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Sunday, December 30, 2007

WoW mud dolls, made by a fan in China


The use of the term "mud dolls" threw me for a second here, but I think the folks at MMOsite mean clay dolls, as they have posted extremely cute little WoW figurines made out of clay. What fascinates me is that not only are these cute and really stylish, but they really capture each race and class-- the Blood Elf really does look snobby, while the Dwarf looks like he's had an extra ale or two.

Amazing. No word on if they're for sale or not-- MMOsite makes like you can have one on your desk, but the original site is (of course) in Chinese, and so even if they were for sale there, I wouldn't know. Although I did find the hilarious Ony scene above-- if anyone can translate in our comments, please do.

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Make Gold at Level 30 on World of Warcraft

How to make some gold with a horde toon at around 30? One of the most effective ways that I have found is to take your toon and send him or her through rage fire chasm. What you will want to do is get as many green items and linen cloth you can. If you are not a tailor/enchanter then you will want to make a level one toon and train them with these skills. After you get all the green items and linen you can you will want to send the items to your toon that has the tailor/enchanter skills. Use the linen cloth to level your tailoring up till you can make the first green item. This item usually disenchants for one to three strange dust or lesser magic essence.

In the auction house strange dust sells for quite a bit of gold for being such a low level item. Plus you could also use this trick to level your new enchanter toon's skill. At level 30 you should be able to run through rage fire chasm in about an hour. With one run through you should be able to get on average 100 linen cloth and about 15 to 20 green items. If you use all the linen cloth and make green items in tailoring. Then you disenchant all your green items, you should reach about 40 to 60 strange dust. If you sell them in the auction house for about two gold per stack then you will have made about 4 to 6 gold, just on strange dust.

Also if you wanted to gain some experience while making some gold you could try the venture company mobs in strangle thorn vale. These mobs are fairly easy to kill and yield a decent amount of green items, while also having good vender trash items or gray items for those who don't know. Most times these mobs are being killed so you might have a hard time finding the right rhythm. These mobs do have a fast respawn rate so usually by the time you are done with your med break you will be back up and killing as many as you can. The yeti's in hillsbrad foothills also are good experience but I would not recommend them for very much money.

This article is my opinion and if you know of a better place to go and make money then that's what you do. I hope that my tricks and ways to make gold has helped.

Friday, December 28, 2007

3-man group conquers Molten Core

Molten Core

3-man Molten Core. You read that right. sailoreagle on Livejournal walks us through the run his Tier 6 prot warrior, Tier 6 holy priest, and a "Tier 4-ish" feral druid (along with hunter and mage alts) had in a surprisingly easy Molten Core instance. You'd think they'd have trouble along the way (in fact, they thought they'd have trouble along the way), but from this account, it actually went down pretty easily. From the screenshots, it seems like they just plowed through the bosses-- they ate Magmadar's frenzies, exploded Garr's minions, organized around Sulfuron and Majordomo, and eventually, yes, survived wave after wave of sons to take out Raggy himself.

Pretty amazing. They got both Bindings of the Windseeker out of the deal, along with a bunch of other epics that it used to take 40 different people to obtain. It's still not actually easy-- sailor says they burned through some hardcore potions, and clearly their gear helped out a lot (although think what this will be like at level 80), so it was still a challenge.

Still, it's kind of sad, in a way. Remember when you went back to your childhood playground and everything seemed so... small? If three people can beat Ragnaros, is he really fit to carry the title of Firelord any more?

Thursday, December 27, 2007

PC Roleplaying Gamers' Choice Award --World of Warcraft


GOTY List WoWPC Roleplaying Gamers' Choice Award --World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade

Talk about your close races: The Witcher and World of Warcraft were in a statistical dead heat for the majority of the voting. We almost declared it a tie, but a last minute rally by WoW fans pushed one of the best expansion packs of the year over the top.

We already know that World of Warcraft is an amazing title: it's been on our hard drives for years and still has most of the GameSpy editorial department hooked. But the real surprise this year was The Witcher, coming on strong. Often great games like this from unknown developers get missed in the holiday rush, but it's good to see that GameSpy readers haven't let this one slide by -- without a doubt, The Witcher is the best single-player RPG experience you can get on the PC. The people have spoken!

World of Warcraft and the Feast of Winter Veil

Ahh...the merriment of the holiday season does not escape the World of Warcraft! Being a lower level character I can't get to all the content for the Winter Veil celebration, however I have had some fun with what I can do! I was able to run some quests for Great Father Winter which was a nice distraction from the ordinary quests for a bit.

I did the Gingerbread Cookies quest and brought Father Winter some cookies and a glass of milk. He ate them all and then gave me some nifty gifts! I got a sweet red Santa hat for my Tauren to wear, and some holiday foods and drinks!

Ok...then there are the snowballs these are a lot of fun to chuck at other players and even to have them thrown at you! Since there was no snow here for Christmas it was nice that at least in the game we could have some typical winter fun! Next year I think we should be able to go sled riding! I can see it now, me...a cow...on a sled... zooming down a hill...WOOT!!!

The other thing I have to say I get a pretty big kick out of is the Winter Wondervolt. This awesome little gizmo will turn any race or any class into a gnome santa! You can fight like this and everything! And let me tell ya, you throw some "Aspect of the Cheetah" on that little bugger and he moves out!! This wonderous transformation only lasts 30 minutes though, then you have to go back to one of the Wondervolts and get your Santa-groove on again!

On the right is a picture of my Tauren hunter after stepping into the Wondervolt. I have to say that it kind of startled me when the costume wore off. I was in the middle of a battle and shifted back into a Tauren and for a second I thought someone had cast some wierd spell on me! Yep, I'm a Noob!

There are also Winter Revelers in most towns and the Inns are all decked out for the holidays. The revelers will talk to you and wish you a Happy Holiday. Also if there is mistletoe near them you can blow them kisses by typing /kiss and they will give you a stack of mistletoe which you can use on others to increase their spirit.
wow feast of winter
Don't forget to go to the Smokeywood Pastures vendors for holiday items, they have snowballs, wrapping paper, holiday recipes, etc... Also, be sure to check under the Christmas tree for gifts! Open them and get really cool little surprises. I got a little mechanical robot AND a little winter helper (my daughter was so jealous!).

All in all Winter Veil is a really good time and it gives you the opportunity to celebrate this festive time of year with all your online WoW buddies! So, enjoy it while it lasts and post some comments on your Winter Veil experiences!

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

World of Warcraft Gold Secrets of the Darkmoon Faire

You have chanced upon a page from the Journal of Marcus Ty, level 60 Alliance Mage of Stormwind and servant to the Argent Dawn. In my Journal I have chronicled my time in the land of Azeroth and the labor spent upon a single quest. And that quest is for gold - World of Warcraft gold!

As an apprentice Mage in my early levels, I always looked forward to the first Friday of each new month when the cook at the Pig and Whistle (Stormwind) would lay out a feast of Smoked Sagefish and the carnival, known as the Darkmoon Faire, would pitch their tents in Goldshire , ready for a week of spectacle and amusements!

If you have yet to find the Darkmoon Faire, then never fear, friend, as they are known to rotate in appearance between Terokkar Forest, Elwynn Forest and Mulgore. Listen out for Barkers, in each of the major cities, announcing the arrival of the faire. Be you Horde or Alliance, you'll find wondrous things to delight and amaze you - and perhaps turn a small profit in the process.

Many exotic vendors travel with the faire giving you the opportunity to purchase hard-to-find items from the far corners of the land of Azeroth, which can be sold for much profit at the Auction House. Visit each vendor and see what takes your fancy.

You can also earn tickets for supplying gathered trade items to the vendors; tickets can be redeemed for gear and items of novelty value. I'm told that Horde players, for example, are partial to 'Last Months Mutton' which they use as a One-Hand Mace!

Unfortunately, tickets are soulbound and cannot be traded, but there is an opportunity for profit if you can identify those traded items used to earn tickets; these items will leap in price when the faire is in town as players seek them out or try to craft them. I've listed some of the more common items in my Journal and some of the Auction House strategies used to exploit the demand.

But the greatest gold making opportunity in the Darkmoon Faire lies with the collection of strange sets of cards -Ace to Eight - which have been scattered across the land of Azeroth (rather like the pages of my Journal). The complete set - or deck - of these cards can be turned in at the faire in return for a trinket of epic quality and magic. These trinkets are much sought after, but bind on pickup. Fortunately, the cards can be freely traded and can thus sell for epic amounts of gold in the Auction House.

So, friend, before you spend all of your hard, earned gold on frivolous games and amusements, consider some of the gold making opportunities when the Darkmoon Faire next makes an appearance in a town near you.

New World of Warcraft Wallpaper

Blizzard Europe just added a new wallpaper to their World of Warcraft wallpapers section.

wow wallpaper

Season Greetings and Holiday Wallpaper

The following message was posted on the front page of the official site:
All of us here at Blizzard Entertainment would like to wish you and your families a safe and pleasant holiday season. May your holiday adventures be filled with warmth, cheer, and happiness.

WoW Wallpaper

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

World of Warcraft: How To Make Gold In WoW



How To Make Gold In WOW isn't actually that difficult contrary to belief! You do not have to go and buy WOW Gold from any of these illegal gold selling websites and on top of that you may well get your account banned!

Today I am going to give you a quick guide on How To Make Gold In WOW with the least amount of fuss so you can start getting rich! If you really want to know all the ins and outs of How To Make Gold In WOW you should look around the webs to find a guide on the subject.

This guide will start you off though and you should have no problems knowing How To Make Gold In WOW after you have read it!

The first spot I would concentrate on is Felwood that lies just east of Darkshore and here you will find beasts called Withered Protectors. You will want to kill as many of these as you can because they drop high level herbs and once you have 20 or 30 of these herbs they will sell for 20 Gold and upwards at the auction house.

Another good way to learn How To Make Gold In WOW is take up a trade like engineering and you will be able to make high level bombs which you can sell for a good amount of gold. Once you become better at engineering you will be able to make higher level explosives which will sell for even more gold at the auction house.

Another very quick way on How To Make Gold In WOW is to purchase 30 wool cloth and use you engineering to make exploding powder. You will also need twenty stones but once you have made these they will easily sell at the auction houses for 6 Gold upwards. Applying this method on How To Make Gold In WOW you can make up to 3000 Gold in just one week.

Another way to learn How To Make Gold In WOW and if you don't mind a bit of grinding you should head to North Western Westfall and go up to the cliff top there. You will find shed loads of Defias Mobs and although they are only levels 12 and 13 they respawn very quickly so be careful.

You should kill as many as you can though as they will drop linen and lots of it. You can get about 100 linen in five or ten minutes. Once you have enough linen this too can be put up for auction and you should make plenty of gold of it!

Above are just some of the ways you should try when learning How To Make Gold In WOW and they are all legal.

World of Warcraft Gold Farming Tips

World of Warcraft Gold Farming Tips are plentiful, but gold farming is a tough business. Have you ever wondered why some items in World of Warcraft sell for a lot of gold and then other items for mere silver or copper?

Even more so, you notice that on other servers the same items are fetching huge amounts at the auction house.

Well, World of Warcraft fans, the economy of the game is very much like a real world free market economy. Supply and demand is a very important lesson with regards to World of Warcraft...especially for you gold farmers out there!

So, what does this mean exactly? Well on some of the older servers, you have a whole legion of seasoned players who can go anywhere and harvest just about any thing in the game pretty easily. This means that if you are a young, new entrepreneur to the game, you are going to want to do one of two things. You might want to consider a newer server where many of the player characters are young (low level). Or, you might want to concentrate on some of the lesser harvested items that people do need regularly. (Supply vs Demand)

The second option might not yield as much silver/gold in each sitting, but over time you can amass great wealth by being consistent with it. Plus, you build a reputation of being the go to person when someone needs something.

Let's review supply and demand a little more. When you are at the auction house, take a look at what items are being sold. Look at how many listings, pricing etc. This is your research component. High supply with low demand is going to equal poor results for you the seller. Obviously you want to look for high demand with low supply ie tough to get items.

In World of Warcraft, tough to get items doesn't always mean hard to find...they could be items that people just hate to have to grind out. The dirty jobs if you will. Trust me, in the real world, there are plenty of dirty jobs out there that no one wants, but someone does and gets paid for well!

Here is an idea that is used well in real world free market economies...control the market. Where have we seen this? Dell Computers, Microsoft, AT&T are all examples of conglomerates that have or had control of their markets and therefore could command or dictate a price.

This same idea can be used in World of Warcraft by finding ways to be the sole seller of an item. If you are looking to sell an item that is currently being sold for far less than it should be at an auction house, this might be an opportunity for you. If you can purchase all of those items and then re-list them at a higher price, you might be able to drive the market for some time.

The World of Warcraft Economy is very much like a real world free market economy. Try to use things you have seen or observed in the real world and apply them to the game, who knows you may be able to get rich!

Monday, December 24, 2007

The Art of War(craft): Outdoor PvP, Part I - War in the Old World


So you've tried out all the Battlegrounds; maybe even ground your Honor quota from the Call-to-Arms holiday. You've played your Arena games for the week, and maybe you've sent a message to those filthy campers who messed up your guildie's daily Simon Says. What else is there to do in the world of PvP? Well, there's always World PvP. Technically, any PvP that occurs outside of an instanced zone (i.e. Battlegrounds and Arenas) is considered world or outdoor PvP. In the old days, that meant hours of skirmishes between Tarren Mill and Southshore or endless assaults on the Crossroads. In Patch 1.12, however, Blizzard introduced objective-based outdoor PvP with A Game of Towers in the Eastern Plaguelands and The Silithyst Must Flow in Silithus. The trend continues in Outlands with objectives in Hellfire Peninsula, Zangarmarsh, Terrokar Forest, and Nagrand.

I wrote about how I always wanted my PvP to have some sort of meaning, and objective-based zone PvP is about as meaningful as it gets. More than the Battlegrounds, where PvP is contextualized only through a story, or the Arenas where PvP is purely sport, the objectives in the outdoor PvP zones are designed to give a direct benefit to your faction. If any sort of PvP highlights the conflict between the Alliance and the Horde, it is the battle for control of these PvP zones. Achieving these objectives can make a player feel like he or she's contributed something substantial to his or her faction. Although it gives little to no Honor and no Arena points, it can be fun, spontaneous and even rewarding for the little time you put in it. Whether it's role-playing or for something different to do in between 2-on-2 Arena queues, world PvP offers a different slice of the PvP pie.

War in the old world
Objective-based PvP began with Silithus and Eastern Plaguelands, introducing new mechanics that would later be seen in other PvP zones such as Eye of the Storm. On normal servers, players must flag themselves for PvP in order to participate, which is a clear disadvantage because opponents will always have the opportunity for first strike. But there are a few incentives to achieving the zone objectives, such as quests and reputation gains, as well as token Honor. Personally, I feel that these zone objectives lack a compelling reason to participate in PvP -- lessons that Blizzard learned -- but provided seeds for future designs.

The Silithyst Must Flow aka Sandlol
Patch 1.12 introduced a strange substance called Silithyst, which can be obtained by clicking on glowing geysers on the ground all over Silithus. Clicking on these objects will despawn them and give you a debuff called Silithyst, which will make you glow -- allowing enemies to spot you easier -- and slows down your movement to 75%. If you have movement-enhancing spells such as Ghost Wolf or Aspect of the Cheetah, maximum speed is capped at 100%. The debuff is a rather huge disincentive for picking up Silithyst because slow movement is a hindrance to PvP and is extremely annoying to play through. Dying, entering stealth, mounting up, or acquiring immunity causes the Silithyst to be dropped, and dropped Silithyst can be picked up by another player from a mound on the ground.


The goal is to turn in 200 Silithyst samples at your faction's Silithyst machines. Each turn-in grants 20 Reputation with Cenarion Circle, 19 Honor and Traces of Silithyst, a 30-minute buff that increases melee, ranged and spell damage by 5%. The first faction that turns in 200 Silithyst samples is granted a zone-wide buff called Cenarion Favor, which increases Cenarion Circle reputation gained from killing monsters in Silithus and Ahn'qiraj by 25%. None of these benefits are particularly compelling, although the reputation gain was substantial for guilds running Ahn'qiraj. Dubbed 'sandlol' by most players, Silithus world PvP was largely unsuccessful. Aside from mechanics that didn't encourage combat -- having the Silithyst debuff meant having to avoid enemies -- everything felt as though it were merely, in the words of Blizzard, tacked on.


Sandlol fails for the simple reason that it's deathly boring. Finding the occasional Silithyst Geyser is already a chore in itself, and transporting it on foot at a reduced speed is even more so -- running across the desert at a slowed pace grows old really quickly. Furthermore, it is frustrating to fight with gimped movement speed, making the Silithyst debuff completely PvP-unfriendly. Even without opponents (often the case in the sparsely populated Silithus) the 19 Honor and 20 Reputation takes too long and isn't worthwhile. The +5% damage buff granted by Traces of Silithyst, because it is applied to the player and not the zone, is debatably the only bonus worth obtaining.

A Game of Towers
Towers in the Eastern Plaguelands provide a more dynamic game, introducing the concept of capturing towers through proximity and numerical superiority. This mechanic is later seen in Eye of the Storm, Hellfire Peninsula, and Zangarmarsh. There are four towers in the EPL that can be captured in this way -- the Crown Guard Tower in the South, the Eastwall Tower in the East, the Northpass Tower in the North, and Plaguewood Tower in the West. Control of a tower grants a zone-wide +1% melee and spell damage bonus against Undead, to a maximum of +5% -- a bonus of +1% given for controlling all towers. The buff also works inside Stratholme, but is a fluid buff that can change depending on the control of the towers in EPL.



The fluidity of tower control is the biggest flaw in this zone's PvP objective. Control of the towers can change hands at any time, making any sort of long-term buff difficult to maintain. Without any opponents, conversion of a tower can also be mind-numbingly boring, as it takes over ten minutes to fully convert a tower from one faction's control to the other. The key to making any headway with tower control is to do it through numbers. It would be good to have simultaneous teams going after each tower as it is far too easy to simply convert an opposing faction's tower after its occupants have left.

Each tower has interesting mechanics that come into play when captured. The Crown Guard Tower grants control over a Graveyard immediately North of the tower, which is useful for those who quest in the area. The coolest part of controlling the Crown Guard Tower is the animation of the Spirit Guide floating from the sky down to the Graveyard once it converts. The Plaguewood Tower grants access to a spectral gryphon master that allows players to fly to any of the three towers via a spectral gryphon mount. Upon conversion, the Eastwall Tower spawns NPCs that rush the Northpass Tower. Oddly enough, even though the NPCs -- Lordaeron Soldiers, Commanders, Fighters, and Veterans -- look like ghosts, they are considered Humanoid for purposes of spells and attacks. Lastly, the Northpass Tower spawns an object called the Lordaeron Shrine which grants Lordaeron's Blessing, a 30-minute buff which increases hit points by 5%.

There are quests to capture all four towers, obtainable at Light's Hope Chapel -- Bolstering Our Defenses for the Horde and Establishing New Outposts for the Alliance. The tower must be under the control of the opposing faction in order for the tower conversion to count against the quest objectives, although some players report that it is possible to capture a tower while it is gray or contested. Players must be inside the tower when it converts, otherwise it can happen that the conversion will not count. Capturing a tower also grants 18 Honor points, which is a mere token for the effort.

Experience from old zones prior to the implementation of Battlegrounds indicated that players were hungry for outdoor PvP, and Blizzard's first attempts at objective-based World PvP were experiments that provided key learnings for future zones. Traces of Silithyst and Lordaeron's Blessing are both excellent, if short, buffs that are worth obtaining because they scale. At Level 70, the +5% to damage or hit points provide a bit of oomph while questing or grinding. While visiting the old world, it wouldn't hurt to make a stop at either zone if only to acquire a buff before hearthing back to Shattrath City. Of course, once in Outlands, there are more World PvP objectives to achieve, so the fun never really stops. Next week, we'll take a look at World PvP in the zones of Hellfire Peninsula, Zangarmarsh, Terrokar Forest, and Nagrand. Pack your bags, we're crossing the portal.

Friday, December 21, 2007

Blizzard Decries Virtual Item Trade

Major MMO makers like Funcom and SOE are on board with a new company that promises to "legitimize" the real money trade of virtual goods, but World of Warcraft house Blizzard tells Next-Gen that it's still against the practice regardless.

"We do not have any plans to support out-of-game trading for World of Warcraft anytime in the near future," a Blizzard rep tells Next-Gen when asked if it would ever consider backing the recently announced Live Gamer virtual item marketplace. "The game's Terms of Use clearly states that all World of Warcraft content is the property of Blizzard Entertainment, and Blizzard does not allow 'in-game' items to be sold for real money.

"Not only do we believe that doing so would be illegal, but it also has the potential to damage the game economy and overall experience for the many thousands of others who play World of Warcraft for fun."

Blizzard is standing firm with its previously-established Terms of Use, even following Monday's announcement of New York-based Live Gamer, which describes itself as a "fully transparent, secure, publisher-sanctioned marketplace" for virtual goods.

Live Gamer is unique because it has the support of online gaming companies including Funcom, Sony Online Entertainment, 10tacle Studios, Acclaim, GoPets LTD and Ping0 Interactive Limited. Often, real-money transaction mediators, such as IGE, find themselves at odds with game makers, as such trading can ruin a game's immersiveness and cause in-game economies to go off-balance.

One of Live Gamer's co-founders is Mitch Davis, former CEO of Microsoft-owned in-game ad firm Massive Inc. and CEO of licensed game house Brash Entertainment.

The virtual item market is worth $1.8 billion annually, according to to a June New York Times article.

Blizzard's statement continues, "In order to promote a fun and fair environment for all of our players, we constantly investigate any violation of our Terms of Use and will take any and all actions necessary, from suspensions and permanent bans up to legal action, to stop this behavior. While we can understand the temptation to purchase items for real money, we feel that players can find ample equipment and money for their characters within the game through their own adventuring and questing."

Vendor Resale--The Best Way to Make WoW Gold

By far the quickest and easiest way to make gold is vendor resale, which basically means you take items that you buy from a vendor and re-sell it on the Auction House for a profit. It is easy to gain at least double your money (100% profit), but I sell items all day long for 2700% profit. How is this possible? I take an item(ie: Formula: Enchant Chest - Minor Mana) that costs a mere 3 silver, put it on the auction house for 85 silver (more than 28 times what I paid for it). Why do people pay so much for an item you ask? The three main reason I can think of are 1) They bought their gold and now have plenty, so they just don't care how much something costs 2) They don't want to make the trip from, let's say Darnassus to Ironforge so they pay a little extra to save them time for the trip or 3) They're just too
lazy (or too dumb) to figure out that the vendor right next to the auction house sells it for so much less. Believe it or not, most people fall into the third category and will buy your stuff all day long every day
of the week.

Most items can be purchased in Stormwind or Ironforge, so even a level 1 or 2 character can start making gold. If you are just getting started, have a buddy spot you a couple of gold - you can pay him/her back double by the end of the day. If you are just getting started, I recommend sticking to the cheaper items, as you can purchase more of them and have more items on the AH at any given time. As your bank account builds up, you can buy more of the higher-priced items from the vendors and
watch your gold multiply even faster. One of the first things I recommend you invest in is Traveler's Backpacks. These are 16-slot bags, just like the one you start out with in WOW, and you can hold 4. They currently run between 9 - 13 gold on my server, although you can occasionally find them for 5 - 8 gold. These are a must watch on the AH, I'll pick them up by the dozen when someone drops them on
the AH for 6 gold (6g) a piece, then re-sell them for 11 - 13g each.

Things to look for:

Patterns:
Recipes:
Plans:
Schematics:
"pets" - especially Cat Carrier (white kitten) if you ha en to see "Little Timmy" walking around Stormwind trying to sell.
Go to any of the information sites listed under the LINKS chapter (Thottbot or Allakhazam) and type “pattern:” or “recipe:” in the search bar. You will get a complete list of all items that are available. Just look for which ones are available for purchase from a vendor, click on it and it will show you exactly where to find that vendor.

Things not to resale:
general su lies (thread, food, reagents, armor, weapons, etc.)
Exception: Heavy Quiver, which can be bought for 20s and sold on AH for around 2g

Monday, December 17, 2007

WoW Gold Tips - Making Gold in WoW Through Different Professions

In World of Warcraft, there are three primary professions. You are only able to choose two of these three, however, so it is worth comparing them in order to pick what profession you will leave out. To help you make that decision here is a summary of all three.

Gathering Professions:

Mining: This type of profession mines for various items around the world. It is one of the most common professions and is popular among new players, as you can use it to make gold right away.

Skinning: This profession uses a tool called a skinning knife to kill various monsters (beasts) in the game for valuable items such as leather. This is good if you want to do leather working, and is profitable when you combine it with mining.

Herbalism: Herbalists make potions by gathering different types of flowers. This is also a useful profession, but is much more powerful when you reach a higher level, as you can then make more valuable potions.

Crafting:

Blacksmithing: Blacksmiths are able to make in-demand items used by many characters such as daggers and swords, as well as things like plate armor. This is not as profitable as some of the mining professions but is still valuable if you need melee weapons for yourself.

Leatherworking: Leatherworkers can craft leather and various mail items. This is useful if you are in a guild, because it can increase the group's power. You can also use armor crafted to give yourself a better defense. It is similar to blacksmithing, and is not particularly profitable. However, it is very useful if you need leather equipment.

Tailoring: Tailors can make things like storage kits and patches that you can use on your character to get to a better level and increase your power. They can also create rare items, which can make this a more profitable profession than blacksmithing or leather working.

Alchemy: This is the knowledge of creating items such as potions, and will also allow you to transmute elements such as metal. Like tailoring, this can be quite profitable, but you will need to have the Herbalism profession in order to support this properly due to the reliance on potions.

Engineering: This is actually the least profitable profession, and you won't make a lot of gold by being an engineer. The profession allows you to create unusual weapons against monsters, but you are unlikely to be able to sell these for lots of gold at the auction house.

Service professions:

Jewelcrafting: Jewelcrafting is one of the newest professions, and allows you to mine raw gems that you can cut into gems for a power increase. Because jewels are highly in demand right now, this can be a profitable profession, but you will need to have the mining profession to properly gather items.

Enchanting: This is only useful if you are a high level player, and is expensive to do. Enchanters are able to enchant a players equipment to give it a raise in power.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Phat Loot Phriday: Delicious Chocolate Cake

WoW Chocolate Cake
Seeing as food has been on our minds this week at WoW Insider (with both the new Well Fed Buff column and Maureen's World of WarCrafts), I figured we'd give the foodies in the audience something to pine for this week. Expect more big pointy sharp things only available from late game raids next week.

Name: Delicious Chocolate Cake
Type: Food
Damage/Speed: N/A
Abilities:

  • "If you spend at least 5 seconds eating, you will become Very Happy for 1 hour." What does Very Happy mean? Nothing, except that you get a buff that lasts for one hour.

  • Does the buff do anything? Nope, nothing percievable. Does it at least kick off a negative debuff? Nope. Does it replace one of your current buffs? Nope. Is there any reason to eat this cake at all, besides that it gives you a useless Happy buff? Of course! It's cake!

  • If you are the kind of person who leaves comments on a Phat Loot post complaining that a useless piece of food is not Phat Loot, go eat some of this cake. Hopefully it will make you Very Happy, and then we'll all be that way.

  • How to Get It: This recipe is actually new in 2.3-- it's a reward hidden in the food given to you by the cooking daily quests in Shattrath. When you finish the daily quest, you get Crates of Meat and Barrels of Fish, and this recipe, which is BoP, will be randomly hidden in one of those from time to time.

    And despite coming from a high level daily quest, the cake is actually only level 1, so it's pretty easy to make: you need your Simple Flour (8), 4 Ice Cold Milk, some Mild Spices (4), 8 Small Eggs, a whole Flask of Port (yowza! you can get those from most of the bartenders in the major cities), and 3 Mageroyal. Which means that there is apparently no chocolate in this cake at all, and that means that, even though I shudder to say it (as much as I like Portal, I think the meme died about a week ago), the cake is indeed a lie.

    But it is tasty. And who doesn't want a Very Happy buff?

    Getting Rid of It: A vendor will give you 1s 25c for it, but a better option would be to just go around passing them out, or give them away to guildies as birthday presents for the next year. I've heard rumors that people don't know what they are, and that they've been selling on the AH for hundreds of gold, but if you were unlucky enough to sell out for one of these, just remember that there's no sense crying over every mistake. You just keep on trying 'till you run out of cake.

    Thursday, December 13, 2007

    Your WoW Noob Gold Guide

    Did you just start playing WoW or do you have a brand new character and want to learn how to make gold very quickly? This article is just for you! I feel it will help a lot of noobs to get started and even some people that just started playing on the brand new servers and wants to make gold quickly at the lower levels in the game!

    Start as Skinner and a Herbalist or Miner for a while to gather resources. You may have to travel to a main town to learn these skills early - but its worth doing early.

    Skinner as you will be killing many skinable mobs early on, and either Herbalist or Miner as the radar marker conflicts - you cant have both a Herbalist and Miner radar blip on. I have "toons" that are both Skinner, Herbalist and Skinner, Miner ... I think the coin generated is a little better as a Miner (esp as you get occ. gem drops in ore placements), but if you choose a dark-elf as a race go herbalist as the starting area has no mining resources - there may be an equivalent horde race !

    Collect 6 slot bags as quickly as possible ... some will drop as loot, others can be bought from tailors ... you can do a /who and /tell and offer to buy COD (cash on delivery) via the mail system so you Dont have to buy from an NPC vendor or go to an Auction House before you are ready.

    Have a "mule" sitting in your factions Auction House Town (eg. Ironforge for Alliance) - create a character that is closest to the Auction House Town .. best a dwarf or gnome for easy access to Ironforge - Humans need to travel via Stormwind and the Underground tram system, Dark-Elves have to travel via foot for about 20 minutes through dangerous territory to get anywhere near Ironforge for the first time ... place your character very near a mailbox that is not busy. There are two mailboxes near the Auction House in Ironforge - one is always crowded .. crowds = lag. Choose the one that is not busy for your log-in/log-out place. This mule you will post your stacks to for sale at the Auction House.

    Keep notes of how much a stack of resources (light leather from skinning, copper ore from mining, silverleaf and peace blossom from herbalism) sell to an NPC vendor but Dont sell to the vendor.

    Check the Auction House prices using the search facility and take note of the starting and buyout prices for the stacks of resources you are selling. Many items have a buy-out price upto 10-20 times the price an NPC vendor will buy from you. I personally set my prices as follows .... starting price 2x the NPC vendor buy value (around 1.5-2.5s per stack) and a buyout price 5-6 times the NPC buy value unless all the competitor sellers buyout prices are way above or below that, then I set my buyouts at just below theirs. A couple of hours work at toon level 6-8 will give you 3-4 stacks of light leather, 2-3 stacks of herbs, 1-2 stacks or metals bars (yep, smelt them for mining experience before selling them ... if you are "grey" on smelting copper (ie no mining XP form it), sell the stacks of raw ore) and if you are working in an area of humanoids 1-2 stacks of linen cloth. Dont waste your linen on bandages (FirstAid) .. at least not yet.

    Don't waste bag storage space on grey usable items, ruined pelts, broken teeth etc. unless you are filling up an inventory for the run home. Keep green items for Auction House sale if your toon (or an alt) doesnt need them. Always set auctions for 24 hours and put a buyout price about 4-6x the value to an NPC vendor (again check the Auction House current prices so you Dont over or under value your items) ... the buyout price allows impatient bidders a way of getting their items quickly - and your money faster.

    Mail your major items to your mule for Auction House Placement, dump the rest of the garbage ontot he NPC vendor. Each stack will sell at Auction House for 5-10s per stack easily and up to 20s per stack if the demand is right, low level "green" items 5-10s each. My first (and still main) toon never got anywhere near this cash return so early (mage, miner engineer) ... my current level 10 gatherer is getting 1g per 2 hours of game time (mixing it up with questing and general fun) .... a concentrated effort should nett close to 1g per hour - a huge return for a low level character . Dont choose your crafting profession too early ... you can always drop one of your gathering professions for a crafting profession once your cash flow is good.

    Buying unneeded items early eats money.
    Buying unneeded skills early eats money.
    Enchanting eats money ! Engineering eats money!
    Leatherworking, Blacksmithing and Tailoring can feed an enchanter, make reasonably good money from auctioned items later.

    Alchemy can be fun and provide a good range of buff and regen. potions for your own use, then sell once you get to craft the higher demand potions

    Tuesday, December 11, 2007

    WoW: Feast of Winter Veil Events Announced

    'Tis the season again and Blizzard is collaborating with Father Winter to bring the Feast of Winter Veil events from December 15th till January 2nd. In addition to the regular events, this year we'll enjoy a few more special surprises:


    -The Preserved Holly that players can get from completing special holiday quests
    can now be used on flying mounts. This will temporarily turn their flying mount
    into a flying reindeer that trails sparkles as it flies through the air

    - Handful of Snowflakes: this is a new item you can obtain by /kiss -ing
    a Winter Reveler NPC. It will create a light snowfall above any targeted player.

    - Burning Crusade Holiday Bosses: as in past years, certain bosses will
    be dressed in a festive fashion and will drop seasonal hats when defeated. The
    holiday versions of the bosses will begin on Dec. 25 and end on Jan. 2. These
    bosses include:

    *Grand Warlock Netherkurse (Shattered Halls)

    *Grandmaster Vorpil (Shadow Labyrinth)

    *Exarch Maladaar
    (Auchenai Crypts)

    *Captain Skarloc (Durnholde Keep)

    *Nethermancer Sepethrea (Mechanar)

    *High Botanists Freywinn
    (Botanica)

    - Mechanotoy: This is a new gift that can be obtained from
    under the Winter Veil tree in Ironforge and Orgrimmar. It lets you summon a
    Mechanotoy non-combat pet to follow you around.

    Plus, check out the rest of the events below:
    Greatfather WinterWoW: Feast of Winter
    Greatfather Winter is visiting the great cities of Ironforge and Orgrimmar - courtesy of the fine folks of Smokywood Pastures and he's spreading cheer in celebration for the Feast of Winter Veil. But, all the cheer-spreading is making Greatfather Winter hungry, and he's looking for adventurers to get him his daily fix of milk and cookies.



    Smokeywood Pastures' Missing Shipment
    WoW: Feast of WinterSmokeywood Pastures needs a few brave adventurers to investigate the disappearance of a shipment of holiday goods. Rumors are the shipment is in the possession of the Abominable Greench, found somewhere in the snowy regions of the Alterac Mountains.




    Metzen the ReindeerWoW: Feast of Winter
    Disaster has struck! Metzen the Reindeer has been kidnapped! Metzen is one of Greatfather Winter's eight reindeer - and property of Smokywood Pastures. The Jinglepocket Goblins have received two ransom letters from groups claiming to have Metzen. Concerned adventurers should visit Ironforge or Orgrimmar for more information.


    WoW: Feast of WinterJinglepocket Goblins' Fare Shops
    The Jinglepocket Goblins have set up their seasonal fare shops in major cities. Adventurers can purchase many holiday favorites - including Greatfather's Winter ale, candy canes, gingerbread cookie recipes, and mistletoes.



    SnowballsWoW: Feast of Winter
    Whether you pick them up from your local vendor or ask a friendly engineer to craft them for you, no feast of Winter Veil is complete without some frozen projectile-weapons. Get your mitts on some snowballs and say, "Merry Feast of Winter Veil" the old-fashioned way!


    WoW: Feast of WinterSnowmen
    Accompanying Greatfather Winter in his journeys across Azeroth are his loyal troops of snowmen. They can be found wandering around Ironforge and Orgrimmar, bringing with them the chill breath of winter into even the warmest climes.

    Sunday, December 09, 2007

    Two Bosses Enter: Moam vs. Hakkar the Soulflayer


    It's that time of the week again -- time to lock two World of Warcraft bosses into a life or death struggle for our amusement! We call our little game Two Bosses Enter, and each week we start with two bosses and inevitably end with one. But don't worry: our fantasy deathmatches are just for fun, the WoW Insider equivalent of arguing whether Batman could beat up Superman (as if that's even an argument -- Batman would totally win), and no actual bosses were harmed in the production of this article. But now, on to the show! This week we bring you Moam, all the way from Ahn'Qiraj in the Silithus desert, and Hakkar the Soulflayer, straight from the temple of Zul'Gurub in the Stranglethorn jungles. Who will walk away and who will be heading home? Read on to find out!
    moam
    Moam is an construct created by the Twin Emperors, Vek'nilash and Vek'lor out of obsidian rock. He currently lurks in the smaller, 20-player, wing of the Ahn'Qiraj dungeon, destroying those foolish enough to cross his path. Moam is fair enough in his melee fighting ability and his obsidian body is capable of resisting both magical and phyisical attacks. However, his true strength lies in his ability to drain mana (Moam begins a fight with no mana -- and you want to avoid him reaching full mana) and summon arcane elementals. His full list of abilities is as follows:

  • Trample: an AoE melee attack that does moderate damage.

  • Drain Mana: drains mana from multiple targets, with a nearly unlimited range.

  • Arcane Explosion: when Moam reaches 100% mana, he does a high-damage arcane explosion which also tosses its targets into the air for additional fall damage.

  • Summon Mana Fiend: every 90 seconds, Moam will summon 3 Mana Fiends to assist him in battle. They are capable of casting arcane explosion and a counterspell.

  • Turn to Stone: every 90 seconds, Moam will turn to stone for 90 seconds or until his mana reaches 100%. During this time he cannot attack, but he will regenerate mana.

  • For a player-based raid, Moam is basically on a timer -- can you burn him down before his mana reaches full?
    hakkar
    For players, Hakkar is a gimmick fight. If you know the trick to the fight, the execution is simple, but if you don't know the trick, you'll never beat him. For his abilities, we're going to presume that he's on his own, without any support from his priests or priestesses, which leaves a simple encounter for us to think about. Hakkar brings down his opponents with the following abilities:

  • Corrupted Blood: a shadow damage DoT

  • Blood Siphon: a channeled spell that stuns the target, does damage, and heals Hakkar for about five times the damage done. Hakkar casts this like clockwork every 90 seconds. (For player raids, the trick is to get poisoned by nearby mobs -- then Hakkar's Blood Siphon will siphon the poison and damage him instead of healing him. Without this, he simply heals too much to be killable.)


  • Enrage: after 10 minutes, Hakkar will enrage, greatly increasing his damage output

  • Hakkar also has two different mind control abilities, but these would both be rather pointless in a one on one situation.

    Moam drains mana, but Hakkar drains life -- so which one would win out in the end? It's nearly time for you to to tell us, but before that, a reminder: we're considering these two bosses with approximately equal health and approximately equal damage output capabilities. We aren't making this into a math equation of who's got more health than who, so when you cast your vote, cast it on fighting style, not highest level.

    Saturday, December 08, 2007

    Feign death really works

    After playing World of Warcraft, the 12 year old boy knew how to cope when he was attacked by a moose in the forest.

    In the article he describes how he first yelled at the moose, distracting it so his sister got away, then when he got attacked and the animal stood over him he feigned death. "Just like you learn at level 30 in World of Warcraft."

    Now who says you can't learn useful stuff from WoW? All I have to say is - I am really really glad his skills at feigning death were not resisted by that beast. Imagine if it had been an immune elite...
    FROM: http://torillsin.blogspot.com/2007/11/feign-death-really-works.html

    Tuesday, December 04, 2007

    25 Awesome Warlock Tricks

    Warlocks have a lot of tricks, and while they might not always require much skill to play (talking about SL/SL mostly), there's always things which separate skilled players over casual ones.
    Perhaps you know all of this already, perhaps you don't. But it's always good to have an open mind and a few uncommon tactics so you can adapt to almost any situation.
    I'm like Athene of the warlocks, giving away free tips. Read on to find out what hides in the warlock's trick bag!

    1. I'll get this out of the way: use macros. There's plenty of them to be found, and a good place to start is my Useful warlock macros post.

    2. I'll get this out of the way also since it's related to one of my previous posts. Get the Felguard Legionnaire. Enslave Demon is not completely useless - you can check this topic to see a list of cool demons which can be enslaved.

    3. In PvP, always buff yourself with Detect Invisibility and Unending Breath. It's 2 more magic effects, meaning it might take 1 more priest's dispel or shaman purge to get your Fel Armor off of you. And those pesky Arcane Shot spamming huntards need to spam even more!

    4. In PvE, you can break Fear on mobs by casting Curse of Recklesness (CoR) on them - it won't do much threat nor waste much mana, and the attack power bonus is negligible. When the mob is coming back at you, just throw another curse and he will run in fear again without the need to recast it.

    5. If you send your pet to attack a rogue (or druid), even if he stealths the pet will attack him and break his stealth.

    6. If you're using Succubus to CC in instances, pull with Searing Pain (or Soul Fire) for max threat. This is especially important for heroic instances: if your succy gets attacked it will probably get one shotted; if the mob goes after you it will give your pet enough time to reseduce the mob.

    7. You can keep players in combat in arenas by sending your pet after them - they won't be able to drink. Also, if you didn't know, Star's Tears is the only drink you can use in arenas. Buy a stack, you never know.

    8. You can banish druids in Tree of Life.

    9. Always have your Felhunter's Paranoia buff on. There's no reason not to, and a lot of invisible reasons why you should.

    10. You can summon yourself with Ritual of Summoning. Helps also if you get stuck behind objects in instances (happened to me in Shadow Labs on first boss when he feared).

    11. You can Devour paladin's Hammer of Justice. Obvious, but often overlooked.

    12. Spend 1 talent point in Shadow Embrace (affliction) if you can - it's one more magic debuff on your target - one more cleanse/dispel.

    13. Use your felhunter to dispel Unstable Affliction on you - he won't take damage.

    14. Banishing a warlock's pet will get rid of his Soul Link.

    15. Get Boar's Speed.

    16. You can cast curses on mages - some of them are retarded (sorry but it's true).

    17. Spam Rank 1 Corruption to get that paladin OOM faster! Also spam it when the rogue pops Cloak of Shadows - it might stick on him and break his vanish.

    16. Cast Siphon Life on hunter's pet - free healing ftw. Also, you can either cast Curse of Weakness to reduce it's melee damage, or Corruption (rank 1 is fine) for Nightfall procs if you specced.

    17. If you have Dark Pact: when buffing up in raids, get your imp out of phase shift - tell your priests and paladins to buff him with spirit/mp5.

    18. You can carry 3 healthstones of the same rank, if they are from 3 different warlocks, depending on how many talent points they put into Improved Healthstone. Also, you can make different ranks of healthstones for yourself in arenas, which is useful if the fight lasts a bit. Note: all healthstones share the same cooldown.

    19. In arenas, summon Voidwalker first. About 12 seconds before the match starts, start summoning Felhunter/Felguard - spam Sacrifice and you should get the shield after about 5 seconds. If you have talent points in Master Summoner, it's a bit tricky - you can still get the shield, but it's really hard if you have latency above 300. Start casting about 8 seconds before the match then. This way, you should have the shield for the first 25 seconds of the match.

    20. If you're low on health, use lower ranks of Life Tap.

    21. If you're facing a wipe in instance, Life Tap to low hp and use Hellfire. You will kill yourself, but won't loose any durability.

    22. You can cast Curse of Tongue's on mage's Water Elemental. If you're banishing the Elemental, try to Spell Lock the mage first (maybe also Fear if you're sure he won't break it instantly) so you don't get Counterspelled. You can also CoT + Siphon Life + Corruption to kill the pet.

    23. If you see a warrior pop Spell Reflect, cast Curse of Recklesness. Congratulations, you're now immune to fear! You can also cast Siphon Life - it will heal basically heal you a bit due to Fel Armor bonus.

    24. Hellfire triggers Prayer of Mending - if you're on full health, life tap and use Rank 1 Hellfire.

    25. Recast Fel Armor on yourself before using bandages or Cannibalize.

    World of Warcraft Guides and Super Cheats

    Cities dungeons forests mountain peaks and other environmental elements of the game create an entire virtual world for the player to explore. Other portions of the World of Warcraft game such as dungeons (also called instances) are designed to require cooperation with other players for success. Captain Placeholder would teleport players to the Darkshore dock instantly when asked. Heroes can also utilize the various natural resources found throughout the map such as controllable non-player characters and shops containing usable items.

    After the fall of the Temple of Karabor Akama led a group of his followers into Zangarmarsh to hide out from the orcs. There are ways of making easy gold in World of Warcraft if you know how. To make use of all the opportunities available could take a very long time to discover especially if you only play for a couple of hours a day. With more than five million subscribers it is now the most popular online role-playing game and has grown far beyond its cult origins. See World of Warcraft Guide and Top WOW Strategies Want to get to level 10 quickly? Visit dead people. More accurately visit Undead people. Since Quests aren't race specific players can accept any level appropriate quest regardless of their race.

    Some common criticism included the inability of the player to change the fate of Arthas' turn to the dark side. There are wandering beasts such as wolves spiders scorpions (called scorpids in this world) six-legged crocodiles called crocolisks crabs vultures hyenas big cats bears and more. Grab World of Warcraft Guide and Top WOW Strategies There are of course mounts such as horses gryphons and other animals that can help you travel through Azeroth. When you return to a quest giver for your reward a yellow question mark will replace the exclamation mark to tell you that your quest can be turned in. There are lots of sites that offer a list of the AH median prices for a variety of items.

    Otherwise areas that have been explored previously but now are not within sight range of an allied building or unit are covered with the 'Fog of war'- though the terrain remains visible changes such as enemy troop movements and building construction are unseen. Players must construct settlements and bases to capture resources defend against other players and train units to use in battle. After realizing the situation is beyond the Sentinels alone she first reawakens her lover Malfurion Stormrage the Druids of the Talon and finally the Druids of the Claw. She and Malfurion join forces with the outlanders Jaina Proudmoore and Thrall to delay the Legion's advance upon the World Tree. Exactly how they came into being is a guarded secret of the flights. Eventually Illidan is defeated and lies in a death-like state at the Ice Crown Glacier.

    Gold For World of Warcraft - Easy Tips To Make Your Gold Explode!

    I'm sure if you've found this guide, that you are already well aware of what World of Warcraft (WoW) is, and why getting gold in World of Warcraft is so vitally important. Everything in the game uses gold to come extent. If you have no gold, you have no fun! I'm pretty sure we all are playing this game for fun, so we al want gold! Am I right in that assumption?

    Now, getting World of Warcraft gold is not that challenging. You should never have to buy World of Warcraft gold from Chinese Farmers. What a waste that would be! I'm about to let you in on some very easy things you can do to increase your gold flow immensely! Why, my level 8 characters often have over 10 gold!

    Here are some of the most vital things you can do in order to make sure you start drowning in your own gold flow in World of Warcraft. You will be the envy of your server if you can follow simple tips.

    WoW Gold Tips:

    Tip 1) Even when you enter World of Warcraft as a level 1, get bags. All that you can carry. If you have a high level character already, buy the biggest bags you can and send them to your new character. This is a simple and easy to understand step that most people fail to use! If you have all 4 bag slots filled up right away, you can A) Continue questing without having to return to sell off items so you will level faster B) More importantly, be able to make much more gold as you will not have to delete items to make room for others. You can sell all your loot when you return for maximum profit even from the very beginning!

    Tip 2) Even though crafting professions (Leatherworking, jewelcrafting, tailoring and blacksmithing) are temping to pick up, avoid them like the plague! If you want to drown in your own gold, pick up two gathering professions! For example, get herbalism and skinning or skinning and mining or mining and herbalism. Then, SELL THE LOOT YOU GET! The Auction House is always alive with activity and buyers trying to get their hands on leather, ore and herbs. People are LAZY, or they simply don't have the profession required by their trade skill! So, you're the hero they needed to deliver the goods to them, and you pull a hefty profit at the same time!

    *The above alone is one of the greatest techniques there is to massive gold earning! Seriously... try it.

    Tip 3) Ties closely to the previous tip, but often overlooked as well. This tip can alone can also earn you substantial gold income in World of Warcraft. Now, enchanting is often seen as a crafting skill. As stated above, you want to avoid these, right? Well, not when it comes to enchanting! You just won't use enchanting to Enchant! "Huh?" It's simple... think about it. As you know, when you get a rare drop in the world, you can disenchant it and get the dust or diamond used in enchanting out of it. Instead of using these to enchant your own items or others items, SELL THEM ON THE AUCTION HOUSE! That's right! People are always wanting enchants, however most people do not enchant... and most enchanters don't have the materials required to make the enchant that people want! So what do they have to do? Check the Auction House! This is, again, where you are the hero and in exchange for your "heroics" you get a large profit margin! Cha-Ching! Gold ahead! So save your rare drops and sell the disenchanted remains instead!

    Again, earning gold in World of Warcraft really isn't as challenging as it seems. Get the right professions, and try to stay away from that Auciton House, will ya? :)