karazhan
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"The Karazhan mistake"
AFK Gamer's got a great post up about what he calls "The Karazhan Mistake." At BlizzCon, and now in Leipzeig, Blizzard has been patting themselves on the back for the 10man raid of Karazhan-- it's clearly the most popular raid in the expansion (does that have anything to do with the fact that it's the first raid most guilds do?), and so they say the 10man raid idea of theirs is the bomb. Along with the new Zul'Aman, we can expect to see more 10mans in Wrath of the Lich King.But AFK says they've learned the wrong lesson. While Karazhan is definitely popular, creating a 10man raid in the guild progression path (remember, UBRS didn't start as a 10man, and it wasn't really a progression instance) was a mistake. It's more or less where all the guild drama and frustration in the expansion has come from-- guilds with only 10 people are rare and far between, and so most guilds have to schedule and run multiple raid IDs just to get everyone through there. And now (eight months after the expansion has dropped), while most guilds have finally got Karazhan (and all that raid coordination) down pat, they're dealing with another problem: beefing back up to 25 for the rest of the raids. Blizzard's making guilds jump through all these hoops, and deal with all of this group A/B drama, and they're citing Karazhan as a success?AFK's solution is a simple one: lower the cooldown on raid IDs. (His other solution is to have raid IDs be guildwide, but letting only 10 people in a guild run Karazhan weekly is a terrible idea.) That would more or less take the raid out of progression (in essence, turn it into UBRS), and let you go there whenever you had 10 people ready and willing, leaving the real raiding to the 25 mans.Personally, I love Karazhan. It's a great dungeon with some cool bosses and lore, and Blizzard's right: it's how raids should be done. It's just too bad that, by creating a great 10 man in a world full of 25 man raids, they caused guilds (especially guilds just starting to raid) so much trouble.w[ via Mystic Worlds ]
WoW Moviewatch: 10 Paladins clear Karazhan (almost!)
We've profiled movies of a Paladin soloing Blackrock Depths. We've even seen one solo Blood Furnace. Now, ten of them have banded together to tackle Karazhan. And they manage to clear it all the way until the last two bosses, Nightbane and Netherspite. Not bad for a class that constantly beats up on itself for being gimped.The video is 26 minutes long, but enjoyable. The first part is RP related to the quest and the fights are at double speed. The music choice is very good IMHO and the humorous moments really help move it along. The shot of all 10 Blood Elf paladins dancing naked on the table was definitely a highlight. These are 10 players definitely enjoying themselves. Check it out.Previously, on Moviewatch...
The eventual nerfing of Karazhan
When Lua from Doomhammer posts on the forums asking for a little Karazhan trash relief, Bornakk (who's new on the forums-- not sure whether he's a CM or a mod yet) says no-- Blizzard is happy with the pacing of Karazhan. So you're meant to be taking a long time clearing all those little mana guys before and after Curator.But this idea of making Karazhan faster brings up another point I've been mulling over for a while now. When we first heard about Kara, a "new 10man instance," back when we were all playing vanilla WoW, I got really excited about the fact that we were going to have a new UBRS-- an epic raid that 10 people could finish off in a few hours. Kind of a short but preview of the bigger raids to come. Fighting Rend while Nefarian was yelling at him was some of the best times I'd ever had in WoW, and I looked forward to leading the same kinds of groups through Karazhan.But Karazhan didn't turn out like that, did it? It's still more complicated, and for many guilds, it's still the main event. There's a timer on it, most groups take at least two days to clean it out, and while the encounters in UBRS weren't necessarily easy if your group wasn't up to it, the encounters in Karazhan are pretty merciless-- Moroes takes coordination that even the Drakk fight never needed.That's not necessarily a bad thing-- I like Karazhan a lot. But just as UBRS was diluted from its original form (as a harder 15 man instance with more trash than it has now), I wonder if Karazhan will eventually have the same fate. When more and more guilds have moved up the ladder, and we're all farming Zul'Aman and progressing on Mount Hyjal, will Blizzard eventually nerf Kara into the new UBRS, with streamlined trash and no timer?
Guildwatch: An honest mistake
Sometimes you just mess up, you know? In today's GW, a guy gets to go on a trial run with a Black Temple-bound guild, and after seeing the amazing sight of Kael'thas being dropped for the first time, gets a little confused during the looting. Happens to the best of us, really.To get your own guild news here (or share with us some juicy drama that you've heard about), send a tip to wowguildwatch@gmail.com-- every time you drop a tip to us, a level 40 gets their mount. To read this week's GW, click the link below.
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Patch 2.2 on the PTR: New Violet Eye Recipes
New recipes have appeared on the test server with our Karazhan-related friends, the Archmages of Kirin Tor sect known as The Violet Eye. Some of these recipes are very nice indeed, including a high-end crafted leather chest for rogues and feral druids, a +20 agility enchant to weapons, a Flask recipe granting +35 to all resists & +18 to all stats and another high end leatherworking recipe, this time a cloak with a boatload of strength and melee crit stats.For those of you unfamiliar with the Violet Eye faction, reputation is gained through the key quest for Karazhan as well as a quest within Karazhan and killing mobs in the 10-man raid zone. Reputation rewards they currently provide include the Violet Signet Rings (through a reputation gaining quest), the Iceguard frost-resist, plate recipes for blacksmiths, a crafted frost-resist ring and an Inscription granting +7 to all resists on a shoulder item.Read on for exact details on the new recipes.
Around Azeroth: The view from Karazhan
Reader Balcor of Bronzebeard sends in this unusual shot along with a story. Apparently he managed to leap off the Master's Terrace inside Karazhan and into the landscape below without zoning out of the instance. However, the place he landed wasn't exactly Deadwind Pass, where Karazhan is located. Instead it was an odd facade designed to give players a view -- for a while it seemed to match up to the real Deadwind Pass, then morphed into the Swamp of Sorrows, and finally ended in this void.Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth or Outland that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com! Or perhaps you'd just like to see more of your pics from Around Azeroth. %Gallery-1816%
How to raid Karazhan as an Enhancement Shaman
How can that be, you say. Enhancement's for leveling, not for raiding! Kessin of the Dark Iron server would beg to differ and to prove his point, he wrote up quite an excellent guide to playing an enhancement Shaman from creation to Karazhan.The first half of his guide covers what you need to know to get from level 1 to the front door of Karazhan. He includes this sage advice: if you guild doesn't want you playing weapon wielding, totem throwing, whammy shammy, then get a new guild. In my opinion, this goes for every class working with an off-spec. Skill and talent trumps cookie cutter spec every time.Once in the 10-man raid zone, the guide gets interesting. Kessin provides the strategy for this spec for every major boss fight. Don't worry, all you hardcore raiders, Kessin also recommends off healing when necessary. If you love your enhancement shaman, or play with someone who does, this is the guide for you.
A guide to BC pre-raid goals and how to achieve them
I'm a little compulsive about finishing every quest in a zone. Ok, ok, I'm certifiably compulsive about it. I love exploring all the various corners of a zone and learning their dangers and rewards. Because of this, I barely got through half of the Outlands solo content before I hit L70. After thoroughly enjoying Hellfire Peninsula, Zangarmarsh, Terokkar Forest and having just a taste of Nagrand and Blade's Edge, I hit the level cap. Why should I continue?Starryknight of the Executus server has an excellent answer: completing every Outland quest and running through every dungeon will net you the 5,000 gold for your epic mount, gain the necessary reputation to access later parts of the game and get you keyed for both the Heroic dungeons and Karahzhan. Essentially, you will be ready to jump into the raiding game, if you so desire.To achieve this, he wrote up a general guide on what to do in every Outland zone with links to more specific information about the quest chains for each area. For me, this is what I needed to push on and continue exploring the wonders that Warcraft still has to offer for people already at the level cap. Even if you don't intend to raid, the goal of buying an epic mount is reward enough. Check it out, it may be what you are looking for to refocus your goals in the game if you find your motivation has flagged.
Officers' Quarters: My personal errata
Every Monday Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership.What is "errata'? It's a fancy word, taken from Latin, that basically means "errors" or "mistakes." As much as I'd like it to, running a guild doesn't pay enough to make it my full-time job. So I work in publishing. Whenever we publish a book, before the pages even begin churning off the press, we're already hard at work looking for any mistakes that we need to correct in the next printing. Like most media companies, we call these mistakes "errata," probably because by giving them a fancy name it doesn't sound quite so horrible that we printed a book with a picture of Cookie Monster above the caption "Vladimir Putin." (Just a hypothetical example . . .)With 15 columns under my belt, I thought it would be a fine time to look back and, in the tradition of publishing, point out some of my errata for our readers' benefit and amusement.
Guildwatch: How casual is casual?
Do you consider your guild to be a casual one? If so, how often do you raid? Today in Guildwatch, we've got news of a guild that considers themselves casual, but has downed 3 bosses in Serpentshrine, and raids three nights a week, four hours a raid. Is that casual or hardcore? What is casual raiding, exactly? And have you ever heard of a guild that's working through Black Temple while only raiding once a week? Is that even possible?Along with all those questions, we've got your weekly dose of guild drama, downed, and recruiting notices, as we do every week on Tuesday (and feel free to send us your own for next week, at wowguildwatch@gmail.com). Hit the link to check out this week's GW!
WoW Moviewatch: Can't PuG KZ
Apparently you can't PuG Karazhan -- which is to say you can't successfully raid "KZ" with a Pick-Up-Group of random players -- but that doesn't stop Nyhm, who, in the spirit of Weird Al, brings us another of his own lip-synced machinima music videos about World of Warcraft-related acronyms (his first one was OP). He's picked up quite a bit of notoriety since his first music video, and he even has a commercial in this one. He also uncovers the mystery of the secret origin of the draenei.Previously on WoW Moviewatch...
Guildwatch: My GM may be trying to kill me (not joke)
We got some crazy, cop-calling drama this week-- there's violence, sex, and even a little partying. I think it's just the summer-- WoW players get a little loony when it gets warm out, I guess. Fortunately, I've got the music from this guild video to calm me down.If you've got a tip about drama, boss kills, or recruiting happening out there on the realms. drop a note to wowguildwatch@gmail.com. In the meantime, hit the link below to see this week's Guildwatch.*Update: Movie was autoplaying, sorry about that. Don't listen to the haters, Chaotic Precision moviemaker-- I like the music.
Guildless
Our little guild has been steadily losing members and momentum for a while now. It's not new, this is the sort of thing that happens to guilds, but what is new is my reaction to it. I searched hard within myself for what problems I felt I was having with the game, and came to the conclusion that I want to raid. Now, I've been on various raids as PUGs or in alliances before the expansion came out. I got a chance to see most of Zul'Gurub and to wrench a couple of pieces of Arcanist Regalia out of Molten Core. This taste of raiding gave me an appetite for it, an appetite I thought would be satiated when our guild got enough people keyed for Karazhan. And we have, only they keep leaving because we're not raiding (ironic, don't you think) despite the fact that we set the runs and they just don't show.
Around Azeroth: Confronting Medivh
Reader Joe sends in this shot taken while doing the quest The Master's Terrace, where you're told to go and read a page of Medivh's journal. When you're given the quest, you're told, "Did you know that while other people's journals serve as a record of their memories, Medivh's is literally just that?"And when you follow the quest's instructions, you're greeted to the sight above, where the following dialog plays out: Medivh: You've got my attention, dragon. You'll find I'm not as easily scared as the villagers below.Arcanagos: Your dabbling in the arcane has gone too far Medivh. You've attracted the attention of powers beyond your understanding. You must leave Karazhan at once!Medivh: You dare challenge me at my own dwelling? You're arrogance is astounding, even for a dragon.Arcanagos: A dark power seeks to use you, Medivh! If you stay, dire days will follow. You must hurry, we don't have much time!Medivh: I do not know what you speak of dragon... but I will not be bullied by this display of insolence. Ill leave Karazhan when it suits me!Arcanagos: You leave me no alternative. I will stop you by force if you wont listen to reason....insert cool fight scene...Arcanagos: What have you done, wizard? This cannot be! I'm burning from... within!...Arcanagos flies off...Medivh: He should not have angered me. I must go... recover my strength now... Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth or Outland that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com! Or perhaps you'd just like to see more of your pics from Around Azeroth. %Gallery-1816%
Guildwatch: A strange form of payback
Imagine for one second that you're an amazing raider (Yes, I know it's hard, but do it anyway). Imagine that a guild working on the Black Temple actually invites you out of your guild to come and raid with them. Would you do it? Would you leave your own guild behind just to go to the Black Temple? That's the choice that one guild's main tank was faced with, and he chose to leave his guild behind. And then they chose to log on to his account, and as payback, as you can see in the movie above, delete every one of his characters.Ouch is right. Not quite sure that was called for (although, as someone points out, since he's got such a clear record of everything that was deleted, he'll probably be able to get it back from Blizzard). Still, not exactly the best way to congratulate your guildie on getting "promoted." That drama, and much more in this week's GW, which starts right after the jump. Want to send us juicy drama of your own? Drop a tip to wowguildwatch@gmail.com.
Does Karazhan need a shorter reset timer?
At present, Karazhan every 7 days, but some players are complaining that this is just too long. Says Whitesteel, who started a recent thread on the subject:A full clear of Kara now takes about 3-4 hours with a decent group and I have even been in pugs that clear the whole thing in under 5 hours yet we still have to wait an entire week to go in again... Wouldn't it make more sense to allow players to run this instance twice a week like ZG and AQ20 were done to keep them interested and get them geared more efficiently to progress onto newer content? And with the coming release of Zul'Aman (which you'll want to have Karazhan gear going in to), I can see his point. In a response from Drysc, we get nothing definitive, but do learn that Blizzard is considering it.
Guildwatch: The other side
Attumen sure talks a big game, doesn't he? But just like all the other little dominoes in Karazhan, he falls down easy when you push him hard enough. Lots of guild are finishing Karazhan by now-- so next week, let's see some big Gruul kills, ok?For this week's dose of drama, downings, and recruitment, just hit the link below. And send your own tips (please!) to wowguildwatch@gmail.com. Always knew... someday I would become... the hunted.
Phat Loot Phriday: The Decapitator
A name so nice Blizzard used it twice, this axe is so B.A. Baracus you can even throw it.Name: The DecapitatorType: Epic Main Hand AxeDamage / Speed: 167-312 / 2.60 (92.1 DPS)Abilities: +27 critical strike rating Here's the fun part: on use, you can throw it at a target up to 40 feet away for 513-567 damage. Oh, and the throw can crit as well (at about 5%, most players say), so while you can't really use it to spike your DPS in PvE (most bosses are immune to it, apparently), it's very helpful in PvP. Got a runner with just a little health left? Toss this guy and watch the numbers fly and the dude die. Then go eat some pie. 3 minute cooldown on the use, which is kind of lame. Also happens to share a cooldown with trinkets that increase your attack power, which is kind of a bummer, but not a gamebreaker. How to Get It: Drops from the Prince in Karazhan at around 11.5%, so chances are your guild may have Voided one already. But if you're a Fury Warrior or a Shaman with an axe fetish who really likes the sound of throwing this thing around in PvP, you can probably convince them to give it to you.Getting Rid of It: Bored of tossing axes around already? Disenchants into a Void Crystal, and sells to a vendor for 12g44s56c.
Just say no to the glow!
Before everyone heads out tonight to various and sundry events, I wanted to take a moment out to give you all a valuable tip for anyone playing WoW and who intends to drink far too much in-game ale. As many people have noticed, when you overindulge in game, your screen will go from lovely and clear to blurry and hard-to-navigate. For those who weren't aware, the drunken effect that you get when you overindulge -- as well as that comes from the waiters in Moroes' room, the poison effect from the spiders in ZG, and pretty much all other drunken/hazy visual effects that mobs can cause you to experience -- are tied to your "Full-Screen Glow Effect" in Video Options. So if you're in dire need of quick sobriety, or just want to improve your system's performance and not have to deal with it while mid-run, pop into your Video Options and say no to the glow. Although I recommend turning it back on if you're just drinking (in game) for fun, personally. Some of those folks from the Darkmoon Faire are much better looking when they're blurry. Whooo...
Guildwatch: King me!
I think it would be really fun if, once you downed a boss like High King Maulgar, your guild got to run the instance for the next group coming through. As in, you all took Maulgar's place, and when the next raid showed up, they had to fight your guild. Sounds like fun, right? No? Ok, well, it was just an idea.Meanwhile, click the link below to read this week's dose of drama, downing, and guild recruiting notices. My ideas might not be so great sometimes, but your stories of guild happenings around the world of Azeroth always are. Send your own to wowguildwatch@gmail.com to see them here next week!
