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Breakfast Topic: Best advice for a newbie
I'm sure we've all had this problem. You've got a friend who's just picked up the game and suddenly you're hit with a barrage of questions. What's the best class? What's the best race? What do you mean I shouldn't play a Night Elf priest? (No insult to Night Elf priests in the audience -- but you have to admit it's not the best race/class combination.) And once they do manage to create their first character and explore the newbie zones, you're in for another round of questions. What sort of weapon should I use? How do I add buttons to my hotbar? What do you mean my rogue shouldn't focus on intellect gear?Ah, newbies and their endless supply of questions. But I'm sure we were all there at one point, and so I'm asking you -- for the benefit of all players who have ever had to help a new player get started -- what's your best advice to a newbie?
WoW Rookie: Choose Your Realm Wisely
Picking a realm is the first choice you will make after installing World of Warcraft on your PC. As you can see, people have a lot of different opinions on which kind of realm provides the best WoW experience. With that in mind, there are several things you should consider when choosing a new home...What kind of realm do I want?In World of Warcraft there are four different kind of realms for you to choose from: PvE, PvP, RP and RPPvP. Confused? You shouldn't be. This is the easiest part of creating your new character. However, the choice you make will greatly effect your game experience. What can you expect on each different realm type? I'm glad you asked...PvE - Player versus Environment In this type of realm, you are never forced into a player versus player situation. If you choose you can activate your PvP flag, which will enable the opposing faction to attack you, but that is strictly optional. If you are looking to enjoy a leisurely grind and don't want to deal with the "war" in Warcraft, then go ahead and roll on this kind of realm. You may still PvP in battlegrounds, so the PvP aspect of the game is not completely lost, it is just controlled.
Holidaying with another self
What do you do when the pressures of endgame all become too much? When the PvP grind gets you down, and raiding just isn't doing it for you any more?Spend some time away from it all, in an exotic location where everything's new again -- make an alt. Preferably a cross-faction alt.It sounds idyllic, in principle. Start life from scratch again, in a town where nobody knows your name. Learn new skills! Have fantastic adventures! Spend four hours killing wolves and only regain a fraction of your former power! (Eh?)
PC impressions: Pirates of the Caribbean Online
Disney's upcoming MMO Pirates of the Caribbean Online is aimed at the teen and casual market, enticing fans of the films to try a new genre. As such, it's a very stylised representation of a pirate world, with fast-paced action that's easy to jump into for a few minutes. The story runs parallel to the films, with sub-plots revolving around the main characters that fans know and love.The aim of the game is to sculpt a career as a pirate, building up notoriety that takes into account skills like sword fighting, captaining ships and playing cards. With a group of players, you can crew a ship, with every player taking a particular role -- from firing cannons to piloting the ship. Disney isn't aiming for historical accuracy, so moving a ship is much like driving a car -- it even has a reverse gear.
Hands on with baby Blood Elves
I played through the first few levels as a Blood Elf Mage at E3 today. As a veteran of every other newbie land, I have to say that starting from scratch as a Blood Elf has a similar feel to the other races -- there's only so much you can do as a newbie, after all.However, the newbie quests have an interesting twist. Thanks to the Blood Elves' Mana Tap racial, levelling downtime is reduced, and quests teach you how to use the racial effectively. It's going to be a really vital get-out-of-jail card -- when you Mana Tap enemies, their mana is reduced and you receive a buff with no immediate effect. You can stack this effect up to three times, and then unleash the Arcane Torrent racial to restore your much-needed mana at a time when it really counts. The cooldown means you can't use this all the time, but I can see it becoming really vital for healers, for instance.
Resources for beginning shamans
The tribal nature of the shaman class makes it a lot of fun to play, and the buffing totems provide a great deal of help to players both going solo and in groups. The only Horde-specific class, shamans are good all-rounders, with healing and resurrecting spells as well as the ability to wear mail (after level 40). Shamans also have useful caster interrupt abilities with Earth Shock, and melee slowdown abilities with Frost Shock; many non-shamans complain that these abilities leave the shaman overpowered, if played well, so we may see some changes in the future. These are some useful references for the shaman class: Stratics has a general overview to help understand what shamans are all about. MysticMoon's FAQ only covers Trolls and Orcs, but provides a detailed list of abilities. Gamespy have an article covering the first few levels of playing a Tauren shaman, from Camp Narache to Bloodhoof Village. The most frequently asked shaman questions (on broadcast) concern the shaman-specific quests ("Call of..."), so check out Thottbot's information on all the quests for maps and guidance. This walkthrough is also quite useful. WoWWiki's Starting a Shaman page is a great read if you're considering rolling a shaman. The official forums have a comprehensive FAQ and guide to the various races. The European forums also have a FAQ which includes addon suggestions if you're the customising sort. I personally enjoy playing my shaman, but have found that the class doesn't hold up too well in one-on-one PvP; I play on a PvP server and frequently get ganked while questing. Having read some of the above guides I'm now prepared to go back and try again, but I may practice my PvP in battlegrounds for a while. I leave you with these words of advice: Frost Shock! [Previous classes: Paladin, Mage, Priest, Druid, Hunter]
