Below is a list of Article headlines from WOW Insider. This are used on our main page and updated daily. Each article contains links back to WOWinsider, which allow you to view the whole article
pathC:\HostingSpaces\kcykmeec\highlandwarriorsguild.com\wwwroot\admin\xml\wow-insider-26-07-2009.xmlInsider Trader: Woodworking in the expansion? - Sat, 25 Jul 2009 18:00:00 EST
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.
Ideas for a woodworking profession have been bounced around for years, but have previously been dodged by Blizzard. Although they assured us that they have plenty of ideas, they've always been working on too many others.
Woodworking was not to be for Burning Crusade or Wrath of the Lich King, but what about the upcoming expansion? Considering that Goblins and Worgen could become playable, it might be a real possibility.
In late summer 2007, Nethaera posted a list of some of the things that need to be considered before they can even begin to implement a new profession. While it became clear that it wasn't going to work for Wrath, it seems a little more plausible now.
Today's column will be dedicated to presenting the crafting community's Woodworking ideas, discussing their implementation using the (incomplete) criteria set forth by Nethaera, and speculating about its possible presence in the next expansion.
Continue reading Insider Trader: Woodworking in the expansion?
Insider Trader: Woodworking in the expansion? originally appeared on WoW.com on Sat, 25 Jul 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
WRUP: Of alts and Death Knights - Sat, 25 Jul 2009 16:00:00 EST
Continue reading WRUP: Of alts and Death Knights
WRUP: Of alts and Death Knights originally appeared on WoW.com on Sat, 25 Jul 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
The Care and Feeding of Warriors: Going Back To The Well - Sat, 25 Jul 2009 14:00:00 EST
Continue reading The Care and Feeding of Warriors: Going Back To The Well
The Care and Feeding of Warriors: Going Back To The Well originally appeared on WoW.com on Sat, 25 Jul 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
It takes two to duo content - Sat, 25 Jul 2009 12:00:00 EST
Spinksville has a great post up about the great benefits and joy of duoing in MMOs, or playing alongside one other person as you level your way up. I haven't been able to duo in a while, but I have done one character with a good friend -- he played a Priest and I tanked on my Warrior, and we shot up through to max level (even before the leveling changes) just because not only did our characters compliment each other, but we knew each others' play styles and were able to take on lots of big mobs and quests without a problem. I agree with Spinks: playing the game alongside someone you know well is the perfect mix of a singleplayer and MMO game.
There are certainly issues -- if one of you plays more than the other and pulls ahead or falls behind, it's not quite as fun for either of you. But especially if you're both playing alts and you've got good, regular amounts of time to play together, it can be really fun. In fact, it's kind of surprising that Blizzard and other MMO companies haven't gone in for more of the very-small group play -- singleplayer instances got a pass, but then again, phasing has changed things since then, and the LFG system has improved, so maybe it's time for Blizzard to put some two-player content in the mix.
It would definitely be great to see some official support for two-player content -- not everyone has a partner to play with all the time, but I think you'll find way more two-player groups in the game than you will find full raids of 25 people, and that group certainly gets their share of things to do. Spinks makes some great suggestions about duo content, and it's definitely a realm of gameplay that a lot of MMOs haven't yet officially explored.
It takes two to duo content originally appeared on WoW.com on Sat, 25 Jul 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Around Azeroth: A farewell to the big red worgen - Sat, 25 Jul 2009 10:00:00 EST
Kassiopeia of <Saga> on Steamwheedle Cartel-EU not only stole my Fallout 3 character name, she also sent in this nice tribute to the gone-but-not-forgotten worgen pet. "Entitled Big Red Ki...Worgen, I'm sure Daniel would have quite the story to post about this," she wrote. "With all the worgens turned puppies again, we can still visit our humanoid companion in Utgarde Pinnacle. I enjoyed the taming, the worgen on my side, perfect fishing partner, but now that it's over, I'll happily look at the screenshots and look forward to an eventual playable worgen race. Thank you WoW.com, for broadcasting the worgen tame, and sending hunters like me on a great little expedition!"
Do you have any unusual, beautiful or interesting World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? We'd love to see them on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next!
Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. Please include the word "Azeroth" in your post so it does not get swept into the spam bin. We strongly prefer full screen shots without the UI showing -- use alt-Z to remove it. Please, no more battleground scoreboards, gold seller ads with dead gnomes, or pictures of the Ninja Turtles in Dalaran.
Around Azeroth: A farewell to the big red worgen originally appeared on WoW.com on Sat, 25 Jul 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Breakfast Topic: Back from school - Sat, 25 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EST
We're in the dog days of summer at this point -- the sun is high and hot, the beaches and swimming pools are full, and if you're a kid, the days are long and lazy. Which is probably why we've got all the kids in game lately -- as donnyman notes, when school lets out and summer is underway, the population of Azeroth seems to get much bigger during the day. Some might say that's a good thing: more people playing means more PuGs and more AH buying and selling, while others might say they don't really want more of the younger audience in the game.
I haven't had too much experience with this lately, as most of my gametime is in the evenings and on weekends, so I already see most of the school folks as I play. But I do remember the yearly migration of kids to video games -- I worked at Gamestop for about a year and a half after college, and sure enough, whenever school let out, we had more kids in the store talking about how they'd spent all day yesterday playing online.
So is it a problem for you, or have you even noticed the influx of summer visitors at all? We have to be careful not to generalize here, as while some younger folks can cause issues (either by acting like kids, or just by filling up the instance queues), there are certainly others who act very mature for their age. Some of them, especially with parental supervision, can actually make model players. So the question here is: how have you experienced the sudden rash of schoolkids?
Breakfast Topic: Back from school originally appeared on WoW.com on Sat, 25 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Phat Loot Phriday: Petrified Ivy Sprig - Fri, 24 Jul 2009 21:00:00 EST
Continue reading Phat Loot Phriday: Petrified Ivy Sprig
Phat Loot Phriday: Petrified Ivy Sprig originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
WoW Insider Show's 100th episode live tomorrow with BigBearButt - Fri, 24 Jul 2009 20:00:00 EST
Our podcast has hit a landmark -- can you believe we've been doing this thing for almost two years? Yes, it's been a full 99 times that we've sat down and recorded our thoughts on the latest and greatest news from the World of Warcraft community, and tomorrow's show will be number 100. It will be a lot of fun -- we'll welcome back our good friend John "BigBearButt" Patricelli, and he'll join Eddie "Brigwyn" Carrington, Turpster, and I to talk about all the most popular posts here on WoW.com, including Sam Raimi's upcoming movie and what we expect from it, Ghostcrawler's thoughts on class balance going into BlizzCon, and the Druid and Hunter Q&As that have appeared from Blizzard lately.
And I guess since it's the 100th show we should do something fun: Turpster and I will be on video during the show, so you'll get to see our faces as we chat, and we'll be doing a look back at our favorite moments from the podcast so far. In fact, we also want to hear your favorite moments from the first 100 episodes, and to give you a little incentive, we're giving away some more loot cards. Two random commenters on this post who tell us their favorite moments from the show's past will win a loot card code each, courtesy of our friends at WoWTCGLoot.com. You can only enter once, please use a valid email address when you enter (so we can contact you when you win), and you must enter before tomorrow night, Saturday the 25th of July, 2009, at midnight Eastern time. Good luck, and give us your memories!
Our show kicks off tomorrow at July 25, 2009 3:30 PM EDT) over on our Ustream page, or, as always, you can find the embedded stream below. We'll see you tomorrow afternoon for show number 100!
Continue reading WoW Insider Show's 100th episode live tomorrow with BigBearButt
WoW Insider Show's 100th episode live tomorrow with BigBearButt originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Bruce Campbell and Metzen on the movie at Comic-Con - Fri, 24 Jul 2009 19:00:00 EST
I have geeked out many times while writing for this site, but I think this is the geekiest geekout I've ever geeked out about: Bruce Campbell talking about World of Warcraft. He's hanging out at Comic-Con promoting Burn Notice (a series that I'm still watching, if only because of him), and IGN cornered him on the topic of his friend Sam Raimi's new movie, based on our very own Azeroth. Campbell says he has no idea what Raimi has in mind for the movie, and that he only just heard about the job when we did. But then he says something that will lift all of our geeky hearts: when it comes time for casting, Bruce says, "I'll get a call." And Raimi will say to him, "You play some schmuck. Some idiot guy. Some garbage man."
We can't think of too many garbagemen in Azeroth -- Topper Mcnabb, maybe? But the fact that Campbell knows about the movie and is ready to take a role is good enough for us. And he isn't the only person speculating on the part he might play: Chris Metzen brought up Campbell at Comic-Con and suggested he might play a CG-based character, like a goblin. That doesn't sound so awesome to us, though -- you've gotta let that world-famous mug shine through. It does seem a little unlikely that Campbell would play a really huge part, but a lot of people have brought up Varian Wrynn, and we can't really think of any part more fitting (plus, maybe that means the movie will focus on Horde instead of Alliance). Hail to the King, baby!
Keep an eye over on our sister site Massively for more Comic-Con coverage all this weekend, and if we hear any more about the movie, we'll be sure to let you know.
[via BlizzPlanet]
Bruce Campbell and Metzen on the movie at Comic-Con originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Mighty Battle: Warlock and Warrior Tier 9 sets - Fri, 24 Jul 2009 18:00:00 EST
Continue reading Mighty Battle: Warlock and Warrior Tier 9 sets
Mighty Battle: Warlock and Warrior Tier 9 sets originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Blizzard starts selling gold (coins) - Fri, 24 Jul 2009 17:00:00 EST
I don't have a lot of detail on this, but the news from Comic-Con is that Blizzard is finally starting to sell gold! Collectible WoW-inspired gold, silver, and copper coins, that is. What did you think I was talking about?
They'll come in both Horde and Alliance versions, and are being made by DC Unlimited. DC also handles the WoW comic, so that's unsurprising. If we hear anything more on pricing and/or availability, we'll be sure to let you know.
Blizzard starts selling gold (coins) originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
The OverAchiever: The incredible Glory of the Hero - Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:00:00 EST
Continue reading The OverAchiever: The incredible Glory of the Hero
The OverAchiever: The incredible Glory of the Hero originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
The Guild comic book, and other news from the SDCC panel - Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:30:00 EST
The Guild's Twitter account is tweeting up a storm from the panel about our favorite Internet series at Comic-Con, and there's a whole downpour of news already. Probably biggest is the news that Dark Horse Comics will be publishing a comic book featuring characters from Felicia Day's show, penned by none other than Ms. Day herself. Details are still hard to find (there's no mention of the book yet on DHC's site), but we presume it'll be about the real-life personas of The Guild folks, rather than a story about their characters. That'll be interesting to see.
Other news from the panel is that Season 3 is coming soon, and it'll feature a special guest: Mr. Wil Wheaton, former Star Trek annoyance (sorry, I didn't like him at all), and current geek icon. Apparently they showed a sneak peek at the panel and a Jed Whedon-directed music video (featuring Vork spanking Codex and Tink dancing?), so as soon as we see either of those, we'll be posting them here.
And finally, apparently Jeff Lewis (a.k.a. Vork) has announced that he'll be marrying his wife in the game, though we have no idea if that's a joke or not. With these Guild guys, you can never tell. Lots more news about season 3 to come, we're sure, and of course we'll see all of these folks at BlizzCon -- here's the interview we did with them last year. We've got at least one contact on the ground at Comic-Con this week, so stay tuned for more news from San Diego, too.
The Guild comic book, and other news from the SDCC panel originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Gary Whitta worked on a Warcraft screenplay - Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:00:00 EST
You'll notice that I surreptitiously left the question of "screenwriter" out of the other day's Breakfast Topic. That's because, quite frankly, I have no idea who I want writing the Warcraft movie. The folks I really like in Hollywood are probably too quirky to write an epic movie like this, and the folks who usually write these epic movies are too lame to handle a world like Warcraft. In my mind, only someone like Metzen should wield the pen for this one, and even then, his strengths lie in creating universes, not dialog. So I have no idea.
But apparently there's already a screenplay being worked on: with the news that Sam Raimi is taking the helm, screenwriter Gary Whitta (who's written both for games and movies) says he'd been working with both Legendary and Blizzard on crafting a screenplay that included both the sprawling world and a story that would resonate with non-players. But he says that since Raimi took over, it's likely the whole thing will go in another direction, as "his own pretty specific vision of what he wanted to do story-wise." Whitta does say, however, that, from what he's heard, "Raimi is the best possible director for this." Sounds good to us.
It'll be quite a tightrope to walk: depending on what Legendary actually wants out of the film, they've got to make the story interesting and pressing enough that even non-WoW players will get into it without ruining and/or ignoring the reason why there are so many players in the first place: the lush and intriguing universe we've all enjoyed playing in. Anyone tasked with putting together a script that uses all of those blocks to build something great will have quite a job ahead of them.
[via Blue's News]
Gary Whitta worked on a Warcraft screenplay originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
More ideas for player housing - Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:00:00 EST
Spicytuna has a nice little writeup about a much-discussed but never implemented feature in World of Warcraft: player housing. Blizzard has borrowed (and subsequently improved upon) many of the most common features in MMOs -- they revamped leveling with ideas like rested XP and recruit-a-friend, they changed the endgame with the ideas of Heroic instances and daily quests, and they've tweaked PvP with battlegrounds, Wintergrasp and Arenas.
But for some reason they've never taken on the idea of player housing: a place in the game for players to make their own. The reason we've always heard is that they never landed on a good implementation of it -- if they couldn't do it right, they wouldn't do it at all.
But Spicytuna proves there's no shortage of ideas. The main thought so far is that such an area would be instanced, as having actual buildings in the game as player houses just leads to emptied out ghettos of buildings left to rot.
Continue reading More ideas for player housing
More ideas for player housing originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Wowhead launches Premium service - Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:00:00 EST
Surprise! Well, it was to me, anyway. Wowhead announced on Wednesday that they are launching a new Premium subscription service. Subscriptions cost from $2.50 to $3.33 a month, depending on how many months you subscribe for at a time, and confer the following benefits:
Malgayne stresses that unlike some sites, non-premium users on Wowhead are not penalized. The site will continue to work just as beautifully as it always has for users that don't pay a dime.
There is a slight exception to this in the profile resync queue feature, although at the moment it's not a practical issue - not enough requests are being sent for the queue to be a factor.
So what do you think? Are you going to fork over a few bucks to become one of the Wowhead elite, or maybe just to show your support for a fantastic site?
Wowhead launches Premium service originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
WoW Moviewatch: Nobody Like You EP3 - Fri, 24 Jul 2009 12:00:00 EST
WoW Moviewatch: Nobody Like You EP3 originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Drama Mamas: Of scrubs and terribads - Fri, 24 Jul 2009 11:00:00 EST
Continue reading Drama Mamas: Of scrubs and terribads
Drama Mamas: Of scrubs and terribads originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Around Azeroth: À l'orange - Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:00:00 EST
Around Azeroth: À l'orange originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Solution sought for Heroic Strike/Maul - Fri, 24 Jul 2009 09:00:00 EST
In the context of a follow-up to the Warrior Q&A, Ghostcrawler mentioned something that he's touched on a few time before: Heroic Strike is a problem. I know what you're thinking: Eliah, you don't have a level 80 warrior! What would you know? Well, that's true, but I do have a Druid tank, and Maul is essentially the same as HS. So I know your pain.
For those who don't, the problem with HS/Maul is basically that it's obnoxious to use in a raid situation. You tend to have roughly infinite rage, so you want to use the ability as often as possible, which contributes to the fact that your main tank sounds like a woodpecker is attacking his keyboard (or mouse) when he pushes his Vent talk button. It's monotonous, but you have to do it to maximize your threat.
Recognizing a problem doesn't mean they have a solution yet, though. One idea GC had is to make it consume more rage the more you have (like Execute). Personally, I might like it if it just automatically activated above half rage (or so). Others have suggested that the key act as a toggle, which continues casting HS as often as possible until you toggle it off. What's your preferred solution?
Solution sought for Heroic Strike/Maul originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Breakfast Topic: On alts and patch planning - Fri, 24 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EST
Continue reading Breakfast Topic: On alts and patch planning
Breakfast Topic: On alts and patch planning originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Kingston giving away ten BlizzCon tix - Thu, 23 Jul 2009 22:00:00 EST
We've posted about a few BlizzCon ticket giveaways before, but Kingston, the computer memory maker, is holding the biggest so far: they're giving away a total of ten tickets to Blizzard's big event in Anaheim next month. This one's cake, too: just enter in your info on their page about you and the kind of computer memory you use and buy, and then they'll pick ten random winners to get hooked up with a ticket to BlizzCon. Unfortunately, you're on your own for transportation to and from the event (and, we presume, a hotel to stay in if you're transporting from out of town). But there's never been a better time to call up your cousin Ed who moved out to Irvine to be a game developer a few years ago and still has that old sleeper couch to stay on. Right?
Good luck to everyone who enters -- hopefully if you weren't able to grab tickets in the chaos that ensued during the original sales, you've been able to either buy, trade, or win for one since then. And if you do make it out there, don't forget: Thursday night we'll be rocking out at the Anabella. Come by and say hi!
Kingston giving away ten BlizzCon tix originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Richard A. Knaak, other authors will be signing at BlizzCon - Thu, 23 Jul 2009 21:00:00 EST
Part of the fun of BlizzCon is that beyond all of the dev panels and crazy mainstage stuff going on, there's also the big convention hall full of things to see and do. All of Blizzard's licensing partners usually show up, so Upper Deck usually has games going on, FigurePrints shows off their wares, and all of the computer companies usually have some fun rigs on display. And now we've learned that, as usual, Pocket Books and TokyoPop will have booths set up, along with their usual stable of authors and artists. Richard A. Knaak has confirmed on his website that he'll be there, so if you're going, be sure to bring along your copy of War of the Ancients, and maybe you can get it signed.
Our staff is hoping for a Christie Golden appearance as well, and while she doesn't have anything about BlizzCon on the website yet (she is at ComiCon this week, though), we're presuming that she'll be there. Medievaldragon of Blizzplanet is apparently also presuming it: he's included her with Knaak in his headline about the show (see update). So hopefully she'll be around, and Ziebart and Whitcomb can take their treasured copies of Arthas over and do some fanboy groveling.
Should be excellent. We'll be doing our best to get some interviews with these folks here on the site as well, so even if you're not with us in Anaheim, you'll still get a chance to hear from some of your favorite Warcraft authors. BlizzCon ahoy!
Update: Medievaldragon has gotten back to us, and he says that he's heard from Golden herself that she'll be at BlizzCon. Get those books ready for some signin'!
BlizzCon 2009 is coming up on August 21st and 22nd! We've got all the latest news and information. At BlizzCon, you can play the latest games, meet your guildmates, and ask the developers your questions. Plus, there are some great looking costumes.
Richard A. Knaak, other authors will be signing at BlizzCon originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Blizzard puts a few limits on the costume contest - Thu, 23 Jul 2009 20:00:00 EST
Blizzard puts a few limits on the costume contest originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Choose My Adventure: Turpen dings 45 - Thu, 23 Jul 2009 19:00:00 EST
Continue reading Choose My Adventure: Turpen dings 45
Choose My Adventure: Turpen dings 45 originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Scattered Shots: Cunning PvP Pets - Thu, 23 Jul 2009 18:00:00 EST
Good day folks and welcome to Scattered Shots. The column that takes a good look at what it takes to be a Hunter in the World of Warcraft. I am Eddie "Brigwyn" Carrington from the Hunting Lodge. This week we'll be discussing the best pets to use while playing solo. So grab your traps, check your ammo and let's go Hunting!
This is our last installment in our series exploring the different pet families. In the first post we explored raiding with a Ferocity pet. We identified the current recommended raid pet for each raid build. The next post in the series discussed why Tenacity pets have become the pets of choice for while grinding and farming.
This week I'm going to talk about Cunning pets. I like to think of them as the "Fun Pets."
I think of Cunning pets as fun because of the different abilities they have. If you're lacking a particular ability or need an extra debuff, stun, even snare, the Cunning pets are there to help fill in the gaps.
Because of this utility Cunning Pets have often found it difficult to secure a regular place in the PvE world of raids. However, some of the more popular ones are starting to see some success in PvP. So let's take a closer look at these unique pets.
Continue reading Scattered Shots: Cunning PvP Pets
Scattered Shots: Cunning PvP Pets originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Ghostcrawler adds to Hunter Q&A - Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:00:00 EST
As promised, there's a new version of the Hunter class Q&A up on the official forums. Very little has changed from the previous version, actually, but they did add the following question:
Q: Do we have plans to increase the number of stable slots available to hunters?
A:Obviously we increased it a lot in Wrath of the Lich King. We want to try and keep the pet as some kind of decision - they aren't supposed to be like mounts or titles where you just collect as many as you want. We expanded the size so that players could have say a Tenacity pet for soloing and a Ferocity pet for raiding, but we don't want every hunter to have every family available here. Now one potential problem are the Spirit Beasts, which are collected by hunters and not trivial to replace. We have also discussed expanding the Spirit Beast concept to have rare skins of other pet families (that otherwise don't convey a combat bonus). If we do that, we'd probably have to expand the stable slots.
We've also considered a model where the hunter doesn't even need a stable and can work more like a warlock where they can just summon their pets whenever they want - with the remote stable ability from the dual-spec feature, we're pretty close to that already. If we went this route then maybe the stable could just become pet storage in the same way your bank has all those Invader's Scourgestones and Zul'Gurub bijous that you don't use often but can't bear to part with.
Ghostcrawler adds to Hunter Q&A originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Authentication problems continue - Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:16:00 EST
Authentication problems continue originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
WoW.com on TNB and elsewhere - Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:00:00 EST
If you're around this evening and want to listen in to some extra podcast discussion, head on over to the Twisted Nether Blogcast page around 9:30 pm PST this evening -- our friends Fimlys and Nibuca of TNB have asked me to join them on their podcast, and it's sure to be a good time. We'll be chatting live with listeners, too, so if you've ever had questions about how we do things on the site or haven't been able to listen in to our own podcast, now's your chance.
And speaking of the Twisted Nether Blogcast, they're also holding their own meetup at BlizzCon, just a few weeks away. Ours is on Thursday, but if you're around on Friday night, you'll be able to stop on by the Anabella again, and say hi to lots of great folks from the WoW community. Both Turpster and I will be there for sure, and there'll probably be at least a few other WoW.com staff members in attendance as well, so it should be a really fun night.
And even that's not all -- our very own Turpster is also set to make an appearance on Rawrcast's live BlizzCon show on Saturday night of that weekend, where he'll likely be talking about everything we've seen at the convention, as well as helping out with some quality giveaways. Lots of great events and shows are being put on by the community around BlizzCon, and of course we're really happy to be a part of them.
WoW.com on TNB and elsewhere originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Mighty Battle: Rogue and Shaman Tier 9 sets - Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:00:00 EST
Continue reading Mighty Battle: Rogue and Shaman Tier 9 sets
Mighty Battle: Rogue and Shaman Tier 9 sets originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Gearing up for PvP - Your sound system - Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:00:00 EST
Continue reading Gearing up for PvP - Your sound system
Gearing up for PvP - Your sound system originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Hunter Q&A released - Thu, 23 Jul 2009 13:18:00 EST
Continue reading Hunter Q&A released
Hunter Q&A released originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 13:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Tamed Worgen have become Winterskorn Worgs - Thu, 23 Jul 2009 13:00:00 EST
And here lies the final chapter in the Taming of the Worgen saga: Mania reports that, just a little while after the troublesome Worgen Garwal was hotfixed to be untameable, Blizzard has magically changed all of the already-tamed Worgen to level 68 (or Hunter's level minus five) wolves. Why level 68? Because, Mania says, they've all been turned into Winterskorn Worgs, a level 63-69 NPC that wanders around the Howling Fah-jord.
So that's the end of that. Obviously, no one really expected to keep those pets as their own, and especially with all of the Worgen-as-playable-race speculation flying around, it wouldn't do for Hunters to have one of those humanoids at their beck and call. Some Hunters who went to the trouble of taming probably won't be too happy. But the good news is that the new white wolf in your stable is completely fixed -- it has all of the normal talent trees and abilities that wolves are supposed to have. Guess you and your pet Garwal were just never meant to be.
Tamed Worgen have become Winterskorn Worgs originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
WoW Moviewatch: Lament of the Highborne fan video - Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:00:00 EST
WoW Moviewatch: Lament of the Highborne fan video originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Two Bosses Enter: Round Two, the Wrath five-man season - Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:00:00 EST
Continue reading Two Bosses Enter: Round Two, the Wrath five-man season
Two Bosses Enter: Round Two, the Wrath five-man season originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Around Azeroth: Swirl - Thu, 23 Jul 2009 10:00:00 EST
Around Azeroth: Swirl originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Crusaders' Coliseum difficulty is a test for Blizzard - Thu, 23 Jul 2009 09:00:00 EST
I've suspected this on the podcast, and I'm sure many people have figured this before, but Crygil makes it absolutely clear: the four difficulty levels set up on the Crusaders' Coliseum is just a test for Blizzard. This isn't at all the standard, it's just something different they're trying with this format of dungeon, and they'll be watching to see how players respond. As Crygil says, it definitely doesn't mean that they'll be going back and revamping the old dungeons to reflect the new layout (where 10 and 25-man raids each have their own Heroic modes), and the corollary is that it doesn't necessarily mean that Icecrown will be like this, either. They're giving this a shot, and if there are issues with it, they'll go back to the old way or consider something else.
Will it work? My guess is that it will. Besides the fact that players will always run the heck out of the game's latest raid (and Blizzard can definitely use that as justification that it's a popular way to do things), I think any move that gives players more options will be received well. Some guilds will try to run all four modes all the time, and will get sick of the instance way before any new content shows up, but I think most folks will just choose one or two difficulties to run every week (say, 25-man Heroic with their guild, and 10-man Heroic with a PuG), and get their gear from there. Whether we'll see this again in Icecrown, however, I'm not sure -- this seems like a setup for a lower-tier instance that everyone gets to run, not an expansion-ending, top-of-the-line raid. Blizzard may go back to the normal 10 and 25-man setup for Icecrown, and then bring this scheme back for instances in the next expansion, whatever that may be.
Crusaders' Coliseum difficulty is a test for Blizzard originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Breakfast Topic: The rest of the movie's crew - Thu, 23 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EST
Well Sam Raimi is the Warcraft movie's director, and yet with all of the epic action we expect from it, he can't do the job alone. We asked a while back about who you would cast in the movie, but what do you think about the other crew members? Somebody's got to run the cameras and the lights, and make the music and do the CGI, right?
The Lord of the Rings is probably the closest relative to an ideal Warcraft movie, I'd think, and Andrew Lesnie worked closely with Peter Jackson to shoot all of those movies. Bruno Delbonnel is another choice -- he not only shot Amelie and the latest Harry Potter, but he's been Oscar nominated a number of times. Wally Pfeister has worked closely with Legendary Pictures (who are producing the movie) and Christopher Nolan, shooting both of the latest Batman movies and The Prestige as well.
As for music, you'd think that there'd be plenty of Warcraft music already, but Hans Zimmer or Howard Shore might be two ideas for composers. After that, I don't know -- who would do costumes? Effects? It'd be great to have Weta or ILM working on creatures for the movie, but then again, Blizzard's CG team really should have a part in it. Lots of potential all around: if you were hiring the crew, who would you choose?
Breakfast Topic: The rest of the movie's crew originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Guildwatch: They should ninja a dictionary - Wed, 22 Jul 2009 22:00:00 EST
Continue reading Guildwatch: They should ninja a dictionary
Guildwatch: They should ninja a dictionary originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 22 Jul 2009 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Login issues reported this evening - Wed, 22 Jul 2009 21:47:00 EST
Login issues reported this evening originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 22 Jul 2009 21:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments