July 4th, 2009 by admin

Note to all you Americanos out there — be careful with your Independence Day fireworks! Otherwise you’ll end up like Bilirubin of Daggerspine, disintegrated so thoroughly that the only thing left behind is your confused, jawless spirit, wondering what on earth just happened. Either that or you’ll survive to explain to me and the other EMTs why you thought it was a good idea to operate a homemade mortar launcher after drinking a twelve-pack of Coors Light. The disintegrating-into-dust option would probably be more pleasant.

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, or pictures of the Ninja Turtles in Dalaran.

Filed under: Screenshots, Around Azeroth, Galleries

Around Azeroth: Karma chameleon originally appeared on WoW.com on Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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July 4th, 2009 by admin

It’s that time of year again — Summer is in the air, baseball is well underway (I’m still pulling for the Cubs, even though it’s a rollercoaster as usual), and things are grilling on the, um, grill. Here in America, today is Independence Day, and we’re celebrating our independence from you EU folks — don’t take it personally, but we’d had it up to here with your taxation without representation, and we just wanted to spend some time on our own for a while. So while most of our bloggers are relaxing and lighting explosives on fire, posting might be a little slim around here today. Just in case you need something to read, you can always catch up on all the amazing Patch 3.2 details, dream about going to BlizzCon (or just ogle the costumes), or finish up your Midsummer Fire Festival achievements.

And if the last few years are any indication, there’ll be some celebrations in Azeroth this evening as well (yes, even on the EU servers), with fireworks aplenty (we’re pretty sure they do them on the hour every hour this evening — Booty Bay always has a nice display), and free beer and food outside the capital cities. So if you’re here in America with us, be sure to have a very happy and safe Fourth of July from all of us here at WoW.com!

Filed under: Items, Tips, Events, Fan stuff, Virtual selves, Blizzard

Happy Fourth of July from WoW.com originally appeared on WoW.com on Sat, 04 Jul 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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July 4th, 2009 by admin

As I said the other day, we’ve talked about the dumbed-down argument quite a few times before, but I think this is the first time I’ve ever heard the opposite argument put forth so succinctly: Tadaa asks, over on the forums, “Is WoW getting too complex?” Longtime players will probably say no at first glance — the game has been streamlined a lot since it first game out, and things that took up much of your time previously (tracking quests, looking up quest targets, dealing with respecs, and finding groups) now have systems built into the game that let you get past them easily. But think of what it would be like to step into Azeroth nowadays — instead of just a chat channel where you can find groups, there’s a whole system with terms like “damage” and “tank” in there. On first glance, it might be tough to figure out. And then there’s things like resilience and Replenishment (which some experienced players don’t even fully understand), and even things we think of as helpful features (getting pets and currency out of our inventory) can be super confusing for new players: where did that pet go that I just clicked on, or that badge that I just saw looted to me in the combat window?

Continue reading Breakfast Topic: Is WoW too complex?

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Odds and ends, Blizzard, Breakfast topics

Breakfast Topic: Is WoW too complex? originally appeared on WoW.com on Sat, 04 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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July 3rd, 2009 by admin

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

Here’s a Queue question straight from me to me: What do me and panda bears have in common? The answer is rings around our eyes, though I’m pretty sure that pandas have them genetically and not from staying up until seven in the morning watching Veronica Mars.

But of course, what does that question have to do with The Queue? I could say “I guess you’ll just have to read on! Excelsior!”, or I could just tell you that it’s because people asked about Pandarens today. Let’s start off with some basic questions first, though.

iamnotacarebear asked:

The question i have is with this increase of running the heroics, is the red heroic drake going to be removed? I would hate to see this happen, but i wouldn’t be surprised.

Good question, IANACB!

Continue reading The Queue: Panda-monium edition

Filed under: The Queue

The Queue: Panda-monium edition originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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July 3rd, 2009 by admin

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July 3rd, 2009 by admin

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July 3rd, 2009 by admin

For those of us who like to collect stuff in WoW, one of the cooler announcements for patch 3.2 was the inclusion of a whole new set of raptor hatchling pets, dropped around the world by rare and elite raptors. Of course, it was also an announcement of dread for serious collectors who can tell horror stories of killing thousands upon thousands of slimes and dragons for rare pets before. But will it be all as bad as that? WoW fansites have been on the case.

Mania, maven of Hunter pets, has also been looking into the drop rates and drop mobs, and has compiled a handy chart on her blog. Between Mania and the news on Warcraft Pets, it seems we can mostly confirm that the rare raptors (such as, for example, Takk the Leaper) will always drop their pets, while those that drop only off elites have a very rare drop rate more similar to the aforementioned slimes or dragons.

Continue reading Patch 3.2 PTR: Finding the Raptor Pets

Filed under: Patches, Items, Tips, Achievements

Patch 3.2 PTR: Finding the Raptor Pets originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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July 3rd, 2009 by admin

So I’ve talked recently about life as an RPer, and how we seem to interact with our characters just a bit differently. Sometimes, whether we like it or not, a certain character and their back story just grab hold and won’t let go, and we find ourselves coming back again and again, just to see where the story leads.

Of course, sometimes the character goes just the opposite way, and no matter what you do, your stories fall flat and you don’t feel enthusiastic about logging on. It may be because you can’t stand the character’s personality anymore, it may be because your normal group of friends has hit an RP rut or even taken a break for a while themselves, it may be a variety of other things. Recently, Anna of Too Many Annas wrote a pretty awesome article about how to refresh a flagging RP character using 5 Rs: Relax and Rest, Reintegrate, Refresh the Character, Retcon, and Reroll/Reskin.

What’s sort of cool about this list is that you can even apply a lot of the principles to characters in general, even if you’re a non-RPer. Anna’s covered the RP angle pretty well, so I’ll mostly focus on this other angle.

Continue reading The Five Rs of Character Revitalization

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Tips, RP

The Five Rs of Character Revitalization originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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July 3rd, 2009 by admin

Two Bosses Enter … but only One Boss Leaves, in WoW.com’s series of fantasy death matches. This season’s bosses come from the five-man instances of Wrath of the Lich King.

While last week’s Two Bosses Moorabi/Trollgore matchup was downright gory, this week’s battle appears no less likely to end up in a bloody mess. This week, we’ll see King Dred of Drak’tharon Keep tear into Jedoga Shadowseeker and her minions inside Ahn’kahet: The Old Kingdom.

The ground rules:

• Assume that the opponents share similar levels, health pools and comparative overall damage output.
• In order to give Jedoga access to her minions, we’ll set this deathmatch in her stomping grounds in Ahn’kahet - but we’ll provide that King Dred arrives on the scene with a raptor posse of his own.
• Don’t get caught up in gameplay mechanics and what actual players might do in each encounter.
• Focus on the three S’s: style, story and scale.

Can a ruthlessly bloodthirsty priestess hold off a rampaging Devilsaur? Join us after the break to cast your vote for who you think will emerge this week’s victor.

Continue reading Two Bosses Enter: Jedoga Shadowseeker vs. King Dred

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Features, Lore, Bosses, Two Bosses Enter

Two Bosses Enter: Jedoga Shadowseeker vs. King Dred originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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July 3rd, 2009 by admin

BlizzCon approaches! Preparing for BlizzCon is your regular source for tips on how best to prepare for Blizzard’s gaming extravaganza.

Every con I have ever been to, gaming-related or otherwise, has resulted in a bunch of people getting sick afterward — usually including me. I’ve heard it called Con Crud, confluenza and the grunge. Whatever the name, it’s pretty much the same: cold and flu symptoms that lay you low after attending a convention. As we’ve discussed before, I’m no doctor, but there are some experts out there with tips on building your immune system in the weeks before BlizzCon.

• Sleep: Get 7 to 8 hours a night. Sufficient sleep helps us reduce stress on our bodies, which makes them stronger for fighting illnesses. It also helps us maintain a healthy weight. Late night raiding sessions and/or small children make this more difficult, of course, but it’s a worthy goal.
  

Continue reading Preparing for BlizzCon: Protect yourself against Con Crud

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Events, Fan stuff, BlizzCon

Preparing for BlizzCon: Protect yourself against Con Crud originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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