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The Queue: Full of it
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.Since today's first question in Maelstrom-themed, we've decided today's edition of The Queue was a good time to link the supposed leaked trailer of the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion, to be announced at BlizzCon '09. We haven't embedded the video to try and dodge waking up to a DMCA tomorrow, so just check it out on YouTube. We'll let Google deal with the mess, eh?Revan asked... "What instances would you suggest for a Maelstrom expansion?" All of the things you suggested yesterday would work pretty well. Nazjatar and the Tomb of Sargeras would definitely be raid zones in a future expansion. I suspect we would also have a hella fun time in The Eye of the Maelstrom, which is the center of the whole storm there. Maybe we'd even visit Mak'aru, which is where all the gross crab people live. It probably wouldn't be a raid, but I could see a 5-man there. That is, if we don't ally with the gross crabfolk. Did I mention they're gross? Gross. I'd also lay down money that we'll get an Onyxia/Gruul/Malygos-style raid with a sea monster of some sort. The Lurker Below v2.0, now with eye lasers?
Ming tackles Patch 3.2's resilience change
Despite his sometimes-crass way of getting his point across, Ming is one of the best PvP bloggers around these days. When the Patch 3.2 patch notes revealed the upcoming change to resilience, I was hoping to hear his take on it. He delivered! If you haven't seen the patch notes, Resilience in Patch 3.2 will lower incoming damage across the board in addition to its protection against critical strikes. By Ming's estimates, after all other factors have been taken into consideration, the change will bring a net difference of an added 10% damage reduction in the upcoming Season 7.That number probably doesn't seem like a lot to people who don't set foot into the arena at all, but for people who arena seriously and competitively, it will be a game changer. The developers' stated goal is to slow down the pace of the arena, and this change will do exactly that. An extra 10% buffer on survivability has the potential to absolutely be the difference between a one minute game and a five minute game. It has the potential to be the difference between a gib and a last second defensive save. As has been stated, it's possible to die in the span of one GCD, and that's not fun. If this change can extend one GCD to two or three GCDs to allow for reaction time, the arena just might end up more balanced than it has ever previously been, unless you pretend Mace Stun didn't exist in the middle seasons of The Burning Crusade.You really shouldn't take my word for it, though. I PvP, but I'd never claim to be a highly rated anything. There's a reason I was waiting for Ming's take on it. Go read what he has to say, and be bolstered by it. The arena might actually be truly fun again.
WoW Moviewatch: Insane Gouge Crits 7
PvP-oriented videos aren't really the usual fare for WoW Moviewatch. I admit I watch a lot of them myself, though, mostly trying to pick up tips and tricks for the Arena. So, when I came across Insane Gouge Crits: 7 by Buddhist, I was pleasantly surprised. Don't get me wrong -- this is a PvP video, with all the action of "I sneak up on a guy and crit him" that you'd expect from that kind of rogue action. But that being said, Buddhist put a lot of work into making this PvP video more interesting that others you might see. It definitely stands out from its fellows in terms of the opening and closing sequences, both of which hint at movie-esque stories happening behind the scenes. I think this shows that it is possible to bring PvP videos up to the thought and art of more full machinima. There's voice acting, framing, and thought put into scenery. It's definitely a step up, and I would encourage Buddhist to keep bringing his PvP exploits to another level. 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: Analyzing you healers Part 3
Raid Rx is designed to encapsulate and cure the shock and horror that is 25-man raid healing. Ok, so it's mostly horror... Anyways, if you're a big fan of X-TREME Whack-A-Mole (or are being forced into it against your will) this is the column for you. A lot of times when I'm sifting through data on WWS, I feel like I need Sherlock Holmes' hat and magnifying glass. Today is no exception. If you're just joining the series for the first time, here's a link to get you caught up. The rest of you should recall that we left things on the cusp of actually going through WWS. Today we will rectify that and get into the nuts and bolts of WWS healing analysis. See you healing sleuths after the break!
Critapalooza
We've all heard them, those people in Alterac Valley or in Steam Vaults that announce those amazing crits every time one pops up on the screen. You may very well be one of those people yourself. But every time one of those huge numbers pops up in the chat log, you could very well stop and wonder, are they telling the truth? Nicholas over at WoW LJ posted on this topic today, and I identified with his side of things. He mentioned that whenever someone announces "omg my shadowbolt just crit for 5k!" there is a pause that happens, followed by self-doubt. I know I have been there myself. I sit there and seethe, wondering if I will ever be able to reach those kinds of numbers myself one day. He also brings up the possibility that not everyone is honest when they post these outlandish numbers. Maybe the hunter's Arcane Shot really didn't crit for 4k. Maybe it's a whole huge cover up, where we are all sitting here envious of numbers that don't actually exist. I'm not really sure either way. I know I'm not a huge crit machine (yet), and I don't post fabulously high numbers mostly because I don't achieve them. If I do, it's something I tell my friends, and we rejoice together in my outrageous luck. Without judgement, I'd like to ask the same question Nicholas does at the end of his post: also, (nobody will judge you for telling the truth), have you ever done this and lied about the damage you did? (maybe add an extra 100 or 5?)[via WoW Livejournal]
Breakfast Topic: What makes a good PvP video?
handgun over on Livejournal asks "What, in your opinion, makes a good PvP video?"He suggests showing World PvP only, kills when you're outnumbered, or building in a plotline. But what do you think? It seems like whenever we mention PvP videos here, someone mentions World of Roguecraft, and they've got pretty much everything. But then again, they've also got 41 minutes, and I'd say a good PvP video has to be shorter than that. Somethingawf's video is one of my favorites, but it's really a parody of PvP vids more than it really is one. I also like the classic Big Blue Dress, which shows some cool PvP moves, but couldn't really be considered a PvP video.So if I made the perfect PvP vid, it would have to have a story, great music, lots of humor, be pretty short, and it would have to have my favorite feature of PvP videos-- the bragging, taunting, and the flashy crit kills. It's definitely an interesting genre-- what, in your opinion, makes a good PvP video?
WoW Rookie: All you needed to know about stats, part 3
In today's continuation of our series on what the various stats in World of Warcraft do for you, we're going to be discussing caster stats. And, while a long-time player probably knows everything I'm talking about here, someone who's newer to the game might find spelling all of these things out to be handy. Curious as to how gear with +spell damage helps you out? Not quite sure how useful gear with mana per five seconds on it is for your class? You're in the right place.However, before you keep reading, it's well worth it to check out part 1 (covering the five main game attributes) and part 2 (covering statistics effecting physical damage). Coming up our next installment we'll talk about defensive statistics (armor, dodge, parry, resilience, etc), so stay tuned!
