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Sunday Morning Funnies: Do hug ghosts
I've been laid up all week with a nasty case of the flu. Fortunately, I think I have managed to avoid passing it on to anyone by staying indoors and suffering in silence. Here's hoping that all of your weekends have been better! We have a couple of new comics to add to the list this week, as well as some updates from comics that only refresh sporadically. What do you guys think about the newbies? To compensate for my lack of trivia inspiration this week, I shall send everyone "flu immunity" vibes. That has to be at least as good, right? You'll also be happy to note that Battlemasters is back! Zack, coincidentally, had the flu a couple of weeks ago. Isn't spring wonderful?
Sunday Morning Funnies: Durable underwear
This week, we have a healthy crop of WoW-related webcomics for your perusal. Before we get into that, let's look at last week's challenge. I asked everyone to make some comments about the week's comics, hoping for some funny, astute, honest, and observant ones. Lots of you rose to the challenge, and to you I bequeath a virtual and imaginary collection of kaleidoscopic thimbles. I'll even throw in some chocolate flavored lemon drops and your very own pretend mini hippopotamus. For this week, I want you to try reading a comic or two that you don't usually bother to read, or that you haven't paid much attention to, and let us know what you think about it. Next week, I'll give you guys another trivia question. Ready? Go!
The Daily Quest: Dungeon finder tips and tricks
Here at WoW.com we're on a Daily Quest (which we try to do every day, honest) to bring you interesting, informative and entertaining WoW-related links from around the blogosphere. Is there a story out there we ought to link or a blog we should be following? Just leave us a comment and you may see it here tomorrow! Because of dungeon finder, we're all PUGging a lot more these days -- for better and for worse. Let's just say that if today's TDQ covered horrible tales from the dungeon finder, it would be ten times as long, at the very least. But fortunately for all of us, WoW-bloggers around the world have some great advice to offer on how to improve your PUG experience. Panzercow discusses heroic PUG tanking. Too Many Annas walks you through how to be successful in a PUG. Can Tank, Will Travel talks about tanking irritants (many of which seem PUG-related). World of Warcraft Philosophized offers advice for dungeon speed runs and wonders if the dungeon finder should put people of similar gear levels together. And -- a bit older than the rest of the posts here, but still worth reading if you're interested in the topic -- our very first guest post covered tips for DPS running heroics.
LFG MMO Developer Awards Nominations Begin
Looking For Group Expo is coming to Minneapolis this June, and the MMO Developer Awards will be a big part of the event. These awards give the behind-the-scenes talent a chance to shine and be recognized for what they do. Ten categories will be covered in these awards, including a few not related to MMOs such as Best Web Comic and Best Offline Game. Of course, the primary focus will be on MMO gaming with categories such as MMO of the Year, Outstanding New Content, Best Cinematic, and Best Game Design, to name a few. Do you think your favorite MMO is a shoo-in for one of the categories? Nominations for the awards come straight from the fans, so this is your chance to make your voice heard. From now until April 30th, LFG will be accepting nominations for all categories via partner sites. The top five nominees in each category will go before the judges, and they'll announce the winners at LFGX on June 26th. Check out LFG's MMO Developer Awards page for the details.
Sunday Morning Funnies: Me want
Last week's trivia challenge produced several great answers, although no one guessed what I had been thinking about; My Pet Monster! Still, that was only worth bonus points. Thanks to shadowQQ for guessing Bull from Where the Wild Things Are, and Correlation and Undra for guessing Sully from Monsters, Inc. The other bonus trivia question was of the "one of these things is not like the other" type, and Noekh was the winner; all of the items were something that Canada is known for. Cartmensfoe also gets points for noticing that everything included in the list was edible. Apologies for forgetting to exclude the elephant shrews wearing berets with the ascots and toast. That probably confused a few people. As for your virtual and imaginary prizes, you have all earned robots that know how to do laundry (although they are known for their laziness), bottles of detangling spray that are rumored to bring good luck when used, magical and unpredictable pink highlighters, and a lifetime supply of butterscotch-flavored gum that will help you see the future.
Sunday Morning Funnies: Big tongues vs puppy men
This week, we have several newcomers to the list! I love having new comics; you never know what will become a core feature for each week's entertainment. For last week's trivia, there were so many winners, that I'm frankly just too lazy to list them all. You guys did a great job, although the consensus did seem to be aimed at Frankenstein and its famous comedic little brother, Young Frankenstein. This is going to require some sort of mass prize awarding distribution system (MPADS). First, I shall create a virtual and imaginary, but giant, Frankenstein's monster pinata. I might duct tape it on the inside just to make you work for it; your epics should be able to get through it in time. Inside, there will be toast, poutine, a white Christmas, a family of elephant shrews wearing tiny berets, and butter tarts with a side of real maple syrup, topped with Smarties. There will also be enough ascots for all. This week's trivia question can be found buried within the comic list, so you'd better get cracking! Bonus extra trivia points if you can tell me which of the above virtual and imaginary prizes does not belong (not counting the ascots or the toast - those were just necessary) and why.
Sunday Morning Funnies: Red shirt mistake
Alas, this week's list is merely an average size. What does that mean? Many artists are busy, away, injured, or have websites that aren't working. Fortunately for us, there are some really great comics this week to make up for the loss of bulk. As for last week's trivia, GI_Prophet wins with 'American Psycho.' Hex will share the glory for recommending the book. You both win a virtual and imaginary lifetime supply of custom business cards, which happen to taste like jelly beans. They're non-toxic, don't worry. This week's trivia question is: What is being referenced in LFG's comic #332? I will accept several answers, so feel free to be creative. Of course, the prizes aren't real, but there's always the glory, right? As always, I'm taking tips. Have you seen a WoW-related webcomic not listed here? Has an older such comic been reactivated? Drop a note and a link in the comments section, or respond by sending a tip to the site's main tipline.
Sunday Morning Funnies: Ribbon-wielding cultists
Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Pudie and Antubis and Sukugaru won last week's trivia! Pudie was the first to identify the origin of the song, and Sukugaru and Antubis reminded me that I had asked for the name of the song in specific, and not the movie title. The full answer was The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music from The Sound of Music. Lys' idea of Beauty and the Beast would also fit, and it hadn't occurred to me. You each have won a virtual and imaginary pet bunny prize! These bunnies shall come from outer space; very savvy and and genteel bunnies of witty and adventurous natures. As a bonus, for identifying the My Little Pony, Serthida wins a virtual and imaginary epic purple Valentine's Day cake! It tastes however you wish it to taste, and contains no calories, sugar, fat, etc. Heck, it's actually nutritious. This week's list of comics only appears to be of moderate length; it's actually quite long. As always, leave your comments, and send tips about WoW-related webcomics through our tip form, or leave them in the comments section as well.
Sunday Morning Funnies: Epic win
First of all, I would like to congratulate Keyra for winning the virtual cookies! This batch is vegan upon request, comes with a nice tall glass of cold soy milk, and I'll even throw in some fresh berries. Khloe Kardashian was the right answer to last week's impromptu trivia question! Watch out for this week's trivia question, buried in amongst the comics. Unfortunately, I didn't receive any new comic tips, but I don't think you'll be disappointed! On a side note, I feel very lucky that photographing one's collection of My Little Ponies is a relatively popular occurrence, for how else would I have found such a lovely epic pony? I had more to choose from than I would have imagined, but I finally narrowed it down to the lucky pony on the right.
Sunday Morning Funnies: Jazzercise
Ladies and gentlemen, and all those with paws/hooves, etc, I think we might just be entering a new phase of the Sunday Morning Funnies. Why? Because this week's list is pretty long too. So long, in fact, that I had to throw it all behind the break again. Have I missed any? Do you know of a comic that isn't listed here? If so, throw it into the comments section! Let's see just how long we can make this thing. Hunt them down, and leave me a tip. Last week, I seem to recall promising you a Long Cat. Just to be safe, I've delivered two. Yes, you can all has long cats.
Sunday Morning Funnies: We're long
This week's list is huge. Massive. You have to click through the break to even see it! But I warn you: before you do, you might want to make some preparations. Cancel whatever you have scheduled today. Make a pot of coffee. Do some stretches; long bouts of sitting are unhealthy. Feed the cats. Let the dog out. Seriously, this list is big. It's unruly! P.S. I tried to get you guys a good Long Cat picture but I failed you all. Maybe next time? Yes. Next time. In a related note, I have a distaste for the new way to search through the icanhascheezburger site. Ready? Set. Go!
What effect does the Dungeon Finder have on smaller servers?
For a few days now, I've been mulling over a point raised by Spinksville in a blog post concerning the Dungeon Finder's impact on smaller servers. It was her contention that, although the Dungeon Finder makes getting 5-man runs faster and easier for people on underpopulated realms, the new tool was contributing (or likely to contribute) to the depopulation of realms without a lot of options for raiding. It's never been easier to gear up a character, she observed, and someone with a geared character is increasingly likely to want that toon raiding. However, smaller servers rarely field the array and depth of PuG raiding opportunities offered by larger realms. Her conclusion? "Being on a smaller server has never been less attractive for a casual player." While I go back and forth on that point -- lots of people will just gear a toon for its own sake without necessarily planning to raid on it -- I don't think she's entirely wrong, and I also think the larger point concerning the Dungeon Finder's potential impact on server communities is probably accurate.
Raid/PuG habits should be kept separate
I want my frost badges. At this point, I'm working on completing my T10 set (so close) and waiting for the gates to come down in ICC is so slow and maddening, I basically run the daily random every single day on my three dedicated Alliance side 80's (my Horde toons are again in a neglect cycle, my tauren cries at night when no one can hear) for primordial saronite and of course, that annoying Tier. Then of course the non-set gear that has crazy high armor on it to switch in for specific fights. And of course after that there's DPS gear for offset. So basically, I need a lot of emblems and ICC just doesn't provide enough running it on 10 and 25 weekly. Imagine me as a bitter old man sidling up to the emblem bar and yelling "Hit me!" at this point. Last night I and a couple of guildmates signed up for a frost run and we ended up with two DPS and popped into Azjol-Nerub. I'd got myself a new fist weapon on my shammy and wanted to punch things in the face. Half way through the run, the healer sent me a tell asking me to inspect the DPS warrior we'd picked up. And yes, he was DPSing in Prot, with all of his talent points in the protection tree, in a mix of tanking and PvP gear. Yes, his DPS was low (I believe the proper phrase would be 'ridiculously low') and yes, he ran and pulled Hadronox instead of letting the person signed up to tank do it, and brought all the adds over as well. I was all set to blow a gasket at him, when I realized that this was a PuG. I'd never see the guy again. I was putting out enough DPS to cover for him, as was the hunter in the group. We burned down Hadronox, I briefly explained to the guy what the adds did, he apologized as this was all still very new to him and it was his first 80. This led to a brief discussion while we were heading down to kill Anub'arak.
Sunday Morning Funnies: Noms
This week, we have a new addition to the list, The Daily Blink. You'll also find zombie chickens, snacking kitties, a comic relief talbuk, a 'chef,' and shoulder armor, all out looking for some noms. From Pocketkitten: Cooking Fail. NPC: Teaching 101. NPC: Chickens Gone Wild. NPC: Fear of Projection. Torment of the Week. Check out the latest from Guilded Age and Teh Gladiators. Daily Quests: Lasherweave Bites. LFG #321 and #322. Beyond the Tree: Walking the Diggers. Dark Legacy Comics: Surgery. Complex Actions: Fairy Tales and Wet Dreams. Equinox vs Chillwinter. WoW eh: Mr. Know-it-All. Love that last frame! I also love how you did a better job at rendering the Taunka than Blizzard did. Sparkly Doom: If WoW Was Life. The Daily Blink: Save Illidan!
WoW, Casually: Instance leveling guide
Robin Torres writes WoW, Casually for the player with limited playtime. Of course, you people with lots of playtime can read this too, but you may get annoyed by the fact that we are unashamed, even proud, of the fact that beating WoW isn't our highest priority. Take solace in the fact that your gear is better than ours, but if that doesn't work, remember that we outnumber you. Not that that's a threat, after all, we don't have time to do anything about it. But if WoW were a democracy, we'd win. Before the Dungeon Finder Tool, leveling through instances just wasn't possible for those of us with limited playtime unless we had 4 friends with similar schedules and an appropriate selection of classes. But now, we can take advantage of the speedy XP, better gear and grouping practice. More importantly, dungeons are fun. In order to research this guide, I dusted off a level 18 paladin I hadn't played for at least 2 years. I picked up skills that were new since the last time she trained, redid her talents and tested the Dungeon Finder waters. It was an absolute blast running through Deadmines with an appropriately leveled group. I've also had a great time leveling a priest in her 30s and a mage in her 60s using the Dungeon Finder. If you too want to try some instance leveling (and I bet most of you already have), here are some tips to make the most of it:
The Classifieds: News briefs on guilds and players
The Classifieds brings you weekly updates on guild recruiting, rankings, splits and merges, progression and more. Have guild news or a Random Act of Uberness to share? E-mail The Classifieds. Welcome to our first installment of The Classifieds, an evolution of our former Guildwatch feature. As more and more players move into endgame raiding, we thought it fitting that our guild news should evolve, too. The Classifieds gives you more of the news you can use: who's progressing, who's marking milestones, who's recruiting. But it's not only about guilds. Because we're all down there in the trenches of Dungeon Finder groups at every opportunity, The Classifieds lets you send a shout-out to that player who made your last PUG a thing of real beauty (whether through pure technical finesse or a winning attitude). And if you're curious about how WoW intersects with the world at large, we'll be passing along links to academic research studies seeking participants, as well. Editor's Note: One thing you might notice missing in Guildwatch's new incarnation is the "Drama" section. In the interest of fostering community growth and positive interaction, we're checking the drama and negativity at the door. Let's open the Classifieds!
Breakfast Topic: The all-DPS Group
Oh, you know what I mean. There's five folks in your Dungeon Finder random group. One is signed up as a tank, one is signed up as a healer. Only, the 'tank' is in full DPS plate with nary a shield nor a ghoul in sight (nope, that there's a ret pally/arms warrior, sure enough) or the 'healer' is in full PvP gear and has Flametongue on his healing weapon. You all stand around, waiting for someone to equip gear that would allow them to tank the instance (preferably the tank) but he seems as content to wait it out as everyone else. Often in these situations I'm unfortunate enough to have decided to DPS on a character that can tank, but luckily (or unluckily as the case may be) yesterday I was on my shaman and so could simply sit back and wait. It was mentioned to the 'tank' that, as the person who had signed up to tank the instance it might behoove him (or possibly her, hard to tell who's behind the keyboard) to slap on a shield and some tanking gear, but only the grim silence of the truly disinterested was our reply. Was he even at the keys? Hard to say. The wait extended to the point where we could safely kick him, and kick him we did. but that's ten minutes or so of my life I'll never get back. (And no, my shaman couldn't tank HHoR, I didn't even try).
Breakfast Topic: What do you do while waiting for LFG to pop?
Every so often, an email comes along the tip line that really gets the writers talking, and we received one such email last night from our reader Zikko, who was curious what people did while they were waiting for the Dungeon Finder to assign them a group ("Guess this only applies to DPS," as he/she observed). While Zikko usually does dailies, watches TV, or farms mats for cooking and fishing, he/she wondered whether anyone had hit upon a better way to pass the time while the Dungeon Finder went on the search. I include the writers' individual comments below, not just because it's a nice "slice of life," but I also think it's a good peek at how different peoples' experiences can be depending on the roles they play: Matt Rossi: I have time to inhale a couple of times during the LFD queue. Allison Robert: To amuse myself, I start counting, "One mississippi, two mississippi, three mississippi..." from releasing the mouse's left button on the Join Group option and the queue popping. However, I am likely to discontinue the practice, as my brain is having increasing difficulty remembering what comes directly after three. It starts with an F. I know it does. Alex Ziebart: When I'm queueing on my DPS, I tab out and play a different game for 15-20 minutes. On my healer, I brace myself so I don't get whiplash zoning into a heroic so fast. Eliah Hecht: I have about enough time to cross my fingers hoping it's not Old Kingdom again. Robin Torres: I tend to my farm in Country Life.
Sunday Morning Funnies: Dirty looks
As I promised you last week, today's list is quite robust. The list even features a new comic for us all to enjoy, and the return to weekly updates from a couple of your favorite artists. Get reading! Battlemasters: Let's Get It On! NPC: Boot Camp. NPC: Ommm. NPC: Sleeeepy. Torment of the Week: Perfectionists. Guilded Age: Page 3 of Chapter 3. Cru the Dwarf: Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. I love Cru's dialogue with himself. Teh Gladiators: Fight... to the Death! Daily Quests: Ok, Now Play Dead. If you're a fan of Emergency Kindergarten, then be sure to read the text beneath the comic. LFG: #319 and #320. Beyond the Tree: Settling dust. Dark Legacy Comics: Keydar Can't Ski. I know that a lot of you were wondering why there was no DLC posted last week, and I am posting it here in case you didn't catch the link in the comment section. We do wish you well! Check out the new wallpaper from Complex Actions. NoObz: Season Break. Equinox is back with a new Northrend series! Here are the first two: Equinox and a Mess O' Mounts and Equinox and His Moral Dilemma. Each one is a little mini-series, so click through them. Fail Druid fails some more. The Adventures of Disgraph T. Dwarf: Disgraph's Rockin' New Year's Eve. Congrats on graduating, and looking forward to watching the story arc play out! Give a warm welcome back to WoW eh! with The Cold Shoulder. Glad to hear you're feeling somewhat better Kelly! GU Comics: Built In Maturity.
Drama Mamas: Dungeon Finder loot advice
Dodge the drama and become that player everyone wants in their group with the Drama Mamas. Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are real-life mamas and experienced WoW players -- and just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your server. We're taking your questions at DramaMamas (at) WoW (dot) com. Yes, we're going to go on about the Dungeon Finder again this week. This time it isn't about Gearscore or DPS, but about the loot issues that have cropped up. The thing about cross-realm PuGs is that you may never see your fellow dungeon runners again. Or when you do, you may forget that you have -- unless you meticulously document all ne'er-do-wells by hand. Blizzard attempted to mitigate some of the issues they knew would arise by changing the Need Before Greed loot rules and requiring it for random dungeon rewards. But you're still going to get players working the system in order to line their pockets as well as upgrade their gear. And they aren't worried about their reputations Battlegroup-wide. At the same time, many people are expecting their fellow PuGgers to abide by loot rules designed to better a guild as a whole rather than a random crew of strangers. This week we are tackling two letters as well as concerns from other sources in an effort to provide a solution for the Dungeon Finder loot drama:
