Scott Andrews
Articles by Scott Andrews
WoW Archivist: Emo Garrosh and the Hero of the Mag'har
WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? Mists of Pandaria has many great story lines: the emergence of the Sha, the Mantid war, the history of the Mogu, the Thunder King and the Zandarlari, etc. The overarching story of this expansion has been the ongoing aggression between the Alliance and the Horde, and the central figure of that conflict is Garrosh. Patch 5.3 will bring us the beginning of the Horde's revolt against its current warchief, and presumably we will depose him with extreme prejudice in 5.4. Garrosh's story did not begin in Mists, however, or even in Wrath of the Lich King when he led the Horde's assault on Northrend. Way back in The Burning Crusade, an outstanding quest line called Hero of the Mag'har introduced us to a very different Garrosh: a troubled young orc, helpless, hopeless, wishing for death. If you've only ever played as Alliance, you never got to experience this chain of quests and its many great moments. For Horde players, it's well worth revisiting.
Officers' Quarters: Defeating the needies
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook. We've all been there. You invite new people to your guild. They seem like they'll be a great addition to the roster. They ask for help and you gladly offer it. They ask for more and you give more. Then they promptly ride off into the sunset. This week, an officer wants to know how to avoid being the victim of these players. Hi Scott We're a friendly, mainly social guild with helpful officers and roster. We occassionaly meet some seemingly cool, nice people that I or the officers warm up to immediately, chatting in vent, etc. They might jump right in to be active in guild chat, and otherwise give every indication that they are mature, responsible and ethical. Every now and then I guess I'm too trusting, and extend help to some of these people in the form of time, guild bank items, and even gold, and then I log in and see they've left the guild without so much as a thank you. Mind you, some of these people have accepted some rather expensive help from us. So I've decided that no matter how nice you seem, or how much any of us may like you or know you, you will have to have been in the guild a certain amount of time before getting any bank items or money, etc. say, over a certain value maybe. I'm just not sure what the specifics on this rule should be, or what else we should do to protect ourselves from these kinds of people. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks, pj
Officers' Quarters: Reworking a guild concept
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook. Ideas for unique guild concepts are hard to come by. This week, a guild leader who thought she had a winning formula finds out that no one is interested. Let's look at what she came up with and how we can rework her ideas to entice more recruits. I have recently transferred from Nazgrel to the RP server of Moon Guard. I did this with a certain goal in mind, to establish an all Goblin Trade Guild. I have hit a crucial snag however and can't seem to generate any interest in my Guild idea. One major selling point of my Trade Guild would be that we would hold a monthly [Bazaar] in which other Guilds would be encouraged to join in and sell their wares along with us. Using [Gryphonheart Items] we would create an item catalog and haggle over prices. I was hoping that this would help revitalize the role play community. Nothing I have tried has worked to recruit Any suggestions?
WoW Archivist: Players who went too far
WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? With a community of millions around the world, Blizzard has no easy job trying to keep botters, gold sellers, cheaters, and other hooligans in check. Blizzard has enacted many rounds of mass bannings over bots and hacks. As Archivist noted last summer, several guilds have been banned or suspended for abusing exploits in raids. Among the countless players and guilds who have earned Blizzard's ire over the years, a few stand out as worthy of revisiting. Here are their stories. Still just roleplaying? In an online environment owned and operated by a company, "freedom of speech" does not extend quite as far as it otherwise might. That, at least, is what members of Abhorrent Taboo found out in the fall of 2007. The Horde-side Ravenholdt roleplaying guild boldly proclaimed their identity as an "extreme erotic RP guild." The guild's welcome message laid out their philosophy: Role-playing is legal. Even if you are role-playing something that would be considered deplorable and highly illegal IRL, it's still just role-playing and isn't subject to any form of disciplinary action. Negative publicity is still publicity. Make a Digg or website about how sick we are. Report us to PervertedJustice. All it does is bring in more members. In fact, the Digg the guy on Ravenholdt made about us was so effective, several people signed up for WoW just to be in our guild. The bottom line is: We're allowed to do what we do on any server we please and no one can do anything about it. As it turned out, that last sentence was not 100% accurate.
Officers' Quarters: Charter pirates
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook. I never thought I'd be writing an OQ column about intellectual property, but here we are: Hi Scott, I'll make this short and to the point, because I'm honestly at the end of my rope with just how disrespectful, inconsiderate, and shady some folks who play this game are. Without going into too much detail, we removed some folks from our guild a few weeks ago; they tried to poach our members and couldn't, so they ended up stealing our charter instead. I found out because I noticed them advertising in trade chat, so I scoped their website out. Lo and behold, there were MY words I worked so dutifully on, for many hours, over the course of a few weeks, with my co-GM and other officers. This charter was the result of almost a year's worth of questions, concerns, comments, and experiences we all have shared since forming our guild, and to see another guild just blatantly rip it off was infuriating.
Officers' Quarters: B teamed
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook. This week's email comes from a player whose guild recently made the always-difficult, always-drama-fueling decision to form an A team out of their raiders. Is creating an A team the right move? When you wind up on the B team, what's next? Hi Scott, I'm a member of a medium-sized guild that has been running two raid teams simultaneously up until recently. These teams weren't fixed; group composition was mixed up every week. I rather enjoyed that, as it meant that I got to play and interact with lots of different guild members, and there was little room for cliquishness. However, the other day guild leadership announced that this was all going to change. Going forward, most of the officers will be in a fixed "progression team" while the rest of us will be left to our own devices. There should still be enough of us left to form a second team, but we'd pretty much have to make it work ourselves.
WoW Archivist: Blizzard's April Fool's jokes are more real than you think
WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? It all began in 2003, when Blizzard announced pandaren as a playable race -- for Warcraft III. This never happened, of course. The announcement was an April Fool's joke. But you know that someone at Blizzard back then really wanted to play as a panda. Nine years later, with the Mists of Pandaria expansion, we can all be pandaren now. When Mists was first revealed, the outcry from some in the community was fierce. Much of it centered around how "pandaren were just an April Fool's joke." Most of us, I would hazard to guess, have been won over by them in this expansion. With their incredibly deep history, love of life/beer, and gorgeous architecture, not to mention the amazing voice acting and animations that bring them to life, the pandaren have been a bigger hit for WoW than many ever imagined they could be. In 2004, a playable goblin tinker for Warcraft III was another April Fool's joke. An overwhelmingly enthused response for playable tinkers led to Blizzard adding them to the game. Given the origins of the pandaren and goblin tinkers, it's safe to say that any April Fool's joke that Blizzard has done over the years could one day spawn a tangible addition to the game, or perhaps a spinoff under the WoW brand. Let's look back at Blizzard's WoW-related April Fool's jokes to see which ones could be the next to become real -- and which ones already have.
Officers' Quarters: 5 arguments for guild halls
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook. A few weeks ago, a Twitter user named Quentin Charton asked Ghostcrawler whether WoW could eventually have guild housing. Ghostcrawler's reply was "We worry that guild housing is only content for the guild leaders." If implemented properly, I think guild halls could be a home run for WoW. Here are five reasons why. 1. Guild leaders and officers deserve in-game rewards. Ghostcrawler doesn't want to create content just for guild leaders. My question is, why not? Leading a guild is not easy. It requires making sacrifices, both in-game and in the real world, since it takes time and energy. Don't guild leaders and their officers deserve a few small in-game perks? I agree that the entire guild hall experience shouldn't be for officers only. However, a guild hall could have a special place in it for officers. You could call it something simple like, say, off the top of my head . . . the "Officers' Quarters." This location would have a few small bonuses for them, like a flask vending machine you can use once a day (like Blingtron). Such a perk would be a welcome thank you to the players who make all the best group content in WoW happen.
Officers' Quarters: Secret Skype society
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook. In this week's email, an officer explains how a fun side conversation during raids evolved into a secret cabal, and he doesn't know what to do about it. Dear Scott, I am a Co-Guild Leader in a semi-social 10 man raiding guild. We like to have a fun, relaxing environment, while keeping our raiding standards high. Our guild was originally formed as a break-up of another, and so myself and my co-guild leader, (hereby known as X) formed my current guild. Ventrilo is required for our raids, so that we can instruct and direct our raiders. When we first began raiding in this new guild, myself and X would sit together on Skype, so that we could discuss how to approach the raids we were in, quicker than in officers chat, for example. This raidly skype conversation then encompassed our second tank, so that X and himself could quickly communicate (they were both IRL friends, and English is a second language to them). Gradually, this conversation would grow over time, until all of X's real life friends would be a part of it, so we would end up having half of our raid in this Skype Conversation. Some old in-game friends rejoined the guild, and again, this Skype conversation grew, until every raid, 6-7 raiders were in it, with ventrilo still running. And this, undoubtedly, was a lot of fun.
WoW Archivist: 11 moments from WoW's history that should become scenarios
WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? Next year is WoW's tenth anniversary. It's hard to believe, but it's true! If the typical timeline holds, the next expansion will release a few months prior to that anniversary. You have to believe Blizzard wants to pull out all the stops for this milestone. What better way to celebrate ten years of WoW than by crafting scenarios to relive the best moments? It's possible that Blizzard is planning a time-based expansion centered around the Bronze Dragonflight. The Keepers of Time could send us on missions, much like the Caverns of Time dungeons of expansions past. Only instead of lore moments from the distant past, they could be moments from WoW's own history, including events driven by the community and removed content that players may not have been able to experience. Here are 11 examples that I would love to see. 1. The Blood Plague What: The Alliance seizes a rare opportunity Where: Original Orgrimmar When: Patch 1.7 As WoW Archivist previously covered, the Corrupted Blood plague began when players used "creative game mechanics" to export a boss ability into the general population. The unstoppable and highly contagious plague debuff devastated cities around the world as thousands of players and NPCs alike succumbed to it. The resulting chaos became an excellent model for how real-world diseases could spread. This scenario would take place at the height of the plague and have different versions for Alliance and Horde. Alliance players would accompany NPCs on a strike into Orgrimmar. They would take advantage of the deadly outbreak to make an attempt on Thrall's life. Horde players would defend the city and their Warchief while trying to contain the plague. Why Orgrimmar? Due to the time frame, Blizzard could reintroduce the original version of the city.
Officers' Quarters: Casual raiding's demise?
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook. Cataclysm's introduction of the Raid Finder, or LFR, has certainly affected all levels of raiding. But will it eventually bring about the end of small, casual raiding guilds, as one officer fears? Or does it mean that he needs to change his approach? Hey Scott, I'm an officer in a small, casual raiding guild. By "casual" I mean we only raid two nights a week from 9-12, and typically we run a 10% nerf behind when it comes to clearing content. Our niche has always been as a "friendly community that offers members the chance to experience content in a laid-back atmosphere." Here's my question . . . what do you see as the impact of LFR (and to a lesser extent, LFG) on casual raiding guilds such as ours? Personally, I've always viewed it as a negative. LFR erodes the need for community in the game. Meanwhile, for the casual raiding guild, the biggest draw we can offer to players on our realms is our sense of "community".
Officers' Quarters: Beyond recruiting
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook. If you create a guild with a very specific type of player in mind, keeping those players should be easy, right? As one guild leader found out, it's not as simple as it seems. Hi Scott. ... I've got a guild of 50 people (10-30 people and their alts) and I seem to have hit a wall. I put posts up, I scour WoW Insider for ways to market my guild (thanks for the shoutout, drama mamas) and I try to keep things interesting but nobody ever signs on anymore. We've got a core group of about... oh I'd say 5-10 people who still sign on every few days. How in the hell are we supposed to be a guild for disabled people and friends of the disabled when nobody signs on?
WoW Archivist: 2.2 patch notes
World of Warcraft patch 2.2 General Voice Chat - The new Voice Chat feature is now available in game. Players will need to go into the Options menu under Sound & Voice to activate it. Volume sliders are available for the microphone, speakers, and game-audio fade (which automatically lowers the game audio when a voice communication is received), as is a "push-to-talk" setting. Right-clicking on a player's name now includes the option to mute or unmute that player. Muting another player blocks all voice chat from him or her; the ignore feature now blocks both voice chat and text chat from that player. Chat Channels- New Chat Channel controls and functionality are now available under the Chat tab in the Social window of the interface. The interface will now show the channels players are in or are available to them, depending on the area of the world they are in, along with the addition of new private channel controls. A new feature for reporting players as being AFK in battlegrounds by right clicking has been added. When enough reports are registered, a 60 second debuff will begin to count down. Once the timer is up a new debuff will appear that will prevent the player from gaining any honor while it is on. This debuff can be negated as soon as the player engages in PvP combat. Haste: Haste has been rebalanced. It has returned to the ratios from the launch of Burning Crusade. Melee attacks and spell casts will now benefit at identical rates from haste. This change results in a reduction in the benefit of haste for melee attacks and an increase in the benefit for spellcasters. Troll Berserk: The spell haste on this ability was incorrectly too high and has been corrected. Resilience Rating: The reduction to the percent chance to get a critical strike now also reduces the damage dealt by damage over time effects by the same percentage. Daze: Defense skill will no longer reduce the chance players have to receive the Daze effect when attacked from behind by enemies. This was in the patch notes distributed to the patch, but the change was reversed. Daze is as it was pre-2.2. Area Spells: In some cases guards in neutral areas would not aggro against pvp attacks from area spells. That is now fixed. Corrected the damage modifier calculation for Resilience when the attacker has bonus critical strike damage. Power Regeneration: Any effect which triggers a change in your rate of power regeneration (Mana, Rage, Energy, Focus) will now cause an immediate reward of some power at the old rate of increase, and then begin new "ticks" of power at the new rate approximately 2 seconds later. This was done to improve functionality of abilities such as Evocation and Innervate so that they did not have wasted "ticks". Mac Movie Capture: the Mac client can now capture in-game video to QuickTime movie files using a configurable choice of codec, resolution, and frame rate. Two new entries have been added to the Key Bindings dialog for start/stop recording and for cancellation of a recording. For more detailed configuration options please see the Mac Options panel in game. Mac OS X 10.4.9 and QuickTime 7.1.6 or better are required. Not all machines have enough performance to smoothly capture video at high frame rates; end user experimentation will be required to find appropriate settings for each system. Pets are now affected by Paladin greater blessings. Kill Triggered Effects: Effects that trigger from killing your target will no longer trigger from killing your pet. Non-combat pets may not be selected as the target for spells or abilities. Non-combat pets now have the tag "Companion" instead of "Minion". Being attacked by guardians, such as summoned Treants, will no longer automatically cause neutral guards to attack you. Meeting Stones can no longer be used to summon players that do not meet the level requirements. Damage and health leech effects always affect flying players even if they are immune to the rest of the spell's affects while in flight. PvP Dueling players may not use a Lightwell that they didn't create themselves. Battlegrounds Eye of the Storm: The points awarded from capturing the flag now increase based on the number of bases the capturing teams owns. Arenas Arena calculations have been modified. In addition, the penalty for smaller arena teams (2v2, 3v3) has been slightly reduced. Items that are indicated as quest items in their tooltips and have a "use" or "equip" ability will not work in PvP arenas. Players will no longer be able to change armor once an arena battle has begun. Changing armor will still be available during the one-minute prep time prior to the battle. Main hand, off hand and ranged weapon swapping in combat remains unchanged. Druids Cat Form (Night Elf) melee attack range was too short compared to Tauren Cat Form and other attack ranges. It has been increased. Cyclone: It is no longer possible to Cyclone two targets at the same time in the outdoor world. Cyclone: Paladin Auras, Trueshot Aura, and Aspect of the Pack will now be automatically reactivated when Cyclone wears off of a victim who had one of the abilities active. Enrage: If this buff is clicked off early, the armor penalty it causes will now be removed as well. Enrage and Furor should no longer initiate combat, though it will prevent rage decay for the duration. Entangling Roots: It is no longer possible to have Entangling Roots on two targets at the same time in the outdoor world. Entangling Roots: It is no longer possible to have more than one rank of this spell active on a player. Force of Nature: Using this spell in a neutral town will no longer cause its victim to be attacked by town guards. It also will no longer cause nearby party members to lose stealth. Hibernate and Entangling Roots duration against PvP targets has been reduced to 10 seconds. Hurricane: This spell is now affected by area damage caps. Its bonus damage coefficients have also been increased. Hurricane: A tooltip error in rank 3 has been corrected. Lacerate: The damage from this ability will now stack properly when two different characters are applying Lacerate to a target. Mangle: The duration remaining graphic will now display properly for Mangle after it has been refreshed on a target. It will also no longer sometimes apply the Mangle debuff to nearby targets when the Mangle victim is killed by Mangle. Nature's Grasp: This ability can now trigger while the Druid is sitting. Tree of Life: The party aura from this shapeshift now extends the full 40-yard radius as stated in the tooltip. Hunters Aspect of the Cheetah: This ability will now cause Hunters to become dazed when struck while sitting. Aspect of the Pack: This ability will now cause party members to become dazed when struck while sitting. Aspect of the Viper: This ability has received a slight redesign. The amount of mana regained will increase as the Hunter's percentage of mana remaining decreases. At about 60% mana, it is equivalent to the previous version of Aspect of the Viper. Below that margin, it is better (up to twice as much mana as the old version); while above that margin, it will be less effective. The mana regained never drops below 10% of intellect every 5 sec. or goes above 50% of intellect every 5 sec. Freezing Trap and Scare Beast duration against PvP targets has been reduced to 10 seconds. Hunter's Mark: The duration remaining graphic will now display properly for Hunter's Mark after it has been refreshed on a target, and will properly consume mana when recasting it to refresh its duration. Kill Command will not charge the hunter mana if their pet is on passive. Kill Command no longer affects the Hunter's current target. Misdirection: Items used while Misdirection is active will now consume a charge correctly. Steady Shot: The tooltip stating the percentage of Attack Power gained by Steady Shot was inaccurate and has been corrected. The damage remains unchanged. Volley: This spell is now affected by area damage caps. Its bonus damage coefficients have also been increased. It also correctly consumes charges of Misdirection. Hunter Pets Raptors can now learn Dash. Mages Arcane Missiles: Some procs were not triggered by this spell and now will be (such as Eye of Magtheridon). The tooltip for this spell will now update correctly when a Mage is affected by spell haste. Blizzard: This spell is now affected by area damage caps. Its bonus damage coefficients have also been increased. Dragon's Breath: The movement-slowing component of this spell is now properly considered a Snare. Immunity and clearing effects will now work properly with it. Frost Nova: This spell is now affected correctly by area damage caps. Molten Armor: This armor can now be triggered while the Mage is sitting. Polymorph duration against PvP targets has been reduced to 10 seconds. Slow: It is no longer sometimes possible to Slow two targets at the same time in the outdoor world. Spell Steal now receives the proper amount of points from a stacked aura. Paladins Auras: Changing auras will no longer trigger effects that occur when you cast a spell. Blessing of Freedom cooldown increased to 25 seconds. Blessing of Protection: This spell can no longer be cast on others when stunned. It can only be cast on self (to break the stun) under those circumstances. Blessing of Kings, Light, Might, Salvation, Sanctuary and Wisdom increased to 10 minutes. Blessing of Sacrifice now has a 1-minute cooldown. Consecration will now properly hit large creatures. Greater Blessing of Kings, Light, Might, Salvation, Sanctuary and Wisdom increased to 30 minutes. Guardian's Favor now increases duration of Blessing of Freedom by 2/4 seconds. Eye for an Eye: This ability can now trigger while the Paladin is sitting. Hammer of Wrath cast time reduced to .5 seconds, global cooldown reduced to .5 seconds. Illumination: Paladins will now correctly gain mana from this ability if they sit down to drink right after a healing crit, and receiving mana from this ability will no longer cause a Paladin who is sitting to stand up. Judgement: The Judgement spells will no longer cause triggered effects to go off twice. Redoubt: This ability can now trigger while the Paladin is sitting. Reckoning: This ability can now trigger while the Paladin is sitting. Righteous Defense: In some cases this ability would fail to work properly when the Paladin casting it had just been crowd controlled by a creature. That is now fixed. Sanctified Judgement: This talent will now give the correct amount of mana when used in conjunction with Seal of Justice. Seal of Righteousness: The tooltip for this ability has been improved. It now displays a different number for one-handed weapons and two-handed weapons, and adjusts to the speed of your current weapon. It displays a single number, rather than a range of numbers for different handedness and speeds. Seal of Vengeance: The damage from this ability will now stack properly when two different characters are applying Seal of Vengeance effects to a target. Seal of Vengeance duration increased to 15 seconds. In addition, when Seal of Vengeance strikes a target that already has 5 applications you will cause instant Holy damage. Priests Focused Power: This talent now increases the hit chance of all components of Mass Dispel correctly. Inner Focus: This ability will no longer lose charges when Shadowguard or Touch of Weakness is triggered. Lightwell: The heals from this ability are now increased by the bonus healing effects on the Priest. Mass Dispel: The portion of this spell that removes immunity effects (Blessing of Protection, Ice Block, etc.), now has a chance to be resisted, and will display correctly to the combat log. It will no longer cause Rogues and Druids in Cat Form to lose stealth. Mind Control: Creatures immune to this spell will now cause an immediate error message rather than make it seem like the spell succeeded with no effect. Mind Control duration against PvP targets has been reduced to 10 seconds. Pain Suppression: This talent will now reduce the chance for any buff on the Priest to be dispelled, rather than reduce the chance of dispelling buffs cast while it is active. Prayer of Mending: This spell can no longer jump to an Imp with Phase Shift active. It will also no longer cause the healed target to stand up. Prayer of Mending: This ability will now be triggered when a player takes damage from effects placed on friendly targets. Shadowguard: This ability will now work properly even when the Priest is stunned, fleeing, or incapacitated. Shackle Undead: It is no longer possible to have Shackle Undead on two targets at the same time in the outdoor world. Surge of Light: This ability now properly grants its effects to one and only one casting of Smite each time it activates. Interaction issues with Inner Focus have been fixed. Touch of Weakness: This ability will now trigger properly if struck while mounted. Rogues Blade Flurry: This ability will now do damage to secondary targets when the primary target takes no damage due to a damage shield (such as Power Word: Shield). Cold Blood: This effect will now be consumed by all crits, including those against targets with damage shields. Master of Subtlety: The bonus damage from this talent is now properly removed when a Rogue loses stealth from zoning. Sap: It is no longer possible to Sap two targets at the same time in the outdoor world. Sap duration against PvP targets has been reduced to 10 seconds. Sword Specialization: This talent's free extra attacks can no longer trigger additional extra attacks. Shaman Earthbind Totem: This totem will no longer break Rogue stealth. Earth Shield: It is no longer possible to Earth Shield two targets at the same time in the outdoor world. Earth Shield is now canceled at logout. Elemental Focus: The free spell triggered by a Lightning Overload will no longer consume this effect. Flametongue Weapon: Damage lowered slightly on rank 6 so that it is never better than rank 7. Focused Mind (Restoration) now reduces duration of Silence/Interrupt mechanics by 10/20/30%. Lightning Shield: This ability will now work properly even when the Shaman is stunned, fleeing, or incapacitated. Nature's Guardian: This ability can now trigger while the Shaman is sitting. Totems: Totems that grant only friendly beneficial effects will no longer trigger attacks from neutral city guards. Warlock Banish, Seduction, Enslave Demon and Fear duration against PvP targets has been reduced to 10 seconds. Death Coil: Immunity to Horror effects no longer grants immunity to the damage portion of this spell. Demonic Knowledge: This effect will no longer deactivate when the Warlock's pet is Banished. Drain Life: The tooltip for this spell will now update correctly when a Warlock is affected by spell haste. Inferno: This spell will now cause the Infernal's attacks to put the Warlock into combat with neutral town guards. Intercept (Felguard) will now cause damage to targets that are immune to stun. Nether Protection: This ability can now trigger while the Warlock is sitting. Nightfall: This ability can now trigger while the Warlock is sitting. Rain of Fire: This spell is now affected by area damage caps. Its bonus damage coefficients have also been increased. Seed of Corruption: Dead targets will no longer be erroneously counted toward the damage cap on this spell. Shadow Embrace: The effect from this talent will no longer last indefinitely if applied while charmed by an NPC. Unstable Affliction: This spell will no longer fail when a Warlock deselects their target midway through the cast. Warriors A Warrior's Overpower will properly become available when one of his Sword Specialization procs is dodged by another player. Bloodrage should no longer initiate combat, though it will prevent rage decay for the duration. Bloodrage: Warriors no longer remain in combat indefinitely if this ability is active while zoning. Devastate: The duration remaining graphic will now display properly for Sunder Armor after it has been refreshed on a target by Devastate. Intercept will now cause damage to targets that are immune to stun. Sword Specialization: This talent's free extra attacks can no longer trigger additional extra attacks. Items Adamantite Bound Chest: These chests found in the outdoor world now contain level-appropriate loot. Adamantite Bound Chest: These chests will no longer contain Adamantite Bars. Adamantite Figurine: This item is no longer affected by global cooldowns. Airman's Ribbon of Gallantry: The tooltip for this item now lists the effect duration. Alliance Shaman Level 60 PvP Items: These now have the correct costs. Ankhs now stack to ten. Ashtongue Talisman of Lethality: This trinket now works properly with Kidney Shot. Avatar Raiment Set: The set bonus for Renew now increases the duration of Renew by 3 seconds instead of increasing the target's resistance. Black Qiraji Battletank: It is no longer possible to cast a spell while boarding this mount. Blazefury Medallion: This item will no longer trigger against targets affected by Sap. Blue Ogre Brew: This item now gives an error message when you attempt to use it outside of the Blade's Edge Plateaus. Cerebral Cortex Compound: This item's tooltip now indicates it counts as an elixir. Characters with a full inventory who turn in a Deathwing Brood Cloak to Sky Commander Keller in exchange for an Apexis Crystal will now receive the crystal in the mail. Corrected the sound made by many items when moved in players' inventories. Corruptor Raiment Set: The pet healing bonus from this set is now triggered from damage dealt instead of damage received, at a lower percentage. Damage over time spells will trigger it correctly. Corruptor Raiment: The heal from this set bonus can no longer be a critical heal. Crown of the Sun: This item now makes the correct sound when moved in inventory. Crystalweave Bracers: This item now makes the correct sound when moved in inventory. Cyclone Regalia: The tooltip on the Energize bonus has been altered to state this bonus only reduces the base mana cost of the spell. Darkmoon Card: Madness: This item will no longer trigger from using Demonic Sacrifice on a pet. Darkmoon Card: Crusade: This item can no longer trigger from Mind Soothe, Soothe Animal, or Mind Vision. Deathmantle Armor Pieces: These items now make the correct sound when moved in inventory. Defiler's Plate Spaulders: Honor cost of this item corrected to its intended value. Demonic Bulwark: This item incorrectly had a base amount of bonus healing in addition to its random stats. That base bonus healing has been removed. Design: Mystic Dawnstone: This recipe for a +8 resilience-rating gem will now always have a copy on the vendor initially when Halaa is captured by a faction and when the vendor restocks. Enriched Terocone Juice: Using this item will no longer trigger a cooldown for using all other food and drink. Its purchase price has also been corrected. Essence Infused Mushroom: This item can now be disenchanted. Eye of Arachnida: This item's 3rd charge will now work correctly. However, an item with 0 charges will remain, and this item is now unable to be vendored or disenchanted. Faceplate of the Impenetrable: This item now makes the correct sound when moved in inventory. Fel Reaver's Piston: This item will no longer be triggered by the healing generated by Vampiric Embrace. Figurine of the Colossus: This item is no longer affected by global cooldowns. Figurine of the Colossus: This item is now useable when the user has no mana. Flasks: Various tooltips have been adjusted for consistency. Formula: Enchant Chest - Major Resilience: Corrected a tooltip error. Formula: Enchant Cloak - Dodge: This enchanting recipe is now available from the Lower City Quartermaster. The reagents required have been adjusted to match the level 70 content. Formula: Enchant Cloak - Greater Fire Resistance: The reagents required for this recipe have been adjusted to better match the level 70 content. Formula: Enchant Cloak - Greater Nature Resistance: The reagents required for this recipe have been adjusted to better match the level 70 content. Formula: Enchant Cloak - Stealth: This enchanting recipe is now available from the Cenarion Expedition Quartermaster. The reagents required have been adjusted to match the level 70 content. Formula: Enchant Cloak - Subtlety: This enchanting recipe is now available from the Thrallmar Quartermaster and Honor Hold Quartermaster. The reagents required have been adjusted to match the level 70 content. Formula: Enchant Gloves - Superior Agility: This enchanting recipe is now available from the Keepers of Time Quartermaster. The reagents required have been adjusted to match the level 70 content. Formula: Enchant Gloves - Threat: This enchanting recipe is now available from the Sha'tar Quartermaster. The reagents required have been adjusted to match the level 70 content. Formula: Enchant Weapon - Greater Agility: This enchanting recipe is now available from the Violet Eye vendor. Gizzard Gum: This item's tooltip now indicates it counts as an elixir. Greater Rune of Warding: Due to persistent bugs with its design, this item has been redesigned for patch 2.2. It now enchants a piece of chest armor so it has a chance per hit of giving you physical damage absorption. Grips of Silent Justice: This item now makes the correct sound when moved in inventory. Ground Scorpok Assay: This item's tooltip now indicates it counts as an elixir. Heavy Fel Iron Chest: These chests found in the outdoor world now contain level-appropriate loot. Horde Paladin Level 60 PvP Items: These now have the correct costs. Increased the duration of the Mystical Skyfire Diamond's cast speed buff to 10 seconds. Incarnate Raiment Set: The Flexibility buff from this set is no longer removed by taking damage. Kronk's Grab Bag: This bag will now always contain some item. Insignia of the Alliance: This item now indicates it removes effects instead of dispelling them. Insignia of the Horde: This item now indicates it removes effects instead of dispelling them. Leggings of Beast Mastery: The stamina and armor granted by this item for your pet have been increased. Leggings of Divine Retribution: This item now makes the correct sound when moved in inventory. Lesser Rune of Warding: Due to persistent bugs with its design, this item has been redesigned for patch 2.2. It now enchants a piece of chest armor so it has a chance per hit of giving you physical damage absorption. Lesser Ward of Shielding: This item was not providing any benefit to the user or placing a buff icon on them. It is now functioning properly. Libram of Avengement: The tooltip for this item now specifies it only works with the damaging Judgements (Command, Righteousness, Vengeance, Blood). Lionheart Champion: This item now has a sound effect on its proc. Lionheart Executioner: This item now has a sound effect on its proc. Lung Juice Cocktail: This item's tooltip now indicates it counts as an elixir. Mark of Defiance: This item is now triggered from landing harmful spells on a target, instead of just direct-damage spells. Marshal's Silk Cuffs: Critical strike rating on this item now the same as General's Silk Cuffs. Medallion of the Alliance: This item now indicates it removes effects instead of dispelling them. Medallion of the Horde: This item now indicates it removes effects instead of dispelling them. Merciless Gladiator's Barrier: This spell damage shield has been added to the arena vendor. Merciless Gladiator's Legguards: This item now appears as a kilt. Merciless Gladiator's Plate Helm: The melee hit rating on this item has been changed to hit rating (it now applies to melee and ranged). Merciless Gladiator's Plate Helm will now properly hide facial hair. Merciless Gladiator's Redoubt: This healing shield has been added to the arena vendor. Merciless Gladiator's Ringmail Helm: This item will disable hair from being displayed. Merciless Gladiator's Leather Spaulders: Critical strike rating was too low and has been fixed. Merciless Gladiator's Touch of Defeat: This item now has a fire shoot animation to match its damage type. Mr. Pinchy: Items received from Mr. Pinchy when your inventory is full will now be mailed to you. Mystical Skyfire Diamond: Channeled spells will now properly consume the Focus effect. Netherblade armor now has the correct sounds associated with it. Oil of Immolation: Tooltip error corrected. Pendant of the Violet Eye: This item will now trigger properly from spells that cost a percentage of base mana. Power Infused Mushroom: This item can now be disenchanted. Red Ogre Brew: This item now gives an error message when you attempt to use it outside of the Blade's Edge Plateaus. Rift Stalker Armor: The pet healing set bonus now heals for a percentage of damage dealt by the Hunter. R.O.I.D.S.: This item's tooltip now indicates it counts as an elixir. Sagefish Delight: The buff from this item has been modified to work the same as all other mana per 5 buffs and displays correctly on the character sheet. Schematic: Fused Wiring: Vendors who sell this recipe will now properly restock it after a period of time. Sheen of Zanza: This item's tooltip now indicates it counts as an elixir. Shiny Red Apple: Druids in animal forms can no longer eat this food item. Shuriken of Negation: Item level and stats increased to match other items from Gruul. Six Demon Bag: The damage spells cast by this item no longer benefit from a player's bonus spell damage effects. Skyguard Rations: Tooltip error corrected. Skyguard Silver Cross: The tooltip for this item now lists the effect duration. Skyshatter Raiment: The bonuses in this set have had the spells they affect swapped. Skyshatter Regalia: The Totemic Mastery set bonus will no longer force the Shaman to stand up and stop eating and drinking. Slayer's Armor: The set bonus for Sinister Strike, Backstab, and Mutilate now also works for Hemorrhage. Smoked Sagefish: The buff from this item has been modified to work the same as all other mana per 5 buffs and displays correctly on the character sheet. Spirit of Zanza: This item's tooltip now indicates it counts as an elixir. Spyglass of the Hidden Fleet: This item is now useable by shapeshifted Druids. Staff of Natural Fury: Tooltip clarified to indicate it reduces the base mana cost of shapeshifts, not the final cost. Stormstout: Corrected the tooltip due to capitalization inconsistency. Swiftness of Zanza: This item's tooltip now indicates it counts as an elixir. Talon of Al'ar: The bonus damage to all Shot abilities now provides the full bonus to Scatter Shot and Silencing Shot. Talasite Owl: The effect from this item will now last its intended full duration. The blood elf paladin quest reward Scourgebane now works against demons as well as undead. Trappings of the Unseen Path Set: The buff on your pet from this set bonus will no longer appear to be constantly running out and refreshing. Trogg Ale: Corrected the tooltip due to capitalization inconsistency. Unstable Talasite: The tooltip on this gem now indicates it counts as blue and yellow, and it behaves accordingly. Veteran's Scaled Belt: Stats have been adjusted to correct budget. Veteran's Scaled Greaves: Stats have been adjusted to correct budget. Voidheart Set: The tooltips for the two-piece bonuses have been adjusted slightly so that there is no longer a blank set bonus. The functionality of the set bonus was unchanged. Warbringer Armor Set: The bonus from Revenge will now apply correctly to Shield Slam. Wild Draenish Vest: This item now makes the correct sound when moved in inventory. Windrider Mounts: These items now make the correct sound when moved in inventory. Winterfall Firewater: This item's tooltip now indicates it counts as an elixir. Wolfshead Helm: This helm will no longer give twice the rage it was intended to give. World Breaker: The bonus from this item being triggered will no longer fade before it can provide its benefit. Professions Various crafting recipes have been added to the Violet Eye faction vendor. Triggered Effects: Tradeskill recipes will no longer trigger items that are designed to be triggered by only combat spells. Alchemy Flask of Shadow Fortification will transform into the Flask of Pure Death. This new flask increases Frost, Fire, and Shadow spell damage. Flask of Arcane Fortification will transform into the Flask of Blinding Light. This new flask increases Holy, Nature, and Arcane spell damage. A new flask that increases all resists and stats has been added to the Violet Eye reputation vendor. Blacksmithing Changed the set bonuses afforded by Fel Iron Plate to increase hit chance and Strength. Added a new recipe for Ragesteel Shoulders that drops from an unknown creature in Shadowmoon Valley. Reduced the number of pieces required to get the benefits of the Ragesteel set bonus. Enchanting Nexus Transformation: This recipe to transform a Nexus Crystal into a Small Prismatic Shard has been added to some Enchanting trainers. Small Prismatic Shards: This recipe to transform a Large Prismatic Shard into 3 Small Prismatic Shards has been added to some Enchanting trainers. Large Prismatic Shard: It is no longer possible to gain skill points in Enchanting from this recipe. Engineering Reduced the cooldown on the engineer-made Parachute Cloak. Jewelcrafting Added a recipe for Steady Talasite to the Halaa vendors. This new recipe requires Halaa Research Tokens to purchase and creates a superior green gem that grants Resilience and Stamina. Quests "Banish the Demons" now rewards either a Darkrune or a Fragmented Darkrune. Five fragmented Darkrunes can be combined to create a Darkrune. During the quest, "The Smallest Creatures", the marmot's stealth ability is working once again. Firewing Warlocks are less likely to want to engage in melee combat. Fixed an issue wherein a character with a Darkrune would not be able to turn it in to Gahk in return for a Crystalforged Darkrune unless they first completed the daily quest "Banish More Demons" that day. In the "Bad Medicine" quest in Stranglethorn, Jungle Remedies can now be found on Jungle Fighters. In Hillsbrad, additional Syndicate Papers were added to the Corahn's Dagger subzone Syndicate camp. Quest text was changed to reflect this. In the "Bomb Them Again" quest, the cooldown of the Skyguard bombs was decreased to 5 seconds (was 10). In the "Relic's Emanation" quest, the money reward was decreased while the Ogri'la faction reward was increased. Mawg Grimshot's flavor events have been fixed. Resolved issues with Obsidia, Rivendark, Insidion, and Furywing sometimes not responding to their eggs being used. The duration of the Apexis Relic and Apexis Monument beams was slightly reduced, to more easily separate 2 back-to-back beams. The following Quest Objects will no longer briefly despawn when looted: Mythology of the Titans, Compendium of the Fallen, Maiden's Folly Charts, Maiden's Folly Log, Spirit of Silverpine Charts, Spirit of Silverpine Log. Various issues breaking the "Showdown" quest fight have been resolved. Dungeons and Raids Tempest Keep and Coilfang raid bosses will now all drop at least 3 items each. Auchindoun- Heroic Sethekk Halls Polymorph should no longer affect the main tank. Auchindoun-Shadow Labyrinth The recast time for the Shadow Word: Pain cast by Cabal Shadow Priests has been increased. Black Temple Saber Lash tanks will no longer be knocked back by Sinister Beam or hit by Fatal Attraction, even if they dodge or parry the attack. Mother Shahraz will now pick a new beam to cast after every 3rd beam instead of after every 5th. This means she is much less likely to cast the same beam many times in a row. Fatal Attraction now deals 750 damage on the first tick, 1500 on the second, 2250 on the third, and 3000 on all subsequent ticks. Prismatic Shield is now more fun. Specifically, Mother Shahraz now takes bonus damage from one school when she is resistant to its opposite. Her resistances now change randomly every 15 seconds and are capped at 25%. Caverns of Time- Battle of Mount Hyjal Faction and loot rewards has been added to non-boss mobs in the Battle of Mount Hyjal raid event. The faction awarded by bosses has been decreased to balance this. The health of Jaina and Thrall have been increased again from their temporarily lowered values. They should be able to absorb quite a bit more incidental damage during the event. Archimonde has received several adjustments and fixes to prevent some of the harder to counter combinations of his abilities. Archimonde's Soul Charge silence has been lowered in duration to 4 seconds, and the death of the Priest with Spirit of Redemption will no longer create two Soul Charges. The casting time of Archimonde's fear has been increased to 1.5 seconds, and he should now use his Fear ability on a much more consistent interval. Archimonde will also no longer cast Grip of the Legion on very far away targets. Archimonde will no longer cast Grip of the Legion on targets that have just been hit with Air Burst. Caverns of Time- Black Morass Increased recast time on Shadow Bolt Volley on Rift Keeper, also reduced damage on Heroic. Reduced hit points of Infinite Executioners on Heroic. Decreases the maximum possible stacks of Temporus' Mortal Wound from 10 to 7. Increased recast time for Temporus' Hasten spell on Heroic. Caverns of Time- Escape from Durnholde Keep When the limit on Thrall respawns after event failure has been reached, the Epoch Hunter will now properly despawn. Human Illusion: This effect in Old Hillsbrad will no longer be applied to Dwarf and Human Priests when they exit Shadowform. The composition of the pulls around the barracks in Durnholde Keep is now more consistent. Players should no longer face more than two Riflemen, or more than one Warden. The group of guards underneath the bridge has been removed in Heroic difficulty. The Thrall escort event now allows 20 tries at completing the event instead of 3. Coilfang Reservoir: Serpentshrine Cavern Coilfang Priestesses no longer perform Spirit of Redemption. Underbog Colossus' Acid Spray is now somewhat less dangerous. Underbog Colossus' Spore Quake now has a shorter duration. Greyheart Tidecallers' Virulent poison is now less deadly. Serpentshrine Sporebats now charge less frequently. Greyheart Nether-Mages now blink less frequently. Serpentshrine Lurkers have had their damage output reduced. Hellfire Citadel: Shattered Halls The melee damage dealt by Shattered Hand Reavers, Shattered Hand Legionnaires, Shattered Hand Heathens, and Rabid Warhounds in Heroic Mode has been reduced. Karazhan Nightbane's Distracting Ash can now be removed with Cloak of Shadows. Tinhead in Karazhan is now immune to bleeds. Romulo and Julianne now clear all negative effects on themselves before they come back from "death". Scholomance Ras Frostwhisper's Frost Armor Chilled effect is now properly classified as a snare mechanic. Tempest Keep: Arcatraz The Devastate cast by Unbound Devastators now does Physical damage. The recast time for the Deafening Roar spell cast by Unbound Devastators has been increased on Heroic mode. Wrath-Scryer Soccothrates' Knock Away can no longer be dodged or parried. This will help prevent the catastrophic placement of multiple flames on top of each other. Harbinger Skyriss casts his Fear spell less often. Tempest Keep: Botanica The time between casting of Thorgrin the Tender's Hellfire has been increased. The time between casting of Thorgrin the Tender's Sacrifice has been increased in Heroic Mode. Thorgrin the Tender's Enrage ability now increases his melee damage by 75% instead of 110%. Tempest Keep: Mechanar Raging Flames in the Nethermancer Sepethrea encounter have had their movement speed reduced slightly in heroic mode. The Arcane Servants summoned by Sunseeker Netherbinders are now properly classified as Arcane Elementals, deal less melee damage and have fewer hit points. Tempest Keep: The Eye The spells cast by High Astromancer Solarian have been extensively reworked. Wrath of the Astromancer is a now completely different in function. Mark of the Astromancer has been renamed to Light of the Astromancer and no longer reduces Arcane resistance. A player's Arcane Resistance now also provides normal damage mitigation to Solarian's spells. Phoenix-Hawk Hatchlings now use Wing Buffet less frequently. Crimson Hand Centurions now deal less damage with Arcane Flurry. Crimson Hand Battle Mages have had their Frost Attack damage reduced. User Interface Cast sequence macros no longer get stuck at feral druid abilities. Toggling the world map can be bound to an extended mouse button. Improved the handling of items with charges on the action bar. Fixed an issue where moveable frames would end up off screen after changing either to or from a widescreen resolution. Fixed an issue where moveable frames would end up off screen after changing the UI scale. Fixed issue where font strings would get clipped when the UI was scaled. The pitchLimit console command has been re-enabled. Conditional macros with multiple targets will use the appropriate context sensitive target for visual range feedback. Conditional macro processing has been greatly optimized. Macros with specific cast targets will no longer cast on your current target if the specified target doesn't exist. Warlocks can no longer get both Fel Stamina and Sacrifice Shield using a macro. For additional notes on Lua and XML changes please visit the UI & Macros Forum. source Next Page >>
WoW Archivist: Patch 2.2, the patch without content
WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? New content comes in patches. That's how it has always worked in WoW. Some patches with a multiple decimals, like patch 1.8.2, are just for bug fixes, emergency boss tuning, and the like. They don't really count (although to be fair, some have given us small amounts of new stuff, such as Onyxia's return in patch 3.2.2). A patch with two numbers, like patch 5.2 hitting very soon, is supposed to have shiny new pixels for all of us to enjoy. Patch 2.2, released in September 2007, didn't have any. It was the only time in WoW's history that a major patch did not introduce any new content to the game world. No raids. No dungeons. No battlegrounds or arenas. No daily quests. Not even new items. Instead, patch 2.2 gave us something we didn't particularly want. Something players immediately hated and decried as useless. Something we have never embraced, though most of us haven't thought about it in a long, long time. Most players probably don't even know it exists.
WoW Archivist: 2.2 patch notes, part 2
World of Warcraft patch 2.2 (continued) World Environment The following old-world factions have had their acquisition rate significantly increased: Cenarion Circle, Argent Dawn, Timbermaw Hold. If you get a positive reputation from combat you also get the corresponding opposite reputation reduction. Adjusted Yowler's level to 20 (from 25). Adjusted the level of Redridge Bashers and Alphas. Arcane Missiles: When cast by creatures, this spell will now properly cause activation of pets set to defensive mode. Azuregos: The tooltip on this creature's Frost Breath now correctly indicates Frozen rather than impairing movement. Chieftain Mummaki: This creature can now be pickpocketed. Crypt Fiends around Azeroth and at Hyjal Summit are now more totem friendly. Doctor Maleficus: This creature can now be pickpocketed. Dragonmaw Peon: The creature now has the correct pickpocket loot. Fel Corrupters in Blade's Edge Mountain are now less potent. Fixed an improper dialog option on Carolyn Ward, a Rogue Trainer in Undercity, when the player's Lockpicking was 300-324. Highlord Mastrogonde: This creature now always drops at least a good quality item. Kataru: The totem cast by this creature will now be treated as a totem, rather than as a creature. Markaru: This creature is now skinnable. Minor Fairbreeze Village fixes: The general goods vendor was moved from home to the lower inn, the pet vendor was moved from the upper inn to home, the upper inn is now flagged as an inn. Mo'arg Doomsmith: This creature now drops Marks of Sargeras rather than Marks of Kil'jaeden. Monstrous Kaliri: This creature now has loot and will give reputation. Quest target Fel Spirits are now considered undead. Vindicator Aeus in the Aldor bank is no longer attackable by players who are members of the Scryer faction. Sethekk Ravenguard: The Howling Screech from this creature is now properly considered a Snare, and is clearable by Escape Artist and other abilities that remove Snares. Skettis Windwalker: The Cyclone effect from this creature can now be cleared by PvP trinkets and Bestial Wrath/The Beast Within. Skulloc Soulgrinder in Blade's Edge now correctly summons Sundered Ghosts to aid him in battle. Void Reaver: The Arcane Orb ability used by this creature will now correctly Daze players affected by Aspect of the Pack or Aspect of the Cheetah. Void Terror: This creature is now skinnable. Wyrmcult Blackwhelp: This creature now can be skinned but can no longer be pickpocketed. Blackrock Spire: The gems for the Seal of Ascension are now a 100% drop from Overlord Wyrmthalak, War Master Voone and Highlord Omokk. Wailing Caverns: The Druids of the Talon will no longer permanently flee. Blackfathom Deeps: Several creatures will no longer permanently flee. Temple of Atal'Hakkar: Several creatures will no longer permanently flee. Mac Additional graphic optimization utilizing AltiVec for PowerPC-Mac and SSE for Intel-Mac. This provides some performance benefit on systems where vertex animation shaders are either unavailable or disabled (recommended on systems with Intel integrated video). Mac Options dialog has been added to the primary options panel. This dialog offers configuration options for any features that are presently unique to the Mac client, such as iTunes Remote and Movie Capture. New iTunes Remote configuration options have been added to the Mac Options panel. Bug Fixes Fixed problem where players could be disconnected by clicking on an item link in cross-server battlegrounds. Pets will no longer chase players that Vanish. Pets no longer follow enemies after being revived. Stacked items will no longer disappear from a player's inventory when zoning multiple times. The WoW client on Windows no longer defaults to 800x600 video resolution if the WoW resolution is higher than the desktop resolution when going from fullscreen mode to windowed mode. The Temple Concubine's polymorph no longer has the pig icon appearing when it sheeps a player but now shows the proper sheep icon. Players using ranged attacks while under the shapeshift effects of Torment of the Worgen, will now play attack animations The Toxic Spore Bats in the Lady Vashj encounter will now properly despawn if the raid party wipes. Toxic Spores in the Lady Vashj encounter can no longer kill phase shifted imps. Anzu can no longer be kited far from his spawn point and will properly leash. The Doomguard Punisher will no longer hit players not involved in the Legion Ring Event. Dressing room models for females are now showing the correct head when transformed into a Fel Orc via the Dragonmaw Illusion. The trash pulls in the Grand Promenade will now shut off after the Blood Elf Council are killed. Players can now accept daily quests even after their daily quest limit has been reached. source
Officers' Quarters: Don't start from scratch
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook. Something in human nature relishes the concept of "starting from scratch." Is it the blank slate that excites us? Is it the opportunity to let go of the past and forge a new destiny for ourselves? Is it the joy of creating versus the tedium of maintaining? In any event, I've received a lot of emails lately about this idea. Players have written me expressing a desire to create a new account or get a name change and then create a new guild on a new realm where they will be the guild leader. Usually it's a lone person or a duo. To all of these people, my most sincere advice is this: don't. And if you have no experience with leadership, especially don't. First I will explain why this is a bad idea. Then, because I hate to discourage anyone from taking up a leadership role (the game always needs more of you), I will give a few words of advice about how you should approach it. Finally, I will offer an alternative that may work out better for you in the long run. Read on if you want to know!
Officers' Quarters: Extinction event
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook. For some raiding guilds, the last couple of weeks before a new patch is an opportunity to get those last normal or heroic encounters down, earn achievements, or farm for the last few items the raid team needs for the next tier. For others, they are a reminder of how little the guild has progressed. This reminder prompts raiders to weigh leaving the guild. This week's email comes from a raid leader facing this tough situation. Hi Scott. I've become Raid Leader of my old guild. Which, is driving me crazy. This raid team has been through thick and thin, through multiple Gm's and having lost multiple strong raiders I came back to the guild to help them and to join the team as Raid Leader. I've been having a really tough time though. Progression is non-existent. We're stuck on Blade Lord due to a lack of strong dps players and the new people who show promise need to do Mogu'shan Vaults to get gear for Heart of Fear. The raiders who've been on the team since the start of this tier are bored and have had enough of no progression and Mogu'shan Vaults. They're mainly all thinking of leaving the guild and if so, it'll mean the end of this guild, which I love.
WoW Archivist: Life and death
WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? World of Warcraft is without a doubt a massive cultural phenomenon unlike any other online game to date. It has given us countless hours of entertainment, introduced friends and couples to one another, and touched the lives of millions. For some, the game has made a bad situation better, or even -- in at least one case -- possibly saved their lives. For others, it has cost them everything. Fair warning: This column describes some intense and tragic events. Hans and the moose In 2007, twelve-year-old Hans Jørgen Olsen of Norway and his sister (ten) decided to take a shortcut through a garden on their way to school. The choice would prove fateful. A moose had wandered into the area and promptly took a dislike to the children. "It ran straight towards us when it saw us," Hans told Norwegian news station Nettavisen. "I screamed at it to scare the moose, but I soon realized that it was not going to stop. Then I turned and ran and ran until I couldn't run faster." The charging moose caught up to Hans and slammed into him. His backpack cushioned the blow, but the impact knocked Hans to the ground. Unsatisfied, the moose remained. "We held eye contact for a while," Hans said, "and then it suddenly struck me."
Officers' Quarters: Faster leveling through bribery
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook. Rewards can be powerful motivators. But what is the right way to reward members for leveling the guild and earning guild achievements? This week, a new leader asks just that. Hey Scott, I'm a newly established guild leader with hopes of having a decently successful guild. You see I've had my hand in a handful of guilds ranging from the most casual to the semi hardcore and then in ranks ranging from your run of the mill raider to substitute guild leader. From what I noticed in my experience is that most guilds have tons and tons of members that either pvp or raid and it seems that only the few named personnel only show up to check raid times (if any) or to do the occasional battleground. What I want to accomplish with my newly establish guild is some sort of incentives for work towards achievements or overall leveling of the guild. My officers are just down right stumped and I am looking at you for a piece of advice maybe. I guess to sort of elaborate more on what our goals are is that I'm looking at just making a casual raid/pvp guild that not only rewards its players for achievements but for progress in leveling the guild. What do you suggest? Sincerely, Wet Behind the Ears GL
Officers' Quarters: Backseat raiding
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook. Raid leading is never an easy role in the best of times. When players start to question your decisions and argue with your strategies, the job can take on a whole new dimension of hassle. That's the case in this week's email: Recently drama erupted in my guild which I felt had been brewing for a while now. My fiancé and I joined a newly formed guild and it was known at the time, we went through with the GM how we were not a package deal and if one of us did not make the cut that we were okay with it. The only thing we requested was fair treatment. Shortly before cataclysm I was asked to be an officer, due to some qualities I had shown during raids, namely not being afraid to speak up and ultimately voice who had made the mistake thus creating more accountability ... I took over raid leading and led the guild to a double digit us ranking according to Wowprogress. During this time drama began to brew, two players one of which was new ... and one of which was a founding member started a campaign which I could clearly see to discredit and argue strats I had prepared as well as judgement calls I made on the fly, it all escalated when one of those wanted to argue the raid comp and then in turn that my fiancé should be the one sitting not the new mage who was a recruit (and dating one of the other core raiders) despite the logs showing that was not the case. The gm wanted me to do it to appease them and I refused, the raid ended up being called.