Blizzard....making wow funner

Blizzard is always reinventing wow. From new talents to talent tree remakes it seams Blizzard is never satisfied. In recent years Blizzard has been adding features into wow to reduce the amount of time to level to 80. This is a awesome move in the right direction for wow as an mmo. leveling to 80, or 85 soon, is by far the worst part of the game. Nothing feels more like work than killing 10 mobs, collecting 8 boxes, and delivering a letter to someone. *Yawn* Some people claim that leveling helps you learn your class. This is simply not true at all. All leveling does is teach you how to have the least amount of downtime when killing mobs. THAT IS IT. Having raided with 100s of people, at max level, that have no clue how to play their class or even basic game play. I can honestly say leveling does nothing for end game expectations of...

Moving out of fire
Removing curses
Avoiding a giant charging boss
Focusing on the raid

So here is a solution Blizzard. Grant users the option of starting new toons at max level ONCE you already have a max level character. It takes all of maybe 45 minutes to setup keys, set a rotation macro, and start searching the AH for some greens and blues. This will remove the worst part of the game for seasoned game players.

Listen to your raid leader

Raids are not 5 man tank-n-spank dungeons requiring no thought process beyond not standing in fire. Raids require teamwork, quick reflexes, and ability to learn fast. The raid leader is your guide through an instance showing you where to stand, what to do, and what to expect. Raid leading is/can be the hardest position to take on in a raid. Either your raid has never done "this" before or your raid has the instance on farm and knows what to do. Yes RLs can get frustrated with the raid group and yell, but they want the group to succeed where others have failed.

Tip: Focus on the encounter, ask questions/state comments, know your role.

Alt-ti-dus

Alt-ti-dus is a condition of a wow player gets after getting burned out with his/her current class. Every wow player has come down with this at one time or another, but there is a cure for it. Roll a class that can fill multiple rolls. So if you rolled a Mage back in the day but would like to try healing? Roll a Shaman. Rolled a sad Warlock and would like to try tanking? Paladin will may be up your ally. Started a Hunter named Leogus and already have a Rogue, Priest, and Warrior? Roll a Druid and do all four rolls!

The cure for having Alt-ti-dus is not to roll several characters anymore. The cure is the class that can do the trifecta (Tank, heals, and DPS) of rolls well.

Blizzards Next-Gen MMO

For years there has been job openings at Blizzard looking to fill various positions for a "Next-Gen MMO". Blizzard is a creature of habit building upon past success every couple of years. So one would think that the next logical choice that Blizzard would make is a starcraft MMO. Blizzcon

is coming up soon and usually there is always an announcement of what new is coming. I have a feeling is it going to be Universe of Starcraft.

Authenticator

Security has a price of about $7 delivered. For about the same price as a master lock you can get a Blizzard Authenticator to protect your account from hackers. Being a security minded person, because of my job as a network admin, I have come to question integrity while divulging worst case scenarios. So $7 is a small small price to pay to know my account is unhackable now. With keyloggers, untrusted patch mirrors, posioned DNS entries, and brute force attacks your account is very substitutable to compromise. Takes about 30 seconds to setup while being even easier to use. First add the authenticator to your account. Next log in your wow account. Finally push the button and type the 6 digit key. Takes an extra 10 seconds to log in while saving you a huge headache later on. Not to mention I sleep better at night too knowing my account is safe.

Bear Tanking

The old saying "Jack of all trades, masters of none" can really be thrown right out the window now. Druids can fill any role there is and do it well. So well in fact most players who play a Druid don't want to play any other class. Not because Druids don't want to because all they have to do is go respec/switch talents and gear then poof they are filling another roll.

Bear tanking spec
0/55/16

Bear tanking stats
When looking for tanking gear you're looking for gear with high stamina, agility, and dodge. Druids gain a large bonus to health so pack on the stamina. Agility helps with crits and dodge so don't overlook that when geming/enchanting. Druids can't use sheilds, our big sexy paws can't hold one, so we rely on avoidance through dodge. A fresh 80 should be looking for 30k health with 32% dodge and 400 defense.
Bear tanking macros
Macros make life 50x easier for everyone. If you not using macros yet you need to focus about 2 hours today making for first few macros. Bear tanking macros are the easiest on the game. Here are the only 2 I use.

Mangle:
#showtooltip Mangle (Bear)
/cast Mangle (Bear)
/cast !Maul()

Lacerate:
#showtooltip Lacerate
/cast Lacerate
/cast !Maul

Keep a free key close for swipe, FF, and growl and now you got some tanking power.

Closing thoughts
Druid tanks have been a little light in recent times, but I have come to find out they are a welcome addition in any raid. Don't let other raids tell you you can't roll on that leather or cloth. If it's an upgrade roll on it. After all you did contribute.

Why craft when I can buy?

There has been a trend away from crafting gear to just buying the BOE crafted gear. back in BC if you wanted the purples of a crafted profession you had to suck it up and make them yourself. Fast forward to Wrath and you can pick up ilevel 200+ crafted on the AH for 300 or more gold. So why craft any more when you can just buy? Well you get special bonuses and enchants you can't buy but if you gather you also get special bonuses too. Myself, on my Druid, have chosen to skin and mine, sell the gathered mats backs to crafters (So crafty), and buy their crafted gear.

Is crafting gear just too much work/gold now?

Who is healing who?

Having played an end game healer for 5+ years, on two different MMOs, I have little experience on the subject of healing. A healer is not a healer is not a healer is not a healer. The mechanics of a healing class can favor raid or a single target healing depending on the spec of the healer. Paladin healing is strongest on a single target, but how many raid bosses let you stand still? Druid healing is awesome but those hots take some time to preform. Priests and Shamans have a good mix of group and single target healing, awesome smart healing spells, with some damage reduction. If I were to pick a better healer between the two Priests wins out over Shamans by a hair. But the Shaman has more gear choices available to them and could gear up much much faster.

Right now this is the healing assignments in raids...
-Paladin/Disc Priest on MT
-Holly priest/Shaman/Druid on OT and Raid healing

WoW Tattoos

I read an interesting article by Mike Schramm about wow tattoos. Having nothing against people with interesting tattoos I would never get one myself. Having never liked something enough to permanently ink it to my body. Can't help but think if you have a tattoo of something you may be a little too much into it. Into something enough to be into it 20+ years later is a long time. I don't even have a t-shirt older than 6 month that I like enough to wear out in public.

To each their own.

Knock knock who is there? It's Onyxia

Onyxia was one of the only old world raids our guild wanted to run but never did. If you were in this same boat as us here is your chance to battle it out with Onyxia. Loot rewards include top level gear and a chance to own your very own ride able Onyxia mount! Be sure to pick up your free Onyxia Whelpling pet as well.

Good times!