Pandaren Monk and Mini K.T. Pets Live

Yes, I bought them both. It's a great deal considering how much people shell out for the card game pets. Besides, it's for charity!

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Well Blizzard has finally done it. After charging only for out-of-game services like faction changes and character customization, with the release of in-game pets on the Blizzard store, they've finally moved on to selling virtual items for real money. And there's a word, dirty in the mouths of some, that's floating around that some of you may not have heard or understood before: microtransactions. We wouldn't blame you -- some of our own staff didn't even know what they were just a little while ago. But with the decision to sell in-game items for straight cash, Blizzard has entered the fascinating and treacherous world of microtransactions. And if you're going to follow them off into this world, you might as well at least know what they're all about.

And so, we're here to help. Whether you've never heard of microtransactions before, you're convinced that they're the devil and that Blizzard has grown too greedy for their own good, or you can't wait to open up your wallet and get a Pandaren Monk to follow you around, let's take a second and look at the history of the microtransaction model, what it means that Blizzard made this decision, and what might happen to the game in the future.

Continue reading A WoW player's guide to microtransactions

Miss Medicina's Web Ring

This is a response to Medicina's Healing Questionnaire.

First of all let me say that I am a Disc Priest but I rarely have time to raid. I have a wife who works full time and 4 kids that keep me busy IRL. I haven't made it to anything outside of Naxx 25. When I do get to raid my guild has more than enough healing to keep things going. I am usually just along for the ride. So, that said, I am just providing my limited view of healing. I have done my share of Heroics but have very little large raid healing experience.

• What is the name, class, and spec of your primary healer? Wilgrin, Disc/Holy Priest.
• What is your primary group healing environment? (i.e. raids, pvp, 5 mans) 5 mans really. An occasional raid.
  
• What is your favorite healing spell for your class and why? Penance - just because it's fast, easy and pretty to look at =)
  
• What healing spell do you use least for your class and why? Divine Hymn - Same reason as Medicina I guess. Can't seem to find a situation for it.
  
• What do you feel is the biggest strength of your healing class and why? Single target non-stop healing. Between Penance and Flash Heals... I can dump a lot of heals quickly. If I can't heal through it, something is wrong (at least in heroics).
  
• What do you feel is the biggest weakness of your healing class and why? Mana Recovery - With a huge mana pool, all we can do is sit and drink.
  
• In a 25 man raiding environment, what do you feel, in general, is the best healing assignment for you? Single target MT or OT.
  
• What healing class do you enjoy healing with most and why? Holy Pally - They are great at keeping people alive when the fit hits the shan.
  
• What healing class do you enjoy healing with least and why? Druids - Mainly cause I'm jealous =) I have one up in the 60s now so we'll see how that works out. I guess also because they utilize HoTs and they are hard to keep track of.
  
• What is your worst habit as a healer? Not keeping track of HoTs and not shielding enough.
  
• What is your biggest pet peeve in a group environment while healing? Over zealous DPS. Usually a hunter or a specific mage that pulls aggro.
  
• Do you feel that your class/spec is well balanced with other healers for PvE healing? Yeah, it's improved greatly during Lich King.
• What tools do you use to evaluate your own performance as a healer? How smooth things go during the encounters. When the healing goes well things can be surprisingly calm and controlled.
  
• What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about your healing class? That we can't raid heal. It seems people think we can't AoE heal at all. Using the proper Glyphs, we have a decent amount of AoE heals and aside from crazy stuff
  
• What do you feel is the most difficult thing for new healers of your class to learn? Just healing the MT and ignoring everyone else. Or pulling aggro and not knowing what to do (fade, shield).
  
• If someone were to try to evaluate your performance as a healer via recount, what sort of patterns would they see (i.e. lots of overhealing, low healing output, etc)? Low healing output I guess. I don't have great gear and I am usually low in overall healing. I guess that comes with the territory too. I also don't keep my shield up enough.
  
• Haste or Crit and why? Balance just because I don't have a lot to choose from. I need a little more crit before I'd be happy enough to pass it up for haste.
• What healing class do you feel you understand least? Shamans by far. I just haven't played enough since they have been around.
  
• What add-ons or macros do you use, if any, to aid you in healing? Grid and Clique. I wish Blizzard would work on getting ALL of their functionality into the default interface. It's really needed and practically there already. Oh, and a Shield-Me macro, but that's old and not really needed with Grid and Clique around.
  
• Do you strive primarily for balance between your healing stats, or do you stack some much higher than others, and why? My gear isn't that great so I just work for a balance. I suppose I am working on crit at the moment but my other stats are lacking as well.

Finally, a Pally Nerf on the PTR

Woot, it's about damn time.

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You know how it goes. Blizzard nerfs Paladins, Paladins shake their heads in disbelief, then break out the pitchforks and scream bloody murder for a bit, beg Blizzard not to push through with the changes, and eventually run home and cry into My Little Pony sheets and staining pink underwear. Sure enough, when the recent PTR patch notes hinted at nerfs to the Paladin class, the pitchfork-wielding and bloody murder-screaming ensued. We're now about to enter the stage of bargaining. It's still on the PTR, after all. For those wondering what the bed-wetting ruckus is all about, Sacred Shield was nerfed to proc only once every 30 seconds (essentially proccing only once every cast of the spell unless augmented with talents), Aura Mastery was nerfed to 6 seconds down from 10, and Lay on Hands is being primed to be uncastable on one's self.

Ghostcrawler said that he didn't 'want to promise (they) won't change the spell for 3.3,' but that players also shouldn't 'worry too much on the Lay on Hands change at this point' since it didn't make it to the latest PTR build. He explains in the forums that Paladins are no longer just a support class (as they were for quite a long time), but that all the abilities over time have contributed to making the class feel like a 'one-man army' that is able to play offensively, defensively, and essentially take on more challenges without having to change stances, forms, or even specs. In a rather snippy response to a troll crying (with My Little Pony blanket in hand) in the forums, Ghostcrawler simply said, 'Dear OP, Bye. Hugs, GC.'

Continue reading Patch 3.3 PTR: Ghostcrawler explains Paladin changes

The Hybrid Tax

Funny, I always thought this was just common sense. Why else would anyone role a "Pure" class? This has always puzzled me about my priest vs. druids and paladins (in terms of healing). I've never really had a chance to compare since I get so little epic gear. But, if I did, I'd certainly be pissed about it.

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Ghostcrawler has put a significant sticky up on the forums about what he calls the 'hybrid tax' in terms of PvE play -- there's been some back and forth lately on the forums about hybrid classes and what they should and shouldn't be able to do, and GC wants to put any confusion about what Blizzard intends 'hybrids' to be to rest. Very basically, he says that there are three roles in the game (tanking, healing, and DPS), and if a class can respec to perform a different role, it's considered a hybrid class. Otherwise, it's a 'pure' class. This means a few things: pure classes, he says, should have slightly higher DPS ('all things being equal,' and when does that ever happen?), because they don't have the option to switch out. There's no rule as to how much better that is, but as a tradeoff of rerolling being the only way for 'pures' to switch, they get to be a little better. That's the 'hybrid tax,' and mages, hunters, rogues, and warlocks don't have to pay it.

Hybrids, however, do, and that means that paladins, druids, priests, shamans, and to a certain extent, warriors and death knights, will in Blizzard's view never be able to equal 'pure' classes in terms of DPS output, with everything else being equal. You may love your ret pally, and he may be in uber gear, but he should never be able to pour out as much damage as an equally specced and geared hunter, because you can switch to healing, and the hunter can't.

Continue reading Ghostcrawler and the 'hybrid tax

New 80 Hunter!

Meet Wilgrun, he is my latest level 80 character. He's my Dorf Huntard of course. It was a rough decision on who to raise to 80. Having 3 level 70s, a 60ish DK and a couple 56 characters I had a lot to choose from. It all came down to fun and grinding at this point. I have been trying to get some Heirloom gear to help in the process but used the old pre 3.2.2 AV runs instead. It only took a week to get to 77 and the rest was gravy. Maybe I can get some heirloom gear for my Pally next. That way I can pass it on to my DK if needed.

Now I just need to get into some Heroics for some gear. Being the ultimate casual player can make this difficult though. I need to map out where the best gear is and then be pretty careful on my selection. Every run counts when you're casual.

Quick Daily Quests

I've come to realize the quickest way to make money (legally) in Warcraft is to do the daily quests. Now, the trouble is, at level 80, many of them can take considerable time. I've noticed that the daily cooking and fishing quests have some that are quick and some that take longer. For instance "Jewel of the Sewers" can be done in a couple minutes, while the Ghost fish or the one from Wintergrasp can take much longer.

My goal here is to list quests that take just minutes but reward a good amount of gold. I'll try to list them in a route that makes sense as well.

1. Fishing, Jewel of the sewers
2. Cooking, Cheese for Glowergold or the wine quest.
3. Argent Tournament, Kill the 15 cult members.
4. Coming soon...

First Cataclysm Character

I'm trying to decide on my first character for Cataclysm. I'm thinking a Worgen warrior since I'm working on the Heirloom plate gear for my Pally right now. And he should easily be 80 by the time it comes out.

Onyxia returns in Patch 3.2.2

You read that right. In honor of WoW's 5-year anniversary, in the upcoming Patch 3.2.2, Onyxia will make her triumphant return to the world of Azeroth!

The patch will convert Onyxia's Lair to a 10- and 25-player dungeon, along with new items whose models match the old-school gear available in the vanilla instance, like Tier 2 helms. Additional rewards include a 310% speed flying mount modeled after Onyxia herself!

As a bonus, anyone who logs in during the 5-year anniversary event in November will get an Onyxia Whelpling pet.

Green Proto Drake

SCORE! Not sure how many of eggs I opened but I finally have my first Proto Drake.