Playing/Defeating Hunters in PVP

Tips on defeating hunters in PVP, written by a hunter.
http://outdps.com/2010/07/05/how-to-fight-a-hunter-in-pvp/

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

Real ID Firestorm UPDATED

Blizzard's announcement that they will force anyone using WOW Forums to post using their Real ID (which will reveal their real name) starting with Starcraft II and the WOW Cataclysm expansion has set off a firestorm of comments.  I counted 14 blog posts about Real ID signatures in the forums this morning, 13 of which viewed this extremely negatively. i have not seen any positive postings supporting Blizzard.   Only WOW Head was neutral on the topic.   I list their message here so you can read the details and blue posting announcement to make up your own mind.
http://www.wowhead.com/blog=162433

If you are intrested in Starcraft players' opinions on this topic, Lume the Mad clued me into a poll. I don't know if it is still open, but when I copied the link, 78% of Starcraft players responding to the poll said they would not post in the forums under this new system, 14% said they would sign forum postings with their real names, and 8% said they would create a new Battle.net account with a fake name so they could post in forums.  2,873 folks had voted.
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=134327

UPDATE:  WOW Insider is polling WOW players.  You have to vote to see the current results but when I found the posting, 81.5% thought using real names in the forums was a bad idea.  18.5% thought it was a good idea.  2,412 people had voted.
http://www.wow.com/2010/07/07/breakfast-topic-real-id-or-real-bad-idea/#continued

You can find the negative postings yourself without any trouble.  Given Blizzard's record with security and privacy so far, the Solo MMO Player views this change in an extremely negative light.  There are crazy stalkers in this world, there are angry ex-significant others, there are employers who will view employee gamers in a negative light, there are students risking future careers by letting it be known they play WOW, there are folks who will enjoy harassing women who used to be able to use anonymity to avoid these cretins, there are parents who don't want their name associated with WOW just because their child uses their credit card to pay the monthly fees, there are folks looking to steal your identity, addons can be programmed to reveal your Real ID and thus your name....

The list goes on.  Let me quote Tobold here--"Blizzard is heading for their first privacy PR disaster."

UPDATE #2:  Blizzard has posted three updates to their original announcement.  First, the use of real names in forum posts won't be retroactive.  Only Starcraft 2 and Cataclysm forums will use real names.  If you use the Real ID opt out (part of the parental controls) the account can't post on the forums.  And Blizzard says they've given a lot of thought to the issue. They want to "create a great social gaming service" by giving away your privacy.
http://www.wow.com/2010/07/06/blizzards-responses-on-the-real-id-situation/

The Solo MMO Player will not use the Real ID system.

UPDATE:  WOW Insider is reporting the rumor that Blizzard has changed its mind about blue postings having real names of their employees.  To date it is unclear what Blizzard will have its employees do.
http://www.wow.com/2010/07/07/rumor-blizzard-employees-real-life-names-will-not-appear-on-th/

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

Real ID Security Problems

Because of a security flaw in Real ID, addons can now expose your real name.  Details here.
http://www.wow.com/2010/07/06/security-flaw-allows-addons-to-expose-full-real-life-names-witho/

By the way, Blizzard is going to use the Real ID system in their forums to cut down on trolls as real names will now be exposed.
http://www.wow.com/2010/07/06/official-forum-changes-real-life-names-to-be-displayed/

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

Interview with The Greedy Goblin (Undergeared Guild)

Frosthelm interviews the Greedy Goblin about his Undergeared guild, set up to prove that it is skill, not gear, that takes down bosses. Undergeared runs instances in blue gear only and are about 3/4 of the way through ICC.
http://www.warcrafthuntersunion.com/2010/07/frostheim-interviews-gevlon-of-undergeared/

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

Guild Raid Management System: Pods

Rohan proposes a formal raid management system he calls Pods.  This allows guilds to set up 10- and 25-man raids that always have folks available.
http://blessingofkings.blogspot.com/2010/07/pods-raid-force-management-system.html

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

New Foot Pedal Peripheral (Tap Chat)

The foot pedal peripheral is now available at the Blizard store (second link) and at the manufactuer's website (third link).  NOTE: it is currently sold out both places.  This USB device was designed as a voice chat hot key activated by a foot.  I don't know if it can be adapted to other uses, but I hope so for the sake of disabled gamers.
http://www.wow.com/2010/07/05/world-of-warcraft-tap-chat-now-available/

http://us.blizzard.com/store/details.xml?id=1100001062

http://us.store.creative.com/Sound-Blaster-World-of-Warcraft-Tap/M/B003BQKCUI.htm

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

Signs That One Should Drop Out

Signs one should drop out of your current dungeon finder raid:

1) The healer inquires as to what sort of vanity pet your wolf is.
2) Your wolf draws more aggro than the tank.
3) The tank falls off a cliff.

Sadly, all these happened to the Solo MMO Player this weekend....

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

Learning Data Mining in Your Spare Time

If you are curious about data mining, you'll want to read Zardoz's explanation of how he is improving his data mining skills.
http://armorydatamine.wordpress.com/2010/07/05/teach-yourself-datamining-in-21-days/

In the article, Z mentions an article by Chris Lewis on predicting a toon's class by looking at their items.  Of course experienced players can do this in their own heads, but perhaps not with such accuracy.  It's an interesting read for the math folks, regardless.
http://eis-blog.ucsc.edu/2010/04/mining-the-world-of-warcraft-armory/

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

Soloing that Vanity Pet (Mojo)

How to solo getting the frog vanity pet as a Level 80.  Thanks to Birdfall for pointing this out.
http://warcraftpets.com/guides/pets/solo_farming_mojo.asp

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

Starcraft II in 3-D

1Up is reporting that Blizzard plans to patch Starcraft II after it releases so that it can be played on 3-D monitors and televisions.  There's no word on what type of stupid glasses you'll have to wear.
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3180243

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