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The best of WoW Insider: January 8 - 15, 2008

elizabeth harper
Updated ·2 min read

Want to know the latest news from MMO World of Warcraft? Joystiq's sister-site WoW Insider has you covered! This week, conversation of the recently-released patch 2.3.2 has died out as news of upcoming patch 2.4 has been released (in Blizzard's first podcast). Blizzard tells us that they don't plan to release a patch 2.5, which suggests this may be the last patch before the Wrath of the Lich King expansion (launching no-one-knows-when). Finally, recent changes to PvP battleground Alterac Valley (in an ongoing effort to prevent players from sitting AFK in the battleground while reaping the benefits of everyone else's efforts) has shaken up the community as debate rages over whether it will actually improve the PvP situation.

For the top stories of the week, read on!



Harsher penalties for AV AFKers
Leeching in Alterac Valley -- or, as Blizzard puts it, "non-participation in Battleground games" -- has been a problem for about as long as the new Honor system has been in place (not so new now).

Officers' Quarters: The wrong stuff
Last week, I wrote about the "right stuff" to look for in a good officer candidate. I mentioned five traits to value in a candidate: maturity, generosity, good communication skills, emotional intelligence, and game knowledge. Necessarily, that means someone who is immature, greedy, barely literate, emotionally stunted, and a total noob would have the "wrong stuff."

Gamers on the Street: Patch? What patch?
With all the noise there about various buffs, nerfs and changes in Patch 2.3.2, you'd think that all of Azeroth and the Outland would be in turmoil. But when we popped in on Doomhammer server to see what players thought about Patch 2.3.2, response was considerably underwhelming.

You'll always remember your first

Finishing that starting area and realizing there was a whole World out there, grouping up for the first time, and learning just how all the spells worked and what everything looked like -- your first character may not be your main now, but odds are it's still sitting there on the server, like an old friend from years ago.

Blizzcast reveals Sunwell details

Episode 1 of Blizzard's new podcast, cunningly titled "Blizzcast," went live today.... A more extensive overview is forthcoming, but for now, I imagine what you really care about is Jeff Kaplan's hints for the upcoming patch 2.4.