Oct 25

The plague is down to two minutes. Necropolis’ fly above the cities of Azeroth. Undead gather in different zones preparing for invasion.

It won’t be long now…

Related posts:

1. World Event for WotLK
2. Standing Room Only
3. Letter from War: A New Threat
4. Patch 3.0.2 Today
5. Can I Make It?

Oct 23

This post doesn’t really have anything extremely worthwhile in it, but while I was browsing my blue tracker today I came upon an extremely funny situation. A picture is worth a thousand words; here are three thousand.

Talk about "open mouth, insert foot."

Related posts:

1. Why Murlocs Suck
2. Heroic/Raid Saves in 3.1
3. Foray into Multiboxing: Introduction
4. My Fun Day at Work
5. 2.4: Looks Like I was Right

Oct 21

Patch 3.0.3 is coming soon, and several big changes are coming our way. A few of those caught my eye in particular:

Druid

The Swift Flight Form is now available on the trainer at level 71, requiring 300 riding skill, and Flight Form learned.

Paladin and Warlock

The epic ground mount is now available on the trainer at level 61, requiring 150 riding skill, and the non-epic mount learned.

So, I guess this is the end of those epic mount quests. I feel a bit mixed on the topic; I’ve done both the Warlock and Druid quests, and they were a lot of fun; however, I can see how getting folks to go back and run Dire Maul and Heroic Sethekk Halls could be annoying and bothersome.

For better or worse, though, there it is.

Related posts:

1. Travel Speed: Travel Form vs. Mount
2. New Mount and Vanity Pet Storage
3. Welcome to Outland! Again.
4. WotLK Beta: Wrath Gate and the Quality of Quests
5. …And Two More Make 70

Oct 15

So, as most of you know, today’s patch didn’t go perfectly. And that’s normal–it’s not like there are a lot of practice runs, the PTR and internal testing is all Blizz gets, and it’s not like that can prepare you for rolling out software for hundreds of servers with tens or hundreds of thousands of users each.

But no. No, once again, the stupidity of the average WoW player has me gritting my teeth. A kind person posted a thanks to the IT folks at Blizzard on the official forums:

I noticed that today, the people who set up the new patch, are working a 12-hour shift. It probably would not be that bad, but they do it in the middle of the night all the way to the afternoon. I was also just thinking about those times when it goes into extended maintenance and the patch is not up for an extra hour or so. I do not know exactly what they have to do, but since it takes so much time to be finished, it must be a lot of work.

What I am trying to get to is a thanks for putting up with having to work such a long shift and in the middle of the night so the majority of players will be able to play the game during the day.

And, of course, in come the idiots.

I can’t imagine what is so hard about copying patch files and pushing the restart button.

And another.

Boohoo IT people do it all the time. I don’t like the days worth of downtime. East Coast gets screwed.

And another.

my dad (a pilot) just made a 16 hour flight and after a few hours of sleep will make a 14 hour return flight.. QQ more because of a job plz?

im sure they’re trying their hardest, but it isnt something that they should receive an award for lol

And yet another.

This company is NEVER ready on patch days, and strands people (bare minimum) 2 hours and up to twiddle their thumbs.

Sorry, but i’ll award my medal elsewhere, where support and reliability is CONSISTENT.

So, once again, the WoW community (and I know I’m preaching to the choir here, you guys tend to be mature and understanding and…well, not trolls) shows its complete ignorance for (1) any semblance of a smidge of knowledge about high-load servers and (2) any crumb of kindness and thanks for people that most definitely work very hard to do their best to make sure your game–and let’s make sure we get that–your GAME is running smoothly.

I mean, seriously, is it that hard to be nice to people, even if you’re not happy with the way things worked out? Can you really not go without your WoW addiction for a single day? Can you really not put away your stupid, stupid assumptions of "what’s so hard about copying files and pushing a button" because it is most definitely a million times more complicated than that? Seriously.

</rant>

Related posts:

1. 15 Reasons Feral Druids should be Excited about Wrath
2. 2 More Reasons Feral Druids should be Excited about Wrath
3. Patch 2.4: People are Far Too Optimistic
4. BlizzCon: Day 0
5. Two Pugs Enter: Stupidity vs. Ignorance

Oct 14

As you are probably aware, patch 3.0.2 shows up today. Don’t forget to run your launcher so you get the last few hundred megabytes of the file and it installs! See you in Azeroth.

Related posts:

1. Patch 2.4
2. Patch 3.0.8 Notes Updated – Highlights
3. Patch 2.4: People are Far Too Optimistic
4. Patch 2.3 and the Experience Curve
5. Things Grow Worse

Oct 11

I got footage for the new StarCraft 2 cinematic that was shown the first time ever yesterday at BlizzCon. The announcer at the panel said it was just a portion, but it looks pretty complete to me. I apologize in advance for the blurriness during hard-to-focus dark shots, and the shakiness, but it was kinda spur-of-the-moment.

Here’s the link! Clicky clicky!

Related posts:

1. BlizzCon: Day 1
2. BlizzCon, Here We Come!
3. BlizzCon: Day 0
4. Blizzcon, Cataclysm, and Stuff
5. Blizzcon 2009 Tickets Available Soon

Oct 11

BlizzCon has been awesome so far. We’ve gotten just a few bits of "news":

• WotLK will eventually (in a patch) allow players to respec on the fly, ie "in a raid"
• Diablo 3 will have a new class called Sorceror Wizard [sorry!]
• Starcraft 2 will be released as a trilogy, with each campaign its own title and release

After all the panels, etc., there was the costume/slash-silly/dance contests. All of the contestants did a very good job, and I was amazed at the quality of some of the costumes and dances. My camera battery about halfway through the costume contest, so I didn’t get them all, and I didn’t get any from the remainder of the show. There was this girl in a mage costume complete with mage table that was my favorite costume all day, but she wasn’t in the competition and I didn’t get a picture.

At any rate, here are most of my pictures from day 1. I apologize for the blurriness of some of them, there’s not much that can be done in a place as dark as the convention center!

The Line
It was long! There was a couple in an awesome warlock/priest costume, and a paladin with engineering goggles.

The Opening Ceremony
Of course, there was a big opening ceremony. They showed the WotLK cinematic for those who hadn’t seen it. It was quite impressive on the huge screen/speakers!

And, of course, later in the Starcraft 2 panel, we got the big announcement.

The Show Floor
There was a lot to see on the floor itself. Lots of vendors set up, as well as three demo areas: one for WotLK, one for SC2, and one for Diablo 3. There were also places set up to have your picture taken with Frostmourne, etc.

There were also WoW arena and SC2 tournaments here, so there were "pro gamer" areas set up.

I wanted to take a picture of the video equipment, but I think the lady saw the little red lights the camera puts out right before a shot!

Artwork
There was a lot of great art in the Blizzard gallery, and some cool statues from FigurePrints and others.

People and Costumes
There were a bunch of people dressed up in costumes, even ones that weren’t in the contest.

One of my favorites, second to last, is Maiev Shadowsong "with Illidan" (the little trap she’s pulling on a string!)

And this year’s winner was a Draenei riding Speedy! It actually moved, and it’s mouth opened and closed!

Related posts:

1. Blizzcon 2009: Day 1
2. BlizzCon: Day 0
3. Blizzcon 2009 Tickets Available Soon
4. Patch 2.4: People are Far Too Optimistic
5. Blizzcon 2009: Day 0

Oct 11

BlizzCon 2008.

World of Warcraft Class Panel.

Question and Answer session.

Last question.

"Did I hear you right? We can switch specs in raids?"

"Yes."

Big fan. The long and the short of it is they want you to be able to switch your spec on the fly without going back to a city and getting a summon back. They don’t want you to be able to do it right in the middle of a pull, or in arena, but they do want you to be able to go, "Oh, here’s Shade, let me switch to my DPS spec." Very awesome!

Related posts:

1. Dual Specs Not Dead Yet
2. Double-Specs Not Dead Yet
3. Problems with Dual Specs and Action Bars
4. World Event for WotLK
5. Blizzcon, Cataclysm, and Stuff

Oct 10

Well, we made it to Anaheim, despite I5 being backed up because of an accident on the OTHER side of the highway… >.<

We’re within about 30 seconds walking distance of the convention center, which is super nice. Picked up our tickets and goodie bags yesterday… and holy crap, there is a ton of stuff in the goodie bag. I might take some photos of the cooler stuff a bit later in the day, but you can find information about the goodies elsewhere on the Internet. Particularly cool was the free BlizzCon Edition Blizzard Authenticator–but, since I already have one, I may give it away in a contest or something.

Afterwards, we grabbed some pizza and headed to The Lost Bar for some drinks, and went to bed around 1:30 or 2:00 AM.

It’s about an hour before the doors open, and two hours before the opening ceremony. I’m going to go look for food.

Related posts:

1. Blizzcon 2009: Day 1
2. BlizzCon, Here We Come!
3. Blizzcon, Cataclysm, and Stuff
4. Blizzcon 2009 Tickets Available Soon
5. I Can Haz BlizzCon!

Oct 9

Today, I took my first foray into Death Knight tanking by tanking Nexus. I’m currently leveling as Unholy; I have tried both Blood and Frost, and while Frost is decent, I can’t really get into the swing of either. Unholy just really works for me. So, that’s the spec I use.

The talent spec I used to tank (because that was the one I was leveling with!) at level 72 was 7/0/56 Let’s take a look at some of the key talents in this build, as well as talents I did not have.

Blood Talents

Talents I Had

• Butchery (Threat)
  I really enjoy having a lot of Runic Power. Your mileage may vary. I don’t know if I’d have this talent in an end-game tanking spec, but it’s nice for leveling.
• Two-Handed Weapon Specialization (Threat)
  Obviously a DPS buff. Since Unholy can be a bit more weapon-damage based than frost (though not as much as Blood), and it’s a great leveling talent, here it is.

Talents I Didn’t Have

• Blade Barrier (Avoidance)
  This is a really nice ability to have. It used to activate when all your runes were cooling down, but now only your Blood runes. You blow through them quickly with Blood Boil, so this will be a great end-game tanking talent, but not necessary while leveling.

Talents I Didn’t Have

• Toughness (Mitigation)
  Obviously a great tanking talent, mandatory for any end-game tank, but not present in my leveling build.

(Frost tanks, which will be very common, will, obviously, go much further down this tree.)

Unholy Talents

Talents I Had

• Morbidity (Threat)
  I love Death and Decay. It has a high rune cost, but there is almost no better way to open a multi-mob pull as Unholy, and the runes actually work out pretty well in the end, but we’ll get to that. I didn’t find myself casting Death Coil a lot, unless it was a single mob, but this is a nice leveling talent and it was there.
• Outbreak, Necrosis, Impurity, and Dirge (Threat)
  These are the standard DPS increasing talents you’ll take early in the tree. Also, I repeat my sentiment about having lots of Runic Power.
• Reaping (Threat)
  Death Runes count as any sort of rune. As you’ll be casting Blood Boil a lot, this is a great talent.
• Desecration (Threat)
  This is a controversial talent. Some people use it in their tanking builds, while others say it’s a 100% DPS talent. I have it for leveling, so I guess I’ll decide later. Here it is anyway.
• Bone Shield (Mitigation)
  The big mitigation talent for Unholy. Every tank should have it. A minute isn’t as long as it sounds, and with such high avoidance, it is possible to keep the buff up for quite a while.
• Crypt Fever, Ebon Plaguebringer, Wandering Plague, Rage of Rivendare, Unholy Blight, and Scourge Strike (Threat)
  The bottom tiers of the Unholy tree really focus on your diseases. You have several talents that improve the effectiveness of your diseases, and Unholy Blight, while not a disease in and of itself, counts as one for the "per disease" abilities, and Scourge Strike’s damage scales with the number of diseases.

Talents I Didn’t Have

• Anticipation (Avoidance)
  A no-brainer for an end-game tank, but not in my spec, mainly because of my level.
  
• Blood Caked Blade (Threat)
  I’ve seen a lot of Death Knights with this in their builds, but I just don’t like it. From my tests, it results in approximately a 1-2% DPS increase, and it’s just not worth it, especially with Necrosis right near it.
• Magic Suppression -> Anti-Magic Zone (Mitigation)
  This pair is really a powerful combo against magic-weilding mobs. I don’t have them in my leveling spec, for obvious reasons, and I haven’t played with them at all. We seemed to do OK without them.

There are certainly more that can be listed, but those are the really big ones.

BFU
Death and Decay
Deaty and Decay is a great way to get initial aggro on a large group of mobs. It is very similar to a Paladin’s Consecration.

U, F, B
If the primary target is close (ie, melee range) I’ll use Plague Strike to get one disease on it, and get the Desecration buff. Otherwise, I’ll use Icy Touch to get the other disease up (since it is a ranged nuke). Either way, both spells get cast on the mob, which causes the talented third disease, followed by Pestilence as soon as the other mobs are in range to spread the love around.

So now, we’ve got three diseases on every target in several yards. If I’ve got the Runic Power, I’ll hit up Unholy Blight (60 Runic Power) to get another "disease" ticking away on the mobs.

Remember, each disease is causing threat on the mobs, as well as setting you up to use your "per disease" abilities.

B, B
Your runes will start coming back a bit staggered (since you used three at once and then three in sequence), but eventually you’ll use two Blood runes to cast Blood Boil twice. This does two things: first, it builds threat on all your diseased targets, and it scales with the number of diseases (and since every target in AoE range has 4 diseases, this is a good amount of damage). Second, it sets up both Blood Runes to come back as Death Runes, which count as any type of rune. So, you can use them to Blood Boil again, if necessary, or use them to Scourge Strike your primary target.

FU, FU (FU)
You’ve used up your two Blood Runes, and they’re coming back as Death Runes, so now you can now give a big "FU" to the mob (sorry) and Scourge Strike it twice (or three times if you use your death runes–sometimes, if the primary target is near dead, I’ll switch to the secondary target to build some threat on it). This is a high-damage ability, that scales with the number of dieases, and causes its damage as shadow damage. This is huge! Shadow damage ignores armor, so you are basically getting a super-buffed, permamant Executioner enchant built into this ability.

Related posts:

1. So, You Wanna Play a Death Knight: Unholy Tree
2. So, You Wanna Play a Death Knight: Tanking
3. Playing a Death Knight
4. So, You Wanna Play a Death Knight: DPS
5. So, You Wanna Play a Death Knight: Blood Tree