Raven Hill Raiders

The biggest draw of the 2012 Lunar Festival is the new vanity pets--but the catch is that you can only buy one. However, the pets are BoE, so we'll show you the easiest way to get 50 Elders if you jus...

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All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. In World of Warcraft, that player is you! Each week, Anne Stickney brings you All the World's a Stage with helpful hints, tips and tricks on the art of roleplay in WoW.

We're taking a break from our whirlwind tour of Azeroth's finest roleplay locations to address an issue that has come up time and time again -- and will probably continue popping up until the day Warcraft closes the doors to Azeroth for good. There are several addons out there for roleplay, and all of them allow a certain amount of customization to help you build your character whatever way you see fit. Most allow for some degree of character description, and some even allow players to write up a brief character history, as well.

But time and time again, players point out errors in the descriptions of others or flaws in fantastical backstories that simply should not exist in the Warcraft universe. So what makes a good roleplaying description? What should it have, and what should it definitely not mention at all? And perhaps most importantly -- what do you do when you run across a roleplayer whose description is blatantly out of line with Warcraft canon, taking liberties with the lore you love?
Continue reading How to write a roleplaying description that pops
Filed under: All the World's a Stage (Roleplaying)
How to write a roleplaying description that pops originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 28 Jan 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today.

I'm working Darkmoon Faire Los Angeles this weekend. You should stop by if you're in the LA area.

Nina Katerina asked:

They announced that everyone who took out an annual subscription would get a pass to beta-test Mists. I see an awful lot of Tyrael's Chargers running around. With all these people getting beta keys, aren't we going to have to have more than the usual number of PTRs? Are we going to have waves of beta test invites? How are they going to make it fair?

I don't think there's any doubt that MoP's beta test is going to have a larger pool of testers than we've had in the past, but that also doesn't mean that all of them will be joining the beta at the same time. The Annual Pass agreement doesn't state when you'll be invited to the beta; it only says you will at some point. We'll likely see waves of invites lasting for quite a while before beta ends.
Continue reading The Queue: DMF
Filed under: The Queue
The Queue: DMF originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 28 Jan 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Submitter Muagen of Beautiful Disaster on Eldre'Thalas (US-H) sent in this screenshot from End Time, where the ravages of Deathwing turned the bleak and forbidding zone of Dragonblight ... about 10% more bleak and forbidding. Really, he couldn't have attacked Sholazar Basin or somewhere where he could actually do some impressive damage? All he's done in Stars' Rest is slightly prune the trees.
Gallery: Around Azeroth 3

Want to see your own screenshot here? Send it to aroundazeroth@wowinsider.com. We strongly prefer full-sized pictures with no UI or names showing. Please include "Azeroth" in the subject line so your email doesn't get marked as spam, and include your name, guild and server if you want to be credited.
Filed under: Around Azeroth
Around Azeroth: Desolation, at last originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 28 Jan 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Last year, the Drama Mamas answered a letter from a person whose pet peeve was being called by her class instead of by her character name. The comments showed that many people agreed with her, while others argued that it wasn't impersonal so much as efficient. Re-reading that post made me want to talk about pet peeves again. Check out this ancient Breakfast Topic by our former editor-in-chief, which asks the same question I'm asking today, or this also similar one from last year.

But I think it is important to direct you to my declaration of my biggest in-game pet peeve: "rogue" vs. "rouge." This misuse really, really bothers me. I understand that it is an easy typo, but I also believe that many people think that is how rogue is spelled. As I've said before, rouge is a cosmetic applied to your cheeks; rogue is a deadly killer who likes to make with the stabby. My common response to that is (stolen from someone else): Rouges are overpowdered. That statement often gets a mixed response from the chat audience -- many misread it and want to start a class war.
Continue reading Breakfast Topic: What are your WoW pet peeves?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics
Breakfast Topic: What are your WoW pet peeves? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 28 Jan 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Blizzard Entertainment is proud to present the latest entry in the "Leaders of Azeroth" short story series: In the Shadow of the Sun!
Lor'themar was not any surer of his thoughts by the day Aethas was scheduled to arrive. As he made his way through Sunfury Spire to the front hall where the archmage would appear, Halduron stopped him, holding out a small bundle of soft crimson wool. Lor'themar took it and held it up as it unfolded, beholding a regal golden phoenix upon its field: the Silvermoon City tabard.
"No," he said curtly, shoving the garment back at his friend.
"You should wear it," Halduron pressed.
"What does it matter?" he answered, striding forward. "Anyone in the service of Silvermoon may bear it."
"It is the symbol of state," Halduron called after him. "You are the head of state. You should look the part."
"I am the regent lord," Lor'themar said, continuing to walk away. "Not the king."

Written by Sarah Pine, "In the Shadow of the Sun" is the 2008 Global Creative Writing Contest winner. To view this story in its original format, head on over to Blizzard.com.

Diablo 3 - Tooltip Options, Updated Login Screen, Blue Posts, and 15 Anniversary Party

NAO Invitational Qualifiers
Curse, Skill-Capped, and Logitech are sponsoring a player run Arena tournament with over $4000 in prizes. You can find the list of prizes on ArenaJunkies. See the structure and rules for more information about how the teams are selected.

The remaining part of this week's qualifier rounds will be held on the 28th from 7-11pm EST. The second qualifier round will take place on Febuary 3rd/4th 7-11pm EST. The Tournament itself will take place on February 17th / 18th /19th. You can watch the stream of all of them here.


Dragon Soul Difficulty Changes
Don't forget that the previously mentioned Dragon Soul changes are supposed to be going live next week, so this will likely be your last chance to complete the encounter before everyone has access to the 5% buff.

Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker
/ Official Forums
)
During the scheduled server maintenance on the week of January 31, the Dragon Soul raid will become enveloped by the “Power of the Aspects” spell, reducing the health and damage dealt of all enemies in the raid by 5%. This spell will grow progressively stronger over time to reduce the difficulty and make the encounters more accessible. The spell will affect both normal and Heroic difficulties, but it will not affect the Looking for Raid difficulty.

The spell can also be disabled by talking to Lord Afrasastrasz at the beginning of Dragon Soul, if a raid wishes to attempt the encounters without the aid of the Dragon Aspects.

For those of you who raided in Firelands and/or Icecrown you’re no doubt aware that as time goes on we want to keep people progressing by adjusting the difficulty. For any number of reasons a group may be having difficulty on a specific encounter each week, and our intent in adjusting the content is to ensure the ability to keep progressing, enjoying the content, and gearing up. With Icecrown we progressively buffed the players, and while this slow progression (and ability to opt-out of the buff) were both beneficial, it led to an expectation of your characters power, and once you left the raid you could certainly feel less effective. For Firelands we attempted to fix that by nerfing the content instead of buffing players, but we nerfed the content difficulty all at one time, which was counterproductive for players who really didn’t need as severe a change as we made. With Dragon Soul we’re attempting to do the best of both by having a progressive nerf to the content, keeping player power constant while providing small increases in assistance over a long period of time, as well as allowing players to opt-out of the assistance by speaking to Lord Afrasastrasz.

We hope you continue to enjoy Dragon Soul, and that these changes encourage you to attempt a higher difficulty, or just keep pushing to down that next boss.

Mists of Pandaria PvP
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker
/ Official Forums
)
One of our upcoming goals in Mists of Pandaria is to make the gap between the overall DPS/healing of both PvE and PvP items smaller. In fact, we have design plans for new PvP combat mechanics that will make PvP gear and weapons markedly better in PvP than equivalent level PvE gear and weapons.

The overall goal is to reduce the barrier for crossing between PvE and PvP (and vice versa), as well as to also ensure that PvP gear is the best in PvP, and PvE gear is the best in PvE. More details on these upcoming changes will be posted as they become available.

Regardless of anyone’s rankings past or present, the process of learning and striving to improve never stops: it helps even the most battle-hardened gladiator remain able to go toe-to-toe with their fiercest opponents.

In team-based combat such as Arenas, pressuring an enemy in order to go for a kill or striving to protect your comrade from being the brunt of a focused assault are part of the experience, no matter what classes are driving to get the job done. Most matches are an incredibly complicated dance between combatants: a push and pull of offensive and defensive tactics, of coordinating switches, interrupts, dispels, crowd control, and of learning when to use your particular cooldowns or abilities, and when to change your tactics on the fly. Depending on who you ask, what class they are, what brackets they are in, and what team compositions they run, you are likely to get a totally different answer as to what particular class gives them the most trouble at any given time.

As far as the current balance of various classes: it’s something we are, as always, keeping a close watch on. We welcome you to post constructively about your observations in the appropriate threads, and the more focused and on-topic you can keep it, the better.

While it's not possible to address every individual thread or concern of the community, rest assured we are listening, regardless if you see us post within a particular thread or not.

Comics: Dark Legacy and Teh Glad
Dark Legacy Comics #323 and Teh Gladiators #308 + #309 are available!


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Join us every weekday evening as Today in WoW runs down all the WoW news that you could possibly want. From comments from Blizzard's blues to the latest datamining info -- we've got you covered.

Don't forget to check out The Daily Quest and our Weekly Podcast Roundup to find out what else is going on in the WoW community. And if you have a news tip, feel free to drop us a line and let us know.

• Blue posts
• WoW news from other sites
• News and features from WoW Insider
• Links from around the web

Continue reading Blue Posts and Other WoW News: Too scared to Arena
Filed under: Today in WoW
Blue Posts and Other WoW News: Too scared to Arena originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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When we last left our heroes, Throgg was complaining about Garrosh, essentially proving his membership in the Horde ... or, alternatively, proving his membership in the Alliance. Hatred of Garrosh is a unifying force in Azeroth, similar to love of Legos in the real world.

The four rode into Tirisfal without much fanfare. Lolegolas was careful to guide the party away from the dirt road, staying out of sight from the undead guards who stalked the kingdom's highway. Throgg grew increasingly quiet.

"I've not smelled Abercrombie," the Gilnean said quietly. "Not a whiff of a food court, Hot Topic, or Cinnabon within miles."

Miranda stared at the druid hard for a moment. "You stealing my gig, Spot?"

"My name is not Spot," the Gilnean replied absently. "We'll have to go into Undercity beneath Lordaeron." He frowned, and his jaw clenched. "Hate that place."

Lolegolas clapped the Gilnean on the shoulder, speaking quietly. "If it helps at all, we do, too. No one likes reminders of bad days."

"This is very touching, but let's keep to business. We'll need to take the sewer exit in," Miranda said. "We could maybe hitch a ride with one of the inevitable Alliance raids, but I think we're better off sneaking in. Ride flying mounts to stick near to the ceiling, maybe, until we get close to Sylvanas."

"And then we all die horribly?" Lolegolas said. "We can accomplish that plan anywhere, we don't have to go into Undercity to do it."
Continue reading Phat Loot Phriday: Iron Boot Flask
Filed under: Phat Loot Phriday
Phat Loot Phriday: Iron Boot Flask originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 27 Jan 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Every week, just at the start of the weekend, we catch up with the WoW Insider staff and ask them, "What are you playing this week?" -- otherwise known as: WRUP. Join us to see what we're up to in and out of game, and catch us in the comments to let us know what you're playing, too!

Don't sit there sad and alone on yet another Friday night. Come on, give us a call and find out what the hottest WoW Insider writers are playing this weekend. Alex Ziebart, Adam Holisky, and more ... just waiting after the jump.

WRUP is $4.99 per minute. Please be 18 or older, or have your parents' permission. Or don't get your parents' permission. We'd actually prefer you don't, cause they'll probably just say no.

This week's bonus question: Do you still participate in in-game holidays? And do you participate in the Lunar Festival, in particular?
Continue reading WRUP: 1 (900) 555 - WRUP
Filed under: WoW Insider Business
WRUP: 1 (900) 555 - WRUP originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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