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Well-known druid blogger Lissanna lowers the boom(kin) on autism research
It's only been a couple of weeks since we reported on the crowdsourcing effort to fund the autism research of well-known Restokin blogger and Blizzard MVP poster Lissanna, aka Dr. Elisabeth Whyte of the Laboratory of Developmental Neuroscience at Penn State. So far, supporters have boosted Dr. Whyte to just over a quarter of her funding goal for the project, which focuses on how children and adolescents with autism understand language and process information from faces (such as recognizing people or understanding emotional expressions). Her goal: designing a video game to help kids with autism improve these skills. How does an MMO-playing grad student transform from anonymous gamer to well-known WoW blogger, Blizzard forum MVP, and Ph.D.-level researcher bringing gamification to the treatment of autism? If you follow the example of this lady: with ease. WoW Insider: One-fourth of your funding already under your belt -- congratulations! Our readers already know that WoW can be beneficial to kids with autism, so it's exciting to hear about a gamification project designed to help kids with autism. Lissanna: Many kids and adults with autism seem to enjoy playing video games. We have some evidence that using fun activities can motivate learning. Our goal is to develop and test the efficacy of an educational game that impacts face processing abilities and social skills. With much of the research focused on important early intervention work, there is a huge gap in the services that individuals with autism can receive when they are older. We think that a sophisticated game can fill the need for social skills services targeting older individuals to help with tasks like preparing them for jobs or developing friendships with their peers.
Mists of Pandaria Beta: Horde and Alliance Incarnation moonkin forms
Things just got real in the Mists of Pandaria beta, folks. With the most recent patch, the new moonkin forms for the druid talent Incarnation have hit MMO-Champion. I don't really have much to say other than Blizzard just might be opening a can of worms here for druid players. Armored moonkin forms actually look pretty awesome. Druids, run with this one. While Incarnation is going to have its own special models, attaching armor to the existing moonkin form might have proven easier than imagined. Could druids get the option in the future to augment their forms with their own armor choices? Not yet, but Incarnation's forms are already shaping up to be pretty exciting for druids. Now, to dust off my druid ...
The Daily Quest: So then he said
Here at WoW.com, we're on a Daily Quest (which we try to do every day, honest) to bring you interesting, informative and entertaining WoW-related links from around the blogosphere. Some people have things to say about everything under the sun -- like the goblin pictured above, who is engaging in a frank and earnest discussion about poultry-based thermodynamics and the merits of their application in conjunction with other forms of flightless fowl. Unfortunately the only person that would listen to her is Chilly the penguin, who simply doesn't know any better. Fortunately, we've found some posts that are much more entertaining than Miss Yammersalot. Mana Obscura discusses the growing yet shrinking world ... of Warcraft. World of Warcraft Philosophized comments on guild perks and the effects on individual players. The Pink Pigtail Inn asks whether Twitter chat is really the best way to communicate. And speaking of birds, Bible of Dreams has a Friday Five about our feathery friend, the boomkin. Is there a story out there we ought to link or a blog we should be following? Just leave us a comment, and you may see it here tomorrow! Be sure to check out our WoW Resources Guide for more WoW-related sites.
Addon Spotlight: Grab bag
Addon Spotlight focuses on the backbone of the WoW gameplay experience: the user interface. Everything from bags to bars, buttons to DPS meters and beyond -- your addons folder will never be the same. This week, Addon Spotlight reaches into the addon grab bag and pulls out some delicious randomness for you. Looking over all the columns here on WoW.com must be amazing for you Cataclysm information hounds. All that cool new art, talent trees getting changed like crazy, new races and sound files ... Too bad you'll find no Cataclysm stuff in Addon Spotlight. Not yet, anyway -- addons are currently disabled in the beta. For us addon junkies, then, we can only sit back, relax, drink 30 cans of Arnold Palmer and drift the night away. Or, I can recommend some addons. Both work for me.
World of WarCrafts: Papercraft-y
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself; email lisa@wow.com with your not-for-profit, WoW-inspired creations. If your summer is turning out to be quite cold and dreary (such is life up here in Canada), then nothing passes the time better than picking up a creative and fun hobby -- like scrap booking, or paper craft. WoW-loving artist Ruth, author of Stamp Off, Eh! has created an adorable duo of cards representing the iconic druid forms of the Moonkin. Pictured above is the Horde version, although she states that she "opted out of doing horns on the Horde one."
The Colosseum: Beffyjunk, Boomkin
The Colosseum takes us inside the world of the Gladiator (Brutal, Vengeful, Merciless, Furious, and otherwise), to interview some of the top Arena fighters in the battlegroups. Our goal is to bring a better understanding of the strategy, makeup, and work that goes into dueling it out for fame, fortune, and Netherdrakes. We're especially focused on the people who play these games, to further shed light on the world of the PvP player.Last week, we talked to Comutu of Executus, a Priest who spent some time talking about his awesome teammates. This week, we talk to one of those teammates. Specifically, we talk to Beffyjunk, a Boomkin who has achieved a 2k or better rating in 2v2, 3v3, and 5v5.Take some time and check out what Beffyjunk had to say behind the cut.
The Queue: Soul man
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. Adam Holisky will be your host today. Yesterday Alex featured Cab Calloway blasting out Minnie the Moocher, a song that while was around for a long time was truly made epic by his performance with the Blues Brothers. And this lets me tie in perfectly to wish my brother Logan a happy graduation from high school next week. Logan and many of his friends were in their jazz band, and he often dressed up as the Blues Brothers when appropriate. And in lieu of that, today's reading music is the Blues Brothers' "Soul Man" performance from the 1978 SNL season. The good old days. 5 years before I was born.Hokiebuddy asked..."With the revamp of the bear and cat forms for Druids will there be any more Druid revamps in design such as the travel, swimming, or flying forms? Also will this spill over into other races and classes i.e. Warlock and Paladin mounts, Warlock minions, Shadow Priest shadow form, etc..."
The Daily Quest: Of old gods and old comps
We here at WoW Insider are on a Daily Quest to bring you interesting, informative and entertaining WoW-related links from around the blogosphere. It's not a blog, it's not a vlog, it's not a podcast, but it's still worth a mention: Irae AoD, a European guild, scored the world first for the achievement One Light in the Darkness, defeating Yogg-Saron with the assistance of only one Keeper. The video is embedded above, but if you want the Yogg-Saron encounter completely unspoiled for you when you get there, you might want to avoid watching it. Flasks have never been more convenient than they are in Wrath of the Lich King, and the addition of Feasts has made raid consumables even easier to acquire. Bellwether of 4haelz is a little torn on them, though. Everyone loves to tinker with their UI, right? Moonkin.info is pretty happy with their compilation, and has shared it with the rest of the world. Boomkin, you might want to take a look. Ming gets back into the oft-neglected 5v5 arena bracket, giving the old school Euro Comp another go. Shields Up! continues their guide to Tier 8 Best in Slot gear for Resto Shaman. Click here to submit a link to TDQ
The Queue: Service with a smile
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Adam Holisky will be your host today. Welcome back to the Queue. We offer you service with a smile.Kenmoe asked... "Is the construction of the Argent Tournament colosseum at all dependent on realm participation like Quel'Danas was? I was wondering if the goblin dailies 'A Chip Off the Ulduar Block' and 'Jack Me Some Lumber' helped construct the building faster. If so, is there any way to see progression like there was with Quel'Danas?"
WoW Moviewatch: 28 Patches Later
Voodooray, the Boss of Boomkin, the Maestro of Moonfire, the OPest of Owls is back with his new feathered fury piece 28 Patches Later. The video is pretty brief, and absolutely fun to watch. The author says the video is the first part in a series, which makes this an awesome first hint.To sum up, a white light chamber is used to create or summon the Moonkin horde. They slowly move across the country, tearing down planes, infiltrating boats, and even taking over the White House. Of course, the ineffable nature of the Moonkin makes it difficult to read what's happening. Are the invading druids benevolent? Maybe they're protecting us from something. Are they mindless, or are they operating on an agenda?Okay, so you may or may not find great literature in "28 Patches Later." But the video is fun, and I think that's the point. I always love Voodooray's quirky obsession with his signature critter, and I think the surreality of Moonkin lends a lot of strength to this video.If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.Previously on Moviewatch .
Raid Rx: Will dual spec affect your healing squads?
Raid Rx has returned from retirement! Every Thursday (usually), Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand poobah of World of Matticus and a founder of PlusHeal, a new healing community for all restorative classes. This week I explore dual specs and the effects it will have. The dual spec Q&A was posted earlier in the week and Mike's got a nice summary listed. Let's get right down to it. How does dual spec capability affect raid healing?
The Queue: Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Ah, another Sunday afternoon! Well, technically this was posted precisely at noon, which isn't the afternoon. But you're probably not reading it at the exact second It was posted, so you are reading it in the afternoon. Right? Right. Now, with that settled...Vinicius O. E. asked... What happened to the dance studios?
World of WarCrafts: Crochet Boomkin
Every Thursday, Shelbi Roach of The Bronze Kettle guides you in creating WoW-inspired crafts using real world mats with World of WarCrafts.Almina of <Sisters of Mercy>, an alliance guild member on the Gurabashi server and a fellow Texan, has created an epic crochet replica of the awesomest druid form in the game.Almina created a Crochet Boomkin for her father who happens to live out of state, but stays connected with his daughter by way of Azeroth. She didn't have a pattern to work from but managed to produce this impressive specimen nonetheless. Check out the in-progress and final product pictures here.
A plea on behalf of frustrated tanks everywhere
Several classes and specs have gotten "knockback" abilities as part of patch 3.02 and the game's transition to Wrath of the Lich King, and I've had fun watching these skills be deployed in battlegrounds to extensive and quite possibly evil use. It's pretty funny watching an elemental Shaman defend AB's lumber mill now, and the AV bridge? Even funnier. And yet...as I laughed, I started to cry inside, because I knew that these skills would also be deployed in 5-man groups and raids to much less amusing effect. And man, it's a real burden being right so often.
Wrath Beta patch notes: Balance Druids
Now that the Wrath of the Lich King Beta is live, and the patch notes are up, we have some solid information on Druid talents as they're being tested. Here is what the patch revealed:Balance treeIf you were to invest three points into your Brambles tier three talent, you will not only have the current 75% boost to damage caused by Thorns and Entangling Roots, but your Treants will have their damage boosted by 15%. In addition, all damage caused by Treants, and any attacks done to you while Barkskin is active, have a 15% chance of dazing the target for three seconds. Actually, Force of Nature, which summons your Treants, is having its cooldown reduced from three minutes to two. This will be a nifty talent for Moonkin in battlegrounds and arena, although it won't be enough to convert all of those Restoration druids to the ways of the Giant Chicken.
15 Minutes of Fame: Disabled mom finds outlet in WoW
15 Minutes of Fame is our look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes – both the renowned and the relatively anonymous. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about at 15minutesoffame (at) wowinsider (dot) com. World of Warcraft players: hordes of pimply, unsupervised pre-adolescents sprinkled liberally with socially backward, Cheetos-chomping basement-dwellers? Forty-eight-year-old Catten of Quel'dorei knows better. Frequently confined to her bed with fibromyalgia, a debilitating condition that causes pain and fatigue, Catten's world opens up when she logs in. This relative newcomer to gaming escapes her physical challenges in The Outland, sharing raiding, world-wide friendships and a warm relationship with her grown son (and guildmate) Bigkountry.
Outland Reputation Set - Druid (Balance): Wyrmhide Battlegear
This is the introductory PvP set for BalanceDruid. The Battlegear sets are of a superior quality and are equal to the Level 70 High Warlord gear that can be purchased with honor points. The pieces can be purchased by becoming honored with Cenarion Expedition, Honor Hold/Thrallmar, Keepers of Time, Lower City, and the Sha'tar. Complete sets require honored with all five factions as listed below: Wyrmhide Battlegear Slot Rep Wyrmhide Gloves Hands Thrallmar/Honor Hold Wyrmhide Helm Head Keepers of Time Wyrmhide Legguards Legs Lower City Wyrmhide Robe Chest The Sha'tar Wyrmhide Spaulders Shoulders Cenarion Expedition Wyrmhide Battlegear Armor Sta Int Resil Wyrmhide Gloves 213 22 13 13 Wyrmhide Helm 267 21 17 17 Wyrmhide Legguards 306 33 20 20 Wyrmhide Robe 322 33 18 18 Wyrmhide Spaulders 249 33 17 17 Total 1357 88 85 85 Wyrmhide Battlegear Dur Mp5 Spell Gems Wyrmhide Gloves 35 5 32 Wyrmhide Helm 60 5 34 M, Y Wyrmhide Legguards 75 8 39 Wyrmhide Robe 100 5 22 R, R, Y Wyrmhide Spaulders 60 2 14 R, Y Total 330 25 141 Set Bonus 2: 35 Resilience Set Bonus 4: Your Wrath casts have a chance to reduce the cast time of your next Starfire by 1 second. Return to the complete Outland Battlegear list
Patch 2.3 and you: Druid Edition
With Patch 2.2 out the door, the official information about 2.3 hasn't stopped all afternoon. Here's what's in store for Druids as confirmed on the official forums by blues: Spell damage added to Healing gear. This was hinted at during Blizzcon and confirmed today: All +Heal gear will receive one-third of the healing bonus as +spell damage. So a chest piece with +750 healing will now also have +250 spell damage. The addition of spell damage is a bonus and will not lower any other stat on the equipment. (source) Intensity is changing. Currently, this Restoration talent increases your mana regeneration in combat 5%/10%/15%. After Patch 2.3, the mana regeneration will increase to 10%/20%/30%. (source) Innvervate will not be changing, but Tranquility will be receiving the benefit of +Heal gear. (source) Druid combat rez is having its cooldown reduced from 30 minutes to 20 minutes. CM Bornakk went on to confirm that the cooldown will not be reduced any further since that would seriously imbalance PvP. (source) Zul'Aman is ready to go in Patch 2.3. This is important news for druids as some Balance spec itemization issues were promised to be addressed in this 10-man post-Karazhan instance. New relics for Druid, Shaman and Paladin PvP players. Blues didn't have specific details but promised they would be tailored for many different specs. (source 1, source 2) Moonkin's PvP viability will get a boost: they will be able to cast Remove Curse while in Moonkin form. (source) Tree of Life form will be able to cast Cure Poison and Abolish Poison. (source) No changes planned for feral druids in this patch. (source) What these changes mean to druids after the jump.
Shifting Perspectives: How to group with a druid part two
Every Tuesday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting druids and those who group with them, brought to you by David Bowers and Dan O'Halloran. Two weeks ago I talked about grouping with Feral druids. This week I promised to focus on Balance (Moonkin) and Restoration (Healing) specs. But when I started writing about the Balance druids, the article grew quite large. So apologies to the Restoration druids out there looking for their day in the sun, you will have to wait two more weeks for my next column. Today's article is focusing squarely on the ups and downs of grouping with our Boomkin brothers. WHAT TO EXPECT FROM A MOONKIN DRUID: DPS, baby. And plenty of it. Moonkin spec got a nice, fat dps boost with the Burning Crusade expansion. Their current arsenal includes two dots, two different flavored nukes, an AE damage dealer, 5% crit aura, damage-boosting and crit-boosting talents plus the treant pets if the druid took the 41pt talent. Before the expansion, all this firepower would drain the druid's mana in no time, but the days of Oomkin are no more. Between mana-saving and mana-regenerating Talents plus better itemization, Balance druids can conserve mana with the best of ranged damage dealers. Welcome to the Age of Boomkin. Emergency Healing. Like any other non-healing druid spec, Balance druids are more than capable of off healing in a pinch. They must shift out of Moonkin form to do it, but when the group's health stabilizes, the druid can always shift right back and help with the clean up work. Who wouldn't want a mage who can group heal?
