WoW.com http://www.wow.com WoW.com http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.wow.com/media/feedlogo.gif WoW.com http://www.wow.com prods@weblogsinc.com (Weblogs, Inc. Producers) (Weblogs, Inc. Web Support) en-us Copyright 2010 Weblogs, Inc. View our terms of service here: http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/ Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/ <![CDATA[The Queue: Elevator ride]]> http://www.wow.com/2010/02/05/the-queue-elevator-ride/ http://www.wow.com/2010/02/05/the-queue-elevator-ride/ http://www.wow.com/2010/02/05/the-queue-elevator-ride/#comments
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.

Well, hey there, team! Looks like we're gonna be riding this elevator for a while. I guess now would be a great time to answer some reader questions.

Tomatketchup asked...

"In the Dungeon Finder, do you think the rewards for 70-80 still will be emblems, or will they become bags like from 1-69?"

I'm willing to bet that you'll be receiving Satchels from 70-80 instances in the Dungeon Finder once Cataclysm hits. I don't see them giving you an obsolete reward.

Continue reading The Queue: Elevator ride

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The Queue: Elevator ride originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> cataclysmdungeon-finderfeaturedguideqaquestion-and-answershadowmournewow-answerswow-daily-answerswow-daily-questionswow-guidewow-player-questionswow-q-and-awow-questions (Michael Sacco) Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:00:00 EST WoW.com <![CDATA[Paragon scores world-first legitimate 25-man Lich King kill]]> http://www.wow.com/2010/02/04/paragon-scores-world-first-legitimate-25-man-lich-king-kill/ http://www.wow.com/2010/02/04/paragon-scores-world-first-legitimate-25-man-lich-king-kill/ http://www.wow.com/2010/02/04/paragon-scores-world-first-legitimate-25-man-lich-king-kill/#comments GuildOx reports that Paragon, from the European Lightning's Blade realm, has defeated the Lich King and acquired the Frozen Throne achievement. While well-known guild Ensidia had defeated him yesterday on 25-man difficulty, they also employed some dubious techniques to win and later paid the price for it by having their loot and achievements removed.

Paragon, on the other hand, appears to have completed the encounter in an exploit-free manner and, according to MMO-Champion's Boubouille, did it on their first try. Congratulations go out to Paragon on their clean kill. Now let's see some of those heroic achievements!

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Paragon scores world-first legitimate 25-man Lich King kill originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> achievementarthasarthas-killensidiafirstfrozen-throneicecrownicecrown-citadellich-kinglich-king-killparagonworldworld-first (Michael Sacco) Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:10:00 EST WoW.com <![CDATA[WoW Insider Show episode 127 with Ayabi & Sijia]]> http://www.wow.com/2010/02/03/wow-insider-show-episode-127-with-ayabi-and-sijia/ http://www.wow.com/2010/02/03/wow-insider-show-episode-127-with-ayabi-and-sijia/ http://www.wow.com/2010/02/03/wow-insider-show-episode-127-with-ayabi-and-sijia/#comments
The WoW Insider Show podcast this Saturday featured Ayabi and Sijia, cosplayers from the community that you might recognize for their work at BlizzCon. We discussed the week's top stories, answered reader emails, and talked about the process of making award-winning costumes.

Get the podcast:
[iTunes] Subscribe to the WoW Insider Show directly in iTunes.
[RSS] Add the WoW Insider Show to your RSS aggregator.
[MP3] Download the MP3 directly.

Listen here on the page:

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WoW Insider Show episode 127 with Ayabi & Sijia originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> ayabifeaturedpodcastpodcastssijiawow-com-podcastwow-dot-com-podcastwow-insider-podcastwow-podcastwow-podcastingwow-podcastswow-radio-showwow-showwowcom-podcastwowinsider-show (Michael Sacco) Wed, 03 Feb 2010 18:30:00 EST WoW.com WoW Insider Show Episode 127 WoW Insider Staff 59:34 podcasts <![CDATA[WoW Insider Show live today at 4 PM Eastern]]> http://www.wow.com/2010/02/03/wow-insider-show-live-today-at-4-pm-eastern/ http://www.wow.com/2010/02/03/wow-insider-show-live-today-at-4-pm-eastern/ http://www.wow.com/2010/02/03/wow-insider-show-live-today-at-4-pm-eastern/#comments The WoW Insider Show returns to the airwaves today at a special day and time, 4:00 PM Eastern time. This means no podcast on Saturday this week! The schedule will return to normal on Saturday, Feb. 13th.

Your host Michael Sacco and cohost Matthew Rossi will be answering reader emails, shootin' the breeze, and discussing the week's top stories on WoW.com and around the web. Today? It's all about Arthas, baby.

And, of course, we'll talk live with the folks in the chat channel. You can email the podcast any time of night or day at theshow@wow.com, and you'll be able to listen in to the show on the feed on our Ustream site, or after the jump.

Please note, last week's podcast will be available for download later today.

Continue reading WoW Insider Show live today at 4 PM Eastern

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WoW Insider Show live today at 4 PM Eastern originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> featuredpodcastpodcastswow-com-podcastwow-dot-com-podcastwow-insider-podcastwow-podcastwow-podcastingwow-podcastswow-radio-showwow-showwowcom-podcastwowinsider-show (Michael Sacco) Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:30:00 EST WoW.com <![CDATA[Ask a Faction Leader: Chromie]]> http://www.wow.com/2010/02/02/ask-a-faction-leader-chromie/ http://www.wow.com/2010/02/02/ask-a-faction-leader-chromie/ http://www.wow.com/2010/02/02/ask-a-faction-leader-chromie/#comments
WoW.com's prestige in the community has afforded us the opportunity to speak with major Azerothian leadership figures on any subject, and we're letting you, the reader, Ask a Faction Leader!

We recently spoke to Vol'Jin, leader of the Darkspear trolls, and he shed light on several key issues, including voodoo proximity, detachable extremities, and residential communities, and free zeppelin rides for three. In this installment of Ask a Faction Leader, we'll be sitting with Anachronos, interim leader of the Bronze Dragonflight.

Our first reader ques--


Anachronos responds:

A TERRIBLE AND COSTLY MISTAKE YOU HAVE MADE. IT IS NOT MY TIME TO GIVE AN INTERVIEW, MORTALS!

He just ... despawned. Okay. Uh, well, in that case, let's see ... Soridormi is busy dealing with the Infinites in the Caverns of Time, so ... I guess the task falls to Chronormu, better known to adventurers as Chromie -- ambassador for the Bronze Dragonflight.

Our first reader question ...

Continue reading Ask a Faction Leader: Chromie

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Ask a Faction Leader: Chromie originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 02 Feb 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> aaflask-a-faction-leaderbronze-dragonflightchromiefaction-leaderfeaturedrole-playrp-wowworld-of-warcraft-lorewow-lorewow-role-playingwow-rpwow-rp-guidewow-rpingwow-stories (Michael Sacco) Tue, 02 Feb 2010 13:00:00 EST WoW.com <![CDATA[WoW Insider Show with Ayabi & Sijia live today at 3:30 PM Eastern]]> http://www.wow.com/2010/01/30/wow-insider-show-with-ayabi-and-sijia-live-today-at-3-30-pm-easter/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/30/wow-insider-show-with-ayabi-and-sijia-live-today-at-3-30-pm-easter/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/30/wow-insider-show-with-ayabi-and-sijia-live-today-at-3-30-pm-easter/#comments The WoW Insider Show returns to the airwaves today at 3:30 PM Eastern time, bringing with it your host Michael Sacco, cohost Matthew Rossi, and special guests and prolific cosplayers Ayabi and Sijia. We'll be answering reader emails, shootin' the breeze, and, of course, discussing the week's top stories on WoW.com and around the web. We'll also talk with Ayabi and Sijia about how they design, create, and make it work in their outfits.

And, lest we forget, we'll be talking live with the folks in the chat channel. You can email the podcast any time of night or day at theshow@wow.com, and you'll be able to listen in to the show on the feed on our Ustream site, or after the jump.

Continue reading WoW Insider Show with Ayabi & Sijia live today at 3:30 PM Eastern

WoW Insider Show with Ayabi & Sijia live today at 3:30 PM Eastern originally appeared on WoW.com on Sat, 30 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> ayabicosplayfeaturedpodcastpodcastssijiawow-com-podcastwow-dot-com-podcastwow-insider-podcastwow-podcastwow-podcastingwow-podcastswow-radio-showwow-showwowcom-podcastwowinsider-show (Michael Sacco) Sat, 30 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST WoW.com <![CDATA[The Queue: Missing in action]]> http://www.wow.com/2010/01/29/the-queue-missing-in-action/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/29/the-queue-missing-in-action/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/29/the-queue-missing-in-action/#comments
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.

Alex Ziebart is missing. Okay, probably not missing. Probably knocked out by painkillers. Thus, I'm forced to do The Queue today.

Lolikitty asked:

"Will worgen start at friendly rep with the wolvar?"

Is your dog friends with the local badgers?


Continue reading The Queue: Missing in action

The Queue: Missing in action originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> featuredguideqaquestion-and-answerwow-answerswow-daily-answerswow-daily-questionswow-guidewow-player-questionswow-q-and-awow-questions (Michael Sacco) Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:00:00 EST WoW.com <![CDATA[The Queue: Puppies]]> http://www.wow.com/2010/01/28/the-queue-puppies/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/28/the-queue-puppies/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/28/the-queue-puppies/#comments
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.

Puppies. Puppies.


Aliceness asked ...

"Where might Blizzard go in terms of (maybe) implementing a new class for the next expansion? What kind of class haven't we seen?"

Continue reading The Queue: Puppies

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The Queue: Puppies originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> cataclysmfeaturedgoblinsguidehero-classhero-classesqaquestion-and-answerworgenwow-answerswow-daily-answerswow-daily-questionswow-guidewow-player-questionswow-q-and-awow-questions (Michael Sacco) Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:00:00 EST WoW.com <![CDATA[WoW.com welcomes our new lore columnist!]]> http://www.wow.com/2010/01/28/wow-com-welcomes-our-new-lore-columnist/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/28/wow-com-welcomes-our-new-lore-columnist/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/28/wow-com-welcomes-our-new-lore-columnist/#comments
After looking through the absolutely staggering number of applications for our new lore columnist position, we were able to narrow it down to just a few very, very good applications. Then we had to go through the painful process of narrowing those down further to find the best one.

And find the best one we did. Though it was a tough choice, we're proud to announce that we've hired Anne Stickney as our new lore columnist.

You might know Anne as Shade, writer of the popular lore blog Shades of Grey. With her encyclopedic knowledge of the Warcraft universe, her light-hearted style, and her intent of making lore accessible to anyone who cares to read about it, she was the perfect choice.

Anne will be providing all kinds of lore-based content to WoW.com, whether it's new Know Your Lore columns alongside Matthew Rossi, keeping our older lore columns up to date, or brand-new speculation based on upcoming content. You'll start seeing these in a few weeks, once she joins our raid and helps us take down the ultimate foe -- paperwork.

Also, please remember that we are looking for a resto shaman columnist -- you can find out more information on our applications page.

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WoW.com welcomes our new lore columnist! originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 28 Jan 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> anne-stickneylfmlorelore-columnist (Michael Sacco) Thu, 28 Jan 2010 14:00:00 EST WoW.com <![CDATA[WoW Insider Show Episode 126: Finally, he's gone]]> http://www.wow.com/2010/01/27/wow-insider-show-episode-126-finally-hes-gone/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/27/wow-insider-show-episode-126-finally-hes-gone/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/27/wow-insider-show-episode-126-finally-hes-gone/#comments
The WoW Insider Show podcast returned on Saturday, bringing with it your suspiciously-Italian-host-and-co-host team, Sacco and Rossi, along with WoW.com's own rogue (and now holy paladin!) columnist Chase Christian. We talked about keeping raid and pug habits separate, updating the game's character models, and other topics, as well as answering your emails.

If you're wondering why this download is available so late in the week, well, we're wondering that too. It's probably for the same reason that I keep getting lost to the aether during the podcast call. We're streamlining the process of getting the podcast everywhere it needs to go, though, so starting this week it should be available every Monday on the dot.

As always, you can email theshow@wow.com to have your email answered on the air, and if you have any guests you'd like to see on the show (or you'd like to be a guest yourself!) you can get a hold of us the same way.

Surprise! Editor's note: Don't worry, we'll have more of the GaGa for you next week!

Get the podcast:
[iTunes] Subscribe to the WoW Insider Show directly in iTunes.
[RSS] Add the WoW Insider Show to your RSS aggregator.
[MP3] Download the MP3 directly.

Listen here on the page:

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WoW Insider Show Episode 126: Finally, he's gone originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> featuredpodcastpodcastswow-com-podcastwow-dot-com-podcastwow-insider-podcastwow-podcastwow-podcastingwow-podcastswow-radio-showwow-showwowcom-podcastwowinsider-show (Michael Sacco) Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:30:00 EST WoW.com WoW Insider Show Episode 126 WoW Insider Staff 59:00 podcasts <![CDATA[The Daily Quest: Booooonestoooorm]]> http://www.wow.com/2010/01/26/the-daily-quest-booooonestoooorm/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/26/the-daily-quest-booooonestoooorm/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/26/the-daily-quest-booooonestoooorm/#comments
We here at WoW.com are on a Daily Quest to bring you interesting, informative and entertaining WoW-related links from around the blogosphere.

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The Daily Quest: Booooonestoooorm originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 26 Jan 2010 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> guideguide-indexworld-of-warcraft-infoworld-of-warcraft-linksworld-of-warcraft-siteswow-guidewow-guide-indexwow-indexwow-infowow-informationwow-linkswow-site-indexwow-sites (Michael Sacco) Tue, 26 Jan 2010 22:00:00 EST WoW.com <![CDATA[Totem Talk: Elemental gearing for the new 80, part 2]]> http://www.wow.com/2010/01/26/totem-talk-elemental-gearing-for-the-new-80-part-2/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/26/totem-talk-elemental-gearing-for-the-new-80-part-2/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/26/totem-talk-elemental-gearing-for-the-new-80-part-2/#comments Continue reading Totem Talk: Elemental gearing for the new 80, part 2

Totem Talk: Elemental gearing for the new 80, part 2 originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 26 Jan 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> (Michael Sacco) Tue, 26 Jan 2010 21:00:00 EST WoW.com <![CDATA[Totem Talk: Elemental gearing for the new 80]]> http://www.wow.com/2010/01/26/totem-talk-elemental-gearing-for-the-new-80/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/26/totem-talk-elemental-gearing-for-the-new-80/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/26/totem-talk-elemental-gearing-for-the-new-80/#comments
Melee combat? Barbaric. Healing? How pedestrian. Let the elements do the talking. Totem Talk: Elemental. Brought to you by Mike Sacco.

Last week I took you through Elemental 101, a crash course in playing your elemental shaman. Now that we've got the basics out of the way and you understand your talents and rotation, it seems as good a time as any to talk about gear.

We addressed the main stats you're looking for on elemental gear last week, but here's a quick rundown again for those who missed it: Hit rating, spell power, haste, and crit. These are the only four stats we'll be looking for on elemental gear, besides the obvious intellect and stamina boosts that'll be on nearly every piece of caster gear anyway.

If the above sounds like a pretty reasonable set of stats to look for, well, you're not wrong. So I've got good news and bad news for you. The good news? There's definitely elemental gear out there. The bad news? Good luck finding it. Elemental gearing has a lot of issues unique to both the shaman and this specific spec. And you're not gonna like them.

Continue reading Totem Talk: Elemental gearing for the new 80

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Totem Talk: Elemental gearing for the new 80 originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 26 Jan 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> armorclass-helpeleelementalfeaturedgeargear-guidegearingguideguide-to-shamansshaman-guideshaman-infoshaman-talentsshieldstalenttalentsweaponsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-shamanwow-shaman-infowow-talent-guide (Michael Sacco) Tue, 26 Jan 2010 21:00:00 EST WoW.com <![CDATA[Ask a Faction Leader: Vol'Jin]]> http://www.wow.com/2010/01/26/ask-a-faction-leader-voljin/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/26/ask-a-faction-leader-voljin/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/26/ask-a-faction-leader-voljin/#comments
WoW.com's prestige in the community has afforded us the opportunity to speak with major Azerothian leadership figures on any subject, and we're letting you, the reader, Ask a Faction Leader!

We recently spoke to High-Shaman Rakjak, leader of the Frenzyheart wolvar tribe, and he shed light on several key issues, including dumb fat-tongues, carnivorous mailboxes, visitor permits, wolvar fertility, and jarred urine. In this installment of Ask a Faction Leader, we'll be sitting with Vol'Jin, leader of the Darkspear trolls.

Our first reader question:


Dea' Vol'Jin,

W'at possesed ya ta train raptors fer ridin'? If ya hadn' noticed, we trolls be da tallest race of da Horde, and ridin' on da raptors only makes us even talla'! I can't fit though any of da doors in any of da major cities. Couldn' ya figure out how ta ride Crocklisks, instead? Dey be short 'nuff so I could git though da door into da Undacity elevator! So could ya give us some options? Would be nice...

~Fellow troll raptor rider

De way I see it, dis issue be about one t'ing and one t'ing alone.

Feddas.

Continue reading Ask a Faction Leader: Vol'Jin

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Ask a Faction Leader: Vol'Jin originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> aaflda-voodoodarkspeardarkspear-trollsecho-islesfaction-leaderfeaturedloarole-playrp-wowtrolltrollstusksvoljinworld-of-warcraft-lorewow-lorewow-role-playingwow-rpwow-rp-guidewow-rpingwow-stories (Michael Sacco) Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:00:00 EST WoW.com <![CDATA[The Queue: Go lay down]]> http://www.wow.com/2010/01/26/the-queue-go-lay-down/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/26/the-queue-go-lay-down/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/26/the-queue-go-lay-down/#comments
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.

Why do I always wait to do the easiest post of the day until four in the morning? I should do the easy one first, then do the several-thousand-word posts.

Flaskamel asked...

"Is it possible for 25 druids to kill a 25-man boss?"

Continue reading The Queue: Go lay down

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The Queue: Go lay down originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> balance-druidbalargarde-keepfeaturedguideheirloomskodokodosmoonkinqaquestion-and-answerwow-answerswow-daily-answerswow-daily-questionswow-guidewow-player-questionswow-q-and-awow-questions (Michael Sacco) Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:00:00 EST WoW.com <![CDATA[Patch 3.3.2 patch notes on official Korean WoW site]]> http://www.wow.com/2010/01/25/patch-3-3-2-patch-notes-on-official-korean-wow-site/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/25/patch-3-3-2-patch-notes-on-official-korean-wow-site/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/25/patch-3-3-2-patch-notes-on-official-korean-wow-site/#comments Blizzard, perhaps jumping the gun a little, has posted the patch notes for the upcoming Patch 3.3.2 mini-patch on the official Korean site. We've translated them for your convenience. Lots of changes to heroic dungeons, some class buffs (warlock, shaman, druid), and some class nerfs (prot warrior). All this and more, after the cut.

Disclaimer: Translation is hard! Some of these notes, especially more complex ones, may be slightly off. We'll post the official English notes when they're posted as well.

Update! Warbringer change clarified (again). Ghostcrawler chimed in about it.

Dungeons and Raids

Icecrown Citadel
  • The Frostwing Halls, the last stronghold of the Lich King and the Scourge, has been added, but the Ashen Verdict must break down the door first. (Does this mean we have to wait some additional time to fight Arthas?)
Halls of Stone
  • Brann Bronzebeard has been working out, so he'll run faster during the escort event.
Forge of Souls
  • Devourer of Souls will cast Mirrored Soul less often.
  • Trash mob Spell Reflect abilities have been changed. It now has a casting time, and will proc only twice at a rate of 75% instead of 100%.

Continue reading Patch 3.3.2 patch notes on official Korean WoW site

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Patch 3.3.2 patch notes on official Korean WoW site originally appeared on WoW.com on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> affliction-warlockarena-seasonbalance-druidbreakingdemo-lockdemonology-warlockdestro-lockdestruction-warlockelemental-shamanfrostwing-hallsheroicsnotespatchpatch-3.3patch-3.3-changespatch-3.3-wowpatch-3.3.2patch-notesprot-warriorprotection-warriorseason-8season-eightsindragosatoravontoravon-the-ice-watchervalithria-dreamwalkerwarlockwarlocksworld-of-warcraft-patch-3.3wow-3.3-changeswow-new-patchwow-patchwow-patch-3.3wow-patch-news (Michael Sacco) Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:00:00 EST WoW.com <![CDATA[Upcoming tier 10 tank armor stat changes]]> http://www.wow.com/2010/01/25/upcoming-tier-10-tank-armor-stat-changes/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/25/upcoming-tier-10-tank-armor-stat-changes/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/25/upcoming-tier-10-tank-armor-stat-changes/#comments

With Icecrown Citadel's unpopular Chill of the Throne debuff, or as we like to call it, "Getting out of Dodge," tanks have had to re-prioritize in terms of avoidance and mitigation stats to the point where tier 10 gear might not be as desirable as Blizzard intended. Thankfully, they appear to have realized this, and change is coming! To tier 10 tank gear, anyway. Blizzard CM Zarhym posted a note on the official forums announcing their plans for said gear:
"We recognize that many plate tanks are making their gear choices based on the amount of armor they're provided, as this is currently the most preferred stat. In order to make the tier-10 plate tanking sets more desirable, we will be adjusting the stats on the gloves and chest pieces in order to inflate the amount of armor they provide in the next minor patch. This will apply to all item levels of the tier-10 death knight, warrior, and paladin tanking gloves and chest pieces."
He also noted that Emblem gear will continue to be comparable to the tier gear in terms of stats and, for those concerned about Feral tanks, they'll be keeping an eye on gear scaling on druid tank gear as well.

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Upcoming tier 10 tank armor stat changes originally appeared on WoW.com on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> chill-of-the-thronedeath-knightdkdruidferalferal-druidicecrown-citadelicecrown-radianceitemizationpaladint10tanktankingtier-10tier10warrior (Michael Sacco) Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:40:00 EST WoW.com <![CDATA[WoW Insider Show live today at 3:30 PM Eastern]]> http://www.wow.com/2010/01/23/wow-insider-show-live-today-at-3-30-pm-eastern/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/23/wow-insider-show-live-today-at-3-30-pm-eastern/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/23/wow-insider-show-live-today-at-3-30-pm-eastern/#comments The WoW Insider Show returns to the airwaves today at 3:30 PM Eastern time, bringing with it your host Michael Sacco, cohost Matthew Rossi, and special guest and WoW.com staffer Chase Christian. We'll be answering reader emails, shootin' the breeze, and, of course, discussing the week's top stories on WoW.com and around the web.

And, lest we forget, they'll talk live with the folks in the chat channel. You can email the podcast any time of night or day at theshow@wow.com, and you'll be able to listen in to the show on the feed on our Ustream site, or after the jump.

Continue reading WoW Insider Show live today at 3:30 PM Eastern

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WoW Insider Show live today at 3:30 PM Eastern originally appeared on WoW.com on Sat, 23 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> featuredpodcastpodcastswow-com-podcastwow-dot-com-podcastwow-insider-podcastwow-podcastwow-podcastingwow-podcastswow-radio-showwow-showwowcom-podcastwowinsider-show (Michael Sacco) Sat, 23 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST WoW.com <![CDATA[The Queue: Catnap]]> http://www.wow.com/2010/01/22/the-queue-catnap/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/22/the-queue-catnap/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/22/the-queue-catnap/#comments
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 be your host today.

I am tired, folks. Here is your Queue.


D-Back asked...

"What happened to AAFL? Is Sacco slacking off now due to his new Editor title and new shammy column? I enjoyed the AAFL articles."

Ask a Faction Leader is, for serious, coming back this Tuesday. Vol'Jin will be the titular faction leader. Email your questions to sacco@wow.com, subject line "AAFL".

Continue reading The Queue: Catnap

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The Queue: Catnap originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 22 Jan 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> aaflask-a-faction-leaderblood-princescaverns-of-timecaverns-of-time-stratholmefeaturedguidekelesethqaquestion-and-answerstratholmevalanarwow-answerswow-daily-answerswow-daily-questionswow-guidewow-player-questionswow-q-and-awow-questions (Michael Sacco) Fri, 22 Jan 2010 19:00:00 EST WoW.com <![CDATA[Bobby Kotick didn't think Blizzard was worth $7 million in '96]]> http://www.wow.com/2010/01/21/bobby-kotick-didnt-think-blizzard-was-worth-7-million-in-96/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/21/bobby-kotick-didnt-think-blizzard-was-worth-7-million-in-96/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/21/bobby-kotick-didnt-think-blizzard-was-worth-7-million-in-96/#comments Have you ever looked at something new on the auction house and thought "Who would pay a thousand gold for that," only to find that months later the item has skyrocketed in price and you missed a golden opportunity to pick it up on the cheap? Activision kingpin Bobby Kotick might make the same analogy. If he played video games, I mean.

The Escapist clued us in to this little story: back in 1995, Kotick was eating lunch with some folks from Davidson & Associates, and they told him that they had just bought up-and-coming software developer Blizzard Entertainment for the tidy sum of seven million dollars -- a number that a baffled Kotick believed to be ridiculous. At the time, Blizzard's claim to fame was Warcraft: Orcs vs. Humans, and ... that's pretty much it, save for a few one-off games like Blackthorne and The Lost Vikings. Kotick called them nothing more than a "contract developer" and remarked that they weren't worth seven million bucks.

Of course, later that year, Blizzard released Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, which catapulted them into gaming history forever. Thirteen years later, in 2008, Kotick (and Activision) paid seven billion dollars to acquire Blizzard. For those not into mathematics, that's one thousand times more than what Davidson & Associates paid.

Well, he was right about one thing. They definitely weren't worth seven million bucks. He just didn't know how right he was at the time.

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Bobby Kotick didn't think Blizzard was worth $7 million in '96 originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> actiblizzardactivisionactivision-blizzardbobbybobby-kotickdavidson-and-associateskotickmergerrichie-cunninghamvivendi (Michael Sacco) Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:00:00 EST WoW.com <![CDATA[WoW Insider Show Episode 125 with Project Lore]]> http://www.wow.com/2010/01/19/wow-insider-show-episode-125-with-project-lore/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/19/wow-insider-show-episode-125-with-project-lore/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/19/wow-insider-show-episode-125-with-project-lore/#comments Despite the fairly slow news week, we had a good WoW Insider Show podcast this Saturday, with Project Lore writers Tim "Heartbourne" Tusing and Jimmy "DJTyrant" Blocksom stopping by to offer their unique perspective on reader emails, the week's top stories, and having too little to talk about, for once. We discussed Sam Raimi's newfound freedom to work on the Warcraft movie, the Blizzard dev chat on Twitter, why tauren paladins really aren't that broken, and a myriad of other topics.

As always, you can email theshow@wow.com to have your email answered on the air, and if you have any guests you'd like to see on the show (or you'd like to be a guest yourself!) you can get a hold of us the same way.

Get the podcast:
[iTunes] Subscribe to the WoW Insider Show directly in iTunes.
[RSS] Add the WoW Insider Show to your RSS aggregator.
[MP3] Download the MP3 directly.

Listen here on the page:

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WoW Insider Show Episode 125 with Project Lore originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> dev-catdjtyrantfeaturedheartbournejimmy-blocksompodcastpodcastssam-raimitim-tusingtwitterwarcraft-moviewow-com-podcastwow-dot-com-podcastwow-insider-podcastwow-podcastwow-podcastingwow-podcastswow-radio-showwow-showwowcom-podcastwowinsider-show (Michael Sacco) Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:00:00 EST WoW.com WoW Insider Show Episode 125 WoW Insider Staff 60:43 podcasts <![CDATA[Totem Talk: Elemental 101, Part 3]]> http://www.wow.com/2010/01/19/totem-talk-elemental-101-part-3/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/19/totem-talk-elemental-101-part-3/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/19/totem-talk-elemental-101-part-3/#comments Continue reading Totem Talk: Elemental 101, Part 3

Totem Talk: Elemental 101, Part 3 originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> (Michael Sacco) Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST WoW.com <![CDATA[Totem Talk: Elemental 101, Part 2]]> http://www.wow.com/2010/01/19/totem-talk-elemental-101-part-2/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/19/totem-talk-elemental-101-part-2/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/19/totem-talk-elemental-101-part-2/#comments Continue reading Totem Talk: Elemental 101, Part 2

Totem Talk: Elemental 101, Part 2 originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> (Michael Sacco) Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST WoW.com <![CDATA[Totem Talk: Elemental 101]]> http://www.wow.com/2010/01/19/totem-talk-elemental-101/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/19/totem-talk-elemental-101/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/19/totem-talk-elemental-101/#comments
Melee combat? Barbaric. Healing? How pedestrian. Let the elements do the talking. Totem Talk: Elemental. Brought to you by Mike Sacco.

If you're here and reading this, you've probably decided that elemental will be one of your shaman's two possible specs and you want to get a good grasp of how it all works before you dive in. The maiden voyage of Totem Talk's Elemental edition is intended to tell you everything you need to know to get started as one of the game's simplest specs, from mechanics to gearing to rotation.

What it isn't intended to be the is be-all-end-all of Elemental theorycrafting. We'll delve into more complex stuff later on.

Let's get started!

Continue reading Totem Talk: Elemental 101

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Totem Talk: Elemental 101 originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> 101class-101class-helpeleelementalelemental-shamanfeaturedguideguide-to-shamansshamanshaman-guideshaman-infoshaman-talentstalenttalentsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-shamanwow-shaman-infowow-talent-guide (Michael Sacco) Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST WoW.com <![CDATA[WoW Insider Show live today at 3:30 PM Eastern]]> http://www.wow.com/2010/01/16/wow-insider-show-live-today-at-3-30-pm-eastern/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/16/wow-insider-show-live-today-at-3-30-pm-eastern/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/16/wow-insider-show-live-today-at-3-30-pm-eastern/#comments The WoW Insider Show returns to the airwaves today at 3:30 PM Eastern time, bringing with it familiar faces Michael Sacco and Matthew Rossi (your host and co-host, respectively), with special guests Tim "Heartbourne" Tusing and Jimmy "DJTyrant" Blocksom of Project Lore bringing their unique perspectives to this week's top stories, both here and around the internet.

And, of course, they'll answer your emails and talk live with the folks in the chat channel. You can email the podcast any time of night or day at theshow@wow.com, and you'll be able to listen in to the show on the feed on our Ustream site, or after the jump.

Continue reading WoW Insider Show live today at 3:30 PM Eastern

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WoW Insider Show live today at 3:30 PM Eastern originally appeared on WoW.com on Sat, 16 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> featuredheartbournejimmy-blocksommatt-rossimatthew-rossimichael-saccomike-saccopodcastpodcastsproject-loretim-tusingwow-com-podcastwow-dot-com-podcastwow-insider-podcastwow-podcastwow-podcastingwow-podcastswow-radio-showwow-showwowcom-podcastwowinsider-show (Michael Sacco) Sat, 16 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST WoW.com <![CDATA[WoW Insider Show Episode 124 feat. Daryl Brewer and Fatty]]> http://www.wow.com/2010/01/11/wow-insider-show-episode-124-feat-daryl-brewer-and-fatty/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/11/wow-insider-show-episode-124-feat-daryl-brewer-and-fatty/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/11/wow-insider-show-episode-124-feat-daryl-brewer-and-fatty/#comments We had a great time on the WoW Insider Show podcast this week, where my co-host Matt Rossi and I were visited by guest hosts and former WoW Idol winners Daryl Brewer and Fatty. We answered your emails live (Rossi predictably talked forever about choice of tanks for one reader, while Fatty and Daryl weighed in on what they don't want to see in Cataclysm), shouted out to the chat channel, and (of course) talked about WoW.com's top stories of the week. Eventually.

A special thanks to Daryl and Fatty for being on the show this week -- you can check out Daryl's music on his Last.fm page, and for fans of Fatty, you can grab her "Daily Heroic" EP on iTunes and CDBaby for under five bucks, or check out the rest of her work at thesixtyone.com/fatty.

Get the podcast:
[iTunes] Subscribe to the WoW Insider Show directly in iTunes.
[RSS] Add the WoW Insider Show to your RSS aggregator.
[MP3] Download the MP3 directly.

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WoW Insider Show Episode 124 feat. Daryl Brewer and Fatty originally appeared on WoW.com on Mon, 11 Jan 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> cataclysmdaryl-brewerfattyfeaturedpodcastpodcastswow-com-podcastwow-dot-com-podcastwow-insider-podcastwow-podcastwow-podcastingwow-podcastswow-radio-showwow-showwowcom-podcastwowinsider-show (Michael Sacco) Mon, 11 Jan 2010 09:00:00 EST WoW.com WoW Insider Show Episode 124 WoW Insider Staff 69:55 podcasts <![CDATA[WoW Insider Show live today at 3:30 PM Eastern]]> http://www.wow.com/2010/01/09/wow-insider-show-live-today-at-3-30-pm-eastern/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/09/wow-insider-show-live-today-at-3-30-pm-eastern/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/09/wow-insider-show-live-today-at-3-30-pm-eastern/#comments The WoW Insider Show returns to the airwaves today at 3:30 PM Eastern time, bringing you the melodious sound of WoW Idols! Michael Sacco, as always, will be hosting, and Matthew Rossi will be your co-host, with special guests Daryl Brewer and Fatty of WoW Idol bringing their special musical touch to the show. We'll be talking about the strange case of the teen who ran away from home to meet his much older WoW soulmate, as well as the new wing of Icecrown Citadel and other top stories of the week.

And, of course, they'll answer your emails and talk live with the folks in the chat channel. You can email the podcast any time of night or day at theshow@wow.com, and you'll be able to listen in to the show on the feed on our Ustream site, or after the jump.

Continue reading WoW Insider Show live today at 3:30 PM Eastern

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WoW Insider Show live today at 3:30 PM Eastern originally appeared on WoW.com on Sat, 09 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> featuredpodcastpodcastswow-com-podcastwow-dot-com-podcastwow-insider-podcastwow-podcastwow-podcastingwow-podcastswow-radio-showwow-showwowcom-podcastwowinsider-show (Michael Sacco) Sat, 09 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST WoW.com <![CDATA[The Queue: Strictly business.]]> http://www.wow.com/2010/01/08/the-queue-strictly-business/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/08/the-queue-strictly-business/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/08/the-queue-strictly-business/#comments 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.

Mourl asked...

Can addons affect the character select screen? Or any UI from the time you log in at the main title to screen to the point you "Enter World" on your character?

Nope, because AddOns don't load until you log into the game with a character. Nothing can pretty up your character selection screen, save for Blizzard.

Continue reading The Queue: Strictly business.

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The Queue: Strictly business. originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> featuredguideqaquestion-and-answerwow-answerswow-daily-answerswow-daily-questionswow-guidewow-player-questionswow-q-and-awow-questions (Michael Sacco) Fri, 08 Jan 2010 20:00:00 EST WoW.com <![CDATA[The Daily Quest: Bleeding hearts]]> http://www.wow.com/2010/01/06/the-daily-quest-bleeding-hearts/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/06/the-daily-quest-bleeding-hearts/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/06/the-daily-quest-bleeding-hearts/#comments We here at WoW.com are on a Daily Quest to bring you interesting, informative and entertaining WoW-related links from around the blogosphere.

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The Daily Quest: Bleeding hearts originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 06 Jan 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> guideguide-indexheartpiercelady-deathwhisperlady-deathwhisper-strategymutilateoculusrogueroguesthe-oculusworld-of-warcraft-infoworld-of-warcraft-linksworld-of-warcraft-siteswow-guidewow-guide-indexwow-indexwow-infowow-informationwow-linkswow-site-indexwow-sites (Michael Sacco) Wed, 06 Jan 2010 19:00:00 EST WoW.com <![CDATA[WoW Insider Show Episode 123: Goodnight everybody]]> http://www.wow.com/2010/01/04/wow-insider-show-episode-123-goodnight-everybody/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/04/wow-insider-show-episode-123-goodnight-everybody/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/04/wow-insider-show-episode-123-goodnight-everybody/#comments
The WoW Insider Show podcast aired once again this Saturday, with me and my guest hosts Matthew Rossi and Colby Moore delving into reader emails and this week's top stories on WoW.com. Thrill as we answer the age-old question of "Is it worth it to skip bosses in random heroics?" Marvel as we say it's pretty okay for Blizzard to help out the police! Gasp as I forget to thank my cohosts at the end of the show and pull a Yakko Warner! Goodnight everybody.

As always, you can email us at theshow@wow.com with any questions or comments -- we might even read yours live on the air.

Get the podcast:
[iTunes] Subscribe to the WoW Insider Show directly in iTunes.
[RSS] Add the WoW Insider Show to your RSS aggregator.
[MP3] Download the MP3 directly.

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WoW Insider Show Episode 123: Goodnight everybody originally appeared on WoW.com on Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> c-christian-moorecataclysmcolby-moorefeaturedheroicsmatt-rossimatthew-rossimichael-saccomike-saccopodcastpodcaststop-storieswow-com-podcastwow-dot-com-podcastwow-insider-podcastwow-podcastwow-podcastingwow-podcastswow-radio-showwow-showwowcom-podcastwowinsider-show (Michael Sacco) Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST WoW.com WoW Insider Show Episode 123 WoW Insider Staff 62:05 podcasts <![CDATA[The Queue: More like Porkrend, am I right]]> http://www.wow.com/2010/01/01/the-queue-more-like-porkrend-am-i-right/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/01/the-queue-more-like-porkrend-am-i-right/ http://www.wow.com/2010/01/01/the-queue-more-like-porkrend-am-i-right/#comments 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. Michael Sacco will be your host today.

That's influenza A virus subtype H1N1 up there, but I'm pretty sure you thought it was just a really blurry map of Northrend at first glance. I'm not wrong. You thought it.

Mr. Shinra asked...

Why exactly are there places where we suddenly and magically cannot mount up (I mean *aside* from combat which is obvious), such as getting killed by the trash after Ionar in Halls of Lightning and having to run all the way back. You've seen how big and expansive those halls are, I don't see a major reason why we cannot mount up to get back a bit quicker. At least in Culling of Stratholme we can ride from that house to the city proper-- so its not a consistent rule entirely either.

I'm not suggesting there aren't places where it makes a bit more sense; I can understand small areas such as the various vendors in Orgimmar and their tiny huts, where there just isn't enough room, but a lot of the times, it seems like we have to dismount because... the game said so, and nothing else. For the majority of locations where it occurs, why do we have to dismount?

The rule in place for 99% of the game is that you cannot mount indoors. There are some exceptions to the rule, such as Ironforge, but that's the basic idea.

Continue reading The Queue: More like Porkrend, am I right

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The Queue: More like Porkrend, am I right originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 01 Jan 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> featuredguideicecrownicecrown-citadelmountsqaquestion-and-answerraidraidsthrallWildhammerwildhammer dwarveswildhammer-clanWildhammerDwarveswow-answerswow-daily-answerswow-daily-questionswow-guidewow-player-questionswow-q-and-awow-questions (Michael Sacco) Fri, 01 Jan 2010 16:00:00 EST WoW.com <![CDATA[WoW Insider Show Episode 122: Press the [Spoon] button]]> http://www.wow.com/2009/12/30/wow-insider-show-episode-122-press-the-spoon-button/ http://www.wow.com/2009/12/30/wow-insider-show-episode-122-press-the-spoon-button/ http://www.wow.com/2009/12/30/wow-insider-show-episode-122-press-the-spoon-button/#comments The WoW Insider Show podcast continued along its very merry way this Saturday, and a good time was had by all. Guest co-host Matt Rossi and I discussed our favorite WoW.com stories from the first half of 2009 (with more to come this Saturday), talked a little about Icecrown progression and gating, and weighed in on the quality of Wrath's various patches. We also discussed some very romantic Saber Lash fight strategies, as you might guess by the title of this week's show.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by to listen this week -- we've still got a few kinks to work out with the new format, but we're pretty pleased with this week's show and next week's should be even better. As always, if you have a question or comment for the show, email us at theshow@wow.com and you might just hear it on the air.

Get the podcast:
[iTunes] Subscribe to the WoW Insider Show directly in iTunes.
[RSS] Add the WoW Insider Show to your RSS aggregator.
[MP3] Download the MP3 directly.

Listen here on the page:

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WoW Insider Show Episode 122: Press the [Spoon] button originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> featuredicecrownicecrown-citadel-raidmatt-rossimatthew-rossimichael-saccomike-saccopodcastpodcastsspoontop-storieswow-com-podcastwow-dot-com-podcastwow-insider-podcastwow-podcastwow-podcastingwow-podcastswow-radio-showwow-showwowcom-podcastwowinsider-show (Michael Sacco) Wed, 30 Dec 2009 09:00:00 EST WoW.com WoW Insider Show Episode 122 WoW Insider Staff 58:40 podcasts <![CDATA[WoW Insider Show live today at 3:30 PM Eastern]]> http://www.wow.com/2009/12/26/wow-insider-show-live-today-at-3-30-pm-eastern/ http://www.wow.com/2009/12/26/wow-insider-show-live-today-at-3-30-pm-eastern/ http://www.wow.com/2009/12/26/wow-insider-show-live-today-at-3-30-pm-eastern/#comments The WoW Insider Show returns to the airwaves today at 3:30 PM Eastern time, bringing you a hot, steaming plate of holiday leftovers. Well, if the latest WoW news and views are what you ate for Christmas dinner, anyway. Michael Sacco will be your jolly host, likely getting his halls decked by co-host Matthew "Burly Ives" Rossi, with a possible appearance by venerable editor Adam Ho-Ho-Holisky. We'll be discussing the part of Winter Veil to which everyone really looks forward: the presents, as well as the team's and our favorite articles of 2009 and the wait for more Icecrown bosses. Maybe we'll even talk about Christmas.

And as usual, of course, we'll answer your emails and talk live with the denizens of our seedy chatroom. You can email us any time of night or day at theshow@wow.com, and you'll be able to listen in to the show on the feed on our Ustream site, or after the jump.

Continue reading WoW Insider Show live today at 3:30 PM Eastern

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WoW Insider Show live today at 3:30 PM Eastern originally appeared on WoW.com on Sat, 26 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> adam-holiskyfeaturedicecrownicecrown-citadelmatthew-rossimichael-saccopodcastpodcastswinter-veilwow-com-podcastwow-dot-com-podcastwow-insider-podcastwow-podcastwow-podcastingwow-podcastswow-radio-showwow-showwowcom-podcastwowinsider-show (Michael Sacco) Sat, 26 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST WoW.com <![CDATA[The Queue: The grand melee]]> http://www.wow.com/2009/12/18/the-queue-the-grand-melee/ http://www.wow.com/2009/12/18/the-queue-the-grand-melee/ http://www.wow.com/2009/12/18/the-queue-the-grand-melee/#comments 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.

For no discernable reason, the WoW.com Twitter account is asking who would win in a three-way grand melee between the Queue writers -- Alex Ziebart, Adam Holisky, and me, the inimitable Mike Sacco. Whoever wins has to face Matthew Rossi in single combat, which, of course, means that they lose. So whoever wins, Rossi wins.

Before we all fall to the cruel burly forearms of Rossi, though, we can probably answer some reader questions. Or at least I can, given that it's my day to do it.

Edge asked...

When a cross realm group wipes and has to get back to the instance from outside, which version of the "outside" are we in? What I mean is, outside the instance, are we all together on one of the servers, or does each person go back out to their own servers "outside" area, and then come back into the same instance? Or is this a whole new area just for these 5 particular people?

When you zone out of a cross-realm instance, the "outside" is your particular realm.


Continue reading The Queue: The grand melee

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The Queue: The grand melee originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 18 Dec 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> 40-man40mancataclysmconsoledeathwingfeaturedguideqaquestion-and-answerraid-browserwow-answerswow-daily-answerswow-daily-questionswow-guidewow-player-questionswow-q-and-awow-questions (Michael Sacco) Fri, 18 Dec 2009 20:00:00 EST WoW.com <![CDATA[Still time to win the Twelve Days of Grunty contest]]> http://www.wow.com/2009/12/17/still-time-to-win-the-twelve-days-of-grunty-contest/ http://www.wow.com/2009/12/17/still-time-to-win-the-twelve-days-of-grunty-contest/ http://www.wow.com/2009/12/17/still-time-to-win-the-twelve-days-of-grunty-contest/#comments With so many sites and stores promoting commercialism and spending, it's always refreshing to see fansites run contests that are in the true spirit of the season -- altruism (and ad traffic, of course). In this case, WoW-Achievements.com is getting into the Winter Veil spirit with their Twelve Days of Grunty contest!

From December 13th to December 25th, the site is presenting one new WoW trivia question each day. A winner is chosen randomly from those who answer correctly, and each day a Grunty the Murloc Marine pet is awarded. No registration is necessary, and the questions are easily answerable with a quick Google search. If you didn't get to go to BlizzCon '09, or if you didn't order the livestream from DirecTV, this might be your only shot at getting Grunty in your digital stocking, save asking Santa. And I don't think Santa does the whole eBay thing.

If you know of other sites running holiday contests, please let us know so we can make sure everybody gets a chance to cash in on the season of giving!

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Still time to win the Twelve Days of Grunty contest originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> blizzconblizzcon-09contestgiveawaygruntygrunty-the-murlocGrunty-the-Murloc-Marineholidaysweepstakeswow-achievements (Michael Sacco) Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:00:00 EST WoW.com <![CDATA[The Queue: Going to a party party]]> http://www.wow.com/2009/12/17/the-queue-going-to-a-party-party/ http://www.wow.com/2009/12/17/the-queue-going-to-a-party-party/ http://www.wow.com/2009/12/17/the-queue-going-to-a-party-party/#comments
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. Michael Sacco will be your host today.

It's my little brother's birthday today -- fourteen years old, what the heck -- so today's Queue is quick and dirty so I can get the caking and presenting done.

Lochlorien asked...

Will we be able to wield Frostmourne after we defeat Arthas?

Nope, the developers opted not to make Frostmourne an equippable weapon, replacing it as the Icecrown legendary weapon with Shadowmourne.

Continue reading The Queue: Going to a party party

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The Queue: Going to a party party originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> draenorfeaturedfrostmourneguideold-godsoutlandqaquestion-and-answertitanswow-answerswow-daily-answerswow-daily-questionswow-guidewow-player-questionswow-q-and-awow-questions (Michael Sacco) Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST WoW.com <![CDATA[Hot Topic introduces new WoW merchandise, cute model]]> http://www.wow.com/2009/12/17/hot-topic-introduces-new-wow-merchandise-cute-model/ http://www.wow.com/2009/12/17/hot-topic-introduces-new-wow-merchandise-cute-model/ http://www.wow.com/2009/12/17/hot-topic-introduces-new-wow-merchandise-cute-model/#comments Following on the heels of J!NX's new winter line of WoW merchandise, Hot Topic has released a new line of Blizzard-themed apparel just in time for the holidays.

Included among the many newcomers to the line are "spray-painted" Alliance and Horde logo shirts, faction insignia wallets, Starcraft II and Diablo III shirts, hoodies with a neat piece of art depicting an Alliance/Horde battle (replete with male model rocking a worrisome mustache) and, for the ladies in your life, a cute purple "Fight Like a Girl" t-shirt with a set of the highly feminine night elf hunter and blood elf paladin. That's right -- now you too can have a qtbelf on your chest, or the chest of a female WoWer near and dear to your heart. As long as she's a size small or medium, anyway. The other sizes are sold out.

Speaking of near and dear to my heart, that model! Aye aye aye. For her, if that shirt was available in mens' sizes, I'd buy it even if it said "I play as a female character in World of Warcraft." I mean, I do. Several of them, but. You know. Still.

All the new pieces are available at HotTopic.com or at your local Hot Topic store. Remember, those places are guarded by level 14 elite scenesters. Bring friends.

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Hot Topic introduces new WoW merchandise, cute model originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> apparelclothinghoodiehoodieshothot-topicjinxjnxmerchmerchandiseshirtshirtstopic (Michael Sacco) Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:00:00 EST WoW.com <![CDATA[Blizzard developers to speak at GDC 2010]]> http://www.wow.com/2009/12/17/blizzard-developers-to-speak-at-gdc-2010/ http://www.wow.com/2009/12/17/blizzard-developers-to-speak-at-gdc-2010/ http://www.wow.com/2009/12/17/blizzard-developers-to-speak-at-gdc-2010/#comments Following the pattern held in previous years, Blizzard will again be loaning out some of their top developers for panels at this year's Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco, CA. WoW's former Lead Producer Jeff Kaplan, a.k.a. Tigole, presented the keynote speech at last year's GDC, and this year two top developers will be on tap to give horribly esoteric panels.

Brian Schwab, Blizzard's Senior AI/Gameplay Engineer, will be presenting a lecture on AI architecture ...

"AI programmers rarely use a pure architecture such as a State Machine, Planner, or Behavior Tree in isolation. Rather, several symbiotic architectures are mashed together, resulting in an overall architecture that is unique and powerful in its own way. This lecture is designed as a series of three mini-lectures where you will hear about several mashed up AI architectures along with intriguing lessons and insights."

... and Erin Catto, Blizzard's Principle Software Engineer, will be presenting a workshop on physics engines.

"This one-day tutorial continues the 10-year tradition of the Math for Programmers and Physics for Programmers tutorials by bringing together some of the best presenters in gaming physics. Over the course of a day they will get programmers up to speed in the latest techniques and deepen their knowledge in the topic of physical simulation."

More information, including panel times and availability, can be seen on BlizzPlanet's writeup of the announcement. This is basically total nerd talk -- it's very unlikely that we'll have any new WoW-related info from these panels, unlike Kaplan's keynote, but anything is possible. We'll keep you posted.

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Blizzard developers to speak at GDC 2010 originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> ai-architecturebrian-schwaberin-cattogame-developers-conferencegdcgdc-2010gdc10gdc2010jeff-kaplanlecturelecturesphysicsphysics-enginestigoleworkshopworkshops (Michael Sacco) Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:00:00 EST WoW.com <![CDATA[The Queue: Isthmus-time is here]]> http://www.wow.com/2009/12/16/the-queue-isthmus-time-is-here/ http://www.wow.com/2009/12/16/the-queue-isthmus-time-is-here/ http://www.wow.com/2009/12/16/the-queue-isthmus-time-is-here/#comments 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. Michael Sacco will be your host today.

It's officially Winter Veil, and you know what that means! Azerothians donning their yuletide apparel and decking the halls with the blood of their enemies. Is there anything more demoralizing than getting decapitated by someone dressed like a holiday centerfold? And just think, without achievements, this activity would be naught but a holiday novelty. Technology is a wondrous thing.

Daniel asked...

I have noticed that dark ranger hanging around in Dalaran, and decided to look them up, and noticed that they were neutral hero unit in Warcraft 3:The Frozen Throne. I was wondering, could, it be even remotely possible, that in the future we have that class introduced into the game that will be neutral?

Extremely unlikely. There are also some dark rangers wandering around the Undercity post-3.3, and it appears that they're there as a buildup to playable forsaken hunters in Cataclysm. Sylvanas herself is classified as a dark ranger. We'll probably see quests just like the ones introducing night elf mages and tauren priests and paladins for these NPCs.

Continue reading The Queue: Isthmus-time is here

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The Queue: Isthmus-time is here originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 16 Dec 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> cataclysmdragonflightdragonflightsdragonkindragonsdungeon-finderfeaturedgoblinsguideqaquestion-and-answerworgenwow-answerswow-daily-answerswow-daily-questionswow-guidewow-player-questionswow-q-and-awow-questions (Michael Sacco) Wed, 16 Dec 2009 20:00:00 EST WoW.com <![CDATA[The Queue: Literally]]> http://www.wow.com/2009/12/14/the-queue-literally/ http://www.wow.com/2009/12/14/the-queue-literally/ http://www.wow.com/2009/12/14/the-queue-literally/#comments
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. Michael Sacco will be your host today.

Editor's Note: The above image has now been fixed to include its original participants.

What a great week for dungeon running. Got my shaman his full tier 9 set, my rogue her 2-piece, and a myriad of other badges and loot for my other alts. Soon I'll start pawning off my alt's Emblems of Frost for Primordial Saronite and finance some epic flying. Plus I've gathered enough mats to get my rogue berserking on both of her weapons. Not bad, Patch 3.3. Not bad indeed.

But wait! The Queue is about you. Let's get some you in here.

Squirr3llywrath9 asked...

What's the deal with the Scarlet Crusade? I thought they were against anything that is against the teachings of the Light, particularly the scourge. But in Dragonblight there are shadow priests and death knights in the various bases the crusade has in Northrend. Was wondering if I missed anything that explains their change in ideals.

Continue reading The Queue: Literally

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The Queue: Literally originally appeared on WoW.com on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> burning-legiondungeon-finderfeaturedguidekiljaedenkorkron-overseerlfglfg-toollooking-for-groupqaquestion-and-answerundercitywow-answerswow-daily-answerswow-daily-questionswow-guidewow-player-questionswow-q-and-awow-questionswrathgate (Michael Sacco) Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:00:00 EST WoW.com