Strange Game: Leaks and Blizzard UPDATED

Fascinating article about Blizzard and new Cataclysm content leaks from the writer behind the Extreme Anglin' website that covers all things fishing.  This is a Must Read for the thoughtful WOW player.  Following the links to other of Tim's content is quite interesting.
http://timhowgego.com/a-strange-game.html

UPDATE:  MMO Champion has removed all alpha content from their website at Blizzard's request.
http://www.wow.com/2010/05/11/mmo-champion-removes-all-cataclysm-alpha-content-at-blizzards-r/

Comments on the above
http://www.pinkpigtailinn.com/2010/05/someone-just-knocked-on-door.html

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

Pet Builds for Hunters UPDATED

Information about beast mastery PVP pet builds.  This is part two of an article on beast mastery from last December.
http://huntsmanslodge.com/5459/bm-pvp-guide-pets.htm

I also found this website about hunter pet builds in general. It looks a little out of date to me.
http://hunterbuilds.com/petbuilds.html

UPDATE:  But this guide to the best hunter pets for PvP is current as of Patch 3.3.3.
http://huntsmanslodge.com/hunter-pvp-pets

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

Real ID Discussion (Patch 3.3.5) UPDATED WITH SECURITY CONCERNS

The next big patch (3.3.5) will include a new instance (Assault on Ruby Sanctum) and also something called Real ID will appear in Battle.net.  Here's a bit about Real ID, how it is supposed to work and what Mana Obscura thinks about how successful it will be.
http://www.manaobscura.com/?p=651

UPDATE:  WOW Insider writes briefly about how Real ID will work.  The best part of the article are screen shots from the Public Test Realm.
http://www.wow.com/2010/05/13/patch-3-3-5-ptr-battle-net-real-id-system/

UPDATE #2:  Lissanna has some concerns about Read ID and the Friends of Friends feature you might want to read.
http://www.restokin.com/2010/05/getting-personal-or-not/

UPDATE #3:  WOW Insider thinks any security concerns are overblown.  Given that the Solo MMO Player believes that his email address used for logging into the game (which has never been used for anything else so where do all the phishing emails and gold seller spam come from?) has been hacked, they are wrong.
http://www.wow.com/2010/05/28/real-id-security-concerns/

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

Understanding Melee Hit Tables (Theorycrafting)

An explanation of the melee hit table which is simply how WOW calculates just what damage is generated from a blow.
http://www.wow.com/2010/05/10/theorycraft-101-the-melee-hit-table/

I've posted an article about melee hit tables for druids earlier.  You can find it by searching on "melee hit table."

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