is concerned.
  • Arms and fury have a big rage generation attack and a big rage spending attack, but that's where the similarities between them are intended to end. Arms should feel more predictable but have slower rage generation due to its use of a single, slow weapon, while fury abilities proc less reliably, but the spec has more rage to spend because it uses two weapons, to fit the distinction between arms as a disciplined blade expert and fury as a screaming madman.
  • The intention for Battle Stance is to be the default battle stance (as the name would suggest), while Berserker Stance will be attractive for PvP or fights with high incoming damage. Blizzard's still working on Berserker Stance's design, but that's the goal.
There's more to discuss, so let's get to discussing it.

Continue reading Ghostcrawler talks warriors on the Mists of Pandaria beta forums

WoW InsiderGhostcrawler talks warriors on the Mists of Pandaria beta forums originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 10 May 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>Ghostcrawlermists-of-pandariamists-of-pandaria-betamists-of-pandaria-talentsWarriorWarrior-TalentsWarriorsMatthew RossiThu, 10 May 2012 12:00:00 ESTKnow Your Lore: Otherworldly mysterieshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/09/know-your-lore-otherworldly-mysteries/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/09/know-your-lore-otherworldly-mysteries/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/09/know-your-lore-otherworldly-mysteries/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

Image
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.

Draenor has always interested me. Note that I didn't say Outland, which is a part of the former world Draenor. While Outland itself is very interesting in its own right, one of the things I find fascinating about Draenor is that we do not know what it looked like. While we have a good understanding of one large continent (of which most survived as Outland), we don't know the entirety of that continent, nor do we know whether or not any other pieces of the lost red world survived.

What we do know is that Draenor died when Ner'zhul, the former elder shaman and de facto ruler of the Horde remnants that survived Gul'dan's treachery and Doomhammer's defeat, tried to use stolen magical artifacts to open portals to new worlds, hoping to find one to lead his people to settle on. He did this because the warlock magics taught to Gul'dan by Kil'jaeden had effectively rendered Draenor unlivable.

While Draenor was the homeworld of the orcish people, who evolved there, it was not named by them. Rather, it was the draenei fleeing the Burning Legion who gave the world its name. Draenor means "exile's refuge" in the eredun language. In addition, it was the arrival of the draenei and the naaru that led to the entrenched ancestor worship of the orcish people, as K'ure's tomb in Oshu'gun (the remains of the draenei vessel) attracted the spirits of the deceased to it. In turn, these spirits deliberately created a religion among their own descendents that would venerate K'ure's resting place, weaving orc and draenei together spiritually.

Draenor was a world of its own, and we barely knew it. And it's not the only world we know about in the Warcraft cosmos with strange, unexplained mysteries.

Continue reading Know Your Lore: Otherworldly mysteries

WoW InsiderKnow Your Lore: Otherworldly mysteries originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 09 May 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>AncientDraenorfeaturedGromguideguide-to-lorelorelore-guideOld-Godsrole-playrole-playing-guiderp-guideSargerasSatyrTitansworld-of-warcraft-lorewow-guidewow-lorewow-role-playingwow-role-playing-guidewow-rpwow-rp-guidewow-rpingMatthew RossiWed, 09 May 2012 12:00:00 ESTThe Queue: Sorry for panda rockinghttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/09/the-queue-sorry-for-panda-rocking/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/09/the-queue-sorry-for-panda-rocking/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/09/the-queue-sorry-for-panda-rocking/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.

Today's Queue will be a short one. Yesterday's Queue had a whole lot of TOR discussion and not a whole lot of question asking. Not my fault!

Jason asked:

So now that the panda dances are now live, where are the dances from? I see part of the female panda dance is from some anime clip. What about the guys? Thanks!

Male pandaren dance the shuffle from LMFAO's Party Rock Anthem. Female pandaren mix the infamous Caramelldansen and the dance from Haruhi Suzumiya's outro theme, Hare Hare Yukai.

Edit: I may be wrong about Hare Hare Yukai. Forgive me, I only have so much knowledge of weird anime dances.

Continue reading The Queue: Sorry for panda rocking

WoW InsiderThe Queue: Sorry for panda rocking originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 09 May 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>caramelldansenfeaturedguidehare-hare-yukaiharuhi-suzumiyalmfaoparty-rockparty-rock-anthemqaquestion-and-answerwow-answerswow-daily-answerswow-daily-questionswow-guidewow-player-questionswow-q-and-awow-questionsAlex ZiebartWed, 09 May 2012 11:00:00 ESTLevel 90 druid talents take a level in badass; shapeshifting breaks roots againhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/08/level-90-druid-talents-take-a-level-in-badass-shapeshifting-bre/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/08/level-90-druid-talents-take-a-level-in-badass-shapeshifting-bre/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/08/level-90-druid-talents-take-a-level-in-badass-shapeshifting-bre/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Image
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Shifting Perspectives for cat, bear, restoration and balance druids. This Tuesday was supposed to be an "off" week for the column, but screw that.

You know what? I think I finally nailed why the druid experience on the Mists of Pandaria beta has felt so bizarre at times. We've seen the re-emergence of stuff we used to take for granted (shifting out of roots and the return of permatree among them), and you know what it all reminds me of? Someone once described the boot camp experience as one in which "all of your God-given rights are stripped, only to be doled back later, one by one, as privileges." Yep. That's what this is like.

Anyway, Ghostcrawler hit the forums last night to give us some news on a revamped set of level 90 druid talents that have completely altered the ratio of win to suck in the bracket.

Continue reading Level 90 druid talents take a level in badass; shapeshifting breaks roots again

WoW InsiderLevel 90 druid talents take a level in badass; shapeshifting breaks roots again originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 08 May 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>disentanglementdream-of-cenariusdruid-guidedruid-infodruid-talentsfeaturedferal-tanking-druid-shifting-perspectivesghostcrawlerguide-to-druidsheart-of-the-wildincarnationmists-of-pandariamists-of-pandaria-betaMists-of-pandaria-druidmists-of-pandaria-druid-glyphsmists-of-pandaria-druid-talentsmists-of-pandaria-talent-changesmists-of-pandaria-talentsnatures-vigilrestoration-druid-shifting-perspectivestranquilitytree-of-lifewow-druidwow-druid-infowow-druidsAllison RobertTue, 08 May 2012 13:00:00 ESTSkill Mastery: Symbiosis -- why you should be nice to druidshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/07/skill-mastery-symbiosis-why-you-should-be-nice-to-druids/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/07/skill-mastery-symbiosis-why-you-should-be-nice-to-druids/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/07/skill-mastery-symbiosis-why-you-should-be-nice-to-druids/#commentsFiled under: ,

Image
I don't know what class you play. I don't know if you're any good at it. If you're looking for gold, I can tell you I don't have any. But what I do have is a very particular skill -- a skill I have acquired at level 87 after a long career of pleading with Blizzard for relevance. This skill makes me a nightmare for people like you. If you let the contents of your action bar go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you. I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will take everything you hold dear.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Symbiosis -- or as we like to call it around these parts, the reason you need to be nice to druids in Mists of Pandaria.

Or as we also like to call it, the endless, numb suckhole where raid balance goes to die.

Continue reading Skill Mastery: Symbiosis -- why you should be nice to druids

WoW InsiderSkill Mastery: Symbiosis -- why you should be nice to druids originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 07 May 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>druidmists-of-pandariamists-of-pandaria-abilitiesmists-of-pandaria-betamists-of-pandaria-druidskill-masterysymbiosisAllison RobertMon, 07 May 2012 19:00:00 ESTAll you need to know about account-wide mounts (so far)http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/07/all-you-need-to-know-about-account-wide-mounts-so-far/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/07/all-you-need-to-know-about-account-wide-mounts-so-far/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/07/all-you-need-to-know-about-account-wide-mounts-so-far/#commentsFiled under: ,

Image
Am I excited about Mists of Pandaria? Oh heck yes, I am! Of course, this is mostly from playing through the story so far. It's been pretty amazing and has just enough twists that I'm chomping at the bit for Blizzard to open the next zone or two. But I was even more excited when I saw that account-wide mounts had been implemented last week -- and for good reason. I'm a collector, and I've got over a hundred mounts on my main character. But my alts are woefully short on the mount front.

With account-wide mounts, all those cool mounts I ride around on with my main will be available to all my alts too. And while I may waffle back and forth on account-wide achievements and whether I'll like them, I'm definitely behind letting all of my characters ride all of the cool things I've farmed up over time. But there is a catch here -- just because we're seeing this feature on the beta doesn't mean it will make it to live. And if it does make it to live, it may look a little different than it does right now.

And right now? Things are just a little weird in spots.

Continue reading All you need to know about account-wide mounts (so far)

WoW InsiderAll you need to know about account-wide mounts (so far) originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 07 May 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>account-wide-mountsbreakingmaster-ridingmists-of-pandariamists-of-pandaria-betamount-collectingpremade-characterspremadesviolet-proto-drakewhat-a-long-strange-trip-its-beenAnne StickneyMon, 07 May 2012 17:00:00 EST