WOW: How Does Transmogrification Work?

Here is how transmogrification works.
http://www.wowwiki.com/Transmogrification

Here is a video that shows the entire process.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWQ-8HRuIEA

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WOW: Patch 5.0.4 Problems on Macs

Players are reporting performance issues on Macs after Patch 5.0.4, ranging from dancing pixels to login problems to CPU usage at 100% at the login screen.  Here are the issues plus a few suggestions.
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/6412493648

The Mac Forum is the best place for tech support.  This is the 5.0.4 migration patch troubleshooting guide.
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/6413023951

Other topics that are causing problems can be found here.
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/1011702/

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WOW: Patch 5.0.4

A summary with links to more detail of all the changes Blizzard made to WOW in Patch 5.0.4, so you have some idea of what is going on.
http://www.wowhead.com/news=205732/wowheads-patch-5-0-4-guide

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How the Mighty Have Fallen (Revisiting WOW)

The Solo MMO Player is messing around with the "battle chest" version of World of Warcraft, just killing some time by revisiting WOW after almost two years away from the game.  He is shocked at the change in the game.  He's playing in a PVP realm and just got asked by another player if he needs help taking the blimp from one point to another.  He's  used to being ganked while waiting on the platform for the zeppelin....

As a level 1-2, he was besieged with Join My Guild requests.  Exactly who is eager to have a level one player in their guild?

The chat line has no swearing, no racial or sexist or homophobic slurs, no constant references to anal and oral sex.  Stunning.

The way to Orgrimmar used to be an open plain. Now it looks like strip malls have been set up.
The towns are crowded with junk.  It looks like an interior decorator was hired to do a 24 hour makeover to what used to be our favorite game location.  It didn't turn out well.

The NPCs are programmed now to make snotty comments.

Farming has been made much more difficult on PVP servers as the zones are so chopped up.  This isn't surprising as Blizzard never paid a lot of attention to crafting.

The Auction House has very common low level items available for huge prices.  There must not be much farming going on.

Blizzard claims 10.2 million players, down from a peak of 12 million.  We've always been suspicious of the numbers since they are unverifiable.  It's hard to believe that the loss of two million players would have such an impact on player behavior as the Solo MMO Player sees in the game today compared to when he last played in November 2010.

Some things never change, however.  People are still arguing about Chuck Norris.

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WOW: Best Farming Locations

The best farming locations for various items (Patch 4.3.3)
http://www.wow-professions.com/farming-guides

Here's a skinning guide, by level.
http://www.wow-professions.com/wowguides/wow-skinning-guide.html#1

Places to farm (this is organized by profession)
http://www.wowwiki.com/Places_to_farm

Leatherworking patterns/recipes (dated 2008)
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/26688

Skinning and leather information
http://www.wowpedia.org/Skinning

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Maximum Level for Each WOW Expansion?

The Solo MMO Player just asked me the maximum level for the original game and each expansion of World of Warcraft.  It was so hard to find I thought I'd post the answer here.

Vanilla WOW  - top level 60 (November 2004)
Burning Crusade - top level 70 (released January 2007)
Wrath of the Lich King - top level 80 (released November 2008)
Cataclysm - top level 85 (released December 2010)
Mists of Pandaria -  top level 90 (to be released September 25, 2012)

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WOW: Rogue Professions Chart

http://shadowpanther.net/professions.htm

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WOW: Using the Mobile Authenticator on Kindle Fire

Apparently Battle.net's mobile authenticator can be downloaded to the Kindle File.  The trick is that it is available via Google's Play site, not via Amazon's app store.  I have no idea if this works or not.
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/3595675350?page=3

Here's another convoluted method which only works if you have an Android phone to download to.
http://www.tested.com/news/feature/3179-how-to-sideload-android-apps-on-the-amazon-kindle-fire-in-3-steps/

The easiest method is to use Getjar.com to put apps on your Kindle Fire but Battle.net mobile authenticator doesn't seem to be one of them.
http://www.businessinsider.com/android-kindle-fire-apps-2011-11?op=1

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Uplay: Ubisoft Security Risk

Ubisoft's UPlay service comes with a security risk.  Here're the details and now to remove the problem plug-in.
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/07/30/psa-possible-security-risk-in-some-ubisoft-pc-games/

Here's the patch to fix UPlay.
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/07/30/ubisoft-respond-to-uplay-security-drama/


Ubisoft says this was caused by a coding error.
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/07/31/coding-error-caused-uplay-exploit/

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Razer Mouse Plus Razer Keyboard Plus Synapse 2.0 Equals One Hot Mess

Razer's newest innovation is their Synapse 2.0 storage of mice and keyboard settings "on the cloud."  The Solo MMO Player likes their peripherals.  He just replaced his old mouse with a new Razer Naga mouse to work with his two year old Razer BlackWidow Ultimate keyboard.  He downloaded the Synapse 2.0 information and bingo!  His keyboard programming vanished.

Synapse 2.0 recognized his new mouse but not the keyboard.  A call was made to Razer tech support in India but they didn't have any suggestions except to have someone more knowledgable get back to the Solo MMO Player later.  This is an issue the tech support person he talked to hadn't heard of before but he did suggest a hard reboot of the system to see if that took care of what he thought must be a bug.


The Solo MMO Player had extensively customized that keyboard.  He was not pleased.  However, being a smart cookie with extensive experience with engineers who are much more interested in the newest thing than in making sure the product works well, he analyzed what happened from every angle and came up with a fix.

First, he removed the Synapse 2.0 software, then he unplugged the Naga mouse from the RS232 port on the Black Widow Ultimate keyboard's right side and plugged the mouse into another RS232 port elsewhere, then did a hard reboot.  He reloaded the Synapse 2.0 software and like magic it worked.  Even the keyboard programming miraculously reappeared.

Bottom line, Synapse 2.0 can't tell the difference between a keyboard and mouse, even Razer's own models, if one is plugged into the other.   Why Synapse 2.0 decided it would see the mouse instead of the keyboard, I have no idea.  This is a major quality control testing error of a new product but engineers forget what pays their bills when they are dazzled by the Next New Thing.

The Solo MMO Player is happy again but I imagine when the Razer engineer calls, if he or she ever does, they are going to learn from a customer who is knowledgeable, aggressive and not exceptionally polite not to take their eye off the ball.


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The Best General Introduction to Guild Wars 2...

...compiled and organized by Dragon Season, who is now my hero.
http://dragonseason.com/Front/tabid/124/EntryId/176/GW2-Tips-Index.aspx

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Money Money Money (Guild Wars 2)

Guild Wars 2 has all kinds of currency:  Coins (bronze, silver and gold), Gems, Glory, Influence, Karma, Skill Points and Supply.   Here's a nice video about all the currencies, how each is used and how to get them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQZd9cmRB08

Here's a written guide to the currencies.  It looks to be somewhat incomplete to me.
http://www.guildwars2hub.com/guides/basics/gw2-currency-guide


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Crafting in Guild Wars 2 UPDATED

There are eight crafting professions in Guild Wars 2 (and 400 skills levels!).  You can learn all the crafting professions, but can only have two disciplines active on a character at one time.  You can gather materials for crafting by purchasing items, looting defeated foes' bodies, gathering certain raw materials, and salvaging materials after destroying items using a salvage kit.  All this is covered in the GW2 wiki.  Yes, it's complicated.  This is the very best guide I've found.
http://gaiscioch.com/tavern/guildwars_crafting/post_35198.html

Here is what the official wiki says about crafting.  The links are very useful for research.
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Crafting

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Crafting_material

This summarizes crafting and has explanations of how professions work crafting items.
http://www.ign.com/wikis/guild-wars-2/Crafting

Here is a crafting orientation video for beginners.  (based on the beta)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFU_b4e2bxU

A more intermediate crafting video with an emphasis on gathering and storage. (based on the beta)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry3Ddw6Gqmo&feature=channel&list=UL

Cooking is a little different so here's a video that covers just cooking.  (based on the beta)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpPWp1Yh_30&feature=channel&list=UL

Psynister has analyzed the gem store. You can read all about it and see the organizational charts here.  Thanks, Psyn!
http://psynister.wordpress.com/2012/08/10/analyzing-the-gem-store/

He's also done a review of the game.
http://psynister.wordpress.com/2012/08/28/guild-wars-2-review-take-2/

UPDATE:  Recipes are color coded in the production tab of your crafting UI.  I am quoting the Production section in the link below as follows:
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Crafting

"The production tab shows all available recipes. The color of a recipe's name indicates how close the recipe is to your current discipline level. The colors are the same as for item quality, progressing from gold for recipes near your current level to green to dark blue to light blue to white to gray for recipes that no longer grant any crafting experience.

Red recipes appear when you are within five levels of the next 25-level interval, at which point they will automatically unlock.

The number after the recipe name indicates how many items you can craft using that recipe, based on the contents your inventory and collections."

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Guild Wars 2: Lion's Arch

Lion's Arch is a critical hub in Guild Wars 2, both in terms of lore and in terms of getting from Point A to Point B, particularly when you are new to the game.  This article has some history and lore and a video of the physical layout.
http://guildwars2warrior.com/news/explore-lions-arch-in-guild-wars-2-beta-weekend/

The GW2 wiki has a list of waypoints at Lion's Arch.
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Lion's_Arch

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Guild Wars 2: Pets UPDATED

Only rangers have pets.  Here's info about the pets low level rangers can have.
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Ranger

How to tame pets and lists of pets available.  Only juvenile animals can be tamed/charmed.
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Pet

This site talks about the differences in stats among pet types with videos.
http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/37154-ranger-pets-guide-videos-of-pets-included/

This site is a complete guide to both ranger pets and mini-pets.
http://www.guildwars2-pets.com/guide/The_Complete_Guide_to_Ranger_Pets.html

Here's a bit about mini-pets, which are essentially vanity pets available to anyone for a price.
http://feature.mmosite.com/gw2/20120618/a_look_at_gw2_minipets.shtml

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Miniature

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