A Day in the Life (Machinima)

This won BlizzCon's 2009 Machinima Contest.

http://www.wow.com/2009/08/26/wow-moviewatch-a-day-in-the-life/

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

Interview with Vasco (Authenticator Manufacturer)

WOW Insider interviewed the manufacturer of the security authenticator at BlizzCon. It gives one a behind the scenes view of how Blizzard works with this tool and the mobile app that does the same thing on cell phones.

http://www.wow.com/2009/08/26/blizzcon-2009-an-interview-with-vasco/

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

Speed Raiding from RaidFast

One thing I don't understand is the great rush to level and collect gear in WOW. But obviously a lot of folks are in a very great hurry. Pwnwear has found a guide to speed raiding. Here's what he says about it.

http://pwnwear.com/2009/08/26/how-to-raid-fast/

Here is the speed raiding guide's URL.

http://www.stratfu.com/strats/RaidFast

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

Private Servers

Apparently some WOW players play on private servers. This is not a LAN and not approved by Blizzard, either. Private servers are against their terms of service. But it is interesting to hear how this all works.

http://www.wow.com/2009/08/25/15-minutes-of-fame-members-only/

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

Tanking as a Feral Druid Bear (Part One: Gear)

Big Bear Butt is writing an introduction to tanking as a lower level bear feral druid. Part one is up at this link. It covers gear. I'll update this blog entry as more information is added to BBB's blog.
http://thebigbearbutt.com/2009/08/24/how-to-bear-tank-the-lower-levels-part-1-gear/

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

In Game Event Will Introduce Cataclysm

Oh, Lord. Remember the zombie invasion before the Lich King hit? Another "event" will introduce Cataclysm.
http://www.wow.com/2009/08/24/in-game-launch-event-for-cataclysm-confirmed/

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

Battle.net Will Become Mandatory "in the not too distant future"

WOW Insider pointed me to this BlizzCon interview that talks in part about Battle.net being the mandatory way to logon into the Blizzard games. There is a lot of Starcraft 2 material also.
http://interviews.slashdot.org/story/09/08/24/1552233/Blizzard-Answers-Your-Questions-and-More?art_pos=5

Later on WOW Insider looked at the information from Blizzard more closely and discovered cross faction (and server) chat will be enabled. Note what security measures there are.

http://www.wow.com/2009/08/27/battle-net-2-0-to-allow-cross-faction-communication/

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

Extended Maintenance Realms List

Blizzard has posted a list of realms that are undergoing extended maintenance today. Apparently this is to fix the long waits into instances.
http://launcher.worldofwarcraft.com/alert

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

Cataclysm Shakes Up the Guilds

The changes to the guild system that BlizzCon announced last weekend will arrive when Cataclysm does. Several folks are talking about the possibilies already.

http://www.wow.com/2009/08/24/officers-quarters-cataclysm-will-reshape-guilds/

http://ailisinhunterland.com/2009/08/cataclysmic-guilds/

As far as I can tell the Solo MMO Player's realm has only a few raiding guilds but a lot that are either leveling guilds (where a Level 80 character walks the newer characters through instances) or run only for the benefit of the officers (join our guild and pay into the guild bank and we'll ask you to run an instance but only if we get the loot). This may or may not make a difference in the lack of raiding, but it'll certainly change things somehow.

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

I've Been Wondering About Authenticator Battery Life

...and apparently so is The Queue. After all, if the battery gives out, how do you access your account? Turns out the battery is supposed to have a 7 year minimum life span. The article goes on to explain what to do if your authenticator goes on the fritz.

http://www.wow.com/2009/08/24/the-queue-nuts-and-bolts/#continued

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