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The Queue: A plea for help
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. Somewhere along the line, I've picked up this habit of discussing games I've been playing (besides WoW) as my introduction to The Queue. It doesn't make a lot of sense, but it's fun. Unfortunately, I'm currently playing Bayonetta and I'm not sure I can really talk about that one here. Just look it up on Youtube, you'll know what I'm talking about. Now before I shame myself any more, let's get to the Q&A. Reuben asked... "How does the disenchanting option work? I find that sometimes I can choose disenchant, and other times I can't. What determines the availability of that option?"
WoW Rookie: The fresh 80's guide to getting started in five-mans
New around here? WoW Rookie points WoW's newest players to the basics of a good start in the World of Warcraft. For links to all our tips, tricks and how-to's, visit WoW.com's WoW Rookie Guide. Level 80: You're reached the beginning of the end. It's never been easier to take your character to epic levels of gear and adventure. Whether you're five-manning for its own sake or gearing up along the path to raiding, we've got the tips to help you make the most of your level 80 group experience. If you're so new to level 80 (or still working your way there) that you're not sure what to tackle and where to turn first, read Level 80: Now what?. Once you've got a handle on the available options, it's time to tackle the wide world of Wrath's five-man instances.
Sunday Morning Funnies: Random mrgls
This week's list is compact, but don't let that fool you; many of the usual suspects have delivered despite the holidays. You can bet that next week's list will be massive! Torment of the Week: Frozen Investments. Check out Guilded Age's 2010 Preview. Teh Gladiators: Enter the Eerily Familiar King. Daily Quests: In the Spirit of Giving. Daily Quests: Resolution: Impossible. NPC: Of Avatar and Avatars. NPC: A New Service. NPC: 2010 Predictions. That last line got me laughing! For the history behind it, see an earlier Sunday Morning Funnies published in May of 2009. Beyond the Tree: What We Need Is More Noise. LFG #317 and #318. Cru the Dwarf: All Choked Up.
Breakfast Topic: Not This Again
As much as I love the dungeon finder, it's not perfect. One of the ways it's most imperfect (or least perfect if you prefer) is in the way I keep getting the same instance, five, six, or even more times in a day. It's possible that if I'm capable of running seven heroics a day I'm running too many heroics in the first place, of course. Still, as a guy with two tanks, I often feel compelled to answer the call of a DPS guildmate looking for a few runs. But man oh man, am I tired of Halls of Stone. Ridiculously, completely, utterly sick of the place. When I see the HoS loading screen pop up (and by now I'm as familiar with that screen as I am with my own apartment) I actually feel my whole body shudder with faint disgust and slight loathing. Ah man, not this place again! And always, someone's going to insist we do every single boss instead of skipping Maiden and Krystallus so I'll be in here even longer. Since I try to only drop groups when I find it absolutely necessary as part of the whole 'I'm tanking so I'm responsible' ideal I have, I find being stuck in HoS over and over again to be my own personal purgatory. So how about you? Have an instance you dread seeing yet again? Or have you been mercifully spared Violet Hold threepeating in one day? (Seriously, VH, followed by VH, followed by Nexus, followed by VH? That was just cruel, dungeon finder.) Is this just the price I pay for getting nearly instant runs? I suppose it's not so bad in that case. (Oh, who am I kidding, go away Halls of Stone, I don't want to talk to you no more.)
Sunday Morning Funnies: An illusion
It's the Sunday in between Christmas or Hanukkah and New Years festivities, which is the perfect time to settle down and read through the weekly comics: Guilded Age: Chapter 2, Page 23. Teh Gladiators: Crazy Vallant Magical Offspring. Da!ly Quests: Hurry Up and Wait. Dark Legacy Comics: This Time of Year. NPC: Kitty Tip Number One. NPC: Kitty Tip Number Two. NPC: Kitty Tip Number Three. Beyond the Tree: A Small Scheme. LFG #315 and #316. Holiday filler from Complex Actions. Dungeons and Draenei: Frostsaber and Bad Behavior. NoObz: Tenth Commandment. Cru the Dwarf: Thanks for the Memories.
Drama Mamas: Mismatched ambitions in the Dungeon Finder
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. Last week's discussion on how (and how not) to offer advice to underperforming Dungeon Finder groupmates garnered hundreds of comments and reader e-mails. Whether you choose to kick underperformers or to press on, it's how you handle the situation that makes the group (and you) worth being around. We aren't alone in feeling that softening the barrage of criticism that seems to be going around is the real matter at hand. "I was so pleased to read your last column about PUG drama with the new Dungeon Finder," wrote in reader Necrodancer of EU Terokkar, "but I was really disappointed to see that most of the commenters were discussing what DPS and gear requirements are required for this or that Heroic, rather than how we behave towards casual or less experienced players in PUGs. DPS and gear requirements may well be up for debate, but what isn't up for debate is that we should be treating each other in a friendly and respectful manner. "The reason I'm writing is this: please, please stick with this issue for just a little longer. A worrying attitude is spreading through the community that it's perfectly ok to be rude, abusive and cruel to players whose only crime is playing WoW less frequently than the hardcore set. A good hardcore player should recognise that not everyone is going to play the game the same way they do. They can't expect every PUG to be full of power-players decked out in Tier Bazillion gear and pumping out 5K DPS in every fight. To them I say have patience, be nice and above all, remember that it's all for fun." And so we come to this week's question from a Dungeon Finder fan who's feeling a bit "Abused and Confused."
The Daily Quest: A serving of shaman
We here at WoW.com are on a Daily Quest to bring you interesting, informative and entertaining WoW-related links from around the blogosphere. Killing 'em Slowly look at patch 3.3 frost death knight DPS methodology. Some thoughts and opinions on the bosses currently available in Icecrown Citadel by Blessing of Kings. Big Bear Butt waxes philosophical about his experiences with the new dungeon finder system. Enhancement shaman updates in patch 3.3 over at Big Hit Box. Click here to submit a link to TDQ
Spiritual Guidance: How to be the perfect pickup group priest
Every week (usually), Spiritual Guidance will offer practical insight for priests of the holy profession. Your host is Matt Low, the grand poobah of World of Matticus and a founder of No Stock UI, a UI and addons blog for WoW. Too bad he was too busy running heroics to come to the aid of the King! With the new dungeon finder tool released, I felt it was a good idea to write up how a priest should handle themselves in instances with a group of players they don't know. Once I started using the system, I became exposed to a large variety of different personalities, skill levels and gear levels. Quite the experience grouping with players packing gear ranging from Trial of the Grand Crusader to the random hunter wielding the grey bow of death. My approach to pugging has not been that different since the pre-dungeon tool era when players would randomly form up in groups for whatever the heroic daily was. After a while, I stopped doing heroics because I didn't need the emblems anymore. In the end, I had to re-learn and remember some of the core philosophies I held onto when I dived back into the world of running heroic dungeons again.
Sunday Morning Funnies: Rub my belly
Last week's post included a whole slew of commenter tips about WoW-related comic strips, so in addition to reading through your favorites, check out some of these newcomers: The latest from Torment of the Week. My main comment here would be: WTB perma-links. Here is one from Real Life Comics that is about Diablo 2, but I'll include it because it is also about Blizzard's patching habits. GRATS! The De-Evolution of the Quest. I love how game issues are discussed beneath the comic. I also love how the old guy is a dead ringer for Disney's Jafar from the first Aladdin movie when he pretends to be a prisoner in order to convince Aladdin to go into the cave and retrieve the lamp. The Battlemasters: Guilded Butterflies. Here's a new one: Guilded Age. Start reading from the title page, and next week I'll start posting the updates. Working Daze also recently posted two WoW-related comics, including one about patch day. Teh Gladiators: They're A Hungry Bunch. Da!ly Quests: Goblin Ingenuity. This is exactly what I thought when I first read Allison's The single greatest thing that has ever happened in this game. Dark Legacy Comics: Ammunition. NPC: Cuddle Cats. That one isn't entirely WoW-related but it rocks, and it does tie into their alt leveling, as well as the next storyline. Declaration. NPC: Intervention Cats. Beyond the Tree: Chekov's Gunmen. LFG #313 and #314. NoObz: Ninth Commantment. Slash AFK: Fish Pwned. Check out Complex Actions #44: Swimsuit Edition by going to their main page.
WoW Rookie: Gearing up with the LFG feature
New around here? WoW Rookie points WoW's newest players to the basics of a good start in the World of Warcraft. For links to all our tips, tricks and how-to's, visit WoW.com's WoW Rookie Guide. Plotting your path from zero to hero? "Last night, I got my alt mage to level 80 (woop) and thought I'd set about doing some heroics to get those 'phat loots' and a have a bit of fun," writes reader Hedwinkle of EU Daggerspine. "However, I was disappointed to see that I couldn't queue up for any heroics using the new tool, as my gear level wasn't high enough. I mean, it's all blue gear from the later instances, so I guess I have two questions ... "1. What is the gear level required to allow me to queue up for random heroics using the new tool? "2. What is the best way for me to go about getting my gear level higher? People on my server have very little interest now in finding a group the 'old-fashioned' way." As it turns out, Hedwinkle's not the only one who's been puzzling over the details of how the new Looking for Group tool matches and places group members. Luckily, blue poster Zarhym had some answers that should reassure all of WoW Rookie's fresh level 80s.
The Queue: Literally
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Michael Sacco will be your host today. Editor's Note: The above image has now been fixed to include its original participants. What a great week for dungeon running. Got my shaman his full tier 9 set, my rogue her 2-piece, and a myriad of other badges and loot for my other alts. Soon I'll start pawning off my alt's Emblems of Frost for Primordial Saronite and finance some epic flying. Plus I've gathered enough mats to get my rogue berserking on both of her weapons. Not bad, Patch 3.3. Not bad indeed. But wait! The Queue is about you. Let's get some you in here. Squirr3llywrath9 asked... What's the deal with the Scarlet Crusade? I thought they were against anything that is against the teachings of the Light, particularly the scourge. But in Dragonblight there are shadow priests and death knights in the various bases the crusade has in Northrend. Was wondering if I missed anything that explains their change in ideals.
Breakfast Topic: Your random dungeon experiences
It was a dark and stormy night. It all started with a one drink. Isn't that how it always goes? One tough raid is followed up with some drinks to calm the nerves. One drink leads to another and you start thinking about doing crazy things. Crazy things like jumping into pugs using the new random dungeon finder tool. I hadn't done it yet myself and I know the people I've spoken with said they've had nothing but good things to say about it. But I'm a skeptic. What's the worst thing that could possibly happen? Maybe I'll get stuck with a party that has never done Oculus before with a tank that's no where near defense capped. But what are the odds of that happening, right?
First impressions: Icecrown Citadel raid and 5-mans
Patch 3.3 has been out for two days now, and we're starting to see lots of reactions to the various new encounters pour in. Drawing from bloggers' posts, forum threads, and the reactions of a random sampling of players I've pugged with (the new LFG system is great), this is a short gloss on what I'm seeing so far: Forge of Souls is the easiest of the new 5-mans. The most common gripe is that group members don't pay attention to their raid warnings and move in as necessary for Bronjahm, or stop DPS on Devourer of Souls if they get Mirrored Soul. Pit of Saron is pretty cool, though quite sad at the end (at least if you're Horde). The trash pulls full of casters are on the tough side if people aren't good about interrupting or moving out of Hellfire on heroic. Also, don't bank on getting Don't Look Up in a pug.
Looking For Group: An expo for MMOers
If you don't have Minneapolis on your places to visit list, you might want to add it now. The city will play host to the first annual "Looking For Group Expo," a convention dedicated solely to MMOs and everything that surrounds them. While details are sparse and the website is even more barren, LFG is being put together by Last Straw Productions, the gang behind the Independent Game Developers Conference, which is going on their fourth year. Last Straw is also no stranger to MMOs, as they're currently working on their first MMO game, Forbidden Planet. The motivation behind the event is to provide to all MMOs what some MMOs have now -- a special convention that's designed just for them. We all can't be Blizzard or SOE, after all. LFG is currently scheduled for June 25th through the 27th, putting it on the last weekend of June.
Breakfast Topic: What kind of PuG are you?
Let's face it: with rare exceptions, good or bad Pick Up Group dungeon experiences usually have very little to do with the dungeon itself. Last night, for instance, I dropped in on two back to back PuGs as a tank and had solid runs in both cases. But the first run was a silent zerg fest that was only notable in its grim, stormtrooper like efficiency as we basically chain pulled the entire Nexus in silence. Admittedly, as tank, I set the pace, but no one complained as I charged from pack of mobs to next pack of mobs, never stopping for mana and saying nothing. It was as if five inexorable gods had come to visit doom upon the poor inhabitants of Malygos' once-proud fortress. Keristraza was dead within 32 seconds of her release. (No, I didn't actually time it, but it was pretty fast.) We parted ways without much fanfare, all loot sharded and in our bags. For contrast, the Drak'Tharon Keep run that I did immediately after was a lot more fun. The healer told a continuous stream of awful jokes and kept informing us that she'd never been there before. The enhancement shaman was directionally challenged. I pulled King Dred with all of his adds just to see if I could hold them (I did, but it was pretty hairy even in full TotGC gear) and the druid kept asking me questions about tanking, as he or she wanted to start doing it. ("Uhm... hit swipe a lot? I don't know much about druids.") The second run wasn't as fast or ruthlessly overgeared, but it was a lot more fun. So what kind of PuG's are you seeing? What has your experience been so far?
Breakfast Topic: Are you using the Looking For Group channel?
Once upon a time, a long time ago, in a world... in a land... there was a zone-specific Looking For Group channel. Then Blizzard saw fit to make it realm-wide so that no matter where you were -- whether questing or gathering or hanging out in big cities -- you could have a channel to make group requests to anyone in your faction not in an instance. The unintended, though easily foreseen, consequence was that Barrens/Elwynn chat spread to all zones like a plague. And Blizzard took it away, eventually, claiming that it was adding functionality by stuffing it in their new (at the time) LFG functionality. Some protested and created their own LFG channels, but most were satisfied to keep it in the big cities and take it to Tradechat, transforming it forever.
Tank opportunities in the late endgame
I've been tangling with the tough issue of tanking again lately -- I have finally leveled up my paladin to 80, and ideally, the plan is to jump in as a dual specced tank and healer when patch 3.3 hits. All LFG all the time, eventually headed to higher level raiding. But Honor's Code has a good post up this weekend about the trouble that many tanks are facing lately -- they say that while there's lots of tanking to be had in the early endgame (every 5-man and heroic group out there needs a tank), the available positions narrow down as you get farther up. By the time you're reaching Icecrown (which I would like to do someday), there are so relatively few guilds raiding there and so few serious tanking spots within those guilds that you either have to be a really great tank, know someone who's in charge, or be ready to switch off to another spec or alt when necessary. In essence, they're saying there's a glass ceiling for tanks. Once you reach a certain point, it's hard to find even the opportunity to be a solid tank.
Dungeon Finder Tool Mini-FAQ
Blizzard has posted a Dungeon Finder Tool Mini-FAQ this morning. The Mini-FAQ is a nice rundown of some of the more important facts that need clarification. It's more or less a polished up version of the questions Zarhym answered over the weekend. As we talked about last week, patch 3.3 should be coming out tomorrow if there has been no major additional problems. The entire Mini-FAQ after the break. %Gallery-76169%
Sunday Morning Funnies: Why is my juice warm
Juice really shouldn't be warm; but doesn't M just look so happy? It almost makes it okay, although that's primarily because it's not my juice. The Scout Report: #88, Scout is back to being Scout! Well, sort of. #89, and I'm trying not to imagine the sprocket party too. NPC: Breaking News. This totally ruins our next April Fools Day! Sensibilities. I'm jealous of your turkey pet, for I was tragically unable to participate. Special. Teh Gladiators: T-t-t-eee? Dark Legacy Comics: Crappy Table. Da!ly Quests: Revenge is Sweet. LFG #309 and #310. Dungeons and Draenei: 2012 WoW. Beyond the Tree: Ghould Rush. I like the pun - and I love ghouls. So adorable. Battlemasters: Old Flames. Such a Womanizer! WoW eh: Need More Rage. Love this one! Well, I love them every week. Cru the Dwarf: Turkey Filler 2009. I have to say, that as far as filler goes, this is pretty premium, and got me laughing. Experience Points: Easier. NoObz: Seventh Commandment. Newish Fail Druid! The Adventures of Disgraph T. Dwarf: They See Me Rulin' They Hatin'. But what about the silly hair Dan? GU Comics: Aces Over Threes. This one has Yoda and WoW. Other than that, it's a surprise! Or wait. Not telling you about Yoda might have been a better surprise.
How we learn the jargon
We get a lot of requests here on the site from researchers trying to study you World of Warcraft players. Everybody with a research grant, apparently, wants to study you -- your psychology, your interaction, and the relationship you have with your avatar. We get so many requests, actually, that we usually have to pass -- we're not smart enough to choose which ones are legit and which ones aren't, and if we posted them all, we'd do nothing but post requests for survey answers all day. But I like the way alckly has done her research over on WoW Ladies LJ: she posted a question about WoW jargon, and you can see everyone's answers right away. We definitely have lots of jargon to go around, from LFG to twinks to PuGs and a lot more. But what's most interesting about all of these answers, to me, is the way it spreads. There's a little bit of Googling and research going on, but really it's a very social thing -- you see "wtb" in the trade channel, and then you ask someone you know what it means (rather than looking it up somewhere else). Thus, definitions of the terms are very organic: "pst" could mean "pssst, here's a whisper" or "please send tell," and yet because they both mean the same thing, both meanings propagate. Likewise, usage tends to be a very social thing -- the person who types "LFG strat need heals" won't type "would u like 2 go to strat?"
