Gearing Your Cat Druid at Level 80

A two part article form February/March 2009.
http://www.wow.com/2009/02/24/shifting-perspectives-gearing-your-cat-druid-at-80-part-1/

http://www.wow.com/2009/03/24/shifting-perspectives-gearing-your-cat-druid-at-80-part-2/

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The Greatfather Winter Song (Winter Veil)

Singing!  Dancing!  Mistletoe!  Happy Winter's Veil.
http://www.wow.com/2009/12/14/wow-moviewatch-greatfather-winter/

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Most Popular Professions and Gems

Zardoz of the Amory Data Mining site has new charts up showing the popularity of various professions and gems.
http://armorydatamining.appspot.com/general?t=RandomWalkDownStormwindStreet

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

Sit Down and Shut Up (and Reactions)

WOW Insider says we all had better sit down and shut up on the forums or folks like Ghostcrawler will stop talking with players and perhaps responding to complaints.
http://www.wow.com/2009/12/12/how-the-wow-community-is-about-to-push-the-self-destruct-button/#continued

UPDATE:  WOW Insider explains why you can't say anything you want and it isn't a violation of free speech.
http://www.wow.com/2009/12/14/why-you-dont-have-freedom-of-speech-in-wow/

There are plenty of valid criticisms to be made of the game (cough *Arena* cough).  I think WOW Insider is saying these are being buried by abusive postings on the forums.  On the other hand, the volume of angry postings described above means a lot of players are very unhappy.  That's something Blizzard needs to take note of.

Pink Pigtail Inn isn't too pleased by what WOW Insider's posting implies.
http://www.pinkpigtailinn.com/2009/12/reply-to-adam.html

Neither does Broken Toys.
http://brokentoys.org/2009/02/16/i-was-in-the-room-at-the-time-and-yes-that-was-a-good-answer/

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

Dual Specs for Arcane/Frost Mages?

Although the Solo MMO Player hasn't theory crafted any of this, it looks to him that the Patch 3.3 changes for PvE casters has made a dual spec for arcane/frost mages an excellent combination if you can afford it.  You'll get two unique things:  Arcane mages have mobility and high burst, single shot DPS for a raiding environment.  Frost mages have new improved AOE talents that allow you to cover the battlefield or some raid environments.  A combo arcane/frost mage is something he's going to evaluate carefully.  The improvements in the frost mage tree spec that came with Patch 3.3 have been very impressive.  His frost mage went toe to toe with a Level 80 death knight and killed it last night.  The AoE casting spells are very effective in knocking down an opponent.

Any thoughts?

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

Arcane Mages in PvP

General PvE and PvP tactics for an arcane mage (undated from the WOW Wiki).
http://www.wowwiki.com/Mage_tactics

Arcane mages in PvP with videos (March 2009).
http://spicytunas.com/2009/03/arcane-mage-pvp-never-give-up/

Arcane mages in PvP (May 2009 and Patch 3.1).
http://www.wow.com/2009/05/02/arcane-brilliance-pvping-as-an-arcane-mage-after-3-1/

Arcane mage spec for Level 80 PvP (dated December 2008).
http://www.mmo-champion.com/class-mage/thoughts-on-arcane-pvp-spec-80/

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Mages in Patch 3.3

Tachyon talks about the arcane mage in Patch 3.3.  Tier 10 set bonues for the arcane mage.
http://www.frostnova.ch/tachyon/blogArticle.do?action=view&id=37027840

Arcane mage guide.
http://www.frostnova.ch/tachyon/blogArticle.do?action=view&id=35487744

Changes in Patch 3.3 to the arcane mage.
http://www.frostnova.ch/tachyon/blogArticle.do?action=view&topic=3.2.2+Arcane+Mage+Changes

Theorycraafting the arcane mage in Patch 3.2.2
http://www.frostnova.ch/tachyon/blogArticle.do?action=view&id=34701312

Mage Leveling Guide (Frost and Arcane)
http://psynister.wordpress.com/2009/10/16/mage-leveling-part-i-beginning/

http://psynister.wordpress.com/2009/10/29/mage-leveling-part-ii-21-39/

http://psynister.wordpress.com/2009/11/18/aoe-grinding-frost-mage-edition/

http://psynister.wordpress.com/2009/12/29/mage-leveling-part-iii-40-58/

http://psynister.wordpress.com/2010/03/12/mage-leveling-part-iv-58-68-frost-amp-arcane/

http://psynister.wordpress.com/2010/04/22/mage-leveling-final-68-80-frost-arcane/

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The Default Mini Map Won't Go Away

Patch 3.3 seems to have removed the ability to turn off the default mini map.  The Solo MMO Player hasn't been able to find an Off button in the interface, so has been typing the following command in the Say command line.  Note the upper and lower case letters and the spaces.  Also there is no space between the opening paragraph symbol ( and the closing ) which is why it looks like a zero below)

/script MinimapCluster:Hide()

Apparently the command to turn it back on is the following, but the Solo MMO Player hasn't tested this.

/script MinimapCluster:Show()

I found these commands on the WOW Wiki.  I'm still looking for a permanent fix as this has to be typed every time you log into a character.  It doesn't work across all characters and the mini map will be back the next time you log in.

The Solo MMO Player tried to make a macro using the above commands minus the /script part but says that doesn't work.  By the way, Blizzard's Patch notes for 3.3 has some info about changes to the map.  It's about half way down the page.
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/

The above info rewritten.
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/underdev/3p3/newquestui.xml

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The Basics of Druid Twinking in PvP

Learn all about it here.
http://fieryweapons.wordpress.com/2009/12/11/druid-twinking-warsong-gulch/

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Feral Druid Guide (with Videos)

Thorough guide to playing a feral druid.  Note that it is current as of Patch 3.2.2, not last week's Patch 3.3 (not yet anyway--give them time).
http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f200/40502-wotlk-feral-druid-guide.html

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