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The Queue: But I'm not an alien!

by Michael Sacco on Nov 20th 2009 (48 minutes ago)

Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today.

Guys, you're driving me crazy here. As part of my spiritual promotion to Junior Queue Guy I pick up The Queue on Fridays now and that means I scour Thursday's Queue for questions to answer. You'd think, with one hundred comments on yesterday's post, that there'd be something juicy in there, but you guys are on some kind of vision quest here because you keep asking questions that are impossible to answer! I don't know if goblins start with the bow skill. The Cataclysm alpha's not even out yet. Be a pal, readers; ask questions that don't require an interocitor to answer.

Now. We've got some questions from Twitter and yesterday's comments for you today. Shall we?

Hugsalot asked...

Will there be a waiting period for paid race change to a worgen or goblin when cataclysm first launches?

Chances are good. Blizzard will likely want enough time for someone to legitimately hit 80 on a worgen or goblin before they allow race changes. Expect it to be a few weeks.

Filed under: The Queue, Cataclysm

Insider Trader: Icecrown gold rush

by Michael Gray on Nov 20th 2009 (1 hour ago)

Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.

With the battle against the Lich King looming closer and closer on the horizon, the crafty craftperson is already getting ready to pepper the local auction house with crafted items. Guilds will need to slap on crafted items to quickly round out behind-the-gear-curve raid members, and the auction house will be the first place they turn to do that. The gear you build and prepare now will be quickly sold when it's time to fight Arthas.

More importantly, though, raiders are going to see a whole new tier of gear. That means the items they use to buff their gear is going to need replacing, and the prescient craftperson is going to be ready to meet that need.

This conjecture, of course, leads us to question what items we should be preparing for Icecrown Citadel. What items will be of any use to a raider? What will they be willing to cough up good cash to purchase? Which items will be meaningful, and not simply fodder for immediate replacement?

Take a look behind the cut to see what we think will be good stuff to sell when the new raid is released.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, (Professions) Insider Trader

The Stonewall Family is October's Guild of the Month

by Alex Ziebart on Nov 20th 2009 (2 hours ago)

Our November Guild of the Month contest is still ongoing, but today is the day we unveil October's winner. But before I do that, I want to tell all of the entrants that you shouldn't get discouraged. We get a lot of great entries every month, and if you didn't win in October, enter for November! If you don't win in November, stay vigilant and enter in December. This contest isn't going away.

October's winner, The Stonewall Family, is walking away with a $100 gift certificate from Swagdog, where you can pick up all sorts of custom guild apparel. Rather than trying to tell you about them myself, I'll leave it up to the guild to do it. Who knows them better?

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Guilds, Contests

Patch 3.3 PTR: New Kirin Tor Rings on their way

by Michael Sacco on Nov 20th 2009 (3 hours ago)

Ah, Kirin Tor rings. We've come to rely on these old standbys as gear that'll always be there for us. Especially if "we" are elemental shamans. But what's going on with them in Patch 3.3?

Surprising no one, Bornakk confirmed recently that there's a new set of Kirin Tor rings on the way for those with lots of disposable income in Patch 3.3. With an item level of 251, they're a significant upgrade to the 226 ring you upgraded back when Ulduar came out. You should expect the upgrade process to cost about as much as the last one -- that is, 1000 gold pre-faction discount.

Good to see that they're seeing this ring thing through to the end of the expansion. The initial investment is a bit steep, but hey, free Dalaran portal, and the upgrade price is pretty reasonable as you go.

Patch 3.3 is the last major patch of Wrath of the Lich King. With the new Icecrown Citadel 5-man dungeons and 10/25-man raid arriving soon, patch 3.3 will deal the final blow to Arthas. WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.3 will keep you updated with all the latest patch news.

Filed under: Patches, Items, Wrath of the Lich King

WoW Moviewatch: Castle In The Sky

by Michael Gray on Nov 20th 2009 (4 hours ago)

Castle in the Sky by Zimtower is a short, sweet and beautiful music video. It's somewhat referencing Dalaran as a castle in the sky, but is really more focused on the idea of a "happy place" where each person can revisit their own childhood. And yes, that's totally a reappearance from the fun gnome from Cloud 9.

It's a pretty short video, so I wouldn't recommend trying to read too much into it. However, Zimtower has done an amazing job animating his gnomes so that they actually line up against the song's lyrics. The video is beautiful, with a whimsical color palette that serves to magnificently reinforce the song's message.

Ultimately, this is a great video. I had a fun time watching it, and expect it to be one of my go-to "pick me up" films in the future.

Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an e-mail at machinima AT wow DOT com.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, WoW Moviewatch

The OverAchiever: Guide to Pilgrim's Bounty 2009

by Allison Robert on Nov 20th 2009 (5 hours ago)

Pilgrim's Bounty is a brand-new holiday that in 2009 will run between 1:00 am server time Sunday, November 22nd and 11:50 pm server time Saturday, November 28th. Because it's new and there's limited information available on it, expect to see this post updated extensively in the 24 hours after the holiday goes live. We'll have new information on quests, items, and vendor locations, plus screenshots of WoW's newest holiday.

As an FYI, Pilgrim's Bounty is not part of the yearlong meta What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been, so if you fall short on any of the achievements below, you're not running the risk of having to wait another year for a crack at a violet protodrake. However, you will miss out on the Pilgrim title and plump turkey pet that are rewards for completing the Pilgrim meta.

Let's get started!

"FOOD FIGHT!" (Alliance) and "FOOD FIGHT!" (Horde)

This is a pretty simple achievement that entails bouncing food off another player's head at a Bountiful Table, which I assume will be accomplished via targeting them and right-clicking a food item in your bags or on the table itself.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Features, Achievements, The Overachiever

Around Azeroth: I am Druidman

by Adam Holisky on Nov 20th 2009 (6 hours ago)

Sock! Pow! Bong!

Sometimes the world needs a protector. Sometimes it needs a hero. And that's where I come in, sitting above the citizens of Dalaran watching over them; my Boy Wonder in short latex shorts running playfully behind me. The unsuspecting denizens of Azeroth go about their business unsuspecting of the world of crime around them, and that's why I'm here. Oh look, a mouse!

Whap! Biff! Ooof!

Thanks to Qually of <Wrathchild> for sending this in!

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, Val'kyr on mounts, or pictures of the Ninja Turtles in Dalaran. Older screenshots can be found here.

Gallery: Around Azeroth

Filed under: Screenshots, Around Azeroth

Ghostcrawler: "Players are going to freak when they see Cataclysm gear"

by Michael Sacco on Nov 20th 2009 (7 hours ago)

Ghostcrawler responded recently to a post asking about stat growth on items, and the results were pretty interesting. The player asked if Blizzard had any plans to cut back the stat growth on items before we reach +2000 spellpower, for example. GC had this to say:

"They're just numbers. We don't think it starts getting scary until the human mind literally has trouble processing the digits. If your new staff has 152,420 spell power, well, yeah that's a mouthful. But if your new staff has 4000 spell power, the only thing that can really be freaking you out is that 4000 is just a really big number compared to the 100 spell power you might be used to. Automobiles used to cost hundreds of dollars instead of tens of thousands of dollars too.... :)"

Well, sure, but what about in Cataclysm? With all those stat changes you guys talked about at BlizzCon, there has to be some surprises on the way when we see our first glimpse of Cataclysm gear.

Breakfast Topic: Anticipation Syndrome

by Matthew Rossi on Nov 20th 2009 (8 hours ago)

Okay, I admit it: waiting for Icecrown has started to drive me a little nuts.

Possibly it's as bad as it is because this time I'm much more aware of the incoming patch than I have been for previous ones. I've run the new five mans on the PTR and kept up with the Quel'Delar questline and watched the raid testing on streams. Meanwhile, one of my oldest WoW friends will not shut up about Blood Elf Warriors in Cataclysm. Seriously, he will not be quiet. I've tried ordering him to be quiet but then he just starts nattering on about the violence inherent in the system.

To a degree, all of this waiting for future patches and expansions is kind of getting in the way of enjoying what we have now. I'm starting to feel like I've lost track of all the current raiding and instance content and am just standing around trying to raid a dungeon that's not even in the game yet. (And it doesn't help with the song of Skinny the Belf Fury Warrior constantly ringing in my ears, either.) So now I turn once again to you, the viewers at home, and ask if you're feeling anticipation syndrome or not.

Filed under: Warrior, Patches, Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, News items, Breakfast topics, Expansions

Worgen /welcome video from IgroMir 2009

by Adam Holisky on Nov 19th 2009 (21 hours ago)

So we wanted to be sure that you all got to see this before Blizzard has YouTube pull it. You probably have about 30 minutes at best. So go at it! The video below the break shows some introductory worgen moves from the recent Russian IgroMir 2009 demonstrations Blizzard had setup. Video is typically against the rules at these things, but a leak is a leak, and this should give players a good view of it.

Of particular note is the animations at the end of the video. The /welcome animation is a worgen pointing, waving, and then getting down on all fours to sniff the air in-front of him; as if to smell the nether regions of the person being greeted as canines are prone to do. There is some discussion if this it worgen idle animation at the wrong time, or if this is part of the overall /welcome animation sequence.

Unforunately we don't know, but we're all having a good laugh over it. And now you can do.

The goods after the break, while it still exists.

Filed under: News items

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