Dedicated WOW Search Engine in Beta

WOW Insider reports the dedicated WOW search engine called Mrgl-Mrgl (named after a murloc NPC) is now in beta form.
http://www.wow.com/2009/11/15/dedicated-wow-search-engine-now-in-beta/

The search engine is currently down but here's the URL.  WOW Insider thinks it looks at WOW forums, news sites, and YouTube videos only.  Of course by the time it is out of beta, it may be totally different and more targeted at WOW in its searches than Google and Bing.
http://www.mrgl-mrgl.com/

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Alterac Valley Overview

http://www.wowwiki.com/Alterac_Valley

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All About Arena (with Beginner's Guide)

Here is what Blizzard says about Arena.  There are maps of the various arenas here with links to detailed walkthroughs.  Note that you can do practice arena matches before you hit level 80 but you can't join a team until then.  It also tells you where to buy team charters and what they cost, depending on whether you are playing 2x2 or whatever.
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/pvp/arena/index.xml

Ten Ton Hammer has just posted (October 2009) an arena guide.  It's not finished yet but it has up-to-date information.
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/26536

WOW Insider is doing a beginner's guide to arena also.  Here's part one.
http://www.wow.com/2009/12/14/blood-sport-beginners-guide-to-arena-part-ii/#continued

Part two.
http://www.wow.com/2009/12/14/blood-sport-beginners-guide-to-arena-part-ii/

Part three.
http://www.wow.com/2009/12/21/blood-sport-beginners-guide-to-arena-part-iii/

Part four (healing)
http://www.wow.com/2010/01/01/blood-sport-beginners-guide-to-arena-part-iv/

Part five (dealing damage)
http://www.wow.com/2010/01/04/blood-sport-beginners-guide-to-arena-part-v/

Part six (arena terms and abbreviations)
http://www.wow.com/2010/02/01/blood-sport-beginners-guide-to-arena-part-vi/

Part seven (tips)
http://www.wow.com/2010/02/11/blood-sport-beginners-guide-to-arena-part-vii/

WOW Insider is now looking at things like rage, focus and energy in Arena (part one).
http://www.wow.com/2010/01/20/blood-sport-resource-mechanics-in-arena-part-i/

The death knight rune system (part two)
http://www.wow.com/2010/01/25/blood-sport-resource-mechanics-in-arena-part-2/

The ultimate Arena website is Arena Junkies'.  It has macros, strategies, rankings, etc.
http://www.arenajunkies.com/

Skill Capped also offers free PvP videos and class guides.  Most of the videos are without commentary but they have posted some of their most popular videos with commentary to entice folks to subscribe.
http://www.skill-capped.com/

This is a guide to improving your arena gear.  It is dated January 2009.
http://www.wowconfidential.com/2009/01/06/fastest-way-to-gear-up-for-pvp-get-the-best-pvp-gear/

The Arena rating system basics are explained here.
http://www.wow.com/2009/09/16/the-colosseum-a-basic-guide-to-the-arena-rating-system/

By the way, Blizzard's lead developer thinks arenas were a mistake.
http://www.wow.com/2009/11/13/blizzard-arenas-were-a-mistake/

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

WOW in Space UPDATED

A bit about an upcoming space-themed MMO called Allods Online.  There is a link to a video.
http://tobolds.blogspot.com/2009/11/wow-in-space.html

UPDATE:  Massively has done a preview with a video of their own game play.
http://www.massively.com/2009/11/13/first-impressions-allods-online/

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Blizzard Speaks: "Arenas are a mistake"

The website Warcry.com just published an interview with Blizzard's VP of game design.  WOW Insider summarizes it here.  The VP thinks arenas were a mistake, talks about the total number of WOW subscribers, their greatest successes and who they think their audience is.
http://www.wow.com/2009/11/13/blizzard-arenas-were-a-mistake/

The original interview is published here.
http://www.warcry.com/articles/view/interviews/6773-Five-Years-of-Warcraft-Speaking-With-Blizzards-Rob-Pardo

By the way, Blizzard has released an interview from 2008, the video of which is embedded below.  It's mostly about the Wrath of the Lich King release.
http://www.wowhead.com/?blog=130459

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Tips to Reduce Lag

WOW Insider mentions tips to reduce lag and links to forum postings with further information.
http://www.wow.com/2009/11/13/fixing-raiding-lag/

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Bag Management

One of the things that causes a lot of trouble in any MMO is inventory management.  In WOW, this means managing the bags that you use to carry items.  If you are new to the game, you'll want to look at this WOW Insider column about bag management.
http://www.wow.com/2009/09/23/wow-rookie-bag-it/2

If you are a more advanced player, NoobDing may have tips that will help you.
http://noobding.blogspot.com/2009/02/why-bigger-bags-wont-solve-your-problem.html

Spellchecker has an article about bags that repeat much of the above but that also mentions the addon GarbageFu which he recommends for inventory management.
http://myguildhome.com/WTBSpellchecker/?p=630

UPDATE:  WOW Insider reviews several bag management addons.
http://www.wow.com/2010/03/04/addon-spotlight-battle-of-the-bags/

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

Hunter Trinkets

All about trinkets for hunters (Patch 3.3).
http://www.wow.com/2010/02/22/scattered-shots-hunter-trinkets/

The Hunters Mark lists all the non-faction-specific trinkets available to hunters in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion.  There's a brief explanation of the trinket and where to get it, too.
http://www.thehuntersmark.net/2009/11/13/hunter-trinkets-in-wrath/

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Death Knight Pets

WOW Insider writes about death knights and their pets.  Ghouls, gargoyles and the Army of the Dead are explained.
http://www.wow.com/2009/11/12/lichborne-the-care-and-feeding-of-pets/

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Healers' Reflex Versus Rotation

Miss Medicina has written a two part article about healers and their use of reflex button-mashing versus setting up rotations to heal in a raid.
http://missmedicina.blogspot.com/2009/11/rotation-versus-reflex-part-1.html

http://missmedicina.blogspot.com/2009/11/reflex-versus-rotation-part-2.html

It's an interesting article that accidentally shows off something that the Solo MMO Player feels is under-appreciated:  how individual style comes into play, often undermining what players have learned is the "best" way to gear a character or run that raid.  The Solo MMO Player's position is that, for example, there are folks who heal/heal/heal compulsively because that is who they are.  If you know you have a play style that runs counter to the accepted way of playing your character, toss the accepted ways out the window and figure out how things should be arranged for you to play your characters well.

In other words, theory crafting is a simulation of how things should work in a perfect game world.  Inside WOW, nothing will work that way precisely.  It's time players start thinking outside the box instead of boxing themselves in.

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