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 ESTThe Care and Feeding of Warriors: Practical talents in Mists of Pandariahttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/05/the-care-and-feeding-of-warriors-practical-talents-in-mists-of/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/05/the-care-and-feeding-of-warriors-practical-talents-in-mists-of/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/05/the-care-and-feeding-of-warriors-practical-talents-in-mists-of/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

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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.

Before I get into this week's topic, I talked about War Banner this week (in case you missed it). If asked for my opinion of the ability, it would be good but not yet great. Each banner needs a little love -- perhaps a longer duration or more of a powerful effect -- before I'm totally sold on it. But I did enjoy playing around with it.

This week, however, I want to talk about the content we have, not the content we're going to have. The reason for that is because it will help me illustrate what I like and dislike about the current talent paradigm and how we're losing things at the same time we're gaining them with the new talent system. I am not calling out for the new scheme to be scrapped. On the whole, I am a big supporter of it. But that doesn't mean the current talent system doesn't have things to teach us. So let me begin with the following statement.

I deliberately specced fury for heroic Spine of Deathwing because I wanted to do less damage.

No, I'm not explaining that here. You want to know why? You come with me past the jump. Them there's the rules.

Continue reading The Care and Feeding of Warriors: Practical talents in Mists of Pandaria

WoW InsiderThe Care and Feeding of Warriors: Practical talents in Mists of Pandaria originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 05 May 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>featuredguide-to-warriorsmists-of-pandaria-talent-changesmists-of-pandaria-talentsTalentswarrior-guidewarrior-infowarrior-talentswow-warriorwow-warrior-infowow-warriorsMatthew RossiSat, 05 May 2012 18:00:00 ESTTotem Talk: Solving the problem of Maelstrom Weaponhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/05/totem-talk-solving-the-problem-of-maelstrom-weapon/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/05/totem-talk-solving-the-problem-of-maelstrom-weapon/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/05/totem-talk-solving-the-problem-of-maelstrom-weapon/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

The default Blizzard power aura for Maelstrom Weapon
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Totem Talk for elemental, enhancement, and restoration shaman. Once a lonely tauren shaman in a bad Scarlet Crusade-themed transmog set, Josh Myers is now a female dwarf shaman with pigtails who raids using all three specs on a regular basis. He kept the same transmog set, though.

When I try to think of what enhancement's most iconic ability is, a few come to mind. Windfury Weapon is a definite contender, and three or four years ago it would have been my default response. Seriously, though, what is Windfury other than a glorified auto-attack with an attack power bonus and a lower chance to miss? Likewise, Stormstrike could be iconic, but it's essentially a melee attack with both weapons with an electric graphic and a debuff. It's enhancement's Mutilate or Obliterate.

To me, Maelstrom Weapon is the answer. If there's one ability that encapsulates what enhancement is -- a brutal melee class that weaves instant spellcasts between their weapon strikes to harm their opponent or heal themselves -- I believe it's Maelstrom Weapon. It's enhancement's Death Strike, Arcane Blast, Chakra, or Raging Blow -- abilities that, at a glance, offer an insight into what makes the spec different from other specs in their role.

There's a problem here, though. If Maelstrom Weapon is enhancement's iconic ability, why is it currently so awful?

Continue reading Totem Talk: Solving the problem of Maelstrom Weapon

WoW InsiderTotem Talk: Solving the problem of Maelstrom Weapon originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 05 May 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>elemental-blastenhancement-shaman-dpsenhancement-shaman-totem-talkfeaturedguide-to-shamansideas-for-a-better-maelstrom-weaponmaelstrom-weaponshaman-guideshaman-infoshaman-talentstotem-talk-enhancementtotem-talk-enhancement-shamanwhy-maelstrom-weapon-needs-helpwow-shamanwow-shaman-infoJosh MyersSat, 05 May 2012 16:00:00 ESTArcane Brilliance: How to solo Magtheridon for fun and transmoghttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/05/arcane-brilliance-how-to-solo-magtheridon-for-fun-and-transmog/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/05/arcane-brilliance-how-to-solo-magtheridon-for-fun-and-transmog/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/05/arcane-brilliance-how-to-solo-magtheridon-for-fun-and-transmog/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Magtheridon gets mad
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. In good news, the most esteemed archmage Christian Belt has escaped from the alternate timeline where he was forced to perpetually watch reruns of Fox Van Allen's appearance on The Price is Right. The bad news is that this means this is Josh Myers' last mage article for a while, but he had fun while it lasted!

My mage wasn't level-capped when Magtheridon was relevant content. I was a resto shaman, content to spam my one PUG raid night a week spamming four ranks of Chain Heal on other people. I still remember those days fondly, as they were my first exposure to "real" raiding. Also, Magtheridon's Lair was considerably easier than tier 4's other 25-man raid, Gruul's Lair, and the only way to get access to your tier four chestpiece.

I first learned Magtheridon's Lair was soloable at level 85 by managing to do it on my hunter, because pet classes are overpowered (though the ones with self-healing are even more so -- I'm looking at you, Megan O'Neill!). Speaking of potent self-healing, I followed with my blood death knight, and then conquered the pit lord with my enhance shaman. The natural next choice would have been to take a warlock or maybe a feral druid, but I wanted a challenge. Also, Magelam was craving a Crystalheart Pulse-Staff, so he was my fourth choice. I ended up spending about two hours last November perfecting my strategy and have since been able to down him consistently whenever I want a quick 50 gold and some level 70 epics to sell.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: How to solo Magtheridon for fun and transmog

WoW InsiderArcane Brilliance: How to solo Magtheridon for fun and transmog originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 05 May 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>featuredguide-to-mageshellfire-channelershow-to-magtheridonmage-guidemage-infomage-solos-magtheridonmage-talentsmagtheridonmagtheridons-lairsoloing-as-a-magesoloing-magesoloing-magtheridonsoloing-tier-fourwow-magewow-mage-infowow-mageswow-magtheridonJosh MyersSat, 05 May 2012 14:00:00 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 ESTArcane Brilliance: 5 abilities that keep me playing my magehttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/28/arcane-brilliance-5-abilities-that-keep-me-playing-my-mage/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/28/arcane-brilliance-5-abilities-that-keep-me-playing-my-mage/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/28/arcane-brilliance-5-abilities-that-keep-me-playing-my-mage/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

A female human mage standing with her Mirror Images
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. Christian Belt is the normal archmage, but rumor has it that he's currently trapped in one of many hell dimensions. The Simbul has gone to investigate, leaving Senior Understudy and Last Surviving Student Josh Myers to cover this week's article.

I am a gigantic nerd. I love math, and science, and testing. So when a new beta comes out and there's testing and theorycrafting and video game science to do, that's my focus. I go, "Hey, look at this shiny new spell, and what are the rotational ramifications of its existence?" And then I forget that I have work in the morning and am up till four in the morning running around Jade Forest trying to get the perfect screenshot of Nether Tempest.

I'm on vacation visiting my parents in Michigan this week, and I promised myself that part of that vacation would be to eschew plying beta for the week, since we've been pretty inseparable for the past month. Also, I'm using my significant other's laptop, and I'm not sure even my rep level would support downloading another massive file onto it. As a result, I've been playing a lot on live, and I've taken some time to remember why it is that I love playing the mage class.

There are a lot of reasons (none of them are the fire spec in PVE at the moment, but that's another post entirely), but the main one is the repertoire. Mages have a ton of abilities, and a lot of them are chock-full of flavor and awesomeness. I had to narrow this list down to my five absolute favorites, but everything from Mirror Image to Invisibility to Cone of Cold are eligible contestants too. The abilities I chose are my favorites, ones that fit the classic mage archetype while having mechanics that make sense in WoW. Also, they're shiny.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: 5 abilities that keep me playing my mage

WoW InsiderArcane Brilliance: 5 abilities that keep me playing my mage originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 28 Apr 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>Arcane-Brillianceblinkcool-mage-abilitiesfeaturedfive-mage-abilitiesfrostfire-boltguide-to-magesmage-abilitiesmage-guidemage-infomage-talentsmages-in-wowpolymorphpyroblastshatterwhy-should-i-play-a-magewow-magewow-mage-infowow-magesJosh MyersSat, 28 Apr 2012 18:00:00 ESTGuildOx player analysis highlights the warlock declinehttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/27/guildox-player-analysis-highlights-the-warlock-decline/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/27/guildox-player-analysis-highlights-the-warlock-decline/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/27/guildox-player-analysis-highlights-the-warlock-decline/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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The folks at GuildOx have gone through their database and done some simple filtering that reveals some fascinating things about who is raiding heroic Dragon Soul. GuildOx started with level 85 characters, filtered for characters with ilevel 400 gear, and then filtered out anyone with PvP gear. What you see in the chart above is the result of that work -- a representative sample of who out of the over 13 million level 85 characters in the GuildOx database is raiding heroic Dragon Soul.

If you remember the post about the complexity of systems and player retention that I made a couple of weeks back, you'll remember that I mentioned Cynwise's excellent posts about the warlock decline. Well, here it is again reflected in GuildOx's data. Warlocks are the least played class in heroic raiding.

Warriors aren't doing much better, really. Most other classes seem fairly healthy, with classes that have healing specs doing fairly well and rogues absolutely ruling heroic raiding despite being one of the least-played classes in the game overall. It gets even more interesting once we get to look at the GuildOx spec-by-spec breakdown.

Continue reading GuildOx player analysis highlights the warlock decline

WoW InsiderGuildOx player analysis highlights the warlock decline originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>ClassClass-RepresentationClassesDeath-KnightDragon-SoulDruidGuildoxHeroic-Dragon-SoulHunterMagePaladinPriestRaidingRogueShamanWarlockWarriorMatthew RossiFri, 27 Apr 2012 12:00:00 ESTReminder: WoW Annual Pass last chance April 30http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/23/reminder-wow-annual-pass-last-chance-april-30/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/23/reminder-wow-annual-pass-last-chance-april-30/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/23/reminder-wow-annual-pass-last-chance-april-30/#commentsFiled under: , ,

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Blizzard has posted a reminder that the WoW Annual Pass, which grants you a copy of Diablo III, access to the Mists of Pandaria beta, and a Tyrael horse in WoW, is closing up shop on Monday, April 30. You have until Monday, April 30 to sign up for the pass, and the deal will be retired. We have no word yet as of the future of the program or if it will be repeated, but from the numbers, 1.2 million people is a pretty great subscriber grab. I'd expect to see something like this again soon, potentially annually.

Continue reading Reminder: WoW Annual Pass last chance April 30

WoW InsiderReminder: WoW Annual Pass last chance April 30 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 23 Apr 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>annualannual-passapril-30betabeta-accessdiablo-iiimop-betapasstyraels-chargerMathew McCurleyMon, 23 Apr 2012 19:00:00 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 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 ESTPatch 4.3.4 patch notes, new customer support changes livehttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/17/patch-4-3-4-patch-notes-new-customer-support-changes-live/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/17/patch-4-3-4-patch-notes-new-customer-support-changes-live/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/17/patch-4-3-4-patch-notes-new-customer-support-changes-live/#commentsFiled under: ,

A minor patch for World of Warcraft was deployed this morning. There are no gameplay changes, and this isn't the patch with the world events leading into Mists of Pandaria. The changes introduced in this patch are designed to streamline the ticket submission UI.

Patch 4.3.4 notes
  • A new Submit Bug button has been added. Clicking this option will open a report dialog box, along with basic instructions on what to include in your bug report.
  • A new Submit Suggestion button has been added. Clicking this option will open a text dialog box, along with a description of what to include in your suggestion.
  • The Report Lag button has been removed.
  • The Report Abuse button is now called Report Player.
    • The Report Player function offers four categories: Spamming, Language, Name, and Cheating.
    • Reporting a player for Cheating now opens a text window in which a description of the occurrence can be written.
    • Reporting a Name opens a window with three categories: Player Name, Guild Name, and Arena Team Name. There is also a text field for optional information.
    • Report Player now includes text and visual instructions for how to submit a report.
  • Right-clicking a character's portrait now offers additional reporting options.


If you're having problems patching your client to 4.3.4 and you're using the 64-bit client, you'll need to follow some additional instructions, which we've included past the cut below.

Continue reading Patch 4.3.4 patch notes, new customer support changes live

WoW InsiderPatch 4.3.4 patch notes, new customer support changes live originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 17 Apr 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>4.3.4customer-supportnew-customer-support-optionspatchpatch-4.3.4patch-notesMatt LowTue, 17 Apr 2012 16:00:00 ESTBlizzard highlights customer support changes coming in patch 4.3.4http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/16/blizzard-highlights-customer-support-changes-coming-in-patch-4-3/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/16/blizzard-highlights-customer-support-changes-coming-in-patch-4-3/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/16/blizzard-highlights-customer-support-changes-coming-in-patch-4-3/#commentsFiled under: ,

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Blizzard has updated the Customer Support options in the upcoming patch 4.3.4 for WoW, including a brand new interface for dealing with in-game harassment, naming violations, and cheating. These features have been in the game previously but were buried a bit in the customer support window (which was, admittedly, funky at best). Now things seem a bit more straightforward.

Hit the jump for the full announcement.

Continue reading Blizzard highlights customer support changes coming in patch 4.3.4

WoW InsiderBlizzard highlights customer support changes coming in patch 4.3.4 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 16 Apr 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>4.3.4customer-supportfeaturednew-customer-support-optionspatch-4.3.4patch-4.3.5Mathew McCurleyMon, 16 Apr 2012 17:00:00 EST'Velen: Prophet's Lesson' concludes leader short storieshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/15/velen-prophets-lesson-concludes-leader-short-stories/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/15/velen-prophets-lesson-concludes-leader-short-stories/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/15/velen-prophets-lesson-concludes-leader-short-stories/#commentsFiled under: ,

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The last of the leader short stories is now available on the official Warcraft website, and it was worth waiting for. Velen: Prophet's Lesson, written by Marc Hutcheson, focuses on Prophet Velen and Anduin Wyrnn, who began studying with Velen in the novel Wolfheart. Also featured is Vindicator Maraad, who not only made his appearance in game on the Alliance ship on Icecrown but has been featured in many other Warcraft products as well. Maraad isn't just a random draenei -- he's also Garona's uncle and has made an appearance in DC Unlimited's series of action figures.

Prophet's Lesson appears to take place just after the Cataclysm as the mortals of Azeroth struggle to recover from the devastation and put an end to Deathwing. The worgen are officially Alliance and Anduin is studying with Velen, so this definitely puts it after Wolfheart in the time line, but Anduin also mentions the rift between himself and his father, which means the story likely takes place before Varian Wrynn: Blood of our Fathers. In Prophet's Lesson, Anduin is studying with Velen as well as helping the draenei take care of sudden group of guests that grows larger by the day, human refugees from the Cataclysm who seek Velen's guidance.

Velen, however, is seeing no one but Prince Anduin -- and this hasn't gone unnoticed by the draenei who are no longer allowed to seek audience with the Prophet. But Anduin has one very pointed question for Prophet Velen: Why didn't he warn the world about the Cataclysm?

Hutcheson did a masterful job with Velen's character, shedding a little light (no pun intended) on what exactly the draenei have been up to during Cataclysm. You can read the full story on Blizzard's newly revamped Expanded Universe site.

WoW Insider'Velen: Prophet's Lesson' concludes leader short stories originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 15 Apr 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>andruin-wrynnblizzard-short-storiescataclysmexodarleader-short-storiesmarc-hutchesonprophet-velenprophets-lessonworld-of-warcraftAnne StickneySun, 15 Apr 2012 20:00:00 ESTComplexity of systems and player retentionhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/14/complexity-of-systems-and-player-retention/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/14/complexity-of-systems-and-player-retention/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/14/complexity-of-systems-and-player-retention/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

If you don't read Cynwise's Warcraft Journal, you probably should. Cyn's been doing an excellent series of posts about warlocks in Cataclysm that are interesting and thought-provoking -- even if, like me, you're not a warlock and don't really know much about the class. For me, one of the most striking tidbits was that rogues are the second-to-least-played class overall, but the second-most-played class in high-end PvP, implying that people only play rogues to PvP. There's a lot of interesting data in there about class representation, role representation, and who is playing what and at what levels.

The post that really grabbed my attention was this one about warlock complexity in Cataclysm because it highlights an extreme form of something we've talked about before, the design philosophy that argues for increased complexity in a character's suite of abilities. In its simplest form, it can be summed up as the hitting buttons is fun argument, although at the extreme Cyn describes for warlocks, it becomes a game of if X, then Y that resembles programming your first computer in Basic. If you remember making a chain of dirty words scroll on a loop up the screen, congratulations on being old with me.

Cyn's comparison of the destruction rotation in Wrath and Cataclysm shows a rotation with seven elements mushroom out to one with 14 elements to remember and consider. That if X, then Y flowchart just got as complex as a subway map. In my experience, all DPS rotations in general have a little bit of this kind of gameplay nowadays. The difficulty is in hitting the sweet spot where the rotation is designed so that random elements or procs serve to liven up an otherwise predictable set of abilities (providing the fun in the hitting buttons scenario) without making a rotation so complex you need six to seven addons to help you plot it out.

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WoW InsiderComplexity of systems and player retention originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 14 Apr 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>ComplexityCynwiseCynwises-Warcraft-JournalHitting-buttons-is-funPaladinPaladinsRotationRotation-ComplexityWarlockWarlocksWarriorWarriorsMatthew RossiSat, 14 Apr 2012 18:00:00 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 ESTCory Stockton refuses to be outdone in interview hijinkshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/04/cory-stockton-refuses-to-be-outdone-in-interview-hijinks/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/04/cory-stockton-refuses-to-be-outdone-in-interview-hijinks/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/04/cory-stockton-refuses-to-be-outdone-in-interview-hijinks/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Tremble, mortals, before he who was ancient (well, no, not really) when the game was young. Bow before Cory Stockton's yes-or-no interview with Player's Cut. Not one to let Dave Kosak (wonderful man, that Dave Kosak) outshine him, Lord Stockton (seen here with Lord Vader) also chose to answer a series of yes-or-no questions in an interview that's well worth your time.

Player's Cut seems to be blazing the trail for this style of interview. Who's next? Samwise? Mike Morhaime? Chris Metzen? Oh, a boy can dream, anyway.
It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!

WoW InsiderCory Stockton refuses to be outdone in interview hijinks originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 04 Apr 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>breakingbreaking-newscory-stocktoncory-stockton-interviewInterviewPlayers-CutYes-ir-No-InterviewYes-or-NoMatthew RossiWed, 04 Apr 2012 20:00:00 ESTArcane Brilliance: What the MoP beta means for arcane mageshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/31/arcane-brilliance-what-the-mop-beta-means-for-arcane-mages/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/31/arcane-brilliance-what-the-mop-beta-means-for-arcane-mages/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/31/arcane-brilliance-what-the-mop-beta-means-for-arcane-mages/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

Mage casting something very arcane-looking
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This column is usually brought to you by archmage and former Hogwarts headmaster Christian Belt, but rumor has it he's still stuck in an alternate dimension where playing World of Warcraft is state-mandated but only offers you 10 different classes of warlocks to play. Senior Understudy and Last Surviving Student Josh Myers is covering his class this week. Arm your spitballs.

Throughout Cataclysm, the arcane spec has been a strange beast. At the beginning of the expansion, it was solidly the worst mage spec due to the absurdly high cost of Arcane Blast. After some quick patch 4.1 fixes, it became our top-performing spec, especially if we had access to Shard of Woe. From that point on, arcane was a source of potent damage. While fire has become the vogue spec for Dragon Soul, arcane still is a very viable and desirable spec. Going forward into Mists of Pandaria, that all could change ... or the spec could be made even better.

Part of the source of arcane's potency this expansion has been due to how incredibly well the spec scales with intellect. While intellect provides the same spellpower to arcane mages that it does to every other caster, arcane mages' Mana Adept mastery makes the mana increase from intellect critical. Arcane Blast, the pivotal spell in arcane's rotation, has a static mana cost that is only based on mage base mana and not their mana after gear. Because of this, the more intellect you have means the more Arcane Blasts you can fit in at higher mana levels, meaning more damage through mastery.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: What the MoP beta means for arcane mages

WoW InsiderArcane Brilliance: What the MoP beta means for arcane mages originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 31 Mar 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>arcanearcane-chargesarcane-magearcane-mage-arcane-brilliancearcane-mage-mopfeaturedguide-to-magesmage-betamage-guidemage-infomage-mopmage-talentsmanamana-attunementmists-of-pandariamopmop-betamop-changesmop-mage-changesmop-mage-spellsMoP-mage-talentsmop-talentsnether-attunementwow-magewow-mage-infowow-magesJosh MyersSat, 31 Mar 2012 20:00:00 ESTThe Dragon Soul -- a post-mortemhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/30/the-dragon-soul-a-post-mortem/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/30/the-dragon-soul-a-post-mortem/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/30/the-dragon-soul-a-post-mortem/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Technically, as I write this, the Dragon Soul isn't actually dead yet, nor do raids really die so much as either become outdated or revamped. (Zul'Gurub and Zul'Aman stand as examples of raid content that died to be reused, while Naxxramas was used again as an introductory raid.) But since we're closing in on our fourth month running the raid instance, I thought this was a good time to examine it critically. What were the Dragon Soul's main themes? How did it function both as a raid instance and as a platform to end Deathwing's story arc? And most importantly to me, did I enjoy the ride?

Dragon Soul as an experience was fascinatingly diverse compared to previous raids. It eschewed the static finding of some dark cave or towering fortress to instead create a raid wherein we traveled the world, with different environments for the bosses to suit the locations and set pieces for our transitions. One complaint I've seen is that by reusing the Dragonblight and Wyrmrest Temple, Blizzard's design team was cutting corners -- but frankly, I don't find that criticism very accurate. First off, Wyrmrest is where the dragonflights typically meet, as demonstrated by Malygos' assault during the Nexus War, so it makes perfect sense for it to be where Deathwing sends his full Twilight's Hammer forces to try and crush them.

Continue reading The Dragon Soul -- a post-mortem

WoW InsiderThe Dragon Soul -- a post-mortem originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 30 Mar 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>DeathwingDragon-SoulDragon-Soul-Raidfeaturedpatch-4.3RaidUltraxionworld-of-warcraft-patch-4.3wow-patchwow-patch-4.3wow-patch-4.3-newswow-patch-newsZonozzMatthew RossiFri, 30 Mar 2012 16:00:00 ESTKnow Your Lore: The hour of the kinghttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/28/know-your-lore-the-hour-of-the-king/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/28/know-your-lore-the-hour-of-the-king/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/28/know-your-lore-the-hour-of-the-king/#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.

The King of Stormwind wears the crown on a troubled brow. He inherited the mantle as a child, not through a peaceful succession but through bloody violence and the destruction of his home. He wore it in exile and only came home with the death of the man who saved him and carried him away from the sight of his entire world burned to the ground. His entire life has been shaped by violent loss, by tragedy and death -- his mother dead before he even knew her, his father murdered and butchered in front of him, his replacement fathers cut down, his wife taken from him in a moment's passing by an errant rock thrown from a mob.

His early rule was most notable by his lack of desire to actually do much rulership, busying himself by riding the land in search of his father's killer or drifting though a haze of loss after his wife's death, a haze seized upon and manipulated by someone who was supposed to be a close advisor. The circumstances of his disappearance from the throne and his return have been discussed in detail. For now, all we need to do is accept that they did little to encourage him to view the throne as anything but a responsibility to be maintained in the face of constant peril.

Following the Northrend campaign and its heavy cost both to King Varian and the kingdom as a whole (Bolvar's death, as well as the many deaths at the Wrathgate; the invasion of Undercity and the destruction of Putress; Horde troops ambushing Alliance forces engaged with the Scourge; the astonishing cost in lives and resources), it would have been difficult for either the King or the kingdom to quickly recover. The eruption of Deathwing and the Cataclysm he caused did not allow the luxury of time. Reeling from one blow, they suffered another and another.

Continue reading Know Your Lore: The hour of the king

WoW InsiderKnow Your Lore: The hour of the king originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 28 Mar 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>Anduin-LotharAnduin-WrynnfeaturedGaronaGarroshguideguide-to-loreKing-Varian-Wrynnlorelore-guideOrgrimmarrole-playrole-playing-guiderp-guideVarian-wrynnworld-of-warcraft-lorewow-guidewow-lorewow-role-playingwow-role-playing-guidewow-rpwow-rp-guidewow-rpingMatthew RossiWed, 28 Mar 2012 14:00:00 ESTThe Care and Feeding of Warriors: Toolkits and themeshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/17/the-care-and-feeding-of-warriors-toolkits-and-themes/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/17/the-care-and-feeding-of-warriors-toolkits-and-themes/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/17/the-care-and-feeding-of-warriors-toolkits-and-themes/#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.

This week, in a discussion of War Banner, some interesting points were made. In his response to the discussion, Daxxari said something that really made me think about the warrior class and where it is going -- more importantly, where it can go.

Daxxari - War Banner
Ultimately, we wanted to try and expand the design potential for warriors a bit. Increasingly, it seemed that any new ability had to be another type of movement, a weapon strike, or shout, or it wouldn't feel like a warrior ability. We wanted to try something new, and we're hoping that warriors will give them a shot once we're in beta and let us know how it feels.


What I really found worth examining is this idea of what feels like a warrior ability, exactly. So many people objected to War Banner based around the idea that it's a totem, and totems are shaman-only. War Banner isn't going to be implemented like a totem. But the idea of trying to design new abilities that broaden the feel of warrior abilities leads us to ask what, exactly, does feel like a warrior ability. Should all warrior abilities be shouts, movement-based abilities or weapon strikes?

Continue reading The Care and Feeding of Warriors: Toolkits and themes

WoW InsiderThe Care and Feeding of Warriors: Toolkits and themes originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 17 Mar 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>AbilitiesDesignfeaturedguide-to-warriorsTalentswarrior-guidewarrior-infowarrior-talentswow-warriorwow-warrior-infowow-warriorsMatthew RossiSat, 17 Mar 2012 16:00:00 EST