[1.Local]: The legendary Frostingmourne

How not to aggro your tank with AoE
Writer Matthew Rossi fired up readers with one of the week's most popular posts. "Reader UnstØppable writes in with a question I thought would benefit others," he wrote. "'Does the Bladestorm aggro problem ever get better? What I mean is, I've seen it countless times, the arms warrior enters the dungeon, the tank lets out a sigh (sometimes it's me), we pull the first group and everything goes fine, until he hits that Bladestorm button. That's when somehow he manages to pull aggro from every mob and their mom and makes both the healer's and the tank's lives hell or usually ends up dying within seconds.'"

PUGgers desperate for tips to keep Dungeon Finder groups on track received the answer with unbridled enthusiasm.

DraconisXC: *slow clap*
(cutaia): *adds to slow clap, making it a slightly faster slow clap but not quite thunderous applause*
Razortooth: *thunderous applause*
Alexisonfire: *Standing Ovation*
Sir7: *Shouts of encore!*
nomadic0ne: *Throwing underwear on the stage!*
Dane Bramage: *just stands in awe*
marco: *dances naked around the fire*
Walynds: /cheer
Joerendous: *begins the Wave*
vazhkatsi: Crowd Surfs
DeathPaladin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxvdvoQgAy8
Cyanea: *waves lighter in the air*
Rmschoir: *Hits Bladestorm two seconds into a pull*
Baltor: *C-c-c-combo breaker.*
Joseph Smith: *hits unglyphed Starfall* ... my bad, sorry

Catch the wave yourself with Rossi's tips on how not to out-aggro your tank.

An army of one
We have to admit that the latest gold seller tactic -- armies of level one alts moving in virtual lockstep through capital cities -- is certainly eye-catching. But how do readers who've actually experienced the invasions feel about the new phenomenon?

James: All these people who think this is so much fun need to endure it yourself. It nearly crashed my session! You will be very bored of this stunt very soon. And what's more, you can't even work out the name of the site ... It fails.

lolikitty: An army of Orcs in front of the Orgrimmar AH, a few feet above the ground, /saluting in unison ... absolutely terrifying. I mean it. (Not to mention the spam of emotes.)

Maymer: *Cue Star Wars Imperial music*
IT'S A TRAP!!!!!
Our ignore lists can't repel spammers of this magnitude!!!!!

How to fight a druid
Another article that got plenty of reader appreciation this week was Zach Yonzon's look at how to fight a druid.

SunwellVialist: This ... is an amazing write-up. Even though you spoil all of our drood secrets to the world, I cannot help but enjoy reading it -- and hell, it even gave me a few ideas for better surviving with my druid.

FoxOfWar: I have to admit, while I am primarily a PvE player, occasionally doing Wintergrasp/Battlegrounds as tree is something so devilishly fun it's probably illegal in some countries. It's amazing just how long it takes sometimes for people to realize that their target is not dying because there's someone spamming HoTs on them 40 yards away. Druid heals are relatively flashy, after all. And really, being alive for a whole AV is just good feeling (even moreso when I was still leveling and AV actually lasted a fair bit of time). Being 15 minutes in perma-combat, spamming HoTs and staying alive for all that time is just fun. I've never played Arena, so cannot comment on that. But at least on Battlegrounds, playing a druid is fun. Excellent write-up. :)

MushMush: Great article. As far as PvP goes, my weakness lies in not having played any other classes. I don't totally understand what other classes' full abilities and limitations are. Thanks a ton -- can't wait to read the write-ups on the other classes. Thanks.

Don't miss the next set in the series on fighting death knights.

Raid, PUG habits should be kept separate
"I am not arguing that you shouldn't do your best if you're running a pickup group," writes Matthew Rossi. "I'm arguing that you have no reason to hold the other four people to a standard of play they haven't signed up for or agreed to." Would you agree?

Cor: As a main spec tank, I tend to tank my first PUG each day and them if I'm up for more I go DPS. I suffer a similar issue as Matt but not from the under performing players. It's the over achivers that drive me nuts. Yes, I can hold aggro from someone doing 7k AE DPS (or more in raids), but in a PUG I honestly don't want to work that hard.

The difference between driving like mad through a dungeon is maybe 5 minutes? I'm no longer willing to run myself ragged trying to save people that 5 minutes.

At this point, I'm done arguing with people. If someone wants to rush, I will keep up, but I put them on ignore before the final boss so I don't have to PUG with them again. I fear my ignore list is going to end up being too small. =)

omedon666: I wish I knew a code method to flash this in huge letters across the screen, but THANK. YOU. My guild is small, friendly and "five-man centric", because most of us don't give a damn to sell our souls to theorycrafting or scheduling enough to raid -- and that doesn't make us lazy, it makes us, well, us. We aren't terribad. We aren't out to wreck some raider's time efficiency or "disrespect them" with our lack of mad leet raider skills (this attitude makes me furious in its audacity). We're just out for a good time in small-group, intimate content.

I use blue gems not as an insult to you, but because the price difference for another four points of whatever just isn't a.) worth it and b.) required for five-man content.

I hate the idea of having maggots swirling around my DK, so I don't have blood worms. I instead have on a pale horse and Mark of Blood, because I've saved groups with it and because I like flying faster when I'm not grouping with you.

I still like upgrades. I still enjoy the game. But I enjoy it at my pace. So when I encounter someone in PUGs that says "I hate heroics; I'm here for emblems for raiding gear, so STFU and keep up" and then proceeds to back that attitude up with how they run the instance, yes, I will vote kick you ASAP because you are rude, wrecking at least one person's fun and doing so bringing your raiding habits into a five-man.

7k DPS is not needed to DPS a heroic. It's nice, but it's not needed.

50k health is not needed to tank a heroic. It's nice, but it's not needed.

30k mana is not needed to heal a heroic. It's nice, but it's not needed.

Raiders aren't evil. Some of my best friends are raiders, but when you "step down" in content, remember that that content is as much some peoples' bread and butter as your 25-man hard modes, and those people are people, too. Thank you for this article. It's nice to know that we're not expected to just "suck it up" by everyone.

Slaytanic: Ugh. Guilty as charged. I'm extremely spoiled. Being in a top-end guild on my server, I have very little patience for stupidity. I won't scream at people (being heals, I don't have time), but I currently have a two-wipe policy. We wipe twice, I bail and re-roll.

There are exceptions to the rule. The other night I was in VH, and my group just got creamed by Xevozz. Normally, since this was the first boss, it's really easy to drop. But my group came to me, and asked for advice on how to beat him. I had to remind myself that I was in their very same shoes at one time, that this guy kicked my ass in regular mode. After taking the time to calm down and explain the fight (to a group young, but eager to learn), we beat him and the rest of the instance. Humbling, and ultimately fun.

How does the Dungeon Finder affect smaller realms?
While many players think the Dungeon Finder is the greatest thing since sliced bread, some players wistfully observe that it seems to have swamped the fledgling PUG communities on smaller realms.

Angelyne: I agree. While I wouldn't want to go back to the bad old days, I feel that the LFG tool has introduced a whole new level of anonymity to this game. I might as well be grouping with NPCs, for all the interactions that I see in five-mans -- except that with NPCs, you get consistent results and no chance of being jerked around.

This is supposed to be a social game, yet I have never played an online game where it's so difficult to make any kind of lasting social contact. Everyone is intent on doing his/her thing, and groups will never last longer that strictly necessary. I started playing online games back in the old Meridian 59 days. I then played Ultima Online and EverQuest. All of these games appeared truly social to me. I made tons of online friends, seemingly effortlessly.

In WoW, it's like pulling teeth. Maybe it's a small town/big city type of thing.

Neirin: As a resident of an extremely small server (US Maiev), I actually think the Dungeon Finder has benefitted PUG opportunities. ICC PUGs are still semi-difficult to get running, but the gear crutch from heroics is frequently enough for a few experienced players to get others through ToC or Uld HMs.

The real loss is the social one. Less people sitting in trade looking for a tank/healer means a lot less interaction. Since we low-pop lovers really pride ourselves on our communities, the loss of some of our interaction is pretty bad. I know a few people that xfered because they were only staying for the community and felt like it had kinda fallen apart.

Russian commercial rips off Lich King trailer
The sarcasm was back in full force in this post on a Russian cologne commercial that bears a striking resemblance to a certain frosty scenario.

Hivetyrant: If I wear this cologne, does everyone around me get a -% to dodge?

Leviathon: My son, on the day you born, the very forests of Russia whispered the name Plushenko.

I watched with pride as you grew into a weapon of skating. Our line has always skated with grace and dignity. And I know you will show restraint when exercising your great power. But know that the truest victory, is giving your people a fresh, lasting cologne.

I tell you this, for when my days have come to an end, you shall be king of Oriflame.