WoW Insiderhttp://wow.joystiq.comWoW Insiderhttp://wow.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gifWoW Insiderhttp://wow.joystiq.comen-usCopyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only.Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/WoW Insider ShowEvery week, the WoW Insider Show brings you news and views from the World of Warcraft and the site that covers it all, WoW Insider. We introduce a panel of rotating guests, including bloggers from WoW Insider and other WoW blogs, and many popular personalities from around the WoW community. From the live listener chat and polls during the show, to the emails direct from listeners (reach us at theshow@wow.com), right on to the "meat" of the show -- in-depth discussion of the most popular news and posts on WoW Insider -- the WoW Insider Show is a terrific source of news and entertainment about what's going on with Blizzard and their World of Warcraft. Listen live every Saturday at 3:30 pm Eastern on our Ustream page (http://www.ustream.tv/channel/wow-insider-show) or subscribe to the feed and let us know what you think by reviewing the show right here in iTunes.Know Your Lore: Otherworldly mysterieshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/09/know-your-lore-otherworldly-mysteries/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/09/know-your-lore-otherworldly-mysteries/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/09/know-your-lore-otherworldly-mysteries/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

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The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft.

Draenor has always interested me. Note that I didn't say Outland, which is a part of the former world Draenor. While Outland itself is very interesting in its own right, one of the things I find fascinating about Draenor is that we do not know what it looked like. While we have a good understanding of one large continent (of which most survived as Outland), we don't know the entirety of that continent, nor do we know whether or not any other pieces of the lost red world survived.

What we do know is that Draenor died when Ner'zhul, the former elder shaman and de facto ruler of the Horde remnants that survived Gul'dan's treachery and Doomhammer's defeat, tried to use stolen magical artifacts to open portals to new worlds, hoping to find one to lead his people to settle on. He did this because the warlock magics taught to Gul'dan by Kil'jaeden had effectively rendered Draenor unlivable.

While Draenor was the homeworld of the orcish people, who evolved there, it was not named by them. Rather, it was the draenei fleeing the Burning Legion who gave the world its name. Draenor means "exile's refuge" in the eredun language. In addition, it was the arrival of the draenei and the naaru that led to the entrenched ancestor worship of the orcish people, as K'ure's tomb in Oshu'gun (the remains of the draenei vessel) attracted the spirits of the deceased to it. In turn, these spirits deliberately created a religion among their own descendents that would venerate K'ure's resting place, weaving orc and draenei together spiritually.

Draenor was a world of its own, and we barely knew it. And it's not the only world we know about in the Warcraft cosmos with strange, unexplained mysteries.

Continue reading Know Your Lore: Otherworldly mysteries

WoW InsiderKnow Your Lore: Otherworldly mysteries originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 09 May 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>AncientDraenorfeaturedGromguideguide-to-lorelorelore-guideOld-Godsrole-playrole-playing-guiderp-guideSargerasSatyrTitansworld-of-warcraft-lorewow-guidewow-lorewow-role-playingwow-role-playing-guidewow-rpwow-rp-guidewow-rpingMatthew RossiWed, 09 May 2012 12:00:00 ESTKnow Your Lore: Fire stolen from heaven, fire stolen from hellhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/02/know-your-lore-fire-stolen-from-heaven-fire-stolen-from-hell/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/02/know-your-lore-fire-stolen-from-heaven-fire-stolen-from-hell/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/02/know-your-lore-fire-stolen-from-heaven-fire-stolen-from-hell/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft.

When you think about Azeroth as of right now, in a way, the stage has been set for some massive changes to the status quo. I mean, seriously, contemplate the following:
  • Ragnaros the Firelord, ruler of the Firelands and mastermind behind the invasion of Mount Hyjal and power behind the Molten Core, has been ultimately defeated in his own demesne, and the fire elementals are now scattered and leaderless. They pose little threat to the world for some time to come.
  • Likewise, Al'Akir's servants can call for his aid, but he's not likely to answer, having himself been deposed and slain alongside his son Thunderaan and even powerful servants like the Conclave of Wind and Prince Sarsarun. The air elementals are even more disrupted than those of fire.
  • Neptulon the Tidehunter may not be dead, but he's currently missing, having been seized by Ozumat and taken elsewhere, his ultimate fate as yet unknown. The naga invaded the elemental plane of water itself and may well still be there alongside the faceless ones.
  • While Therazane the Stonemother herself endures (the only elemental lord to still rule a plane), Deepholm itself has suffered much throughout the Cataclysm. Not only did Deathwing shatter the World Pillar (it was repaired, but for a time the Maelstrom threatened to collapse into Deepholm and Azeroth along with it), but wars broke out between the Twilight's Hammer and the servants of Therazane as well as the stone troggs and the earthen. Meanwhile, a titan designed waygate leading directly to Uldum was found.
  • With all of this, one might almost forget that the Destroyer himself, Deathwing, has met his own end at last. In addition, the four remaining dragon aspects (Nozdormu, Alexstrasza, Ysera and Kalecgos) have lost some measure of their former titan-bestowed power -- at least their immortality, and possibly more. With Deathwing's death, the Twilight's Hammer cult (the main instrument of the Old God's will on Azeroth) has also suffered greatly, their forces destroyed, their leaders such as Cho'gall, the Twilight Prophet and lesser lights like Warmaster Blackhorn.

Continue reading Know Your Lore: Fire stolen from heaven, fire stolen from hell

WoW InsiderKnow Your Lore: Fire stolen from heaven, fire stolen from hell originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 02 May 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>featuredguideguide-to-lorelorelore-guiderole-playrole-playing-guiderp-guideworld-of-warcraft-lorewow-guidewow-lorewow-role-playingwow-role-playing-guidewow-rpwow-rp-guidewow-rpingMatthew RossiWed, 02 May 2012 13:00:00 ESTBreakfast Topic: The insomniac's dilemmahttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/24/breakfast-topic-the-insomniacs-dilemma/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/24/breakfast-topic-the-insomniacs-dilemma/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/24/breakfast-topic-the-insomniacs-dilemma/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

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OK, so I have a weird sort of problem. When I can't sleep, I tend to run pickup groups, doing anything from starter Cataclysm dungeons to the Hour of Twilight heroics. I freely admit I go in there to cut loose, maybe get some shards out of the deal, and play around with specs that are suboptimal for raiding to see if I can shake them around and get some idea of how well they can perform. As an example, I'm learning that Single-Minded Fury can burst pretty high with the right cooldowns and gearing.

That's not my problem, however.

My problem is that I'm an irascible old grump who kind of enjoys it when a group is full of jerks so I can just be as big a jerk back. And lately, that's not happening. I've had nothing but good behavior from you guys. Even the runs where the tank can't hold aggro or the healer doesn't seem able to keep us up or the other DPSers seem to have forgotten where their buttons are, everyone's so apologetic and civil about it that I have to wonder: What happened to all the buttheads? I mean, I'm the guy who used to get heroics with tanks who had a racist macro on their Avenger's Shield! I'm the guy who couldn't zone into a dungeon without the tank asking me if I had a tank set on me, or the healer telling us all that he or she was simply too drunk to type and was gonna try and remember his or her keybinds.

Did those people all leave? Because lately, everyone's being so nice that I'm kind of confused. When I cut loose on Archibishop Benedictus, people go out of their way to compliment me. When I slapped on a shield and taunted the adds when the tank died on Queen Azshara, the group praised me. Praised. Who are you people, and what have you done with my usual pickup groups? If this keeps up, I'm going to have to be nice to people by default.

How are your pickup groups progressing?
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from leveling up a new goblin or worgen to breaking news and strategies on endgame play.

WoW InsiderBreakfast Topic: The insomniac's dilemma originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 24 Apr 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>featuredfriendlinessgame-discussiongamer-discussionHour-of-TwilightmannersPick-up-Groupspickup-groupspickupspolitenessworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topicsMatthew RossiTue, 24 Apr 2012 08:00:00 ESTDid flying mounts ruin Azeroth?http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/23/did-flying-mounts-ruin-azeroth/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/23/did-flying-mounts-ruin-azeroth/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/23/did-flying-mounts-ruin-azeroth/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

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The question of whether flying mounts may have ruined Azeroth is a hard question for me to even posit, because I love flying mounts. I love being able to fly right over things that annoy me, drop right in on quest objectives and soar right out again. I loved that we could finally fly in Azeroth when Cataclysm shipped, and I was absolutely in favor of being able to use my flying mount to skip over stuff I disliked when questing and leveling up.

But it's worth considering: Did that convenience that I so love come at too high a cost? Did being able to fly over obstacles keep me from appreciating how much detail went into the zones? Did it ruin world exploration, something that a lot of players got a lot of enjoyment out of for a great deal of vanilla WoW's run? Did incorporating flying mounts into Azeroth, in addition to forcing a complete redesign of the world, also end up stripping out interesting and cool places you had to really work at to find and visit? Let's discuss the pros and cons.

Continue reading Did flying mounts ruin Azeroth?

WoW InsiderDid flying mounts ruin Azeroth? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 23 Apr 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>explorationflightflight-in-azerothflyingflying-mountszone-designzonesMatthew RossiMon, 23 Apr 2012 17:00:00 ESTShould transmogrification change the way lockouts function?http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/22/should-transmogrification-change-the-way-lockouts-function/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/22/should-transmogrification-change-the-way-lockouts-function/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/22/should-transmogrification-change-the-way-lockouts-function/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

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I've admitted to my transmogrification habit on a few occasions now. One of the things that it's brought to my attention is that I really, really hate heroic lockouts on content I can easily solo -- like all The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King heroic 5-man dungeons, for instance. Let me tell you a true story.

I have been running heroic Azjol-Nerub once a day for a week now. Every day, I zone in, kill everything in my path like an unstoppable juggernaut of death, reach Anub'arak himself and crush his carapace with wrenching blows from my two gigantic swords, then peel open his husk to find the same exact drops, none of which are a plate helm. It's annoying because it only takes five minutes to do, but I can't devote, say, a half-hour to doing it six times because it's a heroic and locks me out for an entire day. I find this absurd. I especially find it absurd because it's not as if older heroics get a lot of at-level use nowadays. People who ding 80 don't queue up for heroic Azjol, they go to Hyjal or Vashj'ir.

Nowadays, these older dungeons serve purely as repositories of fashion, clothing dispensers we run in order to assemble a look. Well, OK, some of them also serve as a source of frustration when a mount doesn't drop. At any rate, what purpose does it serve to lock up these dungeons behind the mantle of "heroic" and apply the lockout to them when no one runs them when they're anything like a challenge anymore? There's already a system in place that keeps you from running a dungeon too many times within an hour; that should be sufficient for these dungeons. I understand leaving raid lockouts in place, but not 5-mans.

Yes, there could be twinking imbalances here for people who froze their XP, but frankly, if some level 70 or 80 twink can get a level 85 or 90 (in Mists) to carry him to gear, it doesn't really bother me. We've already stated numerous times that the game isn't balanced for PvP at lower levels, let's embrace it. These dungeons aren't heroic anymore. Let's let reality reflect the changing game -- and more important, let's let me get my freaking hat.
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from leveling up a new goblin or worgen to breaking news and strategies on endgame play.

WoW InsiderShould transmogrification change the way lockouts function? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 22 Apr 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>heroicheroic-lockoutstransmogtransmogrificationMatthew RossiSun, 22 Apr 2012 20:00:00 ESTA beginner's guide to getting started in WoW Lorehttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/19/a-beginners-guide-to-getting-started-in-wow-lore/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/19/a-beginners-guide-to-getting-started-in-wow-lore/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/19/a-beginners-guide-to-getting-started-in-wow-lore/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

Truth is, I enjoy World of Warcraft's lore, which is why I write about it for the site alongside Anne Stickney. But I understand why a setting that's been around since the original Warcraft: Orcs vs. Humans can be daunting to new people trying to understand what's going on. Why does the human king have scars on his face, and why is this orc with giant tusks on his shoulders so upset about everything? Never fear, it's really not all that complicated. Here, we're going to discuss some ways for people who haven't really had a chance to get invested into the lore to start figuring out who those people are and what they're on about.

My first suggestion to you is, when you're playing WoW, start clicking on books. There are books all over the game world, in various dungeons, out in the open, hidden away in corners in inns and cities. If you see one, click on it. Hidden in all these books are stories about the world of Azeroth. You can get surprisingly caught up on the basics just via this exercise. Also try to click on plaques on statues and in structures. The statues in front of Stormwind have small plaques on them that tell you exactly who these are statues of and why they were placed there.

Continue reading A beginner's guide to getting started in WoW Lore

WoW InsiderA beginner's guide to getting started in WoW Lore originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 19 Apr 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>beginnerfeaturedguideguide-to-lorelorelore-guiderole-playrole-playing-guiderp-guideworld-of-warcraft-lorewow-guidewow-lorewow-role-playingwow-role-playing-guidewow-rpwow-rp-guidewow-rpingMatthew RossiThu, 19 Apr 2012 20:00:00 ESTBreakfast Topic: Back to Hellfirehttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/15/breakfast-topic-back-to-hellfire/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/15/breakfast-topic-back-to-hellfire/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/15/breakfast-topic-back-to-hellfire/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

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So I'm back on Outland, leveling up a blood DK on Hellfire Peninsula. Why? Well, partially because that's how I learn how classes work. I haven't played blood this expansion, and it's easier for me to grasp how the spec has changed by leveling up with it rather than just picking up one of my other DKs and starting at 80 or 85. I even deleted a DK to roll this one.

But another reason is because I really like Hellfire Peninsula, now that I can fly around on it. I enjoy the Hellfire Citadel instances (tanked two today), and I go without heirlooms just so I can actually get upgrades from them. I even like seeking out and finding little quest hubs here and there, scattered about the zone.

Now, I didn't like Hellfire when I first went there in 2007. And I didn't like taking alts there during Wrath of the Lich King. But time has mellowed me on the zone. For one thing, it's some of the oldest questing content left in the game, and nostalgia has painted it with a rosy patina. I like catching up with Arator or seeing what Nazgrel is up to. And also, there's a touch of revenge in there now that I can easily solo Overlord. (I did actually manage to solo Arazzius on a level 63 DK when Wrath first came out, but now it's easy.) Plus, with transmog, you can't tell what a clown suit I'm wearing in that picture. It's awesome, really.

So how about you? Any zone you like against the consensus of the playerbase and perhaps all common sense?
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from leveling up a new goblin or worgen to breaking news and strategies on endgame play.

WoW InsiderBreakfast Topic: Back to Hellfire originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 15 Apr 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>featuredgame-discussiongamer-discussionHellfireHellfire-PeninsulaLevelLevelingworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topicsMatthew RossiSun, 15 Apr 2012 08:00:00 ESTHow do you take your lore?http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/07/how-do-you-take-your-lore/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/07/how-do-you-take-your-lore/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/07/how-do-you-take-your-lore/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

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A couple of weeks ago, I did a Know Your Lore about Varian Wrynn. This is guaranteed to get you guys worked up, by the by. Varian is one of those characters that sharply divides the player base. Some think he's an unthinking racist, others a brutal savage, still others an interesting character -- and yet again, some like him and think he's an excellent king for Stormwind and leader for the Alliance. In that post, I pointed out how active Varian has actually been since taking the throne of Stormwind, and a few of you made a good point.

A great deal of that activity has taken place in books or short stories or the comic. In game, he's only really left Stormwind three times. Granted, one of those times was the Battle for Undercity, where he and a dashingly handsome draenei warrior carved their way through tunnels full of undead. Still, it's a fair point. If you really want to know Varian, you have to do a lot of homework. Some players play WoW and that's it. If it doesn't happen in game, it doesn't happen. I can relate, as I'm still bummed that Cairne died offscreen, in a book. I wanted to be there to say goodbye to the character, and I still feel a little cheated.

On the flip side, of course, some people ignore things like quest text, flavor text, and cutscenes but will actually sit down and read a leader short story or a book. I know that I've had spirited lore discussions with folks in my guild, yet every time we jump down from the airship onto Deathwing's back, we're escaping out to get to the fighty bits. So having lore in a form disconnected from the gameplay gives those folks a chance to experience it without feeling like they have to choose between them.

So which do you prefer? Do you want it to happen in the game, or are you happy with tie-ins?
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from leveling up a new goblin or worgen to breaking news and strategies on endgame play.

WoW InsiderHow do you take your lore? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 07 Apr 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>featuredguideguide-to-lorelorelore-guiderole-playrole-playing-guiderp-guideworld-of-warcraft-lorewow-guidewow-lorewow-role-playingwow-role-playing-guidewow-rpwow-rp-guidewow-rpingMatthew RossiSat, 07 Apr 2012 16:00:00 ESTIs it time to kill daily quests?http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/15/is-it-time-to-kill-daily-quests/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/15/is-it-time-to-kill-daily-quests/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/15/is-it-time-to-kill-daily-quests/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

You know me, always looking to kill stuff.

Hear me out, though: I'm not saying we should kill repeatable questing here. Repeatable questing, first given to us in World of Warcraft with the inclusion of the Skyguard and Ogri'la questing hubs, was later expanded upon with the Isle of Quel'Danas as part of the Sunwell patch and has been with us ever since. Throughout Wrath of the Lich King and into Cataclysm, we've seen new daily quest hubs come and go. (Cataclysm currently has both Tol Barad and the Molten Front as hubs, plus other dailies for reputation factions such as the Therazane ones.) I'm not specifically arguing against the concept of having questing hubs that offer repeatable quests for a reoccurring reward.

I'm asking why must they be daily?

Continue reading Is it time to kill daily quests?

WoW InsiderIs it time to kill daily quests? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>daily-questsisle-of-quel-danasmolten-frontqueldanasquestquestingTolucaMatthew RossiThu, 15 Mar 2012 20:00:00 ESTWould removing legendaries be a benefit for the World of Warcraft?http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/27/would-removing-legendaries-be-a-benefit-for-the-world-of-warcraf/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/27/would-removing-legendaries-be-a-benefit-for-the-world-of-warcraf/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/27/would-removing-legendaries-be-a-benefit-for-the-world-of-warcraf/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Tarecgosa, Dragonwrath's namesake
It's very hard to imagine a Cataclysm without legendary items. Despite the fact that it wasn't introduced until six months into the game's existence, Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa's Rest has become a staple item in every progression raiding guild's repetoire. The Fangs of the Father, Golad and Tiriosh, have only recently started to actually appear in game, but every week from now on will see more and more being finished.

Coming hand in hand with these legendary items are the issues of imbalance that they cause. In PvE, terminology has started to crop up that puts legendary and non-legendary DPS into two separate categories of competitiveness. Concepts exist such as "enhancement shaman are currently one of the top non-legendary DPS specs..." -- a category that encompasses only 10 of the 22 DPS classes in the game. In PvP, concerns about burst damage have arisen, which was a big factor in the nerf to DTR that came in 4.3.

The issues with legendaries

Legendaries cause a balance problem, and that's a problem that's been exacerbated by two things in Cataclysm: a horrifically wide spread of specs that can use them, with 12 specs or five classes in total having access to legendary weapons right now, and incredible ease of access to legendaries (for the heroic raider).

Continue reading Would removing legendaries be a benefit for the World of Warcraft?

WoW InsiderWould removing legendaries be a benefit for the World of Warcraft? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>Ateishdragonwrathdragonwrath-tarecgosas-restDTRfangs-of-fatherfangs-of-the-fathershadowmourneshould-legendaries-existSulfurasthoridalthunderfuryvalanyrvalanyr-hammer-of-the-ancient-kingswarglaiveswarglaives-of-azzinothwhy-does-wow-still-have-legendarieswow-legendary-itemsJosh MyersFri, 27 Jan 2012 16:00:00 ESTThe aesthetic consequences of new character modelshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/23/the-aesthetic-consequences-of-new-character-models/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/23/the-aesthetic-consequences-of-new-character-models/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/23/the-aesthetic-consequences-of-new-character-models/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

This is neither a post excoriating nor exulting but rather simply contemplating the process of updating character models in World of Warcraft. I got to thinking about this when I realized that I'm always happiest when I get Well of Eternity because I like the night elf model. Tall, spare, muscular, it looks excellent in plate. There are certainly flaws to the model, but they're concealed entirely by my gear. Night elf males have large hands, but those hands look just fine curled around a weapon, and the faces are entirely concealed behind my helmet. As you can see above, the night elf male does an excellent job of showing off the textures and details of my armor set, especially the plated legs.

Redesigning these models will have a variety of effects. As a long-time player, I have my own stylistic loves and hates. Human females look astonishingly vapid and nigh-idiotic, and their animations in melee look ludicrous to the point that I expect them to fall over every weapon swing, while gnomes and blood elves have excellent combat flow. Female undead melee are awesome to watch, but I can't stand the bones poking through my gear. That's part of the complication here. The models you love, someone else hates, and the models you hate, someone else loves. That's often viewed as a cop-out -- but man, if you screw up my tauren, I will burn your world. (Note: Will not actually burn your world ... too lazy.)

Continue reading The aesthetic consequences of new character models

WoW InsiderThe aesthetic consequences of new character models originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>character-modelcharacter-model-revampcharacter-modelsmodelspatch-4.3world-of-warcraft-patch-4.3wow-patchwow-patch-4.3wow-patch-4.3-newswow-patch-newsMatthew RossiMon, 23 Jan 2012 16:00:00 ESTKnow Your Lore: Where is WoW's story headed in the distant future?http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/18/know-your-lore-where-is-wows-story-headed-in-the-distant-futur/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/18/know-your-lore-where-is-wows-story-headed-in-the-distant-futur/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/18/know-your-lore-where-is-wows-story-headed-in-the-distant-futur/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft.

Because of the way we experience the setting, the story of World of Warcraft progresses in bursts. It's fair to think of each expansion as a new series, and the patches as episodic, in the same manner as British TV series such as Doctor Who or Turning Evil. Therefore, each expansion brings new settings, new dangers, and a new, overarching storyline, while each patch is an advancement of that storyline, bringing it to a conclusion with the ultimate patch of each expansion. In this way, Patch 4.3 is effectively a multi-part episode concluding the story of our confrontation with Deathwing.

I bring this up because with Mists of Pandaria, we're going to see a whole new place and explore it. In essence, it will be an expansion that introduces a great deal of new -- new lands, new peoples, new experiences. While it will still be part of Azeroth and still part of the unfolding storyline, it's also a change to switch gears and get away from the familiar. In a game like WoW, it's necessary to introduce new elements in this way to keep the setting engaging. It may be hard to relate now, but Ragnaros, Ahn'Qiraj, the Old Gods, the Silithid, all were introduced in World of Warcraft and not any of the RTS games. Look at the Warcraft III map of Kalimdor. You'll notice pretty much everything south of Feralas is blank on it.

This puts me in mind to speculate on the future of the game and where the lore is going to take us. Not just in Mists, of course, as I expect that much of the lore of the expansion is well and truly fleshed out already, and I'm as eager as anyone to see it. But we've got expansions down the road and trends to consider. None of this absolutely will happen ... but some of it might.

Continue reading Know Your Lore: Where is WoW's story headed in the distant future?

WoW InsiderKnow Your Lore: Where is WoW's story headed in the distant future? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>Blackrock-Orcsfeaturedguideguide-to-lorelorelore-guidemists+of+pandariaMists-of-Pandariamistsofpandariarole-playrole-playing-guiderp-guideThe-Shawarcraftworld+of+warcraftworld-of-warcraft-loreworldofwarcraftwow-guidewow-lorewow-role-playingwow-role-playing-guidewow-rpwow-rp-guidewow-rpingMatthew RossiWed, 18 Jan 2012 15:00:00 ESTGameStop: Buy WoW Battlechest, get Wrath of the Lich King freehttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/04/gamestop-buy-wow-battlechest-get-wrath-of-the-lich-king-free/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/04/gamestop-buy-wow-battlechest-get-wrath-of-the-lich-king-free/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/04/gamestop-buy-wow-battlechest-get-wrath-of-the-lich-king-free/#commentsFiled under: , ,

GameStop has announced a brand new bundle online that gets you World of Warcraft, The Burning Crusade, and Wrath of the Lich King all for just $19.99. We don't know when the World of Warcraft Battlechest combo bundle is going to expire, but for now, customers who purchase the Battlechest from GameStop will get a copy of Wrath bundled along for free. The deals don't get much better than this, folks.

Many people, myself included, believe that WoW's barrier to entry is perhaps one of its most difficult challenges to overcome. With more deals like this, WoW can get into more hands at a lower price than ever before, hopefully adding on subscribers and new blood in anticipation of Mists of Pandaria.

WoW InsiderGameStop: Buy WoW Battlechest, get Wrath of the Lich King free originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 04 Jan 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>battlechestbattlechest-bundledealfree-wrath-of-the-lich-kinggamestopgreat-dealsacco-told-me-toseriously-its-a-great-dealwrath-freeMathew McCurleyWed, 04 Jan 2012 14:00:00 ESTBurning Crusade weapon models 'mogged the mosthttp://wow.joystiq.com/2011/12/27/burning-crusade-weapon-models-mogged-the-most/http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/12/27/burning-crusade-weapon-models-mogged-the-most/http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/12/27/burning-crusade-weapon-models-mogged-the-most/#commentsFiled under: , ,

MMO-Champion recently released an incredibly interesting set of data about the most popular items used in weapon transmogrification, finding out that 62% of the top five transmog weapons across all classes are from The Burning Crusade. Only 20% of the top five items are from the classic WoW world, with 18% of the weapons coming from Wrath of the Lich King. 0% of the top five items are from the most recent Cataclysm expansion.

The Burning Crusade is heralded as the golden age of World of Warcraft, a time when the genre that WoW perfected hit a beautiful peak, a wonderful balance between difficulty and accessibility, that appealed to the hardcore MMO veterans who dominated the genre until the Wrath of the Lich King days. Others hated it entirely. No matter which way you lean, it's clear that The Burning Crusade had strong art direction, with otherworldly weapons and armor juxtaposed against traditional fantasy tropes. The fact that Burning Crusade items are the most popular right now does not surprise me in the least.

Check out all of the statistics, as well as each class' top five transmogged weapons, over at MMO-Champion.

WoW InsiderBurning Crusade weapon models 'mogged the most originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 27 Dec 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>mmo-championpopularpopular-transmog-itemspopular-transmog-weaponstransmogtransmogrificationMathew McCurleyTue, 27 Dec 2011 17:00:00 ESTKnow Your Lore: Lady Liadrinhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2011/12/21/know-your-lore-lady-liadrin/http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/12/21/know-your-lore-lady-liadrin/http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/12/21/know-your-lore-lady-liadrin/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft.

There have been many paladins in the lands of Azeroth. Some hail from other worlds, such as the Vindicators of the Draenei. Still others are newly come to their powers, such as the Sunwalkers of the Shu'Halo. Ultimately, to be a paladin is to trust in a greater power than yourself to be your sword, shield and balm against the forces that threaten all you hold dear.

Interestingly, the Horde has not one but two unique paladin orders formed in recent years. Of these two, the Blood Knights of the Sin'dorei are interesting not only for the means of their foundation, but also the evolution they have gone through. This evolution is mirrored by that of their Matriarch, Liadrin. A former priest who survived the Scourge onslaught on Quel'thalas and the destruction of the original Sunwell, she lost her faith in the Light and took up the power of a Blood Knight in order to show her spite and derision for the magical force that did nothing to save her city and her people. Yet in time, Liadrin would learn that things were not as they seemed, turning against the Blood Prince Kael'thas himself for the sake of her people.

Liadrin, the first Blood Knight, became in truth as well in power a paladin. All she had to do was suffer the destruction of everything she thought she knew.

Continue reading Know Your Lore: Lady Liadrin

WoW InsiderKnow Your Lore: Lady Liadrin originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 21 Dec 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>Astalor-Bloodswornfeaturedguideguide-to-loreKaelthasLady-Liadrinlorelore-guideMururole-playrole-playing-guideRommathrp-guideVelenworld-of-warcraft-lorewow-guidewow-lorewow-role-playingwow-role-playing-guidewow-rpwow-rp-guidewow-rpingMatthew RossiWed, 21 Dec 2011 15:00:00 ESTThe missed opportunity of 20-man raidinghttp://wow.joystiq.com/2011/12/01/the-missed-opportunity-of-20-man-raiding/http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/12/01/the-missed-opportunity-of-20-man-raiding/http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/12/01/the-missed-opportunity-of-20-man-raiding/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

With the release of the Raid Finder and the recent changes to valor points, the debate about 10- vs. 25-man raiding, which is harder to run, and which is harder to balance rages on. I have friends on both sides of the 10/25 debate. I understand both points of view, and I think both are utterly wrong. Completely, absolutely wrong. The issue to me is when we went from 40-man raids down to the current raid sizes, the decision to offer 25-man raids didn't really work. I think we should have gone to 10- and 20-man raiding at the dawn of The Burning Crusade, and I still think we should.

We had 20-man raids back in classic WoW -- two of them, in fact, Zul'Gurub and Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj. Neither exists as a 20-man raid any more, so this may seem odd to players who didn't raid then, but these were considered the small raids. People who had just spent hours raiding in Molten Core, Blackwing Lair or AQ40 would put together these runs on the fly to gear their alts or get a shot at off-spec loot, while other guilds that didn't have the numbers for 40-man raids would spend their time raiding these while trying to build up their numbers.

Continue reading The missed opportunity of 20-man raiding

WoW InsiderThe missed opportunity of 20-man raiding originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 01 Dec 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>10-man25-manGruulKarazhanMagtheridonraidraid-sizesraidingraiding-sizesUpper-Blackrock-SpireZulAmanMatthew RossiThu, 01 Dec 2011 20:00:00 ESTWoW Insider's first World of Warcraft memorieshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2011/11/24/wow-insiders-first-world-of-warcraft-memories/http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/11/24/wow-insiders-first-world-of-warcraft-memories/http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/11/24/wow-insiders-first-world-of-warcraft-memories/#commentsFiled under: , ,

World of Warcraft's seventh anniversary took place earlier this week. Rather than the dry, impersonal WoW retrospectives you can find almost anywhere this time of year, the crew here at WoW Insider decided to hold our own retrospective instead, looking back on what pulled us so deeply into the game to begin with. Today, we're sharing our very first World of Warcraft memories, whether that was seven years ago, long before the Shattering, or just last year. I'll get things started, then the staff will join in afterwards.

My first WoW memory is in Stranglethorn Vale. There are other events prior to STV that exist in some strange nebulous place in my mind, but Stranglethorn is the first event that I can really pin down. I was playing my very first character, my undead rogue on the Silver Hand server, trying to kill an elite alligator for the Excelsior quest. This was in December of '04, maybe January of '05. I was absolutely terrible at the game. I simply could not kill that alligator. Everyone I knew did it with no difficulty whatsoever, but I couldn't manage it at all.

The reason I couldn't kill it? I was spamming Sinister Strike while dual wielding white vendor-bought daggers. That was the day I decided I should learn how to play the game rather than hope my friends take pity on me and fly across Azeroth to kill elites for me. Now I'm here, on this site, doing this. That's one heck of a step up.

Continue reading WoW Insider's first World of Warcraft memories

WoW InsiderWoW Insider's first World of Warcraft memories originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 24 Nov 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>azuremystburning-steppesdarkshoredarnassusdun-moroghelwynn-forestexcelsiorironforgeredridgeredridge-mountainssearing-gorgestranglethorn-valeteldrassilworld-of-warcraft-7th-anniversaryworld-of-warcraft-memorieswow-7th-anniversarywow-anniversarywow-memorieswow-release-dateAlex ZiebartThu, 24 Nov 2011 14:00:00 ESTOl' Grumpy and the grimoire of gear inflationhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2011/11/08/ol-grumpy-and-the-grimoire-of-gear-inflation/http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/11/08/ol-grumpy-and-the-grimoire-of-gear-inflation/http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/11/08/ol-grumpy-and-the-grimoire-of-gear-inflation/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

Hello again, everybody. I'm Ol' Grumpy. You might remember me from such posts as Ol' Grumpy and the Goblet of Firelands adjustments or Ol' Grumpy's guide to outdated content and you. This time, we're going to be talking about what gear inflation is, how it happens, and why something eventually has to be done about it.

Gear inflation has actually been a concern of mine since about halfway through Wrath of the Lich King's expansion cycle. Back then, it was armor penetration that really set off my gear inflation warning bells, a stat that's since gone the way of the dodo. If you remember ArP, you remember that it start acting extremely weird at higher gear levels and often had to be adjusted and capped to keep it from doing things like reducing target armor into the negative.

In essence, for a brief period after Ulduar dropped, ArP could actually cause your target to have negative armor values so that their damage taken was increased by a percentage instead of just reduced by a percentage. This was very wonky. It was quickly capped and the stat adjusted. But by ICC levels of gear, it was possible again to reach 100% ArP, and doing so was absolutely your best bet as a melee DPS.

Now, let's be honest: Gear inflation is the inevitable by-product of a game where one increases in power via leveling and gaining new gear. It must happen. If you simply look at gear from original World of Warcraft's 1 to 60 game, you'll see that gear steadily increases in power and that raid gear from MC to BWL/AQ and to the now-vanished Naxxramas-40 steadily increases in power. Indeed, Naxx-40 gear was such an upgrade in power that it was roughly as strong as blue drops from level 70 instances. You could raid Karazhan in Naxx-40 gear. The Burning Crusade dealt with gear inflation differently than its successors did because it could.

Continue reading Ol' Grumpy and the grimoire of gear inflation

WoW InsiderOl' Grumpy and the grimoire of gear inflation originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 08 Nov 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>Dev-WatercoolerGearGear-inflationGhostcrawleriLevelItem-SquishItemizationMega-DamageOlGrumpyRaidingRaidsMatthew RossiTue, 08 Nov 2011 17:00:00 ESTThe Cataclysm: A critical examinationhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2011/10/28/the-cataclysm-a-critical-examination/http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/10/28/the-cataclysm-a-critical-examination/http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/10/28/the-cataclysm-a-critical-examination/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

My personal opinion on the Cataclysm expansion varied greatly as the expansion unfolded. At different points in the expansion, I was very negative, slightly negative, then outright positive about it as an experience. A recent thread on the forums discussing the overall view of Cataclysm as a failed expansion drew Nethaera's commentary, and frankly I think what she has to say is worth discussing. I agree with a lot of it, disagree with some, but think it's valuable to look at where the design intent in the examination of the expansion is going.


Nethaera
You are mistaking the developers looking at the game with a critical eye with the claim that it was a "failure". We've seen a wide spectrum of opinions over Cataclysm and we're not afraid to look at what worked and didn't work (as we do with each expansion and game as a whole) and try to find better ways of doing things. I heard differing opinions overall during BlizzCon, but not once did I get the impression that any of those opinions boiled down to "Cataclysm sucks" as a whole. They had key elements that they disliked or thought could be improved on, but throwing the whole thing out the window as a "failure" is and should be considered a bit extreme don't you think?

As always, we want to keep learning and growing from each iteration of the game and that means that we're going to do that by continuing to look for your constructive feedback as well.

Continue reading The Cataclysm: A critical examination

WoW InsiderThe Cataclysm: A critical examination originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>Cataclysmforumsnethaerapatch-4.2patch-4.3world-of-warcraft-patch-4.2world-of-warcraft-patch-4.3wow-patchwow-patch-4.2wow-patch-4.2-newswow-patch-4.3wow-patch-4.3-newswow-patch-newsMatthew RossiFri, 28 Oct 2011 15:00:00 ESTThe Care and Feeding of Warriors: Transmogging for the warriorhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2011/08/27/the-care-and-feeding-of-warriors-transmogging-for-the-warrior/http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/08/27/the-care-and-feeding-of-warriors-transmogging-for-the-warrior/http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/08/27/the-care-and-feeding-of-warriors-transmogging-for-the-warrior/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Care and Feeding of Warriors, the column dedicated to arms, fury and protection warriors. Despite repeated blows to the head from dragons, demons, Old Gods and whatever that thing over there was, Matthew Rossi will be your host.

Frankly, I wrote a serious post this week about tanking that you may want to read. As a result of that post, however, and previous week's posts for this column that were fairly weighty, I find myself desperately wanting to shift gears. While considering a beginner's guide to PVP and a beginner's guide to leveling as DPS, I realized that I've played this game for years and collected a lot of gear over that time. With the announcement of transmogrification in patch 4.3, it's finally time to discuss a few truths.
  1. Warriors have had some of the best-looking gear in the game.
  2. We're finally going to be able to use whichever pieces of gear we want.
  3. I want to talk about sweet-looking gear.
By these forces combined, I am Captain Clotheshorse. So I've dusted out the ol' trusty model viewer and I'm going to talk about gear you may want for your warrior's transmog needs. Like, for instance, the Whirlwind Axe. One of three weapons awarded to a warrior for doing the pre-Cataclysm level 30 to 40 warrior quest chain, the one that ended with Death to Cyclonian. If you didn't roll your warrior before Cata or deleted the weapon, fret not; there are several weapons with the same model.

Continue reading The Care and Feeding of Warriors: Transmogging for the warrior

WoW InsiderThe Care and Feeding of Warriors: Transmogging for the warrior originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 27 Aug 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>class-helpguidepatch-4.3talenttalentsTransmogrificationwarrior-guidewarrior-infoworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guideworld-of-warcraft-patch-4.3wow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-patchwow-patch-4.3wow-patch-4.3-newswow-patch-newswow-talent-guidewow-warriorwow-warrior-infoMatthew RossiSat, 27 Aug 2011 18:00:00 EST