Blizzard Has Considered a Free-To-Play Model

This is according to an interview the lead designer did with PC Gamer that will be in their next issue, out tomorrow.  Don't count on being able to cancel your subscription tomorrow, however.  And count on their adding lots of micro-transactions in-game to cover costs.  Thanks to 1UP for pointing this out.
http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/06/30/blizzard-discuss-making-world-of-warcraft-free/

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Ruby Sanctum is Open

Despite Blizzard's saying that Ruby Sanctum wouldn't be ready until after Patch 3.3.5 hit, it is open now.  Note that several battlegroups are down per Wow Insider.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/29/ruby-sanctum-is-open-apparently/

Details.
http://www.wowhead.com/blog=161592

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Hunter Pet Tanking: A Guide

Includes talent builds for tanking pets.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/28/scattered-shots-pet-tanking/#continued

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How to Stream Music Through Ventrilo

A guide to the process for those who want to raid to a little light music like Ride of the Valkyries.
http://thehealzsquad.wordpress.com/2010/06/18/guide-streaming-music-through-ventrilo/

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Is WOW Dying?

A discussion, with a link to an interesting financials analysis.http://www.pinkpigtailinn.com/2010/06/re-wow-is-dying.html

I've posted the financial link separately.
http://deuwowlity.blogspot.com/2010/06/some-financial-factsand-some.html

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Patch 3.3.5 Addon Throttling Explained

WOW Insider goes over how Blizzard plans to limit addon requests ingame.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/28/inspect-request-throttling-explained/

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Tanking Sindragosa as a Solo Hunter Tank

How to tackle Sindragosa in ICC as a hunter tank, particularly solo, courtesy of the Warcraft Hunters Union.
http://www.warcrafthuntersunion.com/2010/06/tanking-sindragosa/

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DK Tank Gear, UI, Mods, Macros and PAWN Scales

Today must be Death Knight Day as I have three new good articles for death knights.

First, Pwnwear's site has updated the DK tanking gear list there with the new Ruby Sanctum items that are known.
http://pwnwear.com/forum/tank-gear-list-t142.html#p394

Secondly, Skeleton Jack has changed his UI around and posted a long article about what he uses, why, and why he has discarded certain items.  If you need UI or mod ideas, it's worth a read.
http://www.skeletonjack.com/2010/06/27/skeleton-jacks-mods-and-death-knight-uis/

Thirdly, and most importantly, Skeleton Jack has listed specs and PAWN scale tags for the Frost and Unholy Death Knight flavors.
http://www.skeletonjack.com/2010/06/26/frost-and-unholy-specs-and-ape-weights-and-scales-for-3-3-5/

UPDATE:  Skeleton Jack has added an article about macros that DKs will find very useful.
http://www.skeletonjack.com/2010/06/29/you-need-death-knight-macros/

UPDATE #2 by Skeleton Jack-an article about Tell Me When.
http://www.skeletonjack.com/2010/07/01/tell-me-when-and-invaluable-mod-for-death-knights/

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Holy Paladins and Beacon of Light

All about using the Beacon of Light spell.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/27/the-light-and-how-to-swing-it-beacon-of-light-best-practices/

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Very Extended Maintenance Next Tuesday

Next Tuesday more US realms will be down for 24 hours.  The list is here.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/26/early-maintenance-announcement-includes-24-hour-downtime-for-sel/#continued

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Hunter Talents

Following in the steps of Big Red Kitty, who is concentrating on how lower level characters work in Cataclysm Alpha testing, Gar has added a section to his website that is for new players who need just the facts.  His first article is on hunter talents.  He promises to add more basic information here so if you are a new hunter, better bookmark this page.
http://huntsmanslodge.com/garsnotes-hunter-stats

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Soloing as a Balance Druid

Helpful information for solo players.  It looks like he's going to be adding information as he explores how to solo as a balance druid, too.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/25/shifting-perspectives-soloing-as-a-balance-druid/

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BBB and the Midsummer Fire Festival

Dammed with faint praise.
http://thebigbearbutt.com/2010/06/24/yes-yes-the-ice-stone-has-melted-whatever/

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Blizzard to Limit GearScore and Other Addons

According to this article by WOW Insider, Blizzard is going to cut back on what are called "inspect requests" by addons like GearScore to help with lag.  It says this is implemented as of Patch 3.3.5.  There are links addon developer sites in the article.  One of them says in an update that it appears this throttling will happen with the next rolling restart, not with Patch 3.3.5 itself.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/25/blizzard-to-begin-throttling-gearscore-like-inspect-requests/

I think what this means is any addon that has to request character information will operate slower to help the stressed WOW servers.

UPDATE:  WOW Insider explains how it will work.  Again.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/28/inspect-request-throttling-explained/

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Patch 3.3.5 Causing System Crashes in New 64 Bit Systems

If you have a new, high end computer, you'll want to read this article.
http://thebearflank.blogspot.com/2010/06/maximum-system-requirements.html

UPDATE:  WOW Insider just posted a message about the same problem which is much less useful to sufferers.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/24/patch-3-3-5s-out-of-storage-error/

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Mac Gaming News

Mac gamers have some good news to celebrate.  Steam has added Mac games to their download service AND they are having a "Perils of Summer" sale until July 4.  Single player MMOs like Torchlight are available for download at half price.
http://store.steampowered.com/browse/mac

Wonder how an MMO can be single player? Read about Torchlight here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torchlight

In other Mac news, Kotaku reviews the new Kanex XD, which allows one to display console games on your Mac screen.
http://kotaku.com/5572203/kanex-xd-review-more-gaming-on-your-imac

It's a good time to be a Mac gamer.  Just keep inside to avoid the typical summer perils (sunburn, sharks, sand in your hair).

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Blizzard Talks (Interview Time)

WOW Head pointed out a new interview posted on WOW's Anniversary site.  This one is with the current production director.
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/wowanniversary/interview/jallenbrack.xml

Of even more interest to me is this very brief interview Bobby Kotick did with the Wall Street Journal. In it he says that console games provide only 30% of Blizzard's operating profit.   (If I were him, I'd be really worried.)  Many thanks to 1UP for pointing out the article.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704256604575295742380473502.html


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Patch 3.3.5 Bug List

Here are the problems and bugs you are likely to run into with Patch 3.3.5.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/22/patch-3-3-5-known-issues/

If you are having trouble with your addons, this article might help a bit.
http://huntsmanslodge.com/7394/quick-note-on-the-gar-ui.htm

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Save Mobile Authenticator Before Upgrading iPhone

With a new iPhone version available, WOW players who use the mobile authenticator are reminded to keep their authenticator serial number before they upgrade or patch their current iPhone.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/22/reminder-save-your-mobile-authenticator-serial-number-before-yo/

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Death Knight Spells Explained

WOW Insider is doing a series on how DK spells work.  First up, Death Grip.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/15/lichborne-demystifying-death-grip/

Next, Army of the Dead.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/22/lichborne-advice-on-army-of-the-dead/

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Death Knights in Lich King

A general retrospective about the death knights in Wrath of the Lich King.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/23/wrath-retrospective-what-we-learned-from-death-knights/

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Creating a Guild for the New Player

Basics about guilds from WOW Insider.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/23/wow-rookie-guilds/

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ICC Raid Buff is 25% Now

You can buff yourself 25% now to get through ICC easier.  WOW Head reports the buff on health, healing and damage will increase to 30% on July 20th.
http://www.wowhead.com/blog=160786

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Preview of Hunter Loot in Ruby Sanctum

http://huntsmanslodge.com/7360/ruby-sanctum-hunter-loot-preview.htm

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Real ID and Privacy UPDATED

The new Read ID part of Battle.net is in effect but many folks are wary of using it for privacy and security reasons.  Here's what Too Many Annas says about the situation, with additional emphasis on role playing gamers using cross-faction and cross-server chat.
http://toomanyannas.com/feature/on-privacy-real-ids-and-roleplay/

Lissanna has the same concerns but phrases them in another way.
http://www.restokin.com/2010/06/real-id-do-you-trust-the-friends-of-your-friends/

Lume is starting an online petition asking Blizzard to improve Read ID privacy.
http://www.lumethemad.com/2010/06/22/petition-to-increase-privacy-options-for-battle-nets-real-id-feature/

UPDATE:  The Stoppable Force tries to bring sanity to the debate by reading the FAQ and summarizing it.
http://thestoppableforce.net/2010/06/22/real-id-heres-some-info-now-stop-with-the-righteous-indignation/

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Druid PvP Strategy Guide

This site has been recommended to Big Bear Butt as a great resource for druid PvP information.  It looks like is has information about other classes, too, but I don't know how good that is.
http://2v2.com/druid/

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Patch 3.3.5 Today for U.S. UPDATED

Details about what is included in the Patch are here.  It'll drop next week for European servers.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/22/world-of-warcraft-patch-3-3-5-patch-notes/

UPDATE:  WOW Insider has provided a mirror download site.  Choose Mac or PC and click on the link.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/22/world-of-warcraft-patch-3-3-5-download-mirror/

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Battle.net New Terms of Use Agreement in Patch 3.3.5

There will be changes to the terms of use agreement around Battle.net when Patch 3.3.5 hits today.  Details here.  The most important item I noticed was Blizzard will be allowing access to in-game advertising.  I presume they will allow third parties to advertise inside Battle.net somehow but I don't know that for sure.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/21/the-lawbringer-new-battle-net-tou/

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Activision Considering Call of Duty Online Subscriptions UPDATED

Well, they have to have something when WOW dies.
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3180011

UPDATE:  Kotick wants consoles to be replaced by PCs.  Or at least to work a deal where he creates a gaming PC with a manufacturer.  All that Call of Duty money Microsoft makes must be making him grind his teeth!
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3180255

UPDATE #2:  What Tim Schafer thinks of Bobby.  Of course, they have history, i.e., a lawsuit.
http://kotaku.com/5586641/tim-schafer-calls-activision-boss-a-total-prick

UPDATE #3:  Tim regrets saying what he did.
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3180401

UPDATE #4:  Kotick responds to Tim with insults.
http://kotaku.com/5648723/activision-boss-replies-to-schafers-total-prick-comment

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Feral Druid Guides

Tankspot has updated their feral druid guide for Patch 3.3
http://www.tankspot.com/article.php?id=113807

Bear Tanking in Patch 3.3.3
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=23767644953&sid=1

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Engineers and Their Fun Gadgets

Once you level your engineering, there are some very fun gadgets you can build.  Zal describes his favorites and what they do here.
http://blessingoffish.wordpress.com/2010/06/03/fun-gadgetry/

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Keybindings: Unique and Unusual (and Normal)

Thanks to a chance mention on WOW Insider, I found this series of articles on keybinding that Blessing of Fish (who mostly plays a Holy Paladin) has written. The first article is about using the mouse scroll wheel.
http://blessingoffish.wordpress.com/2010/03/08/keybound-the-scroll-wheel/

The second article in the series talks about the addons Clique and Grid.
http://blessingoffish.wordpress.com/2010/03/19/keybound-grid-and-clique/

If Zal writes any more Keybound articles, I'll update this.

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Cooldown Management in Icecrown Citadel

How to handle cooldowns in Lower Spire.  Note that although this is a WOW Insider regular column for enhancement shamans, the information is relevant to all who have to deal with cooldown periods.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/19/totem-talk-cooldown-management-in-the-lower-spire/

http://www.wow.com/2010/06/26/totem-talk-cooldown-management-in-icc-part-2/

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Who's Dead? Tooltip

Need to know which bosses are dead when you are plugged into a raid that is underway?  Use this tooltip.
http://pwnwear.com/2010/06/20/saving-to-existing-raid-instance-which-bosses-are-dead/

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The Midsummer Fire Festival (June 21-July 5)

WOW Head has posted a guide to the upcoming Midsummer Fire Festival holiday on their site.  This year it starts on June 21st and runs through July 5.  The guide tells you where to find the bonfires and quest givers, and lists the achievements, quests and items you can obtain during the festival.
http://www.wowhead.com/guide=midsummer-fire-festival

WOW Insider has done an achievement guide.  While I prefer WOW Head's summary, if you just want to know achievements, this is the link for you.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/18/the-overachiever-guide-to-midsummer-festival-2010-achievements/

UPDATE:  The holiday boss is part of the random dungeon finder now.  Details here.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/22/breakfast-topic-holiday-boss-in-the-dungeon-finder-is-the-best/

UPDATE #2:  Kirina's recommendations on what to wear.  Well, you gotta look good when questing!
http://wowrpc.waddellconsulting.com/?p=2443

UPDATE #3:  Tips on how to get through the PvP parts of holiday the quests.
http://waywardinitiative.wordpress.com/2010/06/21/a-heros-guide-to-the-midsummer-festival/

UPDATE #4:  A summary of fire festival resources.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/22/the-daily-quest-the-midsummer-fire-festival/

UPDATE #5 - Help torch juggling which requires quite a bit of manual dexterity.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/28/midsummer-fire-festival-need-help-juggling/

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DK Specs for ICC (Heroic) UPDATED

Skeleton Jack lists the specs he recommends for death knights doing Icecrown Citadel on heroic.
http://www.skeletonjack.com/2010/06/18/heroic-lich-king-for-death-knights/

UPDATE:  Skeleton Jack has posted a follow up article from the Comments on the above.
http://www.skeletonjack.com/2010/06/19/heroic-lich-king-part-ii/

UPDATED AGAIN:  More followup.
http://www.skeletonjack.com/2010/06/20/heroic-lich-king-part-iii/

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Break Out the Earplugs

Have you been watching sports news and seeing clips of the noisy long horns called vuvuselas that the South Africans blow like crazy at the soccer games?  Do you want one in WOW?  Do you have a Death Knight?  Today's your lucky day.  Frost is the New Black explains how to add the racket to your game by replacing the regular sound of a DK's Horn of Winter with the sound of a crazed soccer fan's horn.
http://frostisthenewblack.wordpress.com/2010/06/18/have-your-own-vuvuzela-in-game/

For those without ear plugs, using Control S will mute game sound effects.  Pushing Control S again turns them back on.  Control M turns music on/off.  One of these should work, depending on whether the vuvuzela noise is considered music or sound.

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Profile of Satrina Buff Frames (Addons)

WOW Insider profiles an addon that allows great customization of your buffs and debuffs as either icons or bars with timers.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/17/addon-spotlight-satrina-buff-frames/

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OnLive Gaming Goes Live UPDATED AGAIN

The OnLive cloud gaming service is now live.  Reading the comments after Kotaku's announcement, I see that for the first year that you don't have to pay to use the service but you do have to pay for the games you use on it.  There are complaints that if you drop the service, you lose the games you paid for, so actually this is a rental service where you pay the same price as if you bought physical copies of the game.  Apparently one can't use a Wi Fi connection; you have to be wired to play with a speed of 5 Mbps.  This is not available in England yet.  One commentator thinks this should have been introduced in Asia where fast connections are the norm.  Many of the games available are shooters.
http://kotaku.com/5566691/onlive-goes-live-did-you-sign-up

UPDATE:  Eurogamer has posted prices for games available through the service.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/full-list-of-onlive-pricing-options

UPDATE #2: Sale on OnLive service.
http://www.1up.com/news/onlive-rolling-game-sale-wifi

UPDATE #3:  Monthly fees are dropped (October 2010)
http://www.1up.com/news/onlive-drops-monthly-membership-fees

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Analysis of Cataclysm Raiding and Guilds

WOW Insider looks at the current plans (and Ghostcrawler's latest comments) for raiding when Cataclysm hits.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/17/the-evolution-of-raid-design-in-cataclysm/

Then they look at Ghostcrawler's comments on guild organization in Cat.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/17/ghostcrawler-on-guild-organization-in-cataclysm/

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Gems and Enchants for Your Paladin

A two part article about gemming and enchanting your pally by a retribution paladin.
http://blaquespell.com/general/making-your-stuff-sparkle/

http://blaquespell.com/general/making-your-stuff-sparkle-literally-part-2/

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Boom! (Fish Rain from the Skies)

Someone has just discovered you can fish with dynamite.  There are limitations (you have to be between levels 10 and 19 to pick up loot after the dynamite goes off and you can just use one type of explosive) but I expect you will see lots of folks trying this.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/17/fishing-with-explosives/

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The Real Reason Cataclysm Plans Have Changed?

Larisa ponders why Blizzard dropped some of the planned changes in Cataclysm.  She references the second link but thinks the real reason things aren't going forward as planned is that the changes weren't working and would impact the game.

http://www.pinkpigtailinn.com/2010/06/was-it-greed-or-need-that-made-blizzard.html

Lonomonkey says Blizzard needs to get Cataclysm out fast because they are bleeding players.  Based on the empty state of starter zones on the Solo MMO Player's realm, I think he's right that the population is dropping fast.

http://screammonkey.wordpress.com/2010/06/14/faster-you-maggots/

But as to why some Cataclysm changes were dropped, it's anybody's guess.

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Shadow Priest Gear Guide and Starter Guide

A guide to outfitting your shadow priest.  I believe this is suitable for a Level 80 character.
http://twistedfaith.wordpress.com/2010/06/16/failsafe-shadowpriest-gearing-guide/

A guide to starting out as a shadow priest.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/16/spiritual-guidance-starting-a-shadow-priest-from-scratch/#continued

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Using Tabards in Role Play Outfits

Too Many Annas explains various ways to use tabards to outfit a character for role play.
http://toomanyannas.com/feature/using-tabards-in-rp-outfits/

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Battle.net Problems

WOW Head pointed this morning to an article at Zam about the upcoming changes to Battle.net that will add the Real ID system.  The problems aren't what you expect--they relate to Starcraft II beta players who discovered they can't play with friends in another region without buying and registering a second game and the fact that there are no chat rooms.  Whether this will impact WOW players or not is another issue, but I suspect at least a few folks won't like this among the WOW player base.
http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=22533

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Off-Tank Specs for the Lich King Battle (10 Man)

Pwnwear has written an article about the specs he uses as an off-tank death knight to kill the Lich King in the 10 mans.
http://pwnwear.com/2010/06/15/unholy-offtank-specs-for-the-lich-king/

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Improving DPS By Stacking (Hunters)

An explanation of how stacking cooldowns and procs can drastically improve hunter DPS.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/14/scattered-shots-stacking-cooldowns-and-procs/

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The GDKP Loot Distribution System

How bidding gold for loot works.  There are a couple of other articles about loot distribution systems here.  Search on "loot distribution."
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/14/gold-capped-gdkp-raiding-for-fun-and-profit/

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Ryyu's A Tank (And You are a Wanker)

Ryyu does a guest posting about tanks on the Lazy Sniper blog.  It's hilarious (and doesn't mention tanks) but his warning that he swears a lot isn't just there for fun.

http://www.lazy-sniper.com/?p=4006

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Kotick Interview

Bobby Kotick invites the senior editor of Kotaku over to the neighborhood deli for a slice of cheesecake.  Kotick talks about his background and how Steve Wynn got him started in the business.
http://kotaku.com/5559201/a-delightful-chat-with-the-most-hated-man-in-video-games

It's another side of the man we love to hate.  Who would have thought the devil incarnate knows good cheesecake?

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Cataclysm News from Press Event

Blizzard invited various members of the WOW community press to their offices last week and gave them all sorts of information about the Cataclysm expansion, particularly things they are scrapping and things they are changing.  Here are the high points from WOW Head:
http://www.wowhead.com/blog=159674

WOW Head also posted an exclusive interview with Blizzard's spokesman, Ghostcrawler.
http://www.wowhead.com/blog=159586

The most interesting thing I see in the above is that Blizzard is dropping some of the guild changes they planned originally.  Here's reaction from Cold Comfort.
http://blog.cold-comfort.org/major-guild-improvements-dropped-cataclysm/



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Cataclysm's Region-Wide Battlegrounds (Plus Wargames)

In other words, you'll get to meet every idiot in North America if that's the region you play in.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/11/cataclysm-to-bring-region-wide-battlegrounds/

UPDATE:  Something called "war games mode" will be added to Battlegrounds.  It seems to be a way to invite groups to challenge other groups to battle in a specific Battleground.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/12/war-games-mode-coming-to-cataclysm-battlegrounds/

UPDATE #2:  Gordon is starting to wonder why Blizzard and other game developers have a new emphasis on PvP recently.
http://blog.weflyspitfires.com/2010/06/11/pushing-pvp/

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Words Fail Me

Murloc Beer Stein

http://www.wow.com/2010/06/10/murloc-stein-available-for-pre-order/

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Tanking 101 (Instructor: ReversionLFM)

The Looking For More blog has written a nice Tanking 101 series.  I'll post all the links here with updates as more is written.  You can see them all if you to to the LFM site, then click on "Tanking 101" in the Series section in the right hand column.

Multi-pull
http://looking4more.wordpress.com/2010/05/07/tanking-101the-multi-pull-part-1/

Pull by pull
http://looking4more.wordpress.com/2010/05/18/tanking-101-nexus-of-insanity-pull-by-pull/

Raid tanking introduction
http://looking4more.wordpress.com/2010/05/24/tanking-101-intro-to-raid-tanking/

Controlling the battlespace
http://looking4more.wordpress.com/2010/05/26/tanking-101-controlling-the-battlespace/

Chain pulls
http://looking4more.wordpress.com/2010/05/27/tanking-101-chain-pulls/

The decision loop
http://looking4more.wordpress.com/2010/06/04/tanking-101-confidence-and-the-decision-loop/

Various pulling tricks
http://looking4more.wordpress.com/2010/06/08/tanking-101-pull-school-hit-and-run/

Many thanks to WOW Insider for pointing me towards this series

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Geist, the Addon that Creates Action Bars

A explanation of how Geist works to create a 25 button action bar under your mouse pointer when you click a button to bring it up.  Here is how it works.  Note the recommendation that you also download ButtonFacade to work with Geist.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/10/addon-spotlight-geist/

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Healers, Mouseovers and the Razer Gaming Mouse

Although it reads like a commercial for Razer's Naga mouse, this article does explain how to use this mouse in combination with a mouse over macro if you are a healer.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/10/the-magical-alchemy-of-mouseovers-plus-a-razer-naga/

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Emblems for the Level 80

This WOW Insider article explains what embelms are and where to get them.  It also has links to other WOW Insider articles about emblems for various classes.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/10/wow-rookie-emblem-gear-for-the-fresh-level-80/

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Battlegrounds Objectives Maps

Cynwise has created maps that show strategy and objectives, not terrain, to help players understand various Battlegrounds.    The maps are simple but are meant to help players and guilds figure out strategies.  This blog entry has maps for Eye of the Storm, Arathi Basin, Strand of the Ancients, Isle of Conquest, Alterac Valley, Warsong Gulch, and Wintergrasp.
http://cynwise.wordpress.com/2010/06/09/a-different-kind-of-battleground-map/

Great article, Cynwise.  Thanks.

UPDATE:  Cynwise is now selling t-shirts with various maps and tips on them.
http://cynwise.wordpress.com/2010/09/29/cynwises-battlefield-store/

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Worried About In-Game Security?

Thanks to Pwnwear, I've found this blog decided to security issues in-game.  It's full of good advice and examples of various attempts to hack gamer accounts.
http://securingwow.blogspot.com/

Gordon has some good ideas for improving security for MMOs, which don't take security very seriously, perhaps because their target audience is 12 years old and doesn't like to read.
http://blog.weflyspitfires.com/2010/06/30/mmo-account-security/

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Cataclysm Talent Previews

Blizzard has started releasing talent previews for some classes (druid, priest, rogue, shaman). WOW Head has set up a page on their site to review this information.
http://www.wowhead.com/blog=159333

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Rogues and Weapon Speed

How the speed of a weapon impacts various rogue builds.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/09/encrypted-text-weapon-speed-analysis/

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Example of Troubleshooting a Cat's DPS

The article talks about how to analyze a feral cat's DPS.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/08/shifting-perspectives-troubleshooting-cat-dps/

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The Solo Shadow Priest Does Five-Man Raids

WOW Insider's Spiritual Guidance column advocates doing old five-man raids solo.  The article talks about buffs, a good talent build, boss strategies and ways to tank/heal solo.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/09/spiritual-guidance-soloing-5-man-content-the-shadow-priest-w/

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Tanks and Healers in Raids (and Hunters, too)

Obviously today's the day someone turned on the tank/healer neon sign because all over the Blog-o-sphere folks are talking about types of tanks and healers and what their main jobs are.  Big Bear Butt has a very definite idea of what a tank does.
http://thebigbearbutt.com/2010/06/08/team-talk-for-all-players-from-a-tired-tank/

Here's a reply to his article, focused on what makes a good raiding hunter.
http://looking4more.wordpress.com/2010/06/08/being-a-team-player-hunter/

Anna sees different types of healers and tanks as she raids.  Here is her humorous definition of tanks, and
http://toomanyannas.com/feature/differing-species-of-tanks/

here is how she sees healers.
http://toomanyannas.com/feature/differing-species-of-healers/

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Theorycrafting Glyph of Kill Shot (Hunters)

Want to do some math this morning?  Frostheilm walks us through an examination of Glyph of Kill Shot.
http://www.warcrafthuntersunion.com/2010/06/theorycraft-101-glyph-of-kill-shot/

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Arena History: The Ranking Systems UPDATED

WOW Insider has an article for history buffs about the Elo ranking system for Arena, used during the Burning Crusade expansion.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/07/blood-sport-arena-and-the-old-elo-ranking-system/

They promise a follow-up article on the current system and its benefits.  And here it is!
UPDATE:  Personal ratings replace Elo.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/14/blood-sport-personal-ratings-fixes-the-elo-rating-system/

An article about how Wrath of the Lich King changes and the introduction of death knights changed Arena is coming next week.  And here it is!
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/21/blood-sport-an-overview-of-wotlk-arena-systems/

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Google Search and Flash Security Problems UPDATED

Blizzard alerts players to a Google search result that leads to a malware site masquerading as Curse.com and a security issue with Adobe's Flash player.  I'm still waiting for Blizzard to improve their own security by changing from an email address login to something safer. Of course now it is too late as spammers and hackers have the WOW email address logins and are using them to send out gold seller spam and phishing emails.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/07/new-issues-with-adobe-flash-google-search-links-could-compromis/

UPDATE:  Thanks to Pwnwear, I have a link to a blog that talks a bit about the Adobe Flash security issue and has a link to the download page for an update to plug the hole.  This is a good site to bookmark as it talks about security issues in WOW.
http://securingwow.blogspot.com/2010/06/patch-your-flash.html

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Jamie Lee Curtis Loves WOW

The excerpt is from a Video Games Live concert to air on PBS this summer.  Remember, she's an actress, a good actress.  She's paid to be convincing.

http://news.bigdownload.com/2010/06/06/pbs-to-air-video-games-live-special-this-summer-jamie-lee-curt/

Thanks to Kotaku for pointing this out and for providing the stripper scene from True Lies.

http://kotaku.com/5556988/jamie-lee-curtis-loves-her-some-world-of-warcraft

Here's a bit about the PBS special itself with a trailer.
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3179681

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Skeleton Jack and his N52te

An old post from Skeleton Jack about how he uses his N52 keypad.
http://www.skeletonjack.com/2010/06/06/n52-guide-a-little-rough-on-the-edges/

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The Mage Resources Guide

Mana Obscura is building a mage resource guild.  Everything he can find is listed here.
http://www.manaobscura.com/?page_id=743

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24 Downtime Next Tuesday--A Trend?

WOW Insider reports that tomorrow's downtime will stretch to 24 hours for some unlucky U.S. realms as they are made "Cataclysm-ready." The list of effected servers is here.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/06/24-hour-downtime-this-tuesday-for-72-servers-to-make-them-catacl/

I would presume everyone will undergo 24 hours of maintenance evntually as Blizzard tries to get ready for their next expansion.

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What You Need for Raids

Blessing of Fish has a nice article up on the things you need to take with you on raids (food, flasks, reagents, gold for repairs, etc.) and also recommends you use a raid warning addon.
http://blessingoffish.wordpress.com/2010/03/20/raiding-standards-a-guide/

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Garwulf's Guide to Best PvP Hunter Pets

Garwulf's written a guide to the best pets for PvP.  Here's what he says about it.
http://huntsmanslodge.com/7107/choosing-a-hunter-pvp-pet.htm

Here is the direct link to the guide which is broken down by hunter type (beast mastery, etc.)
http://huntsmanslodge.com/hunter-pvp-pets

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Comparing Deus Vox Encounters to Big Wigs (Boss Mods)

Lodur compares Deus Vox Encounters to Big Wigs and finds he prefers DVE due to the audio cues there.  If you are in the market for a boss mod, you will want to read the first half of this article.
http://www.worldofmatticus.com/2010/06/04/lodurs-week-in-review/

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Is Tanking Boring?

Mrfenris thinks so.  
http://grayplace.wordpress.com/2010/05/27/stand-there-tank-that/

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Game News and Rumors

There's lot of MMO news today.  First up, Bethesda is rumored to have a big announcement coming at E3 this month.  1Up speculates they are going to announce a new Elder Scrolls game.  (Everyone, please cross your fingers.)
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3179617

The BBC has released a Dr. Who game.  It's not in final form but you can download it from their website.  (I hope it is better than their latest episodes.)
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3179616

Red Dead Redemption is releasing their first downloadable content June 22:  six co-op missions.  No word on the cost.
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3179632

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Learning to be a Hunter Raider

Want to take your hunter on a raid?  The Hunter's Mark is writing a series of articles to help hunters master the raiding environment.
http://www.thehuntersmark.net/blog/2010/05/26/lambs-to-the-slaughter-coaching-new-raiders/

http://www.thehuntersmark.net/blog/2010/06/03/hunter-raiding-skill-practice-runs/

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HudMap: The Heads Up Display Addon

HudMap is a heads up display map.  The article tells what it does and has embedded videos of it in action.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/03/addon-spotlight-hudmap-thursday/

Also search for IceHUD to see another review of a similar addon.  Kae just reviewed IceHud the day after the above article came out.  Here's what he says, along with lots of screen shots, tips, and even the Lua code he uses to customized IceHUD to his needs.
http://dreambound-druid.blogspot.com/2010/06/kaes-icehud.html

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On Becoming a PvP Hunter

Want to try PvP now that your hunter is bored with PvE?  WOW Insider has written an introduction to PvP just for you with hints as to the gear, enchants, etc. you will need.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/03/scattered-shots-transitioning-to-hunter-pvp/

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A Mage's Five Main Stats (And Why They Hate Hunters)

Larissa's guest post for Armegeddon's Coming discusses what she things are the most important stats for a mage--agility, attack power, hit rating, diplomacy and mana regeneration.
http://gnomeaggedon.net/2010/06/03/misleading-mage-posts-agility-and-attack-power-–-the-essentials-of-a-mage/

To understand the refererences to mage blogs and mage bloggers who give out misleading information, read this.  Please note that BRK didn't actually diss mage blogs, but he didnn't disagree, either.
http://www.pinkpigtailinn.com/2010/06/brk-and-assault-on-mage-blogs.html

I can see it's going to be a month of mages versus hunters.

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All About the Professions (UPDATED FOR CATACLYSM)

Alex left a comment here yesterday to let me know his new website is up and running.  It's full of guides to all the professions from alchemy to tailoring.  Here's the link to the main site.
http://www.wow-professions.info/

And here is the link to just the professions guides.  Since the professions are such work (and often for not much reward), I hope this makes the professions more attractive to players.
http://www.wow-professions.info/primary-professions-live/

Thanks, Alex!

UPDATE:  A summary article about profession changes in Cataclysm.
http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/12/04/countdown-to-cataclysm-profession-updates-and-changes/

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Ruby Sanctum Won't Arrive with Patch 3.3.5

The new Ruby Sanctum instance won't be ready when Patch 3.3.5 arrives.  Blizzard's note and WOW Insider's comments here-
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/02/patch-3-3-5-ruby-sanctum-release-delayed/

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Avatar Days: A Short Documentary About WOW Players

Larisa's found a short but well done documentary about WOW players.  Here's her article.
http://www.pinkpigtailinn.com/2010/06/new-documentary-about-wow-players.html

Here's the direct link.  Thanks, Larisa!
http://vimeo.com/12018667

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Dungeon Finder Vote Kick Changes UPDATED

Rohan points out Blizzard is changing (Patch 3.3.5) the way Vote Kick works in the random dungeon finder.  Basically the cooldown has changed so that folks who overuse this feature can't use it as often.  These is no cooldown if you don't use it often.  I am not clear how Abandon Group is going to change.
http://blessingofkings.blogspot.com/2010/06/interesting-vote-kick-changes.html

UPDATE:  WOWHead posts about this change with some idea of how the mechanics work and with their reaction.
http://www.wowhead.com/blog=158475

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An Addon I Don't Understand (BloodyScreen)

I don't get this.  If I want blood splatter, I go read Herb MacDonell's memoir.  However if you want your screen cluttered up with castoff spray, here you go.
http://dreambound-druid.blogspot.com/2010/06/bloodyscreen.html

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Would Premium Servers Help WOW?

Gordon wonders if premium servers would help the game.
http://blog.weflyspitfires.com/2010/05/31/wow-premium-servers/

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BBB Speaks: Before Tanking and During Tanking

Big Bear Butt lists things to think about  before you tank.
http://thebigbearbutt.com/2010/06/01/things-to-think-about-before-tanking/

And how a tank should act.
http://thebigbearbutt.com/2010/06/02/the-role-of-the-tank-in-a-group/

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Trinkets for the High End Warlock

Fifteen recommended trinkets for the level 80 warlock.
http://www.wow.com/2010/05/31/blood-pact-tip-top-trinkets/

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