Tanks and Their Glass Ceiling

Yesterday's posting about Gear Pollution has been immediately followed by a new posting from Honor's Code about tanks and their glass ceiling today.  Game design decisions seem to be interesting a lot of players, perhaps because we are close to a major patch and know that Cataclysm will hit sometime next year.
http://honorscode.blogspot.com/2009/12/glass-ceiling-for-tanks.html

Pwnwear's original tanking post that sparked this interest is here.
http://pwnwear.com/2009/11/19/number-of-tanks-required-a-game-design-issue/

If these sorts of postings interest you, search on "game design" at the top left area of the page to find more.

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

Lore (with Spoilers)

This morning found two postings that center on WOW lore.  The first is full of spoilers!  WOW Insider points us to Scrolls of Lore which has compiled all sorts of worgen starting zone information from the tidbits that Blizzard has dropped. I'm linking to WOW Insider instead of directly to Scrolls of Lore so you can decide just how much you want to read before Cataclysm hits.
http://www.wow.com/2009/12/04/worgen-starting-zone-preview-from-scrolls-of-lore/

World of Matticus' had a nice article up about that details the history of legendary weapons in the game with some lore background about each.  You can read a bit about weapons that were greatly lusted over in the original version of the game all the way up to the new Shadowmourne two handed axe.
http://www.worldofmatticus.com/2009/12/04/return-of-the-truly-legendary-items/

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

Guides to Playing a Mage (and Laughing)

Thanks to the Hots and Dots column just mentioned below, I have some new mage guides for players to browse.  First up is Psynister's Notebook which has a recent (October 2009) multi-part series that was recommended as excellent for leveling mages.  Only the first two parts are up so this only goes to Level 39.  I'll add new articles as they appear.  Note that there are other guides on this site for Druids, Hunters, Paladins and Shamans.  Click on the Guides tab to see them.
http://psynister.wordpress.com/2009/10/16/mage-leveling-part-i-beginning/

http://psynister.wordpress.com/2009/10/29/mage-leveling-part-ii-21-39/

http://psynister.wordpress.com/2009/12/29/mage-leveling-part-iii-40-58/

The mages at Empowered Fire have a guide to playing a mage once you hit Level 80 (November 2009).  Besides specs for the various types of mages, they have a list of instances that offer good gear for mages and list crafted items also.
http://www.empoweredfire.com/2009/11/02/ding-80-now-what-the-guide/

They also have a mage leveling guide (October 2009),
http://www.empoweredfire.com/2009/10/23/mage-leveling-guide/

plus a raiding guide for mages in Patch 3.2,
http://www.empoweredfire.com/2009/10/05/mage-raiding-guide-3-2-2/

AND a guide for Arcane Mages in Patch 3.2.  I know Patch 3.3 is likely to hit next week but you still may want to read this information as it is current.
http://www.empoweredfire.com/2009/10/05/arcane-in-3-2-2/

They also host this hilarious video of how to play a mage.  Even I (and I don't play WOW) fell over laughing while watching it.
http://www.empoweredfire.com/2009/11/19/how-to-play-a-mage/

The Empowered Fire ladies are my favorite mage site of the day!

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

Where Have All the Mages Gone?

Cassandri over at Hots and Dots says her guild can't find any mages.   She wonders if it is just her realm or if mages and warlocks are not played much these days.
http://www.hotsdots.com/2009/12/mages/

The comments led me to several good mage sources which I'll post separately.  Thanks to all Cassandri's readers for help!

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com