Tuesday Morning Post: Non-answers edition
Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. Probably one of the most intriguing pieces of news this week was a little quote from Tom Chilton, who was heard to say that the whole "Mists of Pandaria" thing was totally overhyped. Honestly, as much as I used to say that Mists of Pandaria probably wasn't an actual expansion, this answer sort of changes my mind. If Chilton wanted to deny the existence of the Mists as an actual product, this would have been a perfect time to do it. Instead, he gave a perfect, classic little Blizzard non-answer -- sure, he said Mists of Pandaria was overhyped, but he didn't say it wasn't the next expansion. I don't know. Now I'm thinking we are headed to a misty little island somewhere to grind to level 90.
Whether you think we're headed to Pandaria for the next expansion or not, there's plenty of new for you to peruse in this week's roundup. While this morning's downtime consists primarily of rolling restarts, a small handful of servers will have some extra downtime from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. PDT, so you'll have at least some time to get caught up. Stay tuned as well for more patch 4.3 news. When it breaks, we'll have it here.
Hot news and features
Ghostcrawler posted a Dev Watercooler on the future of tanking, the active mitigation model, and patch 4.3 death knight tanking changes.
Patch 4.3 will bring with it a couple of new Worgen racial mounts.
Blizzard is remaining optimistic about WoW's subscriber numbers.
WoW Archivist looks back at the Scepter of the Shifting Sands quest line.
World of Wardrobe helps you bring home tier 2.
This time, Rossi's out to destroy you, pure DPS.
Class news and guides
The Light and How to Swing It begins a guide on retribution in Firelands and a discussion of the future of paladin tanks in the era of active mitigation. We also have a guide to leveling a holy paladin.
Scattered Shots digs into the mailbag to answer your hunter questions.
Shifting Perspectives has a guide to balance PVP. We also analyze feral cat raid DPS in patch 4.2.
The Care and Feeding of Warriors discusses fury PVP.
Lichborne has a look at patch 4.2 raid DPS gear.
Totem Talk has more history of the restoration shaman. We also help you figure out what race to choose for your Horde elemental shaman.
Encrypted Text offers some tips for leveling your rogue in Cataclysm.
Spiritual Guidance offers a shadow priest's view of transmogrification.
Raid Rx discusses reforging for raid healers.
Arcane Brilliance looks at the effects of the threat hotfixes on mages.
Dungeons, items, professions, PVP, and more
WoW Rookie helps you understand item levels and how they affect gearing choices.
Ready Check offers advice for dealing with a weak healer.
Blood Sport helps you develop successful arena strategies.
Addon Spotlight spotlights the Errormonster.
Odds and ends
Know Your Lore discusses the Brotherhood of the Horse. We also answer some of your lore questions this week.
About the Bloggers continues with everyone's favorite dog-owning movie guru, Michael Gray.
15 Minutes of Fame takes a trip to the AFK Tavern.
The Guild Season 5, Episode 6 is available for your viewing pleasure.
World of Warcrafts features the work of WoW cosplayer Svetlana Quindt.
The Lawbringer discusses the issues and pitfalls of gambling in WoW.
Brace yourselves for what could be some of most exciting updates to the game recently with patch 4.3. Look at what's ahead: new item storage options, cross-realm raiding, cosmetic armor skinning and your chance to battle the mighty Deathwing -- from astride his back!
