growl
Latest
Blogo 1.1 emerges from Brainjuice
Attention all bloggers! The nerd bunnies at Brainjuice have just released Blogo 1.1, the latest take on their Mac OS X blogging tool. Blogo 1.1 now includes support for Drupal and Twitter in addition to WordPress, Blogger, TypePad, typo, and MovableType.The new Twitter support allows users to post tweets and direct messages from Blogo, and can even send a tweet whenever you post. Brainjuice has fixed some existing issues, as well as adding these new features: Support for raw image formats Integration with NetNewsWire and Safari Use of Growl for all user notifications New text formatting options (quotes, lists, aligned, justified) Custom cropping of thumbnails independently of the full-size images To give Blogo 1.1 a try, download a 21-day unlimited trial or purchase the app for $25.
Hunter Growl and Scare Beast changes not so sweet after all
One of the biggest surprises Hunters found when they logged on after this morning's patch was that all was not as it was supposed to be. Although the tool tip for Scare Beast reads as instant cast, the old 1.5 second cast time is still intact. Netheara confirmed that the reversion of the cast time was, in fact, intentional. It was considered too strong and reverted, although the 30 yard range buff is still intact. The instant cast designation in the tool tip is an error that will be fixed.
Patch 2.4.2 is live
Yep, as expected after the test realm ended, patch 2.4.2 has hit the live servers, and is now available for download and installation. Daniel did a terrific roundup of what you can see in the new patch this morning. The patch notes aren't available online yet, but the only change I can see between the PTR notes and what's live is that the Druid Natural Perfection change didn't go through -- otherwise, everything else is in there as expected, including the Arena changes and the Growl changes (whatever they are).Enjoy the new patch (and if you're an Outlands Hunter like me, enjoy your new pet!). This might be the last one we get for a while.Update: BigDownload's got the patch, in case you haven't seen it yet.
Tuesday Morning: Maintenance time
Good Morning Azeroth! It's Tuesday, May 13, 2008, and that means maintenance. As we mentioned earlier, it's an extended maintenance, from 3 AM to 11 AM PST (That means you have about a half an hour of play time left), and it's looking rather likely that 2.4.2's going to drop. Exciting news, but that still means that you'll have at least 8 hours in which it is impossible to play World of Warcraft. Of course, this means the perfect thing to do is browse WoW Insider. Since 2.4.2's probably on it's way, why not browse all our 2.4.2 news? The original patch notes are posted here. We break down the Undocumented changes here -- including pictures of the new mounts added to the game files. You can find the latest test realm page notes here. MMO-Champion points out two new changes: Prince Kael'thas will now drop Primal Nethers in Heroic Magisters Terrace, and the Darkmoon Card: Madness' buffs will now last 60 seconds. Check out our reports on all the Hunter class changes, Including Growl and Scare Beast, the math problems and controversy surrounding the Growl change among the Hunter community, and getting your own flight-formed Druid pet. Good News for Weaponsmiths, with the epic one-handers becoming non-unique. But enough about 2.4.2, what about the big news? First, of course, is the fact that Blizzcon 08 was announced. Check out the details and look back on some old Blizzcon 07 memories in our announcement post. You may also recall all the Wrath of the Lich King news that dropped this week. Of course, you know we have it all for you on WoW Insider. Check it out after the break.
GrowlCode brings Growl to Xcode
Do you like Growl? Do you use Xcode? Then chances are you'll like GrowlCode. GrowlCode is a plugin to integrate Growl's on-screen alerts into the Mac OS X developer app, Xcode. GrowlCode integrates the following actions: Build Succeeded, Preprocessing Complete, Compilation Succeeded, Clean Complete, and many more. To use GrowlCode, you will need to download both GrowlCode and Growl (which is available at Growl.info). GrowlCode is compatible with Xcode 3.0 and Mac OS X Lepoard (10.5) and Tiger (10.4). Instructions for installing can be found on the GrowlCode website.
Has Growl been changed or not?
Ever since it was reported that in 2.4.2, threat generated by Growl would no longer scale with pet attack power, Hunters have been trying to figure out what that means. Will it only scale with Hunter attack power? Is there any way to get Growl's threat up? Just what is the relationship between the threat generated by Growl and the stats listed on both Hunter and pet? The Mystic Hunter has been working to try and figure things out, but the stats he's found have actually been more confusing than clarifying -- he did a series of tests on the Live server and then on the Test server... and found them to be the same.Say wha? Mystic found that threat is clearly scaling with Pet AP, and not with Ranged AP (he shot RAP way high using the Core of Ar'kelos and a few other gear pieces, and had no noticeable affect on threat generated by Growl).So not so fast on that Growl change -- if it is going to be implemented in 2.4.2, it hasn't been put out there yet (which, considering that the 2.4.2 testing is supposed to be almost over, makes us think it won't happen this patch at all). Of course, if the fix doesn't come out, then the original problem is still there. These Growl issues are turning out to be a huge headache for both Hunters and Blizzard.
Mania on the Growl change
Mania is quickly becoming the voice of choice for analysis on Hunter changes, and her latest take on the Growl changes recently released in the patch 2.4.2 notes is no exception. From what Mania can see, Growl's threat isn't scaling with Hunter Attack Power at all, but Blizzard claims it is, so she's chalking her findings in that direction up to faulty data. What she does determine, from both her research and Blizzard's posts on the subject, is that the change here has nothing to do with Hunter's RAP or AP values -- it only has to do with the pet's AP values. Before, if pet AP got a bonus, so did Growl's threat. After 2.4.2, any bonus to pet AP won't affect Growl's threat.So Hunters who routinely get their pet buffed are probably going to feel this change a little bit (though in most situations where pets get group buffs, I'd imagine Growl would be turned off anyway, in order for the tank to control threat). And Hunters who use boars, of course -- as Daniel explained, that extra AP from Charge doesn't work for Growl any more. Mania doesn't stop there, however -- since we know now that the only thing affecting Growl is the Hunter's Attack Power, she's determined to figure out just how much AP can scale Growl up (she's guessing it starts at 1955, we'll see what she comes up with).Of course, some players have found that this works pretty well -- especially MM Hunters, who generally have more attack power (thanks to talents which increase it), have no problems with drawing aggro away from their growling pets. Blizzard's reasoning on this may have been solid -- to make the abilities of the pet rely on Hunter stats, not any temporary pet buffs. Hunters with Boars won't get that nice burst any more, but Hunters with a high RAP will do just fine.
2.4.2 Hunter Changes: Aspect of the Viper, Growl, and the boar's last stand
So Growl has been having some problems since 2.4 went live. Pets refuse to cast it in the right order, which is wreaking havoc with Hunter aggro, especially on boar pets, who depend on a Charge/Growl combination to gain their fabled massive aggro. I myself have noticed that I have a lot harder time keeping aggro from my beloved boar Bonnie when I solo on my Hunter. So now on the PTR, we have some new lines in the latest update of the patch notes: • Boar Charge: This ability will no longer make Growl cast immediately after it generates excessive threat. • The pet ability Growl will no longer scale with pet Attack Power. It should also be noted that Nethaera has said that Growl will now scale with Hunter AP instead of Pet AP, so there's no fear that it's become a non-scaling flat skill. Now, this all sounds somewhat ominous, but what does it actually mean?
2.4.2 patch notes updated
The Official 2.4.2 Patch notes have been updated with a variety of new class and item changes that should be live on the PTR right now. For the most part, the class changes are just bug fixes, some of which were already listed, but have been moved from the bug fix section to their proper class section. However, Paladins and Hunters have recieved some very interesting changes. Boar pets have recieved what looks like a massive hit to their aggro potential with a general nerf to Growl, but in return, there's been a slight buff to Aspect of the Viper and a major buff to Scare Beast. Raiding Hunters have also been buffed in that Elixir of Demonslaying now works for ranged attacks. Retribution Paladins may now actually end up using Seal of the Crusader, as it now gives a 40% damage increase to their Crusader Strike. The changes are listed after the jump, courtesy of World of Raids.
Growl website gets redesign
If you know TUAW, then you know that there's one thing we cannot live without ... it's Growl. Growl is a great way to view important messages from multiple Mac apps as little pop-ups in the corner of your screen. This weekend, Growl's website received a very nice redesign. It's never been this easy to navigate the styles and various extras on the site. Thanks, Chris!
Shifting Perspectives: Bear Tanking Strategies Part 2
Every Tuesday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting druids and those who group with them. This week John Patricelli, sometimes known as the Big Bear Butt Blogger, continues his discussion of the finer points of bear tanking. Previously, I talked about exactly how threat mechanics work in groups. Now, you might think I was going to use that knowledge to inform our decisions on being a bear tank. Instead, I'm going to talk about gearing up. I'd like to start by saying, up front, that this article is unlikely to contain stunning new information that will change your bear tanking world. For those players that are firmly bear tanking their way through Gruul's Lair and beyond, you are most likely to read this, chuckle, and move on. You are already living the dream, kicking butt and taking purples. Hopefully, you will share some of your insight with the rest of us. But for the player just starting out, eager to prepare themselves to be the best bear tank they can be, I hope that this article will be of some help. So you want to be a bear tank. Great! Bear tanks are lots of fun, and speccing feral gives you the wonderful ability to not only be able to tank at the drop of a /invite, but also let's you solo effectively with a simple change of gear. To be a bear tank, you need to realize that your role requires you to focus on two main responsibilities;
