At it again....

Over on wow.com there is an article written about account security entitled.

"How flaws in Blizzard's billing department are being exploited"

The post goes into detail about user exploitative manners. In trying to use Blizzard service reps to give a prize pack they never had instead of restoring a hacked account items. Basically Blizzard just wants to give you gold and tokens instead of going through the process of restoring your account.

There is a questionable statement used throughout many blog posts by the editor...

"we are told by multiple sources, is inadequate and leads to this exploit being practiced by a growing number of individuals."

Now claiming you have "sources" means nothing without evidence. If you are going to claim sources for content you must divulge your source. Or you risk losing all credibility as a "reporter" and I use that term lightly here. I guess if you want to just start spouting random information around without proof that's fine.

Health care is OP

Normally I could careless about politics because honestly no matter who is in office I don't benefit either way. I just want the best the best person in office. Health care is the hot topic on the minds of the American public because it is all about to change.

The break down
The health care in America is second to none. So health care is not the issue here at all. The way health care is paid for IS the issue.

Greed
Insurance companies main goal is to charge as much as possible and deny/limit as much coverage. In fact insurance companies have limited out of state competition making it possible to raise rates even higher. Hospitals main goal is to get you into the hospital, come back for the "cure", then come back again in 1-6 months for a check up. Now that a relationship with your doctor is there you want to come back to the same place. Reality is the hospital is much like an amusement park once your there they know you are going to pay a lot. You wont even care because your insurance is going to pay. Or so you think...

Reality
So insurance companies want you not to use their coverage and hospitals are setup to turn 1 visit into at least 3 visits, and hopefully a life time. What is happens now? Insurance companies have gotten wise to hospitals over charging for everything so they limit what can be done and limit what can be used. For example my wife had a back operation. We had to make sure....

1. The Doctor was covered by our insurance
2. All surgeons were covered in our plan
3. All drugs did not fall into the "too new/experimental" category
4. All machinery was covered

Wait a minute! I thought I had insurance and could just show up and get fixed! No no NO! We even got a bill from the hospital for a doctor that came in the operating room while my wife was under anesthesia for $4000. Insurance right now is WORSE than socialized medicine ever could be.

Rogues to the ground!

"As many of you have suspected, we think rogue damage is too high. We will be making hotfixes to lower the maximum damage output of Assassination and Combat rogues."

WHY?!?!?!? A THOUSAND TIMES WHY?!?

Blizzard you want Rogues to be top DPS because they are a pure DPS class. So what is the deal? What Rogues bring to the raid is pure, hard, fast, top DPS. Now your taking that away now? I guess your happy with Hunters because as a raid Rogue, Hunters are barely .01% below Rogues on the DPS meters. With other classes getting buffs and able to bring more to a raid than top DPS why would you bring a Rogue?

How about this. Buff other classes DPS to be closer to that of a Rogue? Instead of lowering the top end damage of a class that can do nothing but help a tank hold agro better, do good DPS, and vanish to save on repair bills.

I will be leveling my hunter from 72 to 80 this weekend. The warlock is still just to "stay in 1 place and hope they die before they become immune to fear with no escapes and do sub par DPS" class.

/facepalm

2010 here we go again

I have a few, like six 80s, with gear ranges from heroics to ICC is the only instance I can run for upgrades. An level 30 Orc Shaman has been sitting quietly by for 3 months now. Watching how some of my other guild mates have been playing their Shamans. I have decided to quietly level my Shaman , then once Cataclysm goes live, switch over to a Goblin. Yes that is right I am going to level an Orc Shaman only to learn the class and then switch over to a Goblin and do it all over again.

Cataclysm - is everything

The early signs of Cataclysm are upon us. If you have not noticed there are strange earth quakes happening all over. Many mechanics have been places into 3.3 that Cataclysm will use. Hints of the next big expansion of world of warcraft are being revealed. I have a feeling more and more signs will emerge as more time passes.

The two major races, Worgen and Goblin, have been introduced. Their racials skills are pretty amazing. This leads me to believe Blizzard will revamp all races with similar stats. It looks as if stats will include damage/improved casting, escape, and a nice passive. Worgens look cool, but I like horde too much. So my next character is going to be a Goblin Shaman. I already have the leveling chest, shoulders, and working on ring. Figure it should take 1 month to hit 80 and historically Blizzard has configured the XP rate to take a months time to level to max level of current expansion.

Image credit: Paul Adam

2009 is gone 2010 is here!

So much has happened in 2009 and there is no way I have time to cover it all. The best thing that has happened in wow is of course patch 3.3. Hands down the best patch in the 5 year history of wow.

Best new content, greatest talent and ability revamp, new looking for group cross realm tool, and epics for everyone who can't get into raid.

World of warcraft cataclysm is going to hold so much new content, story, raids, battle grounds, new races, etc...

I think I am going to level my way to 85 in dungeons mostly.

6 months to a six pack

Getting a six pack does not mean you are healthy but it shows you are more healthy than unhealthy. Honestly having a six pack sets you apart from everyone else at the gym as someone who is dedicated. I have been a fitness and health enthusiast for close to 5 years now. I never really gave up high calorie/sugar/fat foods. I simply worked out harder. This year is going to be different though as I am going to go for the elusive six pack abs and I am over 30. I do have about 10 lbs of fat to lose and about 6% body fat to drop before I even start seeing abs. Abs start showing up at about 8% - 10% body fat.

Goals

• 6 pack abs

• Go to more beaches this summer

These goals seem self centered and they clearly are. When you stroll down the beach with no shirt on with abs you are envied. To be envied at the beach is truly the pinnacle of personal fitness.

Plan
A goal without a plan is just a wish. -- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

This is a two part plan. Exercise + diet = result.

Exercise Plan
5 sets and 5-8 reps of heavy weight. Anymore reps than 8 and you are going to not gain muscle. You also want to force movement when exercising. Just going through the motions is not enough to stimulate muscle fibers. There needs to be force exerted.
Monday - Military press, Leg squat, Chin ups, Abs, Dips, Bent over row, 20 min cardio
Tuesday - 20 min cardio
Wednesday - Military press, Leg squat, Chin ups, Abs, Dips, Bent over row, 20 min cardio
Thursday - 20 min cardio
Friday - Military press, Leg squat, Chin ups, Abs, Dips, Bent over row, 20 min cardio
Saturday - 20 min cardio
Sunday - Rest/Lite walk

Now I can add shrugs, fore arms curls, etc... But these exercises focus on large muscle groups. Thus burning the most amount of calories. Technically you could just do Bench press, Squats, Bent over row and cover every large, and small muscle, but you would get bored.

Food
I don't like the word "diet" because it sounds too temporary. If your going to get serious eating healthy needs to be instinctual to the point when you see french fries you know your going to have to run for 45 minutes to burn them off. Here are some simple rules of eating better...

Don'ts
1. If it has the word fried in it. Don't eat it.
2. Don't eat high fructose corn syrup/white breads
3. Don't eat too much cheese
4. If it comes in a box it's not good for you

Dos
1. Do shop for foods on the outside edge of the grocery store
2. Consume .75 your weight in protein grams per day
3. Think about what you are eating
4. Eat every 3 hours if possible

Stronglifts 5x5 program

Battle over the hilt

The Battered Hilt is a rare epic drop that starts a quest ending in an epic sword/mace. For an assassination spec Rogue those are not very good choices.

Sword rewards
Non-sword rewards

What Rogues DO need is gold for items enchants like Berserking going for 800-1200 gold right now. The battered hilt is going for 10k - 20k gold on the AH. That would cover enchants, gems, and repairs for the next few gear upgrades. Clearly Blizzard wanted the quest item to be rare and sell-able on the AH by not making the item BOP. People lucky enough to get the hilt can use it for gold or an item. The spoils of war are your to do with what you want.

There are, of course, two schools of though on this...

Don't roll on the item unless you are going to use it.

and the..

I can use gold so I am going to roll on it.

Let's tackle the "unless you are going to use it" school first.
1. This school complains about a boomkin/shaman rolling on cloth.
2. This school will later stalk the AH seeing if BOE gear, that dropped in last nights raid, is being sold in the AH.
3. This school demands BOE gear is equipped right then and there.
4. This school complains when if other DPS are doing 10% less then them and wins a roll.

Now the "I can use gold crowd"
1. This school does not care if other classes need on gear they can use.
2. This class enjoys playing the AH and understands supply and demand.
3. This class does not equip BOE won gear until they are ready.
4. This school may not be doing top DPS but they is why we are here in the raid in the first place. To get better gear.

If you can use and item or gold. Roll need on this item.

Rogues 3.3 are all about the attack power

Back in the days of 3.2, like a week ago, Assassination Rogues focused on stacking as much agility as possible now you want to replace all your agility gems with AP gems. My how things have changed in a single patch. I will show you the old build and old rotation.

3.2 PVE Assassination build 51/13/7

-Stats to focus on were-
Agility
Crit

-Priority was-
HfB
Slice and Dice
+4cp Rupture
+4cp Envenom

3.3 PVE Assassination build 51/18/2

-Stats to focus on-
Attack Power
Haste
Crit

-Priority is-
HfB
Slice and dice
+4cp Envenom
+1-5 Rupture to keep HfB up

I know what your thinking. "But agility is what Rogues are all about". Yes Rogues will always be about agility. The change to how weapon poisons work is the cause for this huge change to Rogues. Once you have a 5 stack of deadly poison your off hand will now proc instant poison in your main hand.

IP: Each strike has a chance of poisoning the enemy which instantly inflicts [300 + 0.10 * AP]
DP: Each strike has a 30% chance of poisoning the enemy for [296 + 0.12 * AP]

Go respec and buy all the AP you can.

/stealth

source info
Elitistjerks.com pocket guide for Rogues
Elitistjerks.com Rogue FAQ

Frozen Orbs - Need or Greed

Loot rules on my server have always, always, always been.

Need
1. Green items
2. BOE items
3. Items you need as an upgrade
4. ***Frozen Orbs***

Greed
1. Blues are going to vendor (dis greed if an enchanter is in your group)
2. Purples you are going to sell

These rules help cut down on ninjas. Significantly. Some servers have different loot rules but with cross relm instances, and raid soon, there needs to be a standard loot system. This IS the new loot system. Read it, print it, put it to memory.
ALWAYS roll need on frozen orbs.