(Taken from the General Forum)
An Experienced MMORPG gamer speaks on WoW.. | 3/16/2005 9:20:53 AM PST
First off, This isn't my main character. I have no idea why I can't use my Main Character to post, but his name is Nocros and he's a 54th Level Tauren Shaman on Garona. Ok... Now, moving on.
I'm not a fanboi by any means. I have never played a Blizzard game before WoW, other than Warcraft I way back in the day. I never played Diablo or Diablo II more than 5-10 minutes at the most. I just thought I'd give some insight into other games, and explain a few things.
We start back with the Grandfather of MMORPG games.. Ultima Online.
Ultima Online started out with the most horrible lag ever heard of in a game period. This alone drove many people away, but the unique concept of allowing people on interact on a huge map, battle each other in pvp, craft items & freedom in character development led many people to this game. This game is over seven years old and I've been playing six. Ultima Online still has server issues. They still have lots of problems, and their playerbase is around 200,000 players. Every expansion is a lesson in patience and virtue if you don't punch your monitor as other players rapidly get through the process and drop a prime real estate house that will allow them to become multi-millionaires by pure luck. I have stuck by UO from the beginning. I have purchased every expansion and I have several accounts there. Compared to ultima Online, WoW is far superior in Customer Support. They are far superior in server stability for a game this young. After UO expansions, you can almost expect Roll Back's that may roll back for several days. Dupe bugs periodically show up. (Although they've taken major steps to curb this now.) Speed Hackers run rampant and so do 3rd Party Hackers. It's a fact of life with that game, and although they take action, it's very hard for them to prove this. Ultima Online continously adds content to the game, although this is a new trend that started in the last year - year 1/2. Before that, they never added content except with expansions. There's still "Promised Content" from 5 expansions ago that haven't been added. Ultima Online focuses mainly on Solo Play v/s Group Play, and almost everything in the game can be accomplished with Solo Play. End Game Content IS the content, since building your character is the process you go through so you can PLAY the aspects of the game. I'd give Ultima Online about a 7 on a scale of 1-10, mainly for the progress they've made through the years, and the fact they've tried to make things better. Overall it's a good game, even with outdated graphics & a botched PvP system. UO controls 2% of the MMORPG market.
Next, We'll move to DAOC.
I loved DAOC when it first came out. I started out with a Berzerker and I played the hell out of that game. It was a great, awesome game. The server stability of DAOC was never a huge problem, although they did have long periods of time where they shut down when the game was new, so they could keep everything going and keep everything up to date. DAOC rarely adds content. The game is also incredibly tedious. It's hard to level up, when you die you lose experience points, and the game is not really a game you can play Solo after level 30. Finding a group in DAOC can be incredibly hard, even with a big guild. DAOC's end game content is very weak. You can PvP in Realm v/s Realm all you want, but it's a massive lag filled horror. There are items you can get at higher level in order to tweak your character, but getting those items is a test of patience and killing time. I'd rank DAOC about 5 out of 10. DAOC controls 3.1% of the MMORPG market.
Next up is Final Fantasy XI
I wish I could begin to describe the horrors of this game. Every aspect of it is flawed. To quote a few players, "Anything on FFXI that doesn't take 6 hours isn't worth doing". Finding a group is murder... Leveling Solo is possible, if you want to kill the same mob 800,000 times and compete with 100 other people for those slow spawning Mobs. I started out on FFXI with a White Mage. The "great" thing about FFXI is that you can't play multiple characters. You just constantly switch the skills of your one character. You're "Allowed" to play more than 1 character, but you have to pay an additional fee each month for it. You also have to use their POL brower to log in. (POL is like AOL for Japan). Server Stability on FFXI was pretty good, but that was only because they beta tested the game in Japan for a year before they released it here. (By beta test, I mean they released it there and all of the players from there were already max level with every possible uber item by the time it was released in the US.) Luckily, they did go ahead and make some American Servers, but you don't get to pick your server. Instead you are randomly picked a server, and placed there. Then you can buy tickets on that server to invite your friends. End game content? Who knows... I never made it that far. The game is so tedious and murderous that it's not worth playing to me. I know that when I was randomly chosen for a server where I was not able to communicate with any of the other players (Since they spoke Japanese), all the max level characters seem to have the exact same armor, so I'm guessing there's not much. Toss that on top of the fact that the game's economy is comletely obliterated by Ebay Farmers, and you have a game than ranks about 2 out of 10. Final Fantasy controls 6.7% of the MMORPG market.
Next is City of Heroes. Believe it or not, City of Heroes had one of the smoothest launches in history. The reason for that is because they launched with the lowest population in history :). CoH was a great game. The end game content wasn't incredibly great, but it's a new game. They're adding a new expansion called City of Villians which will introduce Hero Lairs, PvP, Arena Duels and quite a bit of other content. CoH did add content to the game, in the form of Hero Capes, Special Graphic Effects, Outdoor Missions, New Area's etc. CoH was very revolutionary with adding all of the new content on a regular basis. The game idea is very unique, so attracting a large portion of the MMORPG market is hard for them. I consider CoH one of those games you load up when you want to unwind and just laugh and the play. It's a great game, great launch and generally on top of things. CoH is an easily soloable game, up into the very high levels, and it's still doable, but easier to group up. The good point of CoH is that you can group with 1-2 others and do just fine. The only major drawback is that they have a scheduled downtime every morning that lasts 2-3 hours, so anyone who's playtime was in the morning would be drastically impacted. End Game Content is not great, but with the new stuff coming, it will get much better. I'd give CoH an 8 out of 10, but I could be biased on that, because some of my friends became frustrated with it and would probably rank it lower. City of Heroes controls 1.5% of the total MMORPG market.
There are other games out there, Lineage, Lineage II, Anarchy Online, EQ I & EQ II, but those are games I never tried. With Lineage, I never heard anything good about it, so I didn't bother. Anarchy Online would have been something I would have played, but the servers made it totally unplayable for the first 30-45 days. EQ & EQ II never interested me. The concepts behind it were just outside of my playstyle. I don't have 7 hours a day to get 1 piece of armor "Maybe" or spend years of my life trying to obtain certain items just so I can group. I have friends who did it, and they're all on WoW now... Lineage I & II together control over 50% of the MMORPG market, so I guess it must be a decent game at least. Maybe someone can write a review who has had first had experience. EQ controls 8.9% with their two releases.
Now we get to WoW... World of Warcraft. My current game. Are the servers stable? Nah, not really... But there's a reason for that... WoW has had the biggest launch in history. When you look at the current MMORPG market, and the recent launch of other games, even with Open Beta, there is NO way that WoW could have predicted they would control 15.3% of the MMORPG market within a couple months of launch. (For those keeping track, that's almost more than the population of EQ, EQ II, DAOC, UO and CoH COMBINED!! That's almost more than EQ I, EQ II & FFXI COMBINED.) This launch has been as much of a test & mind boggle for Blizzard as the Server Problems have been to us. They probably prepared, if we're lucky, they probably prepared to handle a few hundred thousand Players in the first month. Look how many servers they started out with! Look how long WoW was impossible to find in the stores. They sold out their stock & their warehouse in a matter of weeks. This game is doing it's best to get things going. We're living through history and we're living through a revolutionary experience in MMORPG history. Sure, people have complaints... It's only human. Is the end game content there... Well it's not absolute crap, and it shows improvement. Can you Solo in WoW? Yeah... You can Solo in WoW until level 60 if you choose. The only time you are forced into Grouping/Instances would be when you want the items they yield. WoW is also trying to implement things like the meeting stones to get everything going. The high level content is going to be a lot harder to deal with. The horde is horribly 10/1 outmanned for PvP. 40 man raid groups are not going to be easy to organize... But it's a young game. Let's give it a year? eh?
WoW General Discussion -: "1971908"
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Monday, March 14, 2005
Sunday, March 13, 2005
Friday, March 11, 2005
Nice.
Constant updates throughout maintenance | 3/11/2005 10:00:53 AM PST
Well here we go again. It has been 15 hours since we have gotten any update on Frostwolf. Here is the quote from Blizzard, "We’ll do our best to provide you with constant updates throughout the maintenance period." So your best in no updates for 15 hours?!?!!? What is your idea of constant updates?!?!? Your customer service is a GOD DAMN JOKE! Tell us what the hell is going on with these servers we pay for.
I do not want 5 free days, I want a server that works and some customer service that is not total crap. You continue to have no clue Blizzard. Any one with a brain can read the boards and see how pissed players are and their constant complaints on how you treat your customers. Obviously you do not give a crap what your customers think, since you continue to ignore us.
Also you still never bother to answer why the same 20 servers are down. We get answers like the down times are not releated. BS, we are not that dumb. When the same servers have the same problems at the same time over and over and over and over and over it is petty obvious that they are related.
Quit lying to us about everything and start having some customer service. No wonder the Better Business Bureau gave you a F rating, that rating is way too high in my book. Thanks for nothing to the people who post on these fourms from Blizzard. You have no value to these boards and pretty much no useful information ever.
Here is to the worst customer service company in the world.
SK - Frostwolf
WoW General Discussion -
Well here we go again. It has been 15 hours since we have gotten any update on Frostwolf. Here is the quote from Blizzard, "We’ll do our best to provide you with constant updates throughout the maintenance period." So your best in no updates for 15 hours?!?!!? What is your idea of constant updates?!?!? Your customer service is a GOD DAMN JOKE! Tell us what the hell is going on with these servers we pay for.
I do not want 5 free days, I want a server that works and some customer service that is not total crap. You continue to have no clue Blizzard. Any one with a brain can read the boards and see how pissed players are and their constant complaints on how you treat your customers. Obviously you do not give a crap what your customers think, since you continue to ignore us.
Also you still never bother to answer why the same 20 servers are down. We get answers like the down times are not releated. BS, we are not that dumb. When the same servers have the same problems at the same time over and over and over and over and over it is petty obvious that they are related.
Quit lying to us about everything and start having some customer service. No wonder the Better Business Bureau gave you a F rating, that rating is way too high in my book. Thanks for nothing to the people who post on these fourms from Blizzard. You have no value to these boards and pretty much no useful information ever.
Here is to the worst customer service company in the world.
SK - Frostwolf
WoW General Discussion -
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Are YOU a casual gamer? | 3/10/2005 7:56:56 AM PST
(I'm jealous!! - Marc)
How does one know what is casual?
I am a 35 year old professional male with a wife and 3 children (11,4,2). My wife, my 11 year old daughter and I have WoW accounts. I hold down a 50-60 hour a week job (architect) and my wife is completing her Ph.D in English. We don't play until late in the evening or on weekends due to having two small children that need lots of attention.
This leaves our play time as 8-11 during the week and a bit more on the weekends.
My characters are level: 51, 50, 41, 34, 24, 21, 20 + 10 (w/ 2 mules)
My wifes characters are level: 51, 40, 34, 30, 18 + 14 (w/ rest mules)
My daughter has a level 37 rogue and 21 warlock.
We have been playing rather rountinely since the second week of retail... its also very enjoyable and interesting to quest with my daughter as we don't like "bored games" and such. Chess here and there and WoW.
Are we casual given the <3 hour per day investment?
I would love to be involved in the new PvP system and typically spend weekend nights in SS or Ashenvale "challanging the !@!#&d."
Input?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Architect
WoW General Discussion -
How does one know what is casual?
I am a 35 year old professional male with a wife and 3 children (11,4,2). My wife, my 11 year old daughter and I have WoW accounts. I hold down a 50-60 hour a week job (architect) and my wife is completing her Ph.D in English. We don't play until late in the evening or on weekends due to having two small children that need lots of attention.
This leaves our play time as 8-11 during the week and a bit more on the weekends.
My characters are level: 51, 50, 41, 34, 24, 21, 20 + 10 (w/ 2 mules)
My wifes characters are level: 51, 40, 34, 30, 18 + 14 (w/ rest mules)
My daughter has a level 37 rogue and 21 warlock.
We have been playing rather rountinely since the second week of retail... its also very enjoyable and interesting to quest with my daughter as we don't like "bored games" and such. Chess here and there and WoW.
Are we casual given the <3 hour per day investment?
I would love to be involved in the new PvP system and typically spend weekend nights in SS or Ashenvale "challanging the !@!#&d."
Input?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Architect
WoW General Discussion -
Bud Light Salutes You...Mr. Server Technician
Bud Light Presents: Real Men of Genius
(real men of genius)
Today we salute you, Blizzard's Server Technician
(Blizzard's Server Technician)
Any Technician can work through the night to provide their customers with addequate support, but you choose to sit on the couch.
(Sit on the couch)
Perched in your warm soft recliner you watch re-runs of I Love Lucy while, your servers crash faster than duck with one wing.
(Duck with one wing)
Time for work? No it's only 2pm.
(2pm)
And although thousand's of people are without service, you decide to fix your toilet seat so it stops sweaking.
(Sweaking toilet seat)
So crack open an ice-cold Bud Light, Guardian of Bandwith, because every hour you wait, thousand's have to hear "We apologize for the inconvenience."
(Blizzard's Server Technician)
WoW General Discussion -
(real men of genius)
Today we salute you, Blizzard's Server Technician
(Blizzard's Server Technician)
Any Technician can work through the night to provide their customers with addequate support, but you choose to sit on the couch.
(Sit on the couch)
Perched in your warm soft recliner you watch re-runs of I Love Lucy while, your servers crash faster than duck with one wing.
(Duck with one wing)
Time for work? No it's only 2pm.
(2pm)
And although thousand's of people are without service, you decide to fix your toilet seat so it stops sweaking.
(Sweaking toilet seat)
So crack open an ice-cold Bud Light, Guardian of Bandwith, because every hour you wait, thousand's have to hear "We apologize for the inconvenience."
(Blizzard's Server Technician)
WoW General Discussion -
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Re: gettin gold for mount | 3/9/2005 6:32:49 PM PST
I dont have the answer to your question. Just search the trade menu with light leather and see how it is priced on the AH.
I wouldnt stress about gold for your mount at level 30, because higher level mobs drop stuff worth more. For instance at 40-41 when I was grinding for a mount, level 36-38 turtles at dustwallow dropped stuff worth around 3gp per hour with skinning (not counting the occasional item drops). I got my mount at 41 without borrowing any money.
WoW Priest Discussion -
I dont have the answer to your question. Just search the trade menu with light leather and see how it is priced on the AH.
I wouldnt stress about gold for your mount at level 30, because higher level mobs drop stuff worth more. For instance at 40-41 when I was grinding for a mount, level 36-38 turtles at dustwallow dropped stuff worth around 3gp per hour with skinning (not counting the occasional item drops). I got my mount at 41 without borrowing any money.
WoW Priest Discussion -
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
The Official WoW TeamSpeak Server! | 3/8/2005 6:49:46 PM PST
*This server was created by other companies/individuals that are neither affiliated with nor supported by Blizzard Entertainment.
Please help me make a popular TeamSpeak server. I INVITE ALL WoW players to join and chat with fellow players on my FREE TS Service.
|Features|
- Channels PER Realm!
- Trade Channels, Quest Channels, PER REALM coming soon!
- Users are able to make SUB-Channels in their Realm channels!
- Users are able to make there OWN temp. channels with passwords!
- We use HIGH end GSM 16.4 Kbit codec for CLEAR communication!
- Will be monitored by Admins to insure similar guidelines which are enforced here.
- Permanent Guild channels can be created by e-mail request.
- Much Much more!
*NOTE* Only registered users can create channels. To become a registered user simple select the "self" menu and click "register with server" Then choose a login name and password. Next time you join you will need to select "registered".. type in desired Nickname, and then type in your Login/pw you created. This is done so we can track players who are not following our rules, or causing trouble.
The Client version of Teamspeak can be downloaded @ www.goteamspeak.com There are also intructions there to help new users.
IP TO CONNECT: 216.55.149.181:8767
NO server password to join. First time users please select Anonymous.
I am also looking for some mature WoW players to help Admin this server. Contact me @ wowts@hosting.ryzama.com
A website will be coming soon where I will post some guidelines and rules! For now there are 2 main rules for everyone to follow!
#1 Respect other players
#2 Since TS does not allow for temp. sub-channels. We ask you do not create multiple channels. Found doing this can result in a ban. Channel clearing (deleting all user created sub-channels) will occur on a regular basis. To help keep things organized!
We are always open for suggestions. This is all new, so please email us (wowts@hosting.ryzama.com)! Also not EVERYTHING is set up, and I will continue to improve this service!
As for everyone else! Join, idle, bring your friends. Spread the word!
Enjoy!
IP TO CONNECT: 216.55.149.181:8767
Specs for you Tech Junkies.
|Server|
Located in USA Californa DataCenter.
Internet Backbone Providers: XO, TimeWarner, Level(3), ICG Communications, AT&T, SGI, MCI, Williams, Sony, SBC.
The server is connected to these Backbone Providers via fully redundant, Telco grade core- and edge- routers from Cisco.
Dual 2.4GHz Xeon w/ 4+ Gigs of DDR ram provides the box for the TeamSpeak server.
IP TO CONNECT: 216.55.149.181:8767
WoW General Discussion -
*This server was created by other companies/individuals that are neither affiliated with nor supported by Blizzard Entertainment.
Please help me make a popular TeamSpeak server. I INVITE ALL WoW players to join and chat with fellow players on my FREE TS Service.
|Features|
- Channels PER Realm!
- Trade Channels, Quest Channels, PER REALM coming soon!
- Users are able to make SUB-Channels in their Realm channels!
- Users are able to make there OWN temp. channels with passwords!
- We use HIGH end GSM 16.4 Kbit codec for CLEAR communication!
- Will be monitored by Admins to insure similar guidelines which are enforced here.
- Permanent Guild channels can be created by e-mail request.
- Much Much more!
*NOTE* Only registered users can create channels. To become a registered user simple select the "self" menu and click "register with server" Then choose a login name and password. Next time you join you will need to select "registered".. type in desired Nickname, and then type in your Login/pw you created. This is done so we can track players who are not following our rules, or causing trouble.
The Client version of Teamspeak can be downloaded @ www.goteamspeak.com There are also intructions there to help new users.
IP TO CONNECT: 216.55.149.181:8767
NO server password to join. First time users please select Anonymous.
I am also looking for some mature WoW players to help Admin this server. Contact me @ wowts@hosting.ryzama.com
A website will be coming soon where I will post some guidelines and rules! For now there are 2 main rules for everyone to follow!
#1 Respect other players
#2 Since TS does not allow for temp. sub-channels. We ask you do not create multiple channels. Found doing this can result in a ban. Channel clearing (deleting all user created sub-channels) will occur on a regular basis. To help keep things organized!
We are always open for suggestions. This is all new, so please email us (wowts@hosting.ryzama.com)! Also not EVERYTHING is set up, and I will continue to improve this service!
As for everyone else! Join, idle, bring your friends. Spread the word!
Enjoy!
IP TO CONNECT: 216.55.149.181:8767
Specs for you Tech Junkies.
|Server|
Located in USA Californa DataCenter.
Internet Backbone Providers: XO, TimeWarner, Level(3), ICG Communications, AT&T, SGI, MCI, Williams, Sony, SBC.
The server is connected to these Backbone Providers via fully redundant, Telco grade core- and edge- routers from Cisco.
Dual 2.4GHz Xeon w/ 4+ Gigs of DDR ram provides the box for the TeamSpeak server.
IP TO CONNECT: 216.55.149.181:8767
WoW General Discussion -
Helping you help your priest... | 3/6/2005 10:51:54 PM PST
The frist rule of thumb for non priests in a group with a priest:
1.) When a priest draws aggro from healing the group, the closest person to the priest stops whatever they are doing and gets the aggro off of the priest ASAP.
This may sound detrimental to your success as an individual combatant within the group, but the truth is that if you do not use this rule of thumb, it will more than likey be you and the groups down fall.
This is due to the fact that if the priest has to spend his mana healing himself, and conentrate his thoughts on his own aggro, he is NOT able to heal you, or anyone else in the group. Therefore you all die!
The second rule of thumb:
2.) Give your priest time to refill his mana pool back up after a rough battle.
If you go running ahead before you do this, you run the risk of getting the group killed, because the priest will not have enough mana built back up to handle any hairy situations that may arise from the next battle.
The third rule of thumb:
3.) Give any mana potions and such to the priest as you gather them while in the group. Unless you need them more at that time for some reason, the priest will more than likely need them allot more than anyone else in the group.
The fourth rule of thumb:
4.) Make sure you do not split up and go different directions, or go behind walls/pillars when you can help it.
This is a major bane for the priest. We can not heal you if you are not in line of sight.
We can not heal you if you are not with the rest of the group, in a different room somewhere getting yourself killed.
The fifth rule of thumb:
5.) Give your priest the benefit of the doubt. Do not be demanding of them to heal you when YOU think you need it.
He/she's whole role in life is to heal you and the rest of the group. Trust me, they usually know exactly what they are doing.
If you are running low, and they have not healed you yet, there may be some reason as to why. Look at the obvious before becoming demanding, thinking that they are not healing you on purpose for some reason.
If the priest sucks, then by all means stay on his/her arse about it.
The sixth rule of thumb:
6.) Try and play the role that your character is supposed to play within the group.
In other words, make sure the tanks are tanking, and everyone else that is drawing aggro knows how to control it by giving it back to the tanks.
Obviously we will not always have that ideal group, but once you decide who is going to do what, try and stick with this, as it makes everyones job that much easier on everyone else.
The seventh rule of thumb:
7.) Shamans, duids and Paladins are NOT priests!
By this I mean that if there is a priest in your group, they should be the MAIN healer, and all others that can heal, should become secondary healers to the priest.
This will save everyone involved mana, and a lot of confusion.
The eighth rule of thumb:
8.) Do not blame a group getting wiped on the priest.
It is very rarely due to the priest not doing their jobs.
More than likely the reason everyone got wiped was due to something I already mentioned in this post, and had nothing to with the priests ability to perform their duties as a priest.
Please look at yourself and the actual things that lead up to the wipe, rather than just blindly blaming the priest for the wipe every time.
The nineth rule of thumb:
9.) When you are out running around leveling solo out there, and see a priest running around alone... Invite them to join with you to help them level. They are secretly hoping you will.
I only say this because I do not think most people realize just how hard it is to level a priest solo.
We actually need to group with as many people as possible, as often as possible. This is because we not only need to practice doing our job in group environments on the way up, but we also most defintely need the help to level ourselves as well.
I promise you that when you bring a priest along with you, you will not only make them very happy, but you will be able to level twice as fast just having one with you.
The tenth rule of thumb:
10.) Pay attention to your pets, and do not always expect the priest to be able to watch them for you.
Your pets can inadvertantly draw a lot of unwanted aggro if you do not pay close attention to them within group environments.
We are not able to see your pets health, unless we scroll over it.
We will always give higher priority to the "Players" in the group, before even looking at your pets.
It is not a bad idea to let the priest know that your pet needs a heal from time to time, if you notice that he is a priest that is not watching your pet automatically. Just try to be polite whenever you ask.
Rules for priests to be mindfull of:
1.) When you draw aggro, and the group is right there with you, DO NOT MOVE AROUND!
Moving makes it take that much more time to get the aggro off of you. DO NOT MOVE and they can take it off of you pretty easily.
Every time you take even one step, the aggro will follow you first, then hit you, then have a chance to be taken off you by another group member.
The only reason to move when you do draw aggro, is to make sure the rest of the group knows that you have aggro, and that they need to take it off of you. At this point, just get as close to the group members as possible, so they do not have to move to far to get them off of you.
2.) Stay kinda close to the group, but not so close that you draw the aggro before the tanks and people who should be.
This way nothing came come from behind and suprise you, therefore causing you to have to run into the group to get it off of you.
3.) If there is a warlock in the group, have them give you a soul orb, so you can rez yourself if you die. This way you can still rez everyone in the group if everyone dies.
WoW General Discussion -
The frist rule of thumb for non priests in a group with a priest:
1.) When a priest draws aggro from healing the group, the closest person to the priest stops whatever they are doing and gets the aggro off of the priest ASAP.
This may sound detrimental to your success as an individual combatant within the group, but the truth is that if you do not use this rule of thumb, it will more than likey be you and the groups down fall.
This is due to the fact that if the priest has to spend his mana healing himself, and conentrate his thoughts on his own aggro, he is NOT able to heal you, or anyone else in the group. Therefore you all die!
The second rule of thumb:
2.) Give your priest time to refill his mana pool back up after a rough battle.
If you go running ahead before you do this, you run the risk of getting the group killed, because the priest will not have enough mana built back up to handle any hairy situations that may arise from the next battle.
The third rule of thumb:
3.) Give any mana potions and such to the priest as you gather them while in the group. Unless you need them more at that time for some reason, the priest will more than likely need them allot more than anyone else in the group.
The fourth rule of thumb:
4.) Make sure you do not split up and go different directions, or go behind walls/pillars when you can help it.
This is a major bane for the priest. We can not heal you if you are not in line of sight.
We can not heal you if you are not with the rest of the group, in a different room somewhere getting yourself killed.
The fifth rule of thumb:
5.) Give your priest the benefit of the doubt. Do not be demanding of them to heal you when YOU think you need it.
He/she's whole role in life is to heal you and the rest of the group. Trust me, they usually know exactly what they are doing.
If you are running low, and they have not healed you yet, there may be some reason as to why. Look at the obvious before becoming demanding, thinking that they are not healing you on purpose for some reason.
If the priest sucks, then by all means stay on his/her arse about it.
The sixth rule of thumb:
6.) Try and play the role that your character is supposed to play within the group.
In other words, make sure the tanks are tanking, and everyone else that is drawing aggro knows how to control it by giving it back to the tanks.
Obviously we will not always have that ideal group, but once you decide who is going to do what, try and stick with this, as it makes everyones job that much easier on everyone else.
The seventh rule of thumb:
7.) Shamans, duids and Paladins are NOT priests!
By this I mean that if there is a priest in your group, they should be the MAIN healer, and all others that can heal, should become secondary healers to the priest.
This will save everyone involved mana, and a lot of confusion.
The eighth rule of thumb:
8.) Do not blame a group getting wiped on the priest.
It is very rarely due to the priest not doing their jobs.
More than likely the reason everyone got wiped was due to something I already mentioned in this post, and had nothing to with the priests ability to perform their duties as a priest.
Please look at yourself and the actual things that lead up to the wipe, rather than just blindly blaming the priest for the wipe every time.
The nineth rule of thumb:
9.) When you are out running around leveling solo out there, and see a priest running around alone... Invite them to join with you to help them level. They are secretly hoping you will.
I only say this because I do not think most people realize just how hard it is to level a priest solo.
We actually need to group with as many people as possible, as often as possible. This is because we not only need to practice doing our job in group environments on the way up, but we also most defintely need the help to level ourselves as well.
I promise you that when you bring a priest along with you, you will not only make them very happy, but you will be able to level twice as fast just having one with you.
The tenth rule of thumb:
10.) Pay attention to your pets, and do not always expect the priest to be able to watch them for you.
Your pets can inadvertantly draw a lot of unwanted aggro if you do not pay close attention to them within group environments.
We are not able to see your pets health, unless we scroll over it.
We will always give higher priority to the "Players" in the group, before even looking at your pets.
It is not a bad idea to let the priest know that your pet needs a heal from time to time, if you notice that he is a priest that is not watching your pet automatically. Just try to be polite whenever you ask.
Rules for priests to be mindfull of:
1.) When you draw aggro, and the group is right there with you, DO NOT MOVE AROUND!
Moving makes it take that much more time to get the aggro off of you. DO NOT MOVE and they can take it off of you pretty easily.
Every time you take even one step, the aggro will follow you first, then hit you, then have a chance to be taken off you by another group member.
The only reason to move when you do draw aggro, is to make sure the rest of the group knows that you have aggro, and that they need to take it off of you. At this point, just get as close to the group members as possible, so they do not have to move to far to get them off of you.
2.) Stay kinda close to the group, but not so close that you draw the aggro before the tanks and people who should be.
This way nothing came come from behind and suprise you, therefore causing you to have to run into the group to get it off of you.
3.) If there is a warlock in the group, have them give you a soul orb, so you can rez yourself if you die. This way you can still rez everyone in the group if everyone dies.
WoW General Discussion -
Monday, March 07, 2005
Sunday, March 06, 2005
Friday, March 04, 2005
Thursday, March 03, 2005
I faxed in my eBay Request for Reinstatement again today
since I haven't heard anything from my fax on February the 18th.
eBay recommended that I fax it in again since I didn't hear anything in the 5 - 10 day time frame.
I don't have anything positive to say about Bliizard or VeRO or eBay right now. I am being punished for doing nothing wrong. And, I'm not happy.
eBay recommended that I fax it in again since I didn't hear anything in the 5 - 10 day time frame.
I don't have anything positive to say about Bliizard or VeRO or eBay right now. I am being punished for doing nothing wrong. And, I'm not happy.
Monday, February 28, 2005
Sunday, February 27, 2005
Everquest players can order pizza
Associated Press
NEW YORK - Demonstrating a deep understanding of what its computer-gaming audience really wants, Sony has built the ability to order pizza into its latest online multiplayer game.
Type the command ``/pizza'' while playing Everquest II, a fantasy game with 330,000 active players, and get the Pizza Hut Web site, where you can place orders for delivery.
Chris Kramer, spokesman for Sony Online Entertainment, said he believes this is the first time a game accepts orders for real-world items.
Sony plans to integrate the pizza function more tightly into the game, so players can charge pizza to their monthly game subscription bill.
``The goal for the future is to eventually let people do more things like this,'' Kramer said. ``They could type /harry potter and get the new Harry Potter book delivered or /star wars and get the new Star Wars DVD.''
Many games incorporate ads and product placements, but such opportunities are limited with fantasy games like Everquest.
Though the new pizza feature might satisfy appetites, caution is required as the game doesn't pause while you're ordering.
``You wouldn't want to order pizza in the thick of combat, but anywhere that's safe is a good place,'' said Kramer.
HoustonChronicle.com - Everquest players can order pizza
Associated Press
NEW YORK - Demonstrating a deep understanding of what its computer-gaming audience really wants, Sony has built the ability to order pizza into its latest online multiplayer game.
Type the command ``/pizza'' while playing Everquest II, a fantasy game with 330,000 active players, and get the Pizza Hut Web site, where you can place orders for delivery.
Chris Kramer, spokesman for Sony Online Entertainment, said he believes this is the first time a game accepts orders for real-world items.
Sony plans to integrate the pizza function more tightly into the game, so players can charge pizza to their monthly game subscription bill.
``The goal for the future is to eventually let people do more things like this,'' Kramer said. ``They could type /harry potter and get the new Harry Potter book delivered or /star wars and get the new Star Wars DVD.''
Many games incorporate ads and product placements, but such opportunities are limited with fantasy games like Everquest.
Though the new pizza feature might satisfy appetites, caution is required as the game doesn't pause while you're ordering.
``You wouldn't want to order pizza in the thick of combat, but anywhere that's safe is a good place,'' said Kramer.
HoustonChronicle.com - Everquest players can order pizza
Pilot, a lvl 1 gnome warrior on Whisperwind wrote -
"Yeah, theesa.com (evidently their VeRO watchdog) is going through and reporting any auction that even mentions World of Warcraft. This includes perfectly legit auctions, like for the Collectors Edition box set.
I was trying to sell my Collectors Edition set and it got yanked on the very last day of a 7 day auction, for intellectual rights/piracy VeRO claims. Neither they or eBay has contacted me back within a week though, they must know they screwed up big time (they have no legal ownership claims to my collectors edition box set.) If I was rich I would sue them for wrecking my sale and perjuring themself with the VeRO claim."
WoW General Discussion -
"Yeah, theesa.com (evidently their VeRO watchdog) is going through and reporting any auction that even mentions World of Warcraft. This includes perfectly legit auctions, like for the Collectors Edition box set.
I was trying to sell my Collectors Edition set and it got yanked on the very last day of a 7 day auction, for intellectual rights/piracy VeRO claims. Neither they or eBay has contacted me back within a week though, they must know they screwed up big time (they have no legal ownership claims to my collectors edition box set.) If I was rich I would sue them for wrecking my sale and perjuring themself with the VeRO claim."
WoW General Discussion -
I really enjoy this game but Blizzard sucks!
My eBay account still has not been re-activated for selling brand-new, sealed copies of WoW!
eBay item 8172443576 (Ends Mar-01-05 13:57:36 PST) - AUCTION CANCLED. BLIZZARD DELETED MY ACCOUNT :(
My eBay account still has not been re-activated for selling brand-new, sealed copies of WoW!
eBay item 8172443576 (Ends Mar-01-05 13:57:36 PST) - AUCTION CANCLED. BLIZZARD DELETED MY ACCOUNT :(
Saturday, February 26, 2005
Friday, February 25, 2005
19. Re: What is the weakest class in all of WOW? | 2/25/2005 9:44:12 AM PST
well it depends on if ur looking at pvp, pve, or both, or group pve or group pvp or all 4.... some classes excel some dont in some aspects
but OVERALL? thats near the top in all aspects of the game? heres my opinion in order of strongest to weakest
Paladin: Great at solo PvE, kills slow but can rarely die if played by a non-retard, great solo PvP, can outlast anyone if played smart, great group PvE, tank, rez, heals, plate, etc, Mediocre group PvP, no range and low dps
Shaman: Great at solo PvE, great at solo PvP, great at group PvE, great at group PvP, doesnt have utility of paladin though, crappy rez, not as high tank, but higher dps and has ranged
Priest: Mediocre at solo PvE, awsome at solo PvP(best if played correctly), great at group PvP, REQUIRED for group PvE
Rogue: Great at solo PvE, high dodge, lots of 'get away' abilities, high single target damage. Great at solo PvP, below mediocre at group PvE, good at group PvP, stun lock + group = dead before unstunned
Mage: Good at solo PvE not great though, downtime, Great at solo PvP, best at kiting and/or running away. REQUIRED for group PvE, dominate group PvP
Hunter: Best solo PvE, good solo PvP against some classes, mediocre at group PvE, great at group PvP(can stay at range and devestate enemies when not targeted)
Warlock: good solo PvE, mediocre solo PvP, above average for group PvE(AoE), great group PvP, DoTs 4tw
Druid: Okay solo PvE, okay solo PvP, okay in group PvE, below average group PvP
Warrior: below average solo PvE, below average solo PvP, REQUIRED group PvE, below average group PvP
WoW General Discussion -: "1602108"
well it depends on if ur looking at pvp, pve, or both, or group pve or group pvp or all 4.... some classes excel some dont in some aspects
but OVERALL? thats near the top in all aspects of the game? heres my opinion in order of strongest to weakest
Paladin: Great at solo PvE, kills slow but can rarely die if played by a non-retard, great solo PvP, can outlast anyone if played smart, great group PvE, tank, rez, heals, plate, etc, Mediocre group PvP, no range and low dps
Shaman: Great at solo PvE, great at solo PvP, great at group PvE, great at group PvP, doesnt have utility of paladin though, crappy rez, not as high tank, but higher dps and has ranged
Priest: Mediocre at solo PvE, awsome at solo PvP(best if played correctly), great at group PvP, REQUIRED for group PvE
Rogue: Great at solo PvE, high dodge, lots of 'get away' abilities, high single target damage. Great at solo PvP, below mediocre at group PvE, good at group PvP, stun lock + group = dead before unstunned
Mage: Good at solo PvE not great though, downtime, Great at solo PvP, best at kiting and/or running away. REQUIRED for group PvE, dominate group PvP
Hunter: Best solo PvE, good solo PvP against some classes, mediocre at group PvE, great at group PvP(can stay at range and devestate enemies when not targeted)
Warlock: good solo PvE, mediocre solo PvP, above average for group PvE(AoE), great group PvP, DoTs 4tw
Druid: Okay solo PvE, okay solo PvP, okay in group PvE, below average group PvP
Warrior: below average solo PvE, below average solo PvP, REQUIRED group PvE, below average group PvP
WoW General Discussion -: "1602108"
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Friday, February 18, 2005
I just faxed eBay my Request for Reinstatement.
SCREW YOU BLIZZARD!!!!!
I was selling brand-new, sealed copies of World of Warcraft.
These DO NOT fall under eBay's Prohibited, Questionable and Infringing Items guidelines which do not want you selling academic, beta or OEM software.
SCREW YOU eBay and SCREW YOU BLIZZARD!!!
I did NOTHING wrong.
Get the impression that this upsets me? Good!
I was selling brand-new, sealed copies of World of Warcraft.
These DO NOT fall under eBay's Prohibited, Questionable and Infringing Items guidelines which do not want you selling academic, beta or OEM software.
SCREW YOU eBay and SCREW YOU BLIZZARD!!!
I did NOTHING wrong.
Get the impression that this upsets me? Good!
Thursday, February 17, 2005
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Skullsplitter Trolls a Good Gold Grind? | 2/16/2005 10:23:51 AM PST
Same old sob story. I’m 8 “bubbles” from 40 and am trying to gather my mount money together. I have 40 gold in the bank and have neglected my training, am wearing rags , yadda, yadda, yadda.. . .
Based on what I’ve heard elsewhere, I headed to Stranglethorn Vale to grind for gold for a level, and I’m wondering if I’m in the right place. I set up shop at the highest level non-Elite humanoids in that zone, the Skullsplitter Trolls. I’ve avoided the orange-con Trolls (and frankly the level 42 Beastmasters kick my keester), but am hunting everything else in the camp.
I’ve killed maybe 100 Skullsplitter Trolls and my income rate is a lot lower than I expected. Most of the Trolls drop less than a silver per kill (which is likely because they are hunted so heavily). And the drop rates on other stuff also seems real poor to me. I have looted only 1 piece of rare armor, which unfortunately was cloth with a spirit bonus so it will only sell for a low amount at a merchant. Except for Troll Sweets, (at a 25% drop rate for 70 copper sweet this isn’t much help), the junk loot drops have been non-existant (which may just be bad luck).
So here are my questions:
1. I believe that cash drops increase the longer an NPC is around. Thus, someplace which is frequently hunted has lower cash drops. Can anyone confirm this theory. Does this also affect loot drops or did I just have a bad run of luck;
2. Has anyone found a better place for soloers to farm cash? (I have only a limited amount time to to play this week and then mostly at odd hours
3. How much of the income from the Trolls is derived from the sale of Wildvine? Is this why this is a popular camp? And what do these sell for at most auction houses? Also, is there another drop like the wildvine I should be on the lookout for from these Trolls that sell much better at the AH than the merchant?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"You DO look an awful lot like a rainbow trout"
2. Re: Skullsplitter Trolls a Good Gold Grind? | 2/16/2005 10:32:43 AM PST
For grinding, finding mobs that are 2-3 levels beneath you is better, as killing things quick is more important than killing tougher things with chances for more loot.
The only real thing of value those trolls drop is Wildvine, which, depending on which server you're on, can fetch anywhere from 50s-2g each. But it's not a frequent enough drop to make it worth the effort.
You'd probably have a much better go at ones that drop cloth routinely, like the Bloodsail pirates, or the various centaurs in Desolace, which are very plentiful, respawn often, are spread out for good grinding, and are about the right level for you. Stacks of silk go for 50-60s, and mageweave will go for 90s-1g50s depending on your server. It'll only take 10-12 kills to make a stack, plus you're netting the silver and odd greens they'll drop too. Far more effective grind than those stinkin' trolls.
And don't get yourself thinking you have to have the gold ready when you ding 40.. I didn't get my mount 'til 42 or 43. I thought it was more appropriate to buy my level 40 spells, which were quite a step up from the ones I had. But that's your call.
WoW Gameplay Discussion -: "1431361"
Same old sob story. I’m 8 “bubbles” from 40 and am trying to gather my mount money together. I have 40 gold in the bank and have neglected my training, am wearing rags , yadda, yadda, yadda.. . .
Based on what I’ve heard elsewhere, I headed to Stranglethorn Vale to grind for gold for a level, and I’m wondering if I’m in the right place. I set up shop at the highest level non-Elite humanoids in that zone, the Skullsplitter Trolls. I’ve avoided the orange-con Trolls (and frankly the level 42 Beastmasters kick my keester), but am hunting everything else in the camp.
I’ve killed maybe 100 Skullsplitter Trolls and my income rate is a lot lower than I expected. Most of the Trolls drop less than a silver per kill (which is likely because they are hunted so heavily). And the drop rates on other stuff also seems real poor to me. I have looted only 1 piece of rare armor, which unfortunately was cloth with a spirit bonus so it will only sell for a low amount at a merchant. Except for Troll Sweets, (at a 25% drop rate for 70 copper sweet this isn’t much help), the junk loot drops have been non-existant (which may just be bad luck).
So here are my questions:
1. I believe that cash drops increase the longer an NPC is around. Thus, someplace which is frequently hunted has lower cash drops. Can anyone confirm this theory. Does this also affect loot drops or did I just have a bad run of luck;
2. Has anyone found a better place for soloers to farm cash? (I have only a limited amount time to to play this week and then mostly at odd hours
3. How much of the income from the Trolls is derived from the sale of Wildvine? Is this why this is a popular camp? And what do these sell for at most auction houses? Also, is there another drop like the wildvine I should be on the lookout for from these Trolls that sell much better at the AH than the merchant?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"You DO look an awful lot like a rainbow trout"
2. Re: Skullsplitter Trolls a Good Gold Grind? | 2/16/2005 10:32:43 AM PST
For grinding, finding mobs that are 2-3 levels beneath you is better, as killing things quick is more important than killing tougher things with chances for more loot.
The only real thing of value those trolls drop is Wildvine, which, depending on which server you're on, can fetch anywhere from 50s-2g each. But it's not a frequent enough drop to make it worth the effort.
You'd probably have a much better go at ones that drop cloth routinely, like the Bloodsail pirates, or the various centaurs in Desolace, which are very plentiful, respawn often, are spread out for good grinding, and are about the right level for you. Stacks of silk go for 50-60s, and mageweave will go for 90s-1g50s depending on your server. It'll only take 10-12 kills to make a stack, plus you're netting the silver and odd greens they'll drop too. Far more effective grind than those stinkin' trolls.
And don't get yourself thinking you have to have the gold ready when you ding 40.. I didn't get my mount 'til 42 or 43. I thought it was more appropriate to buy my level 40 spells, which were quite a step up from the ones I had. But that's your call.
WoW Gameplay Discussion -: "1431361"
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Monday, February 14, 2005
Blizzard - World of Warcraft - eBay Account Suspended
For selling brand new, sealed copies of WoW on eBay.
This is wrong, wrong, wrong.
This is wrong, wrong, wrong.
Saturday, February 12, 2005
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
But...
I honestly found that cosmos gave me no extra lag, or spam and if your worried about bugs, I only ran into about 2 a week...not many.
A replacement for reloging-just do /console reloadui does everything a relog does 'cept kick you outa the game for a minute.
Even though cosmos gave no etra lag i decided to look for a different one, and i find taht CTmod is better, just a better setup imo. Cosmos is not for everyone, such as gypsy isn't for everyone, playstyle, i think theres about 3 or 4 major ones:
Gypsy---http://gypsymod.the-mad.net/
Cosmos---http://www.cosmosui.org/
CTmod---(forgot the URL)
Flex Bar---(Never used but it seems a good amount use it)
Go to the UI forums and do a search for em, im sure it wont be hard to find the URL.
WoW Gameplay Discussion -
I honestly found that cosmos gave me no extra lag, or spam and if your worried about bugs, I only ran into about 2 a week...not many.
A replacement for reloging-just do /console reloadui does everything a relog does 'cept kick you outa the game for a minute.
Even though cosmos gave no etra lag i decided to look for a different one, and i find taht CTmod is better, just a better setup imo. Cosmos is not for everyone, such as gypsy isn't for everyone, playstyle, i think theres about 3 or 4 major ones:
Gypsy---http://gypsymod.the-mad.net/
Cosmos---http://www.cosmosui.org/
CTmod---(forgot the URL)
Flex Bar---(Never used but it seems a good amount use it)
Go to the UI forums and do a search for em, im sure it wont be hard to find the URL.
WoW Gameplay Discussion -
1. Why everyone should install Cosmos. | 2/9/2005 6:33:31 PM PST
Hi, I realize this is general discussion, but I'm working on writing a basic description of Cosmos that can be understood by everyone. (Not just those who already understand how to install and utilize add-ons)
I hope this serves to help some people, and the writing will get better as I begin to revise it. Anyway, enjoy.
It's viewable in its intended form here:
http://www.mixmastery.com/mine/images/cosmos/cosmos.htm
I've replaced images with links for better understanding.
-------------------------------------------------
If you are committing $14.95 per month to play World of Warcraft, there is no possible excuse for not installing Cosmos. Cosmos is a bundled package of the best interface add-ons created for WoW to date. Please listen: This page is designed to act as a basic product description of the Cosmos add-on in order to provide any WoW player access to the same tool which is nearly indispensable to any power gamer.
Why bother? This site will cover the most basic features of cosmos which may significantly enhance your gameplay immediately after the simple installation.
First, you should know:
o Blizzard has specifically designed their interface to accommodate interface add-ons. Taken directly off the interface customization forum sticky:
“The interface of World of Warcraft is built from XML files which describe the look and layout, and lua files which contain scripting functionality. This document is a short introduction into modifying these files to customize your interface. Customizing the interface is a very technical endeavor, and you should not attempt it unless you have a good working knowledge of XML and Lua.
There is no official support for modifying the WoW interface. If you break it, you get to keep both pieces. :)”
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-interface-customization&t=2619&p=1&tmp=1#post2619
o It is important to realize that add-ons are LEGAL, and may (occasionally) cause problems in gameplay.
o Add-ons are different from third-party programs. Add-ons are basically scripts that are run by warcraft at the start of the program. They are not fully fledged applications running simultaneously to WoW.
o Cosmos DOES NOT cause a significant decrease in system performance.
WHAT IT IS:
Cosmos is a bundle of add-ons. You may have heard the word add-on before but not understood the exact meaning or utility of such a device. Add-ons can serve a wide range of purposes by utilizing a limited amount of access to public variables created by World of Warcraft. The range of purposes add-ons can serve is vast and overwhelming, and can intimidate players who may not possess the technical prowess or time needed to study, choose, or develop add-ons which may benefit their style of play.
Cosmos attempts to cut on these factors by providing an easy installation and pre-selection of the most essential add-ons created. The entire installation process consists of running a single .exe file available for download from this site: http://www.cosmosui.org/cosmos/ . In addition Cosmos comes with an automatic patch system which seamlessly updates the add-on to the newest version compiled on a near daily basis. This keeps Cosmos up to date with the newest essential add-ons and provides an easy way of keeping it as reliable as possible. There is virtually no chance that Cosmos can damage your system as it is thoroughly tested and updated on a regular basis.
HOW IT BENEFITS YOU:
I present to you: Cosmos
http://www.mixmastery.com/mine/images/Cosmos/bigscreen.jpg
http://www.mixmastery.com/mine/images/Cosmos/screen3.jpg
Notice the highlighted parts of the display.
These are the most noticeable enhancements commonly attributed to a cosmos interface.
All of the highlighted items are optional components which may be enabled and disabled using the main cosmos interface.
It is important to note that the interface can be customized to your liking using a variety of cosmos options. Many of these enhancements will not be enabled after installing cosmos and you may have to play with the configurations to reach your personal optimal settings.
I have to stress here that Cosmos is a bundle of different add-ons. You won’t use, or have any idea how to use a fair majority of them. Nearly all users of Cosmos have only a basic understanding of the main features which directly provide benefit to them.
Do not be intimidated by the amount of add-ons and customizations available within the program. All of them can be left alone or disabled.
To this end, many players complain that Cosmos is too bloated and complicated to be of any use. It may be true that it contains a large number of useless add-ons, but it is also important to realize that there are a number of subtle features which are automatically enabled and require no customization.
…For instance, Quick Loot.
Quick Loot automatically positions the loot frame to force the cursor over the first item available for looting. As you click on loot, the frame repositions itself to the next available loot. This allows for incredibly faster looting. In addition, once you’ve rapidly snagged everything, Quick Loot closes the window automatically. It’s impossible to describe how handy this feature is without trying it firsthand. Basically, the images below are attempting to show the process by which looting is reduced to a series of four clicks.
(one right click on the corpse, then 3 left clicks on the desired loot)
http://www.mixmastery.com/mine/images/Cosmos/inven1.jpg http://www.mixmastery.com/mine/images/Cosmos/inven2.jpg
http://www.mixmastery.com/mine/images/Cosmos/inven3.jpg
Paging is also enabled when Cosmos is installed. Although fairly worthless, it is a fun feature which is worth learning. You can only page other Cosmos users. Fortunately, cosmos includes a handy way of determining who is using cosmos. Look carefully:
http://www.mixmastery.com/mine/images/Cosmos/argus.jpg
http://www.mixmastery.com/mine/images/Cosmos/page.jpg
…Your party members will have a signature Cosmos icon by their avatar’s icon if they have installed Cosmos.
..If you want to page Augus, you simply type /page Augus heyyy.
This will sprawl bright red letters across his screen and make a startling sound.
Also important to note in the above image is the proximity of Augus’ name to my main health meter. Cosmos enables party member windows to be dragged to where you want them. This is especially handy in designing a more efficient and clean layout.
Also worthy of note is the fact that by default Cosmos users can see the level of high level characters. ?? is replaced by an actual number. It is surprising how useful this information is in situations where you need to request help from the local defense channel.
Extras - Advanced:
You may have noticed the same cosmos icon in the above image near the map in the first image.
http://www.mixmastery.com/mine/images/Cosmos/map.jpg
Clicking on this icon brings up the main cosmos interface.
Here we begin to see the ‘bloat’.
http://www.mixmastery.com/mine/images/Cosmos/bloat.jpg
All you need to be concerned about here is the cosmos configure button located in the upper left corner and the Key Bindings button beneath it.
The additional buttons relate to features developed by the cosmos team which may, or may not be of immediate interest to you.
http://www.mixmastery.com/mine/images/Cosmos/cosmos.jpg
This is the main configuration interface for the many add-ons encompassed by Cosmos.
Do not panic.
To start, you want to look into enabling and configuring the Clock, Quest Minion, PopBar, SideBar, and SecondBar.
These are the most essential add-ons that will provide you the greatest benefit.
This page will focus on showing the benefits of using the Clock and Quest Minion, and leave the rest of Cosmos’ many advantages left for you to discover.
Behold The Clock:
http://www.mixmastery.com/mine/images/Cosmos/clock.jpg
Once enabling the clock, you have access to information pertaining to how fast you are leveling if you hover your mouse over it. This helps in determining the best places to go for experience and how long it will take you to reach your next level. The clock itself is draggable around the interface, and can be configured to show different formats of time.
…The Quest Minion
http://www.mixmastery.com/mine/images/Cosmos/quest.jpg
The log shows the level of quests and brings up a tiny window on the main screen displaying the status of quest objectives as they become accomplished. This helps to save time by not having to keep checking the quest log repeatedly to see if you have completed a quest. In addition, the level approximations provide a better sense of what quests you are able to accomplish at your current level.
Extra Bars:
This page will not detail in how to customize extra bars, as it really is a matter of experimentation and preference. However it is important to realize that the keybindings window has expanded by Cosmos to allow for the extra buttons to be bound to specific keys.
http://www.mixmastery.com/mine/images/Cosmos/bindings.jpg
17. Re: Why everyone should install Cosmos. | 2/9/2005 6:54:42 PM PST
Switched from Cosmos to CTMod. Never looked back. Only feature I miss is the in-game clock.
WoW Gameplay Discussion -: "1306068"
Hi, I realize this is general discussion, but I'm working on writing a basic description of Cosmos that can be understood by everyone. (Not just those who already understand how to install and utilize add-ons)
I hope this serves to help some people, and the writing will get better as I begin to revise it. Anyway, enjoy.
It's viewable in its intended form here:
http://www.mixmastery.com/mine/images/cosmos/cosmos.htm
I've replaced images with links for better understanding.
-------------------------------------------------
If you are committing $14.95 per month to play World of Warcraft, there is no possible excuse for not installing Cosmos. Cosmos is a bundled package of the best interface add-ons created for WoW to date. Please listen: This page is designed to act as a basic product description of the Cosmos add-on in order to provide any WoW player access to the same tool which is nearly indispensable to any power gamer.
Why bother? This site will cover the most basic features of cosmos which may significantly enhance your gameplay immediately after the simple installation.
First, you should know:
o Blizzard has specifically designed their interface to accommodate interface add-ons. Taken directly off the interface customization forum sticky:
“The interface of World of Warcraft is built from XML files which describe the look and layout, and lua files which contain scripting functionality. This document is a short introduction into modifying these files to customize your interface. Customizing the interface is a very technical endeavor, and you should not attempt it unless you have a good working knowledge of XML and Lua.
There is no official support for modifying the WoW interface. If you break it, you get to keep both pieces. :)”
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-interface-customization&t=2619&p=1&tmp=1#post2619
o It is important to realize that add-ons are LEGAL, and may (occasionally) cause problems in gameplay.
o Add-ons are different from third-party programs. Add-ons are basically scripts that are run by warcraft at the start of the program. They are not fully fledged applications running simultaneously to WoW.
o Cosmos DOES NOT cause a significant decrease in system performance.
WHAT IT IS:
Cosmos is a bundle of add-ons. You may have heard the word add-on before but not understood the exact meaning or utility of such a device. Add-ons can serve a wide range of purposes by utilizing a limited amount of access to public variables created by World of Warcraft. The range of purposes add-ons can serve is vast and overwhelming, and can intimidate players who may not possess the technical prowess or time needed to study, choose, or develop add-ons which may benefit their style of play.
Cosmos attempts to cut on these factors by providing an easy installation and pre-selection of the most essential add-ons created. The entire installation process consists of running a single .exe file available for download from this site: http://www.cosmosui.org/cosmos/ . In addition Cosmos comes with an automatic patch system which seamlessly updates the add-on to the newest version compiled on a near daily basis. This keeps Cosmos up to date with the newest essential add-ons and provides an easy way of keeping it as reliable as possible. There is virtually no chance that Cosmos can damage your system as it is thoroughly tested and updated on a regular basis.
HOW IT BENEFITS YOU:
I present to you: Cosmos
http://www.mixmastery.com/mine/images/Cosmos/bigscreen.jpg
http://www.mixmastery.com/mine/images/Cosmos/screen3.jpg
Notice the highlighted parts of the display.
These are the most noticeable enhancements commonly attributed to a cosmos interface.
All of the highlighted items are optional components which may be enabled and disabled using the main cosmos interface.
It is important to note that the interface can be customized to your liking using a variety of cosmos options. Many of these enhancements will not be enabled after installing cosmos and you may have to play with the configurations to reach your personal optimal settings.
I have to stress here that Cosmos is a bundle of different add-ons. You won’t use, or have any idea how to use a fair majority of them. Nearly all users of Cosmos have only a basic understanding of the main features which directly provide benefit to them.
Do not be intimidated by the amount of add-ons and customizations available within the program. All of them can be left alone or disabled.
To this end, many players complain that Cosmos is too bloated and complicated to be of any use. It may be true that it contains a large number of useless add-ons, but it is also important to realize that there are a number of subtle features which are automatically enabled and require no customization.
…For instance, Quick Loot.
Quick Loot automatically positions the loot frame to force the cursor over the first item available for looting. As you click on loot, the frame repositions itself to the next available loot. This allows for incredibly faster looting. In addition, once you’ve rapidly snagged everything, Quick Loot closes the window automatically. It’s impossible to describe how handy this feature is without trying it firsthand. Basically, the images below are attempting to show the process by which looting is reduced to a series of four clicks.
(one right click on the corpse, then 3 left clicks on the desired loot)
http://www.mixmastery.com/mine/images/Cosmos/inven1.jpg http://www.mixmastery.com/mine/images/Cosmos/inven2.jpg
http://www.mixmastery.com/mine/images/Cosmos/inven3.jpg
Paging is also enabled when Cosmos is installed. Although fairly worthless, it is a fun feature which is worth learning. You can only page other Cosmos users. Fortunately, cosmos includes a handy way of determining who is using cosmos. Look carefully:
http://www.mixmastery.com/mine/images/Cosmos/argus.jpg
http://www.mixmastery.com/mine/images/Cosmos/page.jpg
…Your party members will have a signature Cosmos icon by their avatar’s icon if they have installed Cosmos.
..If you want to page Augus, you simply type /page Augus heyyy.
This will sprawl bright red letters across his screen and make a startling sound.
Also important to note in the above image is the proximity of Augus’ name to my main health meter. Cosmos enables party member windows to be dragged to where you want them. This is especially handy in designing a more efficient and clean layout.
Also worthy of note is the fact that by default Cosmos users can see the level of high level characters. ?? is replaced by an actual number. It is surprising how useful this information is in situations where you need to request help from the local defense channel.
Extras - Advanced:
You may have noticed the same cosmos icon in the above image near the map in the first image.
http://www.mixmastery.com/mine/images/Cosmos/map.jpg
Clicking on this icon brings up the main cosmos interface.
Here we begin to see the ‘bloat’.
http://www.mixmastery.com/mine/images/Cosmos/bloat.jpg
All you need to be concerned about here is the cosmos configure button located in the upper left corner and the Key Bindings button beneath it.
The additional buttons relate to features developed by the cosmos team which may, or may not be of immediate interest to you.
http://www.mixmastery.com/mine/images/Cosmos/cosmos.jpg
This is the main configuration interface for the many add-ons encompassed by Cosmos.
Do not panic.
To start, you want to look into enabling and configuring the Clock, Quest Minion, PopBar, SideBar, and SecondBar.
These are the most essential add-ons that will provide you the greatest benefit.
This page will focus on showing the benefits of using the Clock and Quest Minion, and leave the rest of Cosmos’ many advantages left for you to discover.
Behold The Clock:
http://www.mixmastery.com/mine/images/Cosmos/clock.jpg
Once enabling the clock, you have access to information pertaining to how fast you are leveling if you hover your mouse over it. This helps in determining the best places to go for experience and how long it will take you to reach your next level. The clock itself is draggable around the interface, and can be configured to show different formats of time.
…The Quest Minion
http://www.mixmastery.com/mine/images/Cosmos/quest.jpg
The log shows the level of quests and brings up a tiny window on the main screen displaying the status of quest objectives as they become accomplished. This helps to save time by not having to keep checking the quest log repeatedly to see if you have completed a quest. In addition, the level approximations provide a better sense of what quests you are able to accomplish at your current level.
Extra Bars:
This page will not detail in how to customize extra bars, as it really is a matter of experimentation and preference. However it is important to realize that the keybindings window has expanded by Cosmos to allow for the extra buttons to be bound to specific keys.
http://www.mixmastery.com/mine/images/Cosmos/bindings.jpg
17. Re: Why everyone should install Cosmos. | 2/9/2005 6:54:42 PM PST
Switched from Cosmos to CTMod. Never looked back. Only feature I miss is the in-game clock.
WoW Gameplay Discussion -: "1306068"
Saturday, February 05, 2005
Thursday, February 03, 2005
Monday, January 31, 2005
Sunday, January 30, 2005
Saturday, January 29, 2005
Friday, January 28, 2005
Blizzard post - Quest Areas
The web team is looking for feedback on their upcoming Quest Areas page. Below is the text.
Please submit your feedback at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/faq/guide.html or post here. Thanks!
Finding Quests for Your Level
Finding New Quests
If you’re having a hard time finding easy quests to do then go find some new quests! Ask other players for information about quests that you have not yet done. The best place to ask about quests is in your party with similarly leveled party members. Other players can sometimes share quests that you do not have. You can also ask people in your guild or people in the general channel. There are also web sites that you can visit that list quests you can do. The Brady Strategy Guide has large lists of possible quests too.
Other Options
Check out the Region Levels page and World Dungeons page which lists available areas and their level range. You can then head to new areas you haven’t visited to look for additional quests.
Solo Players
If you’re a solo player, do all of the quests you can in a region, then travel to another similarly leveled alliance region and start the quests there. Some of them will be much easier because the quests will be lower level than you. Continue to rotate between the areas until you’ve done everything that you can do. If a quest is gray or a very low green (low level) then you probably should skip it. With a party you can accomplish much more so this info might only be useful for solo players or groups of two.
Here are some area progressions you can try out. They are not exact and this page should only be used as a loose guide. You will have some quests that cross into regions that are not listed. This page doesn’t list raid areas past level 60.
Alliance
(1-15)
Elwynn Forest (1-10)
Dun Morogh (1-10)
Teldrassil (1-10)
Darkshore (10-20)
(10-20)
Loch Modan (10-20)
Westfall (10-20)
Redridge Mountains (15-25)
Darkshore (10-20)
(20-25)
Ashenvale (18-30)
Redridge Mountains
Wetlands (20-30)
(25-30)
Duskwood (18-30)
Ashenvale (18-30)
Wetlands (20-30)
(30-35)
Arathi Highlands (30-40)
Desolace (30-40)
Thousand Needles (30+)
Stranglethorn Vale (30-45)
Hillsbrad Foothills (20-30)
(35-40)
Arathi Highlands (30-40)
Desolace (30-40)
Badlands (35-45)
Stranglethorn Vale
(40-45)
Ferelas (40-50)
Tanaris Desert (40-50)
Badlands /The Hinterlands (40-50)
Stranglethorn Vale/Searing Gorge (43-50)
(45-50)
Ferelas (40-50)
Tanaris Desert (40-50)
The Hinterlands
Searing Gorge (43-50)
Azshara (45-55)
(50-55)
Un'Goro Crater (48-55)
Burning Steppes (50-58)
W. Plaguelands (51-58)
(55-60)
E. Plaguelands (53-60)
Burning Steppes (50-58)
W. Plaguelands
Winterspring (55-60)
Horde
(1-15)
Tirisfal Glades (1-10)
Durotar (1-10)
Mulgore (1-10)
(10-20)
Silverpine Forest (10-20)
The Barrens (10-25)
Stonetalon Mountains (15-27)
(20-25)
The Barrens (10-25)
Hillsbrad Foothills (20-30)
Stonetalon Mountains
Ashenvale Forest (18-30)
(25-30)
Thousand Needles (25-35)
Hillsbrad Foothills (20-30)
Stonetalon Mountains
Stranglethorn Vale (30-45)
Ashenvale Forest (18-30)
(30-35)
Arathi Highlands (30-40)
Desolace (30-40)
Thousand Needles (30+)
Stranglethorn Vale
(35-40)
Arathi Highlands (30-40)
Desolace (30-40)
Badlands (35-45)
Stranglethorn Vale
(40-45)
Ferelas (40-50)
Tanaris Desert (40-50)
Badlands /The Hinterlands (40-50)
Stranglethorn Vale/Searing Gorge (43-50)
(45-50)
Ferelas (40-50)
Tanaris Desert (40-50)
The Hinterlands
Searing Gorge (43-50)
Azshara (45-55)
(50-55)
Un'Goro Crater (48-55)
Burning Steppes (50-58)
W. Plaguelands (51-58)
(55-60)
E. Plaguelands (53-60)
Burning Steppes (50-58)
W. Plaguelands
Winterspring (55-60)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Caydiem -
Assistant Community Manager
WoW Gameplay Discussion -
Please submit your feedback at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/faq/guide.html or post here. Thanks!
Finding Quests for Your Level
Finding New Quests
If you’re having a hard time finding easy quests to do then go find some new quests! Ask other players for information about quests that you have not yet done. The best place to ask about quests is in your party with similarly leveled party members. Other players can sometimes share quests that you do not have. You can also ask people in your guild or people in the general channel. There are also web sites that you can visit that list quests you can do. The Brady Strategy Guide has large lists of possible quests too.
Other Options
Check out the Region Levels page and World Dungeons page which lists available areas and their level range. You can then head to new areas you haven’t visited to look for additional quests.
Solo Players
If you’re a solo player, do all of the quests you can in a region, then travel to another similarly leveled alliance region and start the quests there. Some of them will be much easier because the quests will be lower level than you. Continue to rotate between the areas until you’ve done everything that you can do. If a quest is gray or a very low green (low level) then you probably should skip it. With a party you can accomplish much more so this info might only be useful for solo players or groups of two.
Here are some area progressions you can try out. They are not exact and this page should only be used as a loose guide. You will have some quests that cross into regions that are not listed. This page doesn’t list raid areas past level 60.
Alliance
(1-15)
Elwynn Forest (1-10)
Dun Morogh (1-10)
Teldrassil (1-10)
Darkshore (10-20)
(10-20)
Loch Modan (10-20)
Westfall (10-20)
Redridge Mountains (15-25)
Darkshore (10-20)
(20-25)
Ashenvale (18-30)
Redridge Mountains
Wetlands (20-30)
(25-30)
Duskwood (18-30)
Ashenvale (18-30)
Wetlands (20-30)
(30-35)
Arathi Highlands (30-40)
Desolace (30-40)
Thousand Needles (30+)
Stranglethorn Vale (30-45)
Hillsbrad Foothills (20-30)
(35-40)
Arathi Highlands (30-40)
Desolace (30-40)
Badlands (35-45)
Stranglethorn Vale
(40-45)
Ferelas (40-50)
Tanaris Desert (40-50)
Badlands /The Hinterlands (40-50)
Stranglethorn Vale/Searing Gorge (43-50)
(45-50)
Ferelas (40-50)
Tanaris Desert (40-50)
The Hinterlands
Searing Gorge (43-50)
Azshara (45-55)
(50-55)
Un'Goro Crater (48-55)
Burning Steppes (50-58)
W. Plaguelands (51-58)
(55-60)
E. Plaguelands (53-60)
Burning Steppes (50-58)
W. Plaguelands
Winterspring (55-60)
Horde
(1-15)
Tirisfal Glades (1-10)
Durotar (1-10)
Mulgore (1-10)
(10-20)
Silverpine Forest (10-20)
The Barrens (10-25)
Stonetalon Mountains (15-27)
(20-25)
The Barrens (10-25)
Hillsbrad Foothills (20-30)
Stonetalon Mountains
Ashenvale Forest (18-30)
(25-30)
Thousand Needles (25-35)
Hillsbrad Foothills (20-30)
Stonetalon Mountains
Stranglethorn Vale (30-45)
Ashenvale Forest (18-30)
(30-35)
Arathi Highlands (30-40)
Desolace (30-40)
Thousand Needles (30+)
Stranglethorn Vale
(35-40)
Arathi Highlands (30-40)
Desolace (30-40)
Badlands (35-45)
Stranglethorn Vale
(40-45)
Ferelas (40-50)
Tanaris Desert (40-50)
Badlands /The Hinterlands (40-50)
Stranglethorn Vale/Searing Gorge (43-50)
(45-50)
Ferelas (40-50)
Tanaris Desert (40-50)
The Hinterlands
Searing Gorge (43-50)
Azshara (45-55)
(50-55)
Un'Goro Crater (48-55)
Burning Steppes (50-58)
W. Plaguelands (51-58)
(55-60)
E. Plaguelands (53-60)
Burning Steppes (50-58)
W. Plaguelands
Winterspring (55-60)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Caydiem -
Assistant Community Manager
WoW Gameplay Discussion -
From the WoW forum - "There's an example of the guild roster -- from there you can click on any member, see inventory, weapon skills, tradeskills, talent setup... anything.
Very, very, very cool site!"
My opinion as of this entry - site is slow, the graphics aren't appearing, sucks for now. I'll have to check it out again later.
WoWRankings.com: Where do you rank?
Very, very, very cool site!"
My opinion as of this entry - site is slow, the graphics aren't appearing, sucks for now. I'll have to check it out again later.
WoWRankings.com: Where do you rank?
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Places to go
Most of these have been confirmed to be good, but in order to prevent overcrowding in areas I will try to list several different places, all of which should be pretty decent. More often than not, the areas will only hold one or two people maximum as far as spawn rates go - any more than that and you have too many people and too little mobs to support them. Unfortunately, because of this, you might end up somewhere that isn't quite as good as you might've hoped, and if that's the case, I apologize in advance.
The levels are approximate, you may or may not have to supplement grinding for one or two levels in order to move onto the next zones early on, although most of the later parts deal mostly with areas to grind in. Also, when a level is listed next to a grind area, that means this is the level at which you can more than likely *start* grinding the mobs. You can probably *stop* grinding them about 4-5 levels past where the start level is. In fact, it's probably recommended that you do stop 4 levels past them.
Also, keep in mind that this is mostly for Alliance players, as it's the only faction I've played and thus have no experience with Horde lands. You'll also note the lack of Kalimdor lands up until Feralas/Tanaris. While I'm not saying Ashenvale, Stonetalon Mountains, Thousand Needles or Desolace are bad places, I honestly have no experience with them either, and these areas that I do list are typically sufficient to take you up in levels.
Please note that the level listed beside a place, if there is one, is the level recommended to *begin* the place. Each place should typically be able to last you for 4-5 levels (with the exception of quest areas), whether you have the patience to stay at that one place for that long is another thing.
Thanks to everyone that has contributed and added to the list!
Level 1-12:
- Newbie Zone :: You may have to leave at level 11.
Level 12-20:
- Westfall [Sentinel Hill, Westfall Lighthouse]
- Loch Modan [Thelsamar, Farstrider's Lodge, Stonewrought Dam]
- Darkshore [Auberdine]
- Elite Area: Mo'grosh mound (Loch Modan)
- Instance: Deadmines
Complete the easiest quests in the first area that you go to (Night Elves should visit Darkshore first, Dwarves/Gnomes should visit Loch Modan first, Humans should visit Westfall first.) Move onto the next zone, and do the same, but this time you can complete more of the zone. Leave the most difficult, unless you can get a group for them - don't waste too much time on it, though. Move onto the last zone and complete all, or nearly all of the quests available in that zone. By this time, you should be about level 17-18. Go back to the first zone, and complete the rest of the quests there.
Typically, my "first zone" is Westfall, in which case you can go back when you are done with both Loch Modan and Darkshore, and finish the Van Cleef line of quests and be at a good level to run the instance.
Level 20-22:
- Redridge Mountains [Lakeshire, Tower of Azora in Elwynn]
Again, do the easy quests in Redridge, which should take you up to level 21 or 22. Skip the more difficult quests unless you have a group for them. I'd skip the entire Stonewatch Keep area of quests just simply because that entire area itself is crap.
Level 22-30:
- Redridge Mountains [Lakeshire, Tower of Azora in Elwynn]
- Duskwood [Darkshire, Sven's Camp, Abercrombie]
- Wetlands [Menethil Harbor, Greenwarden, N. Loch Modan (The Algaz Gauntlet)]
- Ashenvale [Astranaar ?]
- Stonetalon Mountains [?]
- Elite Area: Dun Modr (Wetlands)
- Instance: The Stockades
- Instance: Shadowfang Keep
- Instance: Blackfathom Deeps
- Happy Loot: Naraxis' Fang (Duskwood)
- Happy Loot: Tiny Crimson Whelpling (Wetlands)
- Grind Area [26]: Dragonmaw Encampment (Wetlands)
- Grind Area [26]: Whelgar's Excavation Site (Wetlands)
- Grind Area [28]: Rotting Orchard (Duskwood)
- Grind Area [28]: Raven Hill Cemetary (Duskwood)
- Grind Area [29]: Vul'Gol Ogre Mound (Duskwood)
Preparation: Purchase Bronze Tube.
Start at either Duskwood or Wetlands. This is where "quest stacking" can come in really handy if you want to be efficient. There are many, many quests that send you to the same areas, and if you get all of the quests at once, you can knock all of them out without having to run back and forth. Considering Wetlands and Duskwood are fairly bad for having their towns on one side of the map and the quest mobs/areas on the other side, this saves a lot of time. A lot of these are parts of quest chains, so honestly it's hard to know if you don't have prior knowledge or do a lot of quest research beforehand - so don't worry about it too much, but try to be as efficient as you can. Once you finish one of the two new areas, you should be about level 25 and can go finish the harder parts of Redridge, and then finish the last zone.
Note for Stockades : There are 6 quests you can obtain for this instance. Lakeshire, Darkshire, Wetlands, Van Cleef note continuation (Bazil Thredd), and two from Stormwind.
Level 31-37:
- Stranglethorn Vale [Rebel Camp, Nesingwary's Expedition, Booty Bay]
- Hillsbrad Foothills [Southshore]
- Arathi Highlands [Refuge Pointe]
- Desolace [32]
- Thousand Needles [31]
- Instance: Gnomeregan
- Happy Loot: Howling Blade (Skhowl, Alterac Mountains)
- Happy Loot: Toxic Revenger (Gnomeregan)
- Happy Loot: Tiny Emerald Whelpling (Swamp of Sorrows)
- Grind Area [31]: Kurzen Encampment [!NOTE!] (Stranglethorn Vale) -- [Test needed]
- Grind Area [33]: Stranglethorn Raptors (Stranglethorn Vale)
- Grind Area [33]: Growless Cave (Alterac Mountains)
- Grind Area [34]: Gallow's Corner (Crushridge Ogres - Altarac Mountains)
- Grind Area [36]: Venture Co. Base Camp (Lake Nazferiti - Stranglethorn Vale)
Preparation: Purchase all 15 pages of The Green Hills of Stranglethorn, 4 Bloodstone Ore.
Start at Stranglethorn Vale. Quest stacking here is also godly, since you don't want to have to run all the way to the northern end of the zone, do one or two quests and turn them back in at Booty Bay. Rebel Camp's quests are largely independent of the rest, though, so you can do those first. Then, head to Booty Bay, where you can pick up two main quests for the northern area: Investigate the Camp and the start of the Excelsior chain, both of which takes you to Nesingwary's Expedition, where you obtain all of the nice happy quests there.
Hillsbrad is only good starting at about level 33, at which point you can actually *do* all of the quests that you could obtain at level 30... Arathi only has one or two quests that you can actually do right now, but it's listed anyways.
Kurzen Cave has been fixed, which perhaps means that Jungle Fighters and Headshrinkers have as well, so someone test that out please.
Level 37-43:
- Stranglethorn Vale [Booty Bay, Nesingwary's Expedition, Rebel Camp]
- Arathi Mountains [Refuge Pointe, Faldir's Cove]
- Badlands [Various camps around the zone]
- Desolace [37]
- Elite Area: Stromgarde
- Elite Area: Mosh'ogg Mound
- Instance: Scarlet Monastery
- Instance: Uldaman
- Instance: Razorfen Downs
- Happy Loot: Tiny Black Whelpling (Badlands)
- Grind Area [37]: Lashtail Raptors (Stranglethorn Vale)
- Grind Area [37]: Water Elementals (Stranglethorn Vale)
- Grind Area [37]: Theramore Coast (Dustwallow Marsh) - Turtle Scales & Leathers
- Grind Area [39]: The spider cave north of Brackenwall (Swamp of Sorrows)
- Grind Area [39]: Rock Elementals (Badlands)
- Grind Area [39]: Elder Crag Coyotes (Badlands)
- Grind Area [41]: Scalding Whelps (Badlands)
- Grind Area [41]: Agmond's End (Badlands)
- Grind Area [41]: Ziata'jai Ruins (Venture Co. Stuff, Stranglethorn Vale)
- Grind Area [43]: Naga Explorers (Stranglethorn Vale)
Preparation: Purchase 9 Blue Pearls, 1 Frost Oil, 1 Gyrochronatom, 4 Buzzard Wings, 1 Elixir of Water Breathing.
37 is where you obtain your next batch of quests from Stranglethorn Vale. Arathi Highlands has fairly decent quests in Faldir's Cove, or if you're feeling group-friendly, knock out the ones in Stromgarde. Badlands has a lot of nice quests, but you have to actually find them. This is where supplementing experience by grinding becomes more efficient at times, and at 42-43 you should be closing the last of your Stranglethorn quests, and be finished with Badlands and Arathi both, as well.
Scarlet Monastery. Black Menace or Sword of Serenity. Nothing more needs to be said - except where to obtain the quest: Desolace.
Level 43-46:
- Feralas [Feathermoon Stronghold]
- Tanaris [Gadgetzan, Steamwheedle Port]
- Instance: Zul'Farrak
- Grind Area [43]: Wastewander Bandits (Tanaris)
- Grind Area [44]: Isle of Dread (Feralas - Inside Cave; South of Feathermoon Stronghold)
- Grind Area [45]: Feral Scar Vale (Feralas)
- Happy Loot: 14slot bag! Cortello's Riddle quest, starts in one of the ships in Stranglethorn Vale for the end of the Bloodsail Buccaneers line of quests.
Fairly self explanatory, I guess. Not much going on here, really.
Level 46-50:
- Tanaris [Gadgetzan, Steamwheedle Port]
- The Hinterlands [Aerie Peak]
- Instance: Zul'Farrak
- Instance: Maraudon [49]
- Instance: Temple of Atal'Hakkar [50]
- Grind Area [47]: Undead in Western Ashzara (Azshara)
- Grind Area [47]: Dunemaul Compound (Tanaris)
- Grind Area [47]: Elementals/Golems around The Cauldron + N of it (Searing Gorge) - Elemental Leatherworking Supplies
At this point, you more than likely have a bunch of quests saved up for The Hinterlands - including but not limited to, the quest to gather Wildkin Feathers (from Rutheran Village), the quest to obtain a snapshot of Gammerita, the quest to obtain Violet Trajan, the last part of Cortello's Riddle, etc. Feel free to knock them all out at once.
Level 50-55:
- Searing Gorge [Kalaran Windblade]
- Blasted Lands [Blood Elf camp]
- Un'Goro Crater [Marshal's Refuge]
- Felwood [Emerald Sanctuary]
- Burning Steppes [Morgan's Vigil]
- Instance: Temple of Atal'Hakkar
- Grind Area [49]: The Overlook Cliffs (The Hinterlands) - Turtle Scales & Rugged Leathers
- Grind Area [50]: Deadwood Village (Felwood)
- Grind Area [51]: Ruins of Eldarath (Azshara)
- Grind Area [52]: Dreadmaul Rock (Firegut Ogres - Burning Steppes)
- Grind Area [52]: Legash Encampment, Thalassian Base Camp, Ursolan (Azshara)
- Grind Area [52]: Jaedenar (Felwood)
- Grind Area [52]: Sorrow Hill (Western Plaguelands)
- Grind Area [54]: Temple of Arkkoran (Azshara)
- Grind Area [55]: Jadefire Run, Felpaw Village (Felwood)
The quests in Blasted Lands all stack on top of each other. Five in total, one for each stat; they give 4700 experience per turn-in, along with always the chance of obtaining a Draenethyst Sphere for Kumi'sha the Collector with every mob you kill. Un'Goro Crater has the biggest collection of quests out of all of these zones.
Level 55-60:
- Winterspring [Everlook, Starfall Village]
- Western Plaguelands [Chillwind Point]
- Eastern Plaguelands [Light's Hope Chapel]
- Instance: Blackrock Depths
- Instance: Blackrock Spire [60]
- Instance: Stratholme [60]
- Instance: Scholomance [60]
- Grind Area [55]: Felstone Field, Dalson's Tears, The Writhing Haunt, Gahrron's Withering (Western Plaguelands)
- Grind Area [56]: Northridge Lumber Camp (Western Plaguelands)
- Grind Area [56]: Corin's Crossing (Eastern Plaguelands)
- Grind Area [56]: The Pillar of Ash (Burning Steppes)
- Grind Area [56]: Winterfall Village (Winterspring)
- Grind Area [57]: Blackrock Stronghold (Burning Steppes) [NOTE]
- Grind Area [57]: Ice Thistle Hills (Wintespring) - Rugged Leathers
Notes: Blackrock Stronghold is probably the best place to grind for a rogue; however, you do have to get used to how the roamers work. You'll probably die a few times along the way while learning them. Also, this might likely be another area where they're increasing the armor on the mobs, but two of the four kinds of orcs that spawn are casters, anyway. Ice Thistle Hills is not the best place to grind for experience, but it's probably one of the better places to get a nice quiet grind going and also leave with a few backpacks full of Rugged Leather.
Okay -- So this isn't really a "complete" grind area list, because honestly, you only have to sit down and grind at one or two places for a few levels before you can move onto the next tier of zones, and that's typically what I did. Just sit down and grind at one place, don't move around everywhere and you'll be out of there in a few hours or days. I've tried my best to list the best quest areas and zones as well for those that would rather try to quest and not grind their way through the game, too, but that's also somewhat incomplete, especially at later stages since I don't have much knowledge of the various new quests they implemented in Winterspring and the Plaguelands.
Anyway, hope it helps to answer some of the "where can I go at level X?" questions.
The promised Horde section. Implemented from various posts in this thread by Horde players that have contributed. Some of these spots were also taken from Ratama of Nurfed.
14-16: Pirates south of Ratchet (Barrens)
16-19: Various wildlife, especially cats, in Barrens. Note that if you're using a dagger crit build, then exp for this is insane.
19-22: Bramblescar (Barrens) on lizards and quillboars. Unless you're doing leatherworking, just leave the lizards alone.
22-24: Tarren Mill (Hillsbrad) on bears and spiders. Dagger crit chain heaven.
24-26: Across the road from Tarren Mill on tougher bears and cats. Dagger crit chain heaven.
26-28: Spiders/Bears in back of Syndicate tower (Hillsbrad)
28-30: Cats and Spiders around Nethander Stead (Hillsbrad)
30-32: Harpies inside cave (Thousand Needles)
NE of Brackenwall (2 min run there)- Raptor den
36-37 raptors there - lots of them
40-42 Skeletons in Desolace. They're about the only squishies I could find to grind on. It's part of an Alliance quest, so the usual PvP warnings apply.
42-45 Jungle Stalkers in SV. The loot drop isn't nearly as good as the Lashtails, but they're as squishy as ever. Also, they don't seem to have the knockdown attack that the lashtails do. Virtually no one kills these guys on my server, and they're easily chainable.
WoW Rogue Discussion -
The levels are approximate, you may or may not have to supplement grinding for one or two levels in order to move onto the next zones early on, although most of the later parts deal mostly with areas to grind in. Also, when a level is listed next to a grind area, that means this is the level at which you can more than likely *start* grinding the mobs. You can probably *stop* grinding them about 4-5 levels past where the start level is. In fact, it's probably recommended that you do stop 4 levels past them.
Also, keep in mind that this is mostly for Alliance players, as it's the only faction I've played and thus have no experience with Horde lands. You'll also note the lack of Kalimdor lands up until Feralas/Tanaris. While I'm not saying Ashenvale, Stonetalon Mountains, Thousand Needles or Desolace are bad places, I honestly have no experience with them either, and these areas that I do list are typically sufficient to take you up in levels.
Please note that the level listed beside a place, if there is one, is the level recommended to *begin* the place. Each place should typically be able to last you for 4-5 levels (with the exception of quest areas), whether you have the patience to stay at that one place for that long is another thing.
Thanks to everyone that has contributed and added to the list!
Level 1-12:
- Newbie Zone :: You may have to leave at level 11.
Level 12-20:
- Westfall [Sentinel Hill, Westfall Lighthouse]
- Loch Modan [Thelsamar, Farstrider's Lodge, Stonewrought Dam]
- Darkshore [Auberdine]
- Elite Area: Mo'grosh mound (Loch Modan)
- Instance: Deadmines
Complete the easiest quests in the first area that you go to (Night Elves should visit Darkshore first, Dwarves/Gnomes should visit Loch Modan first, Humans should visit Westfall first.) Move onto the next zone, and do the same, but this time you can complete more of the zone. Leave the most difficult, unless you can get a group for them - don't waste too much time on it, though. Move onto the last zone and complete all, or nearly all of the quests available in that zone. By this time, you should be about level 17-18. Go back to the first zone, and complete the rest of the quests there.
Typically, my "first zone" is Westfall, in which case you can go back when you are done with both Loch Modan and Darkshore, and finish the Van Cleef line of quests and be at a good level to run the instance.
Level 20-22:
- Redridge Mountains [Lakeshire, Tower of Azora in Elwynn]
Again, do the easy quests in Redridge, which should take you up to level 21 or 22. Skip the more difficult quests unless you have a group for them. I'd skip the entire Stonewatch Keep area of quests just simply because that entire area itself is crap.
Level 22-30:
- Redridge Mountains [Lakeshire, Tower of Azora in Elwynn]
- Duskwood [Darkshire, Sven's Camp, Abercrombie]
- Wetlands [Menethil Harbor, Greenwarden, N. Loch Modan (The Algaz Gauntlet)]
- Ashenvale [Astranaar ?]
- Stonetalon Mountains [?]
- Elite Area: Dun Modr (Wetlands)
- Instance: The Stockades
- Instance: Shadowfang Keep
- Instance: Blackfathom Deeps
- Happy Loot: Naraxis' Fang (Duskwood)
- Happy Loot: Tiny Crimson Whelpling (Wetlands)
- Grind Area [26]: Dragonmaw Encampment (Wetlands)
- Grind Area [26]: Whelgar's Excavation Site (Wetlands)
- Grind Area [28]: Rotting Orchard (Duskwood)
- Grind Area [28]: Raven Hill Cemetary (Duskwood)
- Grind Area [29]: Vul'Gol Ogre Mound (Duskwood)
Preparation: Purchase Bronze Tube.
Start at either Duskwood or Wetlands. This is where "quest stacking" can come in really handy if you want to be efficient. There are many, many quests that send you to the same areas, and if you get all of the quests at once, you can knock all of them out without having to run back and forth. Considering Wetlands and Duskwood are fairly bad for having their towns on one side of the map and the quest mobs/areas on the other side, this saves a lot of time. A lot of these are parts of quest chains, so honestly it's hard to know if you don't have prior knowledge or do a lot of quest research beforehand - so don't worry about it too much, but try to be as efficient as you can. Once you finish one of the two new areas, you should be about level 25 and can go finish the harder parts of Redridge, and then finish the last zone.
Note for Stockades : There are 6 quests you can obtain for this instance. Lakeshire, Darkshire, Wetlands, Van Cleef note continuation (Bazil Thredd), and two from Stormwind.
Level 31-37:
- Stranglethorn Vale [Rebel Camp, Nesingwary's Expedition, Booty Bay]
- Hillsbrad Foothills [Southshore]
- Arathi Highlands [Refuge Pointe]
- Desolace [32]
- Thousand Needles [31]
- Instance: Gnomeregan
- Happy Loot: Howling Blade (Skhowl, Alterac Mountains)
- Happy Loot: Toxic Revenger (Gnomeregan)
- Happy Loot: Tiny Emerald Whelpling (Swamp of Sorrows)
- Grind Area [31]: Kurzen Encampment [!NOTE!] (Stranglethorn Vale) -- [Test needed]
- Grind Area [33]: Stranglethorn Raptors (Stranglethorn Vale)
- Grind Area [33]: Growless Cave (Alterac Mountains)
- Grind Area [34]: Gallow's Corner (Crushridge Ogres - Altarac Mountains)
- Grind Area [36]: Venture Co. Base Camp (Lake Nazferiti - Stranglethorn Vale)
Preparation: Purchase all 15 pages of The Green Hills of Stranglethorn, 4 Bloodstone Ore.
Start at Stranglethorn Vale. Quest stacking here is also godly, since you don't want to have to run all the way to the northern end of the zone, do one or two quests and turn them back in at Booty Bay. Rebel Camp's quests are largely independent of the rest, though, so you can do those first. Then, head to Booty Bay, where you can pick up two main quests for the northern area: Investigate the Camp and the start of the Excelsior chain, both of which takes you to Nesingwary's Expedition, where you obtain all of the nice happy quests there.
Hillsbrad is only good starting at about level 33, at which point you can actually *do* all of the quests that you could obtain at level 30... Arathi only has one or two quests that you can actually do right now, but it's listed anyways.
Kurzen Cave has been fixed, which perhaps means that Jungle Fighters and Headshrinkers have as well, so someone test that out please.
Level 37-43:
- Stranglethorn Vale [Booty Bay, Nesingwary's Expedition, Rebel Camp]
- Arathi Mountains [Refuge Pointe, Faldir's Cove]
- Badlands [Various camps around the zone]
- Desolace [37]
- Elite Area: Stromgarde
- Elite Area: Mosh'ogg Mound
- Instance: Scarlet Monastery
- Instance: Uldaman
- Instance: Razorfen Downs
- Happy Loot: Tiny Black Whelpling (Badlands)
- Grind Area [37]: Lashtail Raptors (Stranglethorn Vale)
- Grind Area [37]: Water Elementals (Stranglethorn Vale)
- Grind Area [37]: Theramore Coast (Dustwallow Marsh) - Turtle Scales & Leathers
- Grind Area [39]: The spider cave north of Brackenwall (Swamp of Sorrows)
- Grind Area [39]: Rock Elementals (Badlands)
- Grind Area [39]: Elder Crag Coyotes (Badlands)
- Grind Area [41]: Scalding Whelps (Badlands)
- Grind Area [41]: Agmond's End (Badlands)
- Grind Area [41]: Ziata'jai Ruins (Venture Co. Stuff, Stranglethorn Vale)
- Grind Area [43]: Naga Explorers (Stranglethorn Vale)
Preparation: Purchase 9 Blue Pearls, 1 Frost Oil, 1 Gyrochronatom, 4 Buzzard Wings, 1 Elixir of Water Breathing.
37 is where you obtain your next batch of quests from Stranglethorn Vale. Arathi Highlands has fairly decent quests in Faldir's Cove, or if you're feeling group-friendly, knock out the ones in Stromgarde. Badlands has a lot of nice quests, but you have to actually find them. This is where supplementing experience by grinding becomes more efficient at times, and at 42-43 you should be closing the last of your Stranglethorn quests, and be finished with Badlands and Arathi both, as well.
Scarlet Monastery. Black Menace or Sword of Serenity. Nothing more needs to be said - except where to obtain the quest: Desolace.
Level 43-46:
- Feralas [Feathermoon Stronghold]
- Tanaris [Gadgetzan, Steamwheedle Port]
- Instance: Zul'Farrak
- Grind Area [43]: Wastewander Bandits (Tanaris)
- Grind Area [44]: Isle of Dread (Feralas - Inside Cave; South of Feathermoon Stronghold)
- Grind Area [45]: Feral Scar Vale (Feralas)
- Happy Loot: 14slot bag! Cortello's Riddle quest, starts in one of the ships in Stranglethorn Vale for the end of the Bloodsail Buccaneers line of quests.
Fairly self explanatory, I guess. Not much going on here, really.
Level 46-50:
- Tanaris [Gadgetzan, Steamwheedle Port]
- The Hinterlands [Aerie Peak]
- Instance: Zul'Farrak
- Instance: Maraudon [49]
- Instance: Temple of Atal'Hakkar [50]
- Grind Area [47]: Undead in Western Ashzara (Azshara)
- Grind Area [47]: Dunemaul Compound (Tanaris)
- Grind Area [47]: Elementals/Golems around The Cauldron + N of it (Searing Gorge) - Elemental Leatherworking Supplies
At this point, you more than likely have a bunch of quests saved up for The Hinterlands - including but not limited to, the quest to gather Wildkin Feathers (from Rutheran Village), the quest to obtain a snapshot of Gammerita, the quest to obtain Violet Trajan, the last part of Cortello's Riddle, etc. Feel free to knock them all out at once.
Level 50-55:
- Searing Gorge [Kalaran Windblade]
- Blasted Lands [Blood Elf camp]
- Un'Goro Crater [Marshal's Refuge]
- Felwood [Emerald Sanctuary]
- Burning Steppes [Morgan's Vigil]
- Instance: Temple of Atal'Hakkar
- Grind Area [49]: The Overlook Cliffs (The Hinterlands) - Turtle Scales & Rugged Leathers
- Grind Area [50]: Deadwood Village (Felwood)
- Grind Area [51]: Ruins of Eldarath (Azshara)
- Grind Area [52]: Dreadmaul Rock (Firegut Ogres - Burning Steppes)
- Grind Area [52]: Legash Encampment, Thalassian Base Camp, Ursolan (Azshara)
- Grind Area [52]: Jaedenar (Felwood)
- Grind Area [52]: Sorrow Hill (Western Plaguelands)
- Grind Area [54]: Temple of Arkkoran (Azshara)
- Grind Area [55]: Jadefire Run, Felpaw Village (Felwood)
The quests in Blasted Lands all stack on top of each other. Five in total, one for each stat; they give 4700 experience per turn-in, along with always the chance of obtaining a Draenethyst Sphere for Kumi'sha the Collector with every mob you kill. Un'Goro Crater has the biggest collection of quests out of all of these zones.
Level 55-60:
- Winterspring [Everlook, Starfall Village]
- Western Plaguelands [Chillwind Point]
- Eastern Plaguelands [Light's Hope Chapel]
- Instance: Blackrock Depths
- Instance: Blackrock Spire [60]
- Instance: Stratholme [60]
- Instance: Scholomance [60]
- Grind Area [55]: Felstone Field, Dalson's Tears, The Writhing Haunt, Gahrron's Withering (Western Plaguelands)
- Grind Area [56]: Northridge Lumber Camp (Western Plaguelands)
- Grind Area [56]: Corin's Crossing (Eastern Plaguelands)
- Grind Area [56]: The Pillar of Ash (Burning Steppes)
- Grind Area [56]: Winterfall Village (Winterspring)
- Grind Area [57]: Blackrock Stronghold (Burning Steppes) [NOTE]
- Grind Area [57]: Ice Thistle Hills (Wintespring) - Rugged Leathers
Notes: Blackrock Stronghold is probably the best place to grind for a rogue; however, you do have to get used to how the roamers work. You'll probably die a few times along the way while learning them. Also, this might likely be another area where they're increasing the armor on the mobs, but two of the four kinds of orcs that spawn are casters, anyway. Ice Thistle Hills is not the best place to grind for experience, but it's probably one of the better places to get a nice quiet grind going and also leave with a few backpacks full of Rugged Leather.
Okay -- So this isn't really a "complete" grind area list, because honestly, you only have to sit down and grind at one or two places for a few levels before you can move onto the next tier of zones, and that's typically what I did. Just sit down and grind at one place, don't move around everywhere and you'll be out of there in a few hours or days. I've tried my best to list the best quest areas and zones as well for those that would rather try to quest and not grind their way through the game, too, but that's also somewhat incomplete, especially at later stages since I don't have much knowledge of the various new quests they implemented in Winterspring and the Plaguelands.
Anyway, hope it helps to answer some of the "where can I go at level X?" questions.
The promised Horde section. Implemented from various posts in this thread by Horde players that have contributed. Some of these spots were also taken from Ratama of Nurfed.
14-16: Pirates south of Ratchet (Barrens)
16-19: Various wildlife, especially cats, in Barrens. Note that if you're using a dagger crit build, then exp for this is insane.
19-22: Bramblescar (Barrens) on lizards and quillboars. Unless you're doing leatherworking, just leave the lizards alone.
22-24: Tarren Mill (Hillsbrad) on bears and spiders. Dagger crit chain heaven.
24-26: Across the road from Tarren Mill on tougher bears and cats. Dagger crit chain heaven.
26-28: Spiders/Bears in back of Syndicate tower (Hillsbrad)
28-30: Cats and Spiders around Nethander Stead (Hillsbrad)
30-32: Harpies inside cave (Thousand Needles)
NE of Brackenwall (2 min run there)- Raptor den
36-37 raptors there - lots of them
40-42 Skeletons in Desolace. They're about the only squishies I could find to grind on. It's part of an Alliance quest, so the usual PvP warnings apply.
42-45 Jungle Stalkers in SV. The loot drop isn't nearly as good as the Lashtails, but they're as squishy as ever. Also, they don't seem to have the knockdown attack that the lashtails do. Virtually no one kills these guys on my server, and they're easily chainable.
WoW Rogue Discussion -
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Monday, January 24, 2005
Sunday, January 23, 2005
Saturday, January 22, 2005
Friday, January 21, 2005
Hmmmmmmm
5. Re: Tips for getting more cash? | 1/21/2005 6:21:40 PM PST
lol ye coulda just asked me in game.. (in same guild and all... actually, i was just out hunting with you.. O_O) use the auction house.. buy low, sell high ^_^ ive done multiple trades that i buy a blue item for 4g.. turn around put on AH for 10g and buyout 14g, its baughtout immediently :D nice and easy 10g profit for somebody else doin the huntin :D
Eyonix
6. Re: Tips for getting more cash? | 1/21/2005 6:25:37 PM PST
I'm with Genki on this one. If you take the time to learn the economy of your server and are willing to lose a little bit of money through the trial and error learning process of buying and selling at the auction house, your money troubles are sure to end. In any case, good luck to you!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Online Community Representative
WoW Gameplay Discussion -
5. Re: Tips for getting more cash? | 1/21/2005 6:21:40 PM PST
lol ye coulda just asked me in game.. (in same guild and all... actually, i was just out hunting with you.. O_O) use the auction house.. buy low, sell high ^_^ ive done multiple trades that i buy a blue item for 4g.. turn around put on AH for 10g and buyout 14g, its baughtout immediently :D nice and easy 10g profit for somebody else doin the huntin :D
Eyonix
6. Re: Tips for getting more cash? | 1/21/2005 6:25:37 PM PST
I'm with Genki on this one. If you take the time to learn the economy of your server and are willing to lose a little bit of money through the trial and error learning process of buying and selling at the auction house, your money troubles are sure to end. In any case, good luck to you!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Online Community Representative
WoW Gameplay Discussion -
World of Warcraft Performance Guide | 1/21/2005 3:54:16 PM PST
Have you ever gotten stuck on a zeppelin or boat because it arrived and left its destination before you could get off? Does it take longer for your computer to load a windrider flight than it does to actually get there? Do you constantly fall off of Freewind Post to your death? Has a person 20 levels lower than you killed you because you couldn’t move to fight back?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, or if you just want to get the most out of your computer, then read on.
This article is aimed at optimizing your system to get the best performance and visual quality out of World of Warcraft. I have been programming for six years and working with Direct3D and OpenGL for three, and it surprises me how many misconceptions about performance there are out there. I hope to clear some of them up.
Before I get into some technical details, there are some things everyone should do.
Software Things
1) Check for spyware. Even if you think you don’t have it, it’s good to be sure. This stuff is absolutely insidious. Two free programs that work great are:
Adaware Personal: http://www.lavasoft.com/software/adaware/
Spybot Search and Destroy: http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html
It may help to run Windows in safe mode when doing the scans. Reboot your computer and hold F8 while it starts up. This will bring up a choice of launch configurations. Select Safe Mode. If safe mode without networking is available, pick that. Some spyware comes in packages. From what I’ve seen, if one program from the package realizes its friends are gone, it goes ahead and downloads them again. Disabling networking temporarily will stop this. Once you are done scanning just reboot and let your computer start normally.
2) Close all running programs (except for maybe your instant messenger). Blizzard always says to do this first and for good reason. You might think it’s all closed, but in reality there are probably many things going on.
For Windows 98 and XP, go to start > run > type in “msconfig” (without the quotes) and click OK. Go to the Startup tab. Uncheck everything, especially if you don’t know what it is. This will prevent all programs from launching at startup. If you find you stopped something that you wanted then you can go back an add it, but first start with nothing.
If you are on Windows XP, it can also be a good idea to stop all unneeded services. See http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm for a guide on how to do it and some recommended settings.
3) Get the latest video drivers for your video card.
ATI: http://www.ati.com
NVIDIA: http://www.nvidia.com
If you aren’t sure what type of video card you have, go to start > run > type in “dxdiag” (without the quotes) and click OK. Go to the Display tab. In the top left corner under the Device group it will say under Manufacturer. If your manufacturer is Intel, then it is strongly recommended you read the video card section.
4) Defragment. This will make it so that files aren’t in many places on the harddrive at once, making the game faster to load. It is a good idea to run in safe mode while you do this.
I actually reformatted and then installed World of Warcraft before anything else. This not only makes it so individual files are kept together, but all of the World of Warcraft files are kept together. It also gets a spot closer to the center of the disc, creating a smaller rotation radius for the head. What I did probably had no effect, but whatever =). Defragmenting is really all you need to do.
To defragment: Open My Computer, right click on the C: drive, and click Properties. Go to the Tools tab and click Defragment Now...
The truly paranoid might consider creating an entire partition for World of Warcraft.
Into the Actual Hardware
In order to understand how each part of your computer contributes to (or hinders) performance it is important to understand the concept of bottlenecks. It’s actually quite simple: your computer will only run as fast as its slowest part.
This little statement is more important than it seems. I see a lot of people automatically jump to upgrading their video card. This can lead to little or no improvement if the rest of your computer is outdated as well. As an extreme example, it would be absurd to run a GeForce 6800 with a Pentium 2 400 MHz. Likewise, it would be equally absurd to pair a Pentium 4 3.46 GHz with hyperthreading with a GeForce 1.
On to the parts…
The Videocard
The videocard is in charge of rendering everything you see on the screen. (Before I go on it is important to note that this only applies to 3D applications, and even then not all of the time. Fancy designs like you see in Windows Media Player are actually processed by the CPU.) The videocard is optimized for matrix math and is able to do 16 or more operations per pipeline in a single instruction. However, it gains this speed at the loss of flexibility. There are different pipelines (vertex processing, pixel processing, etc.) that work (mostly) independently of each other. The next generation of video cards is actually blurring the lines between these, so it will be very interesting to see what effects developers come up with in the near future.
Before the videocard can do anything, however, it must receive its instructions from the CPU. This is why you don’t want to go overkill on the videocard. An upgrade can never hurt, but it may not be cost effective to go for the best. I went from a Radeon 8500 to a Radeon 9600 XT and noticed a fairly large improvement.
The improvement you see from upgrading your video card will be in overall frame rate. If you lag when entering towns you will still probably lag when entering towns. If you constantly suffer from a bad frame rate wherever you go, the video card is most likely the thing to blame.
Before upgrading your video card I strongly recommend reading some reviews reviews. Two good sites are:
PC Stats: http://www.pcstats.com/
Tom’s Hardware: http://tomshardware.com/
I would recommend the GeForce 6600, provided you have the processor to match it with. I would steer people away from the GeForce FX line, and force them into solitary confinement for considering the GeForce FX 5200. Stay away from the lower end Radeon 9x00 series as well. Video memory is something to keep in mind, but it isn’t necessarily crucial. More is only better if the game actually uses it, and when it doesn’t, it can actually lead to a small slowdown. Either 128 MB or 256 MB will get you through World of Warcraft just fine, but for future games, you might feel safer with 256 MB.
Rember earlier when I said to see this section if your video card manufacturer was Intel? This means you have an integrated chip. Intel isn’t the only manufacturer of them but they are the most common. While extremely cheap and adequate for normal use and internet surfing, they can cause you nightmares in games. The main reason is that they only do pixel processing, leaving the CPU to do vertex processing. Even their pixel processing is subpar. If you have one and can’t upgrade it’s not too much to fret about. Turning down all of the options and decreasing the resolution should get you to at least a playable level, but a true video card will make your experience much more enjoyable.
A note about PCI Express: Don’t worry about it. PCI Express improves the bandwidth available to video cards, but since games don’t even use up the bandwidth available to AGP 4x, upgrading a motherboard just for PCI Express is a waste. It would be like changing a four lane highway to a sixteen lane highway when only two lanes are in use at any given time.
The CPU
Many people underestimate the role the CPU plays in games. Every little physics calculation is done here, as well as shuffling instructions to the video card, sound card, and everything else. It can also be in charge of doing all of the animations in the game if your video card does not support vertex animation (more on that later).
Upgrading the CPU can often be more trouble than it’s worth. You can only go so far before needing to upgrade the motherboard as well. Once you upgrade your motherboard you have to worry about RAM compatabilities. It starts to get sticky. If you want to go from Intel to AMD or AMD to Intel then you are out of luck with your current motherboard.
If you are considering a new computer or processor/motherboard, I would recommend anything from the AMD Athlon 64 series. These are currently the best gaming chips on the market, thanks to their on-die memory controller. If you are going with Intel, don’t be sucked into the hyperthreading bandwagon. Intel tries to imply that it’s like having two processors on one chip. It is and it isn’t: only one is used at a time. Every processor “stalls” every once in a while. Intel’s (rather brute force) solution was a backup processor. I repeat, hyperthreading is not the same thing as parallel processing. Speaking of parallel processing…
Don’t do it. It will not give twice the CPU power to World of Warcraft. Parallel processing requires that the application be designed for it. A thread can only be worked on by one processor at a time, and in most (if not all) games there is only one computationally intensive thread. If you wanted to run two World of Warcraft’s at a time you might notice a different, but it seems silly to me.
RAM
RAM. Every piece of data has to go through it at some point. World of Warcraft loves it. I upgraded from 512 MB to 1024 MB for $75 and noticed an incredible difference. I no longer screech to a halt when hearthstoning to Orgrimmar. I haven’t fallen off of Freewind Post since. I can also alt+tab out of the game without the harddrive spinning around for half a minute.
Adding more RAM will not give the same kind of performance increase as upgrading the video card. You will still get the same frames per second standing around looking at a waterfall. However, should you run into a heavily populated area, or switch zones, your computer will load much, much more quickly.
There are four major types of RAM: SD, RD, DDR, and DDR2. RD, DDR, and DDR2 are faster than SD, but the jury is still out on how much of an improvement DDR2 is. DDR2’s main advantage is that it uses less power, making it useful for future laptops. If you don’t know what type you have you will need to check your motherboard’s manual or manufacturer’s site (or just open up your computer and look inside). There are some programs that supposedly tell you, but I have no experience with them.
There is also unbuffered/registered and non-parity/ECC to keep in mind. Registered RAM is usually only in servers. ECC is a method of correcting for errors when writing to RAM. The chance of one occuring is minutely small and ECC does have a small overhead, so this is usually only in servers as well. Non-parity will be a little faster and save you some extra money as well. Feel free to mix ECC and non-parity, but unbuffered and registered are not compatible with each other.
If you have SD and are worried about a possible performance loss, don’t. As far as World of Warcraft is concerned, quantity > quality.
The Hard Drive
Yes, the hard drive. All of the game files are stored on the harddrive and have to get to RAM one way or another. I wouldn’t upgrade your harddrive just for World of Warcraft, but if you are getting a new one, make sure it has at least 8 MB of cache. This will lead to faster load times, assuming reading is the bottleneck and not the bandwidth available.
The Sound Card
In all honesty, the sound card isn’t something to worry about. Even an integrated sound card is fine here. Just make sure you have the latest drivers and you are set to go.
A few people in Asheron’s Call 2 did have sound card compatibility problems that caused the game to be unbearable. I haven’t heard of any of this in World of Warcraft, but if you have a powerful system that runs horribly, it might be something to look into.
In Game Options
So now you have the latest and greatest hardware and you are staring at the Video Options screen. What does it all mean? Some of it doesn’t matter, but there are some important ones.
Resolution: How many pixels are on the screen. A higher resolution will lead to improved visual quality, but it is limited by the monitor and video card. Monitors can only go so high and video cards start to get bogged down after a while. Experiment with this option, you might be able to increase it with no performance hit at all. If you are using an LCD monitor then try to match the native resolution if your video card can keep up. You will notice a huge difference in crispness.
Refresh Rate: How many times a second the monitor draws the screen. Most people can’t tell the difference, but my eyes can’t stand anything less than 80 Hz. If you get a headache after playing for a while then turn this up. You might have to lower the resolution in order to do so.
World Appearance sliders: Your main performance customization tools. Only experimentation will show you the best combination for your system. It depends on where the bottleneck within the video card is. If it’s in pixel processing then you might be able to increase environment detail or turn off level of detail and not notice the difference. If it’s in vertex processing you might be able to increase the texture detail for free. Anisotropic filtering is a technique for blending a texture as goes off into the distance. If you are annoyed by the lines on textures that appear on the ground when walking around then this is the option to increase.
Level of Detail: World of Warcraft has a terrain engine feature that can render things in the distance with less polygons than things in the front. This can significantly speed things up and lower to middle end video cards. While standing still it’s not noticable, but once you start moving around you will notice a “popping” effect. Turning off this option forces everything to the highest detail and leads to an increase in image quality. I was able to turn this off on my Radeon 9600 XT with no difference in performance. Try it and see, you might be surprised at the difference if you are used to the popping.
Shader Effects: These improve the the visual quality of the game. I recommend turning them on if you can, they are quite nice. Note that you won’t be able to use antialiasing with the Full-Screen Glow Effect. Antialiasing blends the jagged lines that appear because of the nature of monitors. I prefer antialiasing over the glow effect, but it is quite fillrate (pixel processing) intensive. If you want to see what antialiasing looks like, go to start > settings > control panel > display > settings tab > advanced. Where the option is in there depends on your video card driver.
Trilinear Filtering: Improves the look of textures when they are shrunken or enlarged. I recommend turning this on.
Vertex Animation Shaders: Turn this on if you can! This makes all of the character animations be calculated on the video card itself, taking the load of the processor. In almost every case this will improve performance. Smooth Shading is up to you, but I prefer to have it on.
Vertical Sync: Eliminates the “tearing” effect caused by the screen drawing at a different rate than the monitor. In most cases this is done by slowing down the rendering speed to something that divides evenly into the refresh rate. Unless you have a lower than average frames per second, I recommend turning this on.
Triple Buffering: By default, World of Warcraft uses double buffering. This means that it will be rendering to an offscreen buffer while the previous frame’s buffer is presented to the screen. Adding another buffer allows the game to keep rendering if it gets a little behind, at the cost of video memory. This is something you will have to experiment with.
Hardware Cursor: Some people have had a problem with abnormally low frame rates with this option on. Technically it’s faster to have it on, but the difference is probably so small it’s unnoticable.
Whew, that was longer than I expected. Hopefully you now have a better idea of what everything does for your World of Warcraft experience.
If anyone wants to compare, here are my system specs:
CPU: Pentium 4 2.00 GHz
Video Card: Radeon 9600 XT 128 MB
RAM: 1024 MB
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy
Hard Drive: Maxtor 40 GB with 2 MB cache
Operating System: Windows XP
I’m running just fine with all of the options turned up and 6x FSAA.
Happy WoWing!
WoW Gameplay Discussion -
Have you ever gotten stuck on a zeppelin or boat because it arrived and left its destination before you could get off? Does it take longer for your computer to load a windrider flight than it does to actually get there? Do you constantly fall off of Freewind Post to your death? Has a person 20 levels lower than you killed you because you couldn’t move to fight back?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, or if you just want to get the most out of your computer, then read on.
This article is aimed at optimizing your system to get the best performance and visual quality out of World of Warcraft. I have been programming for six years and working with Direct3D and OpenGL for three, and it surprises me how many misconceptions about performance there are out there. I hope to clear some of them up.
Before I get into some technical details, there are some things everyone should do.
Software Things
1) Check for spyware. Even if you think you don’t have it, it’s good to be sure. This stuff is absolutely insidious. Two free programs that work great are:
Adaware Personal: http://www.lavasoft.com/software/adaware/
Spybot Search and Destroy: http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html
It may help to run Windows in safe mode when doing the scans. Reboot your computer and hold F8 while it starts up. This will bring up a choice of launch configurations. Select Safe Mode. If safe mode without networking is available, pick that. Some spyware comes in packages. From what I’ve seen, if one program from the package realizes its friends are gone, it goes ahead and downloads them again. Disabling networking temporarily will stop this. Once you are done scanning just reboot and let your computer start normally.
2) Close all running programs (except for maybe your instant messenger). Blizzard always says to do this first and for good reason. You might think it’s all closed, but in reality there are probably many things going on.
For Windows 98 and XP, go to start > run > type in “msconfig” (without the quotes) and click OK. Go to the Startup tab. Uncheck everything, especially if you don’t know what it is. This will prevent all programs from launching at startup. If you find you stopped something that you wanted then you can go back an add it, but first start with nothing.
If you are on Windows XP, it can also be a good idea to stop all unneeded services. See http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm for a guide on how to do it and some recommended settings.
3) Get the latest video drivers for your video card.
ATI: http://www.ati.com
NVIDIA: http://www.nvidia.com
If you aren’t sure what type of video card you have, go to start > run > type in “dxdiag” (without the quotes) and click OK. Go to the Display tab. In the top left corner under the Device group it will say under Manufacturer. If your manufacturer is Intel, then it is strongly recommended you read the video card section.
4) Defragment. This will make it so that files aren’t in many places on the harddrive at once, making the game faster to load. It is a good idea to run in safe mode while you do this.
I actually reformatted and then installed World of Warcraft before anything else. This not only makes it so individual files are kept together, but all of the World of Warcraft files are kept together. It also gets a spot closer to the center of the disc, creating a smaller rotation radius for the head. What I did probably had no effect, but whatever =). Defragmenting is really all you need to do.
To defragment: Open My Computer, right click on the C: drive, and click Properties. Go to the Tools tab and click Defragment Now...
The truly paranoid might consider creating an entire partition for World of Warcraft.
Into the Actual Hardware
In order to understand how each part of your computer contributes to (or hinders) performance it is important to understand the concept of bottlenecks. It’s actually quite simple: your computer will only run as fast as its slowest part.
This little statement is more important than it seems. I see a lot of people automatically jump to upgrading their video card. This can lead to little or no improvement if the rest of your computer is outdated as well. As an extreme example, it would be absurd to run a GeForce 6800 with a Pentium 2 400 MHz. Likewise, it would be equally absurd to pair a Pentium 4 3.46 GHz with hyperthreading with a GeForce 1.
On to the parts…
The Videocard
The videocard is in charge of rendering everything you see on the screen. (Before I go on it is important to note that this only applies to 3D applications, and even then not all of the time. Fancy designs like you see in Windows Media Player are actually processed by the CPU.) The videocard is optimized for matrix math and is able to do 16 or more operations per pipeline in a single instruction. However, it gains this speed at the loss of flexibility. There are different pipelines (vertex processing, pixel processing, etc.) that work (mostly) independently of each other. The next generation of video cards is actually blurring the lines between these, so it will be very interesting to see what effects developers come up with in the near future.
Before the videocard can do anything, however, it must receive its instructions from the CPU. This is why you don’t want to go overkill on the videocard. An upgrade can never hurt, but it may not be cost effective to go for the best. I went from a Radeon 8500 to a Radeon 9600 XT and noticed a fairly large improvement.
The improvement you see from upgrading your video card will be in overall frame rate. If you lag when entering towns you will still probably lag when entering towns. If you constantly suffer from a bad frame rate wherever you go, the video card is most likely the thing to blame.
Before upgrading your video card I strongly recommend reading some reviews reviews. Two good sites are:
PC Stats: http://www.pcstats.com/
Tom’s Hardware: http://tomshardware.com/
I would recommend the GeForce 6600, provided you have the processor to match it with. I would steer people away from the GeForce FX line, and force them into solitary confinement for considering the GeForce FX 5200. Stay away from the lower end Radeon 9x00 series as well. Video memory is something to keep in mind, but it isn’t necessarily crucial. More is only better if the game actually uses it, and when it doesn’t, it can actually lead to a small slowdown. Either 128 MB or 256 MB will get you through World of Warcraft just fine, but for future games, you might feel safer with 256 MB.
Rember earlier when I said to see this section if your video card manufacturer was Intel? This means you have an integrated chip. Intel isn’t the only manufacturer of them but they are the most common. While extremely cheap and adequate for normal use and internet surfing, they can cause you nightmares in games. The main reason is that they only do pixel processing, leaving the CPU to do vertex processing. Even their pixel processing is subpar. If you have one and can’t upgrade it’s not too much to fret about. Turning down all of the options and decreasing the resolution should get you to at least a playable level, but a true video card will make your experience much more enjoyable.
A note about PCI Express: Don’t worry about it. PCI Express improves the bandwidth available to video cards, but since games don’t even use up the bandwidth available to AGP 4x, upgrading a motherboard just for PCI Express is a waste. It would be like changing a four lane highway to a sixteen lane highway when only two lanes are in use at any given time.
The CPU
Many people underestimate the role the CPU plays in games. Every little physics calculation is done here, as well as shuffling instructions to the video card, sound card, and everything else. It can also be in charge of doing all of the animations in the game if your video card does not support vertex animation (more on that later).
Upgrading the CPU can often be more trouble than it’s worth. You can only go so far before needing to upgrade the motherboard as well. Once you upgrade your motherboard you have to worry about RAM compatabilities. It starts to get sticky. If you want to go from Intel to AMD or AMD to Intel then you are out of luck with your current motherboard.
If you are considering a new computer or processor/motherboard, I would recommend anything from the AMD Athlon 64 series. These are currently the best gaming chips on the market, thanks to their on-die memory controller. If you are going with Intel, don’t be sucked into the hyperthreading bandwagon. Intel tries to imply that it’s like having two processors on one chip. It is and it isn’t: only one is used at a time. Every processor “stalls” every once in a while. Intel’s (rather brute force) solution was a backup processor. I repeat, hyperthreading is not the same thing as parallel processing. Speaking of parallel processing…
Don’t do it. It will not give twice the CPU power to World of Warcraft. Parallel processing requires that the application be designed for it. A thread can only be worked on by one processor at a time, and in most (if not all) games there is only one computationally intensive thread. If you wanted to run two World of Warcraft’s at a time you might notice a different, but it seems silly to me.
RAM
RAM. Every piece of data has to go through it at some point. World of Warcraft loves it. I upgraded from 512 MB to 1024 MB for $75 and noticed an incredible difference. I no longer screech to a halt when hearthstoning to Orgrimmar. I haven’t fallen off of Freewind Post since. I can also alt+tab out of the game without the harddrive spinning around for half a minute.
Adding more RAM will not give the same kind of performance increase as upgrading the video card. You will still get the same frames per second standing around looking at a waterfall. However, should you run into a heavily populated area, or switch zones, your computer will load much, much more quickly.
There are four major types of RAM: SD, RD, DDR, and DDR2. RD, DDR, and DDR2 are faster than SD, but the jury is still out on how much of an improvement DDR2 is. DDR2’s main advantage is that it uses less power, making it useful for future laptops. If you don’t know what type you have you will need to check your motherboard’s manual or manufacturer’s site (or just open up your computer and look inside). There are some programs that supposedly tell you, but I have no experience with them.
There is also unbuffered/registered and non-parity/ECC to keep in mind. Registered RAM is usually only in servers. ECC is a method of correcting for errors when writing to RAM. The chance of one occuring is minutely small and ECC does have a small overhead, so this is usually only in servers as well. Non-parity will be a little faster and save you some extra money as well. Feel free to mix ECC and non-parity, but unbuffered and registered are not compatible with each other.
If you have SD and are worried about a possible performance loss, don’t. As far as World of Warcraft is concerned, quantity > quality.
The Hard Drive
Yes, the hard drive. All of the game files are stored on the harddrive and have to get to RAM one way or another. I wouldn’t upgrade your harddrive just for World of Warcraft, but if you are getting a new one, make sure it has at least 8 MB of cache. This will lead to faster load times, assuming reading is the bottleneck and not the bandwidth available.
The Sound Card
In all honesty, the sound card isn’t something to worry about. Even an integrated sound card is fine here. Just make sure you have the latest drivers and you are set to go.
A few people in Asheron’s Call 2 did have sound card compatibility problems that caused the game to be unbearable. I haven’t heard of any of this in World of Warcraft, but if you have a powerful system that runs horribly, it might be something to look into.
In Game Options
So now you have the latest and greatest hardware and you are staring at the Video Options screen. What does it all mean? Some of it doesn’t matter, but there are some important ones.
Resolution: How many pixels are on the screen. A higher resolution will lead to improved visual quality, but it is limited by the monitor and video card. Monitors can only go so high and video cards start to get bogged down after a while. Experiment with this option, you might be able to increase it with no performance hit at all. If you are using an LCD monitor then try to match the native resolution if your video card can keep up. You will notice a huge difference in crispness.
Refresh Rate: How many times a second the monitor draws the screen. Most people can’t tell the difference, but my eyes can’t stand anything less than 80 Hz. If you get a headache after playing for a while then turn this up. You might have to lower the resolution in order to do so.
World Appearance sliders: Your main performance customization tools. Only experimentation will show you the best combination for your system. It depends on where the bottleneck within the video card is. If it’s in pixel processing then you might be able to increase environment detail or turn off level of detail and not notice the difference. If it’s in vertex processing you might be able to increase the texture detail for free. Anisotropic filtering is a technique for blending a texture as goes off into the distance. If you are annoyed by the lines on textures that appear on the ground when walking around then this is the option to increase.
Level of Detail: World of Warcraft has a terrain engine feature that can render things in the distance with less polygons than things in the front. This can significantly speed things up and lower to middle end video cards. While standing still it’s not noticable, but once you start moving around you will notice a “popping” effect. Turning off this option forces everything to the highest detail and leads to an increase in image quality. I was able to turn this off on my Radeon 9600 XT with no difference in performance. Try it and see, you might be surprised at the difference if you are used to the popping.
Shader Effects: These improve the the visual quality of the game. I recommend turning them on if you can, they are quite nice. Note that you won’t be able to use antialiasing with the Full-Screen Glow Effect. Antialiasing blends the jagged lines that appear because of the nature of monitors. I prefer antialiasing over the glow effect, but it is quite fillrate (pixel processing) intensive. If you want to see what antialiasing looks like, go to start > settings > control panel > display > settings tab > advanced. Where the option is in there depends on your video card driver.
Trilinear Filtering: Improves the look of textures when they are shrunken or enlarged. I recommend turning this on.
Vertex Animation Shaders: Turn this on if you can! This makes all of the character animations be calculated on the video card itself, taking the load of the processor. In almost every case this will improve performance. Smooth Shading is up to you, but I prefer to have it on.
Vertical Sync: Eliminates the “tearing” effect caused by the screen drawing at a different rate than the monitor. In most cases this is done by slowing down the rendering speed to something that divides evenly into the refresh rate. Unless you have a lower than average frames per second, I recommend turning this on.
Triple Buffering: By default, World of Warcraft uses double buffering. This means that it will be rendering to an offscreen buffer while the previous frame’s buffer is presented to the screen. Adding another buffer allows the game to keep rendering if it gets a little behind, at the cost of video memory. This is something you will have to experiment with.
Hardware Cursor: Some people have had a problem with abnormally low frame rates with this option on. Technically it’s faster to have it on, but the difference is probably so small it’s unnoticable.
Whew, that was longer than I expected. Hopefully you now have a better idea of what everything does for your World of Warcraft experience.
If anyone wants to compare, here are my system specs:
CPU: Pentium 4 2.00 GHz
Video Card: Radeon 9600 XT 128 MB
RAM: 1024 MB
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy
Hard Drive: Maxtor 40 GB with 2 MB cache
Operating System: Windows XP
I’m running just fine with all of the options turned up and 6x FSAA.
Happy WoWing!
WoW Gameplay Discussion -
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Welcome to Warcraft Trades! This site has been created to provide World of Warcraft players with a visual representation of player made items via the various in-game professions. Many players wonder what an item will look like prior to gathering the supplies to create or purchase a "bind on equip" item. Some might find it useful if going for a certain look for special occasions like in-game weddings or perhaps wondering what a certain enchantment glow looks like! Players from all realms, both Horde and Alliance, will be able to submit screenshots to be added to the photo database and this site will continue to be an ongoing and updated project. The more submissions the better the site will be for the resource it provides. Enjoy your visit and thanks for coming!
Warcraft Trades
Warcraft Trades
Monday, January 17, 2005
Saturday, January 15, 2005
Friday, January 14, 2005
WoW Gameplay Discussion -
18. Re: Silly in-game stuff that makes you laugh | 1/7/2005 4:47:49 PM PST
Crystal Lake in Elwyn Forest
Location of countless Friday the 13th movies.
The Slaughtered Lamb in Stormwind
Pub in American Werewolf in London.
The rogue guild of Stormwind is SI:7
James Bond works for MI:6 the british version of the CIA.
The bank tellers in Undercity are named, Ophelia, Randolph, and Mortimer.
These are the characters from the Eddie Murphy/Dan Akroyd movie Trading Places
The bank tellers in IronForge are named, Barnum, Bailey, and Soliel.
Circus names.
The bank tellers in Stormwind are named, Olivia, Newton, and John.
Olivia Newton John star of the film Xanadu and rock star from the 80s
Blubber Gump is the fisherman in Auberdine who talks about all the ways to cook crab
In the movie Forest Gump, Bubba talked about all the ways to cook shrimp
Woo Ping is the weapons trainer in Stormwind
Woo Ping is the legendary Hong Kong fight choreagrapher that choregraphed The Matrix and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.
Biggs and Wedge are watchers in the Swamp of Sorrows
Biggs and Wedge were both secondary characters that flew alongside Luke Skywalker
Return of the Ring is a quest stared by finding a gold ring in Gnomeragan that, "Fills you with great power and compells you to wear it"
Lord of the Rings humor
The One Ring is a treasure that can be found in Teldrassil, it adds one to every stat, "Not as good as the two ring."
More Lord of the Rings humor
Hin Denburg is an NPC on the Undercity zepplin platform
Hindlinburg was a zepplin that caught fire ending the riegn of the sky boats
Gnoam a Gnome in IronForge
Just a play on the spelling of Gnome.
Old Man Hemming in Booty Bay who sells the expert fishing book
Hemmingway wrote The Old Man and the Sea
The Samophlange qeust
Thundercats blooper video
"Fear the power of the dark iron dwarves!" said by Dark Iron Dwarves
Star Wars play on words
"Your a Mean One..." Quest where you fight the Abominal Greench
The Grinch that Stole Christmas and theme song.
"Gnogaine" quest where giver lamments his lost afro
Rogaine is a hair restoritive
Captain Vimes in Theramore
Character from Terry Prachett novels
Norman and Bates innkeepers in Undercity and Sepulture
Norman Bates was the lead charcter in movie Phycho
Terry Palin a lumberjack in Eastvale Loggin Camp
Monty Python team Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin sang, "I'm a Lumberjack and I'm OK!"
Clarice Foster in the Thunderbluff Pools of Vision quest
Jodie Foster played Clarice Starling in movie Silence of the Lambs
Fooly and Cooly in Undercity Apothecarium
Fooly Cooly anime series
Red Mushrooms with white spots on caps purchased as food have two black dots on the stalks
Super Mario fought red mushrooms with white spots and eyes on their stalks.
Blue Punch Card in Gnomeragan reads "Do NOT let this information get into enemy hands!"
The binary code on bottom translates to, "The gnome king wears night elf underwear"
White Punch Card in Gnomeragan reads "Super Secret Triple Encoded Data Card!"
The binary code on bottom translates to, "Thrall and Jaina sing in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G"
Yellow Punch Card in Gnomeragan reads "Ulta Vital Data! Security Rating 5122!"
The binary code on bottom translates to, "If you can read this, you're standing too close"
Gaz'rilla, a named dinosaur in Tanaris (need instance name).
Godzilla a giant fire breathing dinosaur that terrorized tokoyo in a long series of movies.
Gamoo Rah, a named turtle in Blackfathoms Deep
Gamera is a japanese turtle monster similiar to Godzilla.
Tyler and Edwards are two undead NPCs that fight in the Undercity
Tyler Durden was played by Brad Pitt alter ego of Edward Norton as Narrator in the movie Fight Club.
In the NE corner of Golden Plains in Mulgore is a Monolith with some hand painting on it.
The paintings are Tauren influenced copies of ancient bull paintings of Altamira cave in Spain (12,000bc, and handprints from the Grotte de Chauvet in France (100,000+bc).
XXX (need NPC name) in Stormwind wanders around saying, "I'll gladly pay you on Tuesday for a hamburger today."
Blimpy from the Popeye cartoon often said this.
"A Tailor to Cities" clothing shop in Booty Bay
"A tale of Two Cities" written by Charles %@$%enson.
Klannoc Macleod "The Islander" is an NPC in the Barrrens
Connor Macleod was the Highlander in the movie of same name.
"Chasing A-Me" is a quest given by the robot A-Me 01 in Un'goro
"Chasing Amy" is a Kevin Smith movie.
Spraggle Frock is an NPC in Un'goro
Fraggle Rock was a Jim Henson muppet series on HBO in the late 80's.
Horde characters typing "hehe" will be translated as "keke" to Alliance players
I dont't get the whole keke thing, some japanese nerdish thing i think
Seaforium is an engineer created explosive to blow open locked chests and doors.
C-4 is an explosive used to blow open just about everything.
Emrul is a cooking trainer in IronForge
Emeril is a popular television cook.
Daniel Ulfman and Steven Bharteck are NPCs in the Undead newbie lands
Danny Elfman and Steve Bartek were members of the still influential 80's band Oingo Boingo, one of their biggest hits was Dead Man's Party (Danny Elfman still composes movie scores having done, Batman, the Simpsons, Edward Scissorhands, Spider Man, Nightmare Before Christmas, Beetlejuice, Tales From the Crypt, and a lot more)
Chief Engineer Scooty is a goblin standing near what appears to be a teleporter in Booty Bay
Star Trek, theres also supposed to be a Spork goblin with the Away Team on the other side.
Dextren Ward is an NPC tossed into the Storwind Stockades for selling corpses to the Undead
"The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" is a story by HP Lovecraft
Rand is a Blacksmith in Deathknell
Rand is the hero of Wheel of Time, his friend Perrin is an apprentice blacksmith
Algernon is an NPC alchamist in Undercity, he is holding a flower
"Folwers for Algernon" is a short story by Daniel Keyes
Lister and Zimmer are two gaurds in the Undecity
Lister and Zimmer were two of the main characters in the Red Dwarf TV show.
When clicked on orc peons will occasionally say "Zug Zug"
Not only a reference to Warcraft but also a refrence to the movie Caveman.
Wirt's Third Leg
Binds when equipped
One-Hand Mace
49 - 91 Damage Speed 2.30
(30.4 damage per second)
+9 Agility
+4 Stamina
Requires Level 40
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My post is on what page after 2 minutes!?
WoW Gameplay Discussion -
Crystal Lake in Elwyn Forest
Location of countless Friday the 13th movies.
The Slaughtered Lamb in Stormwind
Pub in American Werewolf in London.
The rogue guild of Stormwind is SI:7
James Bond works for MI:6 the british version of the CIA.
The bank tellers in Undercity are named, Ophelia, Randolph, and Mortimer.
These are the characters from the Eddie Murphy/Dan Akroyd movie Trading Places
The bank tellers in IronForge are named, Barnum, Bailey, and Soliel.
Circus names.
The bank tellers in Stormwind are named, Olivia, Newton, and John.
Olivia Newton John star of the film Xanadu and rock star from the 80s
Blubber Gump is the fisherman in Auberdine who talks about all the ways to cook crab
In the movie Forest Gump, Bubba talked about all the ways to cook shrimp
Woo Ping is the weapons trainer in Stormwind
Woo Ping is the legendary Hong Kong fight choreagrapher that choregraphed The Matrix and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.
Biggs and Wedge are watchers in the Swamp of Sorrows
Biggs and Wedge were both secondary characters that flew alongside Luke Skywalker
Return of the Ring is a quest stared by finding a gold ring in Gnomeragan that, "Fills you with great power and compells you to wear it"
Lord of the Rings humor
The One Ring is a treasure that can be found in Teldrassil, it adds one to every stat, "Not as good as the two ring."
More Lord of the Rings humor
Hin Denburg is an NPC on the Undercity zepplin platform
Hindlinburg was a zepplin that caught fire ending the riegn of the sky boats
Gnoam a Gnome in IronForge
Just a play on the spelling of Gnome.
Old Man Hemming in Booty Bay who sells the expert fishing book
Hemmingway wrote The Old Man and the Sea
The Samophlange qeust
Thundercats blooper video
"Fear the power of the dark iron dwarves!" said by Dark Iron Dwarves
Star Wars play on words
"Your a Mean One..." Quest where you fight the Abominal Greench
The Grinch that Stole Christmas and theme song.
"Gnogaine" quest where giver lamments his lost afro
Rogaine is a hair restoritive
Captain Vimes in Theramore
Character from Terry Prachett novels
Norman and Bates innkeepers in Undercity and Sepulture
Norman Bates was the lead charcter in movie Phycho
Terry Palin a lumberjack in Eastvale Loggin Camp
Monty Python team Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin sang, "I'm a Lumberjack and I'm OK!"
Clarice Foster in the Thunderbluff Pools of Vision quest
Jodie Foster played Clarice Starling in movie Silence of the Lambs
Fooly and Cooly in Undercity Apothecarium
Fooly Cooly anime series
Red Mushrooms with white spots on caps purchased as food have two black dots on the stalks
Super Mario fought red mushrooms with white spots and eyes on their stalks.
Blue Punch Card in Gnomeragan reads "Do NOT let this information get into enemy hands!"
The binary code on bottom translates to, "The gnome king wears night elf underwear"
White Punch Card in Gnomeragan reads "Super Secret Triple Encoded Data Card!"
The binary code on bottom translates to, "Thrall and Jaina sing in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G"
Yellow Punch Card in Gnomeragan reads "Ulta Vital Data! Security Rating 5122!"
The binary code on bottom translates to, "If you can read this, you're standing too close"
Gaz'rilla, a named dinosaur in Tanaris (need instance name).
Godzilla a giant fire breathing dinosaur that terrorized tokoyo in a long series of movies.
Gamoo Rah, a named turtle in Blackfathoms Deep
Gamera is a japanese turtle monster similiar to Godzilla.
Tyler and Edwards are two undead NPCs that fight in the Undercity
Tyler Durden was played by Brad Pitt alter ego of Edward Norton as Narrator in the movie Fight Club.
In the NE corner of Golden Plains in Mulgore is a Monolith with some hand painting on it.
The paintings are Tauren influenced copies of ancient bull paintings of Altamira cave in Spain (12,000bc, and handprints from the Grotte de Chauvet in France (100,000+bc).
XXX (need NPC name) in Stormwind wanders around saying, "I'll gladly pay you on Tuesday for a hamburger today."
Blimpy from the Popeye cartoon often said this.
"A Tailor to Cities" clothing shop in Booty Bay
"A tale of Two Cities" written by Charles %@$%enson.
Klannoc Macleod "The Islander" is an NPC in the Barrrens
Connor Macleod was the Highlander in the movie of same name.
"Chasing A-Me" is a quest given by the robot A-Me 01 in Un'goro
"Chasing Amy" is a Kevin Smith movie.
Spraggle Frock is an NPC in Un'goro
Fraggle Rock was a Jim Henson muppet series on HBO in the late 80's.
Horde characters typing "hehe" will be translated as "keke" to Alliance players
I dont't get the whole keke thing, some japanese nerdish thing i think
Seaforium is an engineer created explosive to blow open locked chests and doors.
C-4 is an explosive used to blow open just about everything.
Emrul is a cooking trainer in IronForge
Emeril is a popular television cook.
Daniel Ulfman and Steven Bharteck are NPCs in the Undead newbie lands
Danny Elfman and Steve Bartek were members of the still influential 80's band Oingo Boingo, one of their biggest hits was Dead Man's Party (Danny Elfman still composes movie scores having done, Batman, the Simpsons, Edward Scissorhands, Spider Man, Nightmare Before Christmas, Beetlejuice, Tales From the Crypt, and a lot more)
Chief Engineer Scooty is a goblin standing near what appears to be a teleporter in Booty Bay
Star Trek, theres also supposed to be a Spork goblin with the Away Team on the other side.
Dextren Ward is an NPC tossed into the Storwind Stockades for selling corpses to the Undead
"The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" is a story by HP Lovecraft
Rand is a Blacksmith in Deathknell
Rand is the hero of Wheel of Time, his friend Perrin is an apprentice blacksmith
Algernon is an NPC alchamist in Undercity, he is holding a flower
"Folwers for Algernon" is a short story by Daniel Keyes
Lister and Zimmer are two gaurds in the Undecity
Lister and Zimmer were two of the main characters in the Red Dwarf TV show.
When clicked on orc peons will occasionally say "Zug Zug"
Not only a reference to Warcraft but also a refrence to the movie Caveman.
Wirt's Third Leg
Binds when equipped
One-Hand Mace
49 - 91 Damage Speed 2.30
(30.4 damage per second)
+9 Agility
+4 Stamina
Requires Level 40
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My post is on what page after 2 minutes!?
WoW Gameplay Discussion -
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Saturday, January 08, 2005
WoW Hunter Discussion -
1. Pet FAQ | 11/23/2004 9:42:09 AM PST
I posted this in the Hunter forums during Open Beta, so I saved it. Here it is.
------------------------------------------------
I made a hunter. When do I get my pet?
Once you reach level 10, you may start a quest to learn the art of beast taming.
Who do I get the Taming quest from?
The second hunter trainer you run across will have a grey ‘!’ over his head. This is where you can get the quest.
Is the hunter quest race specific?
It seems to be region specific. You will tame local creatures.
Ok I got my taming quest and this rod. Now what?
Your quest will specify a creature you are to tame. It should also indicate the best location to find the beast. Find the beast. Walk up to it. Right-click the rod in your inventory. The beast will attack you. Stay still while the timer that appears empties. It will tell you whether your tame was successful or not. If not, try again.
What happens if I mess up and use all my rod charges?
Return to the quest giver and retake the quest.
I tamed my first pet on the quest. Now what?
Return to the quest giver. He will give you two more beasts to tame before you receive your skill. You have 10 minutes from the point of taming before the pet disappears. No worries though, it will still count as a completion (Not sure if the same applies if your pet dies).
Do I get to keep the creatures I tame on the quest?
After each phase of the quest, you will lose the creature you just tamed.
I finished all three phases and got my ability to tame. How do I get a pet now?
You can. Same as taming before, except no rod. You walk up and use your Tame ability.
Why can't I feed / revive / train my pet?
Once you have the Taming ability, talk to the trainer that gave you the quest. He will now give you another quest to learn the Revive, Feed, and Train Pet abilities. All you have to do is speak to the trainer he sends you to.
Where do I find the pet trainer?
I found my first pet trainer (as an orc) in Orgrimmar. I would imagine they appear in the major cities. Speak to a information person (city guard) to find out where.
What can I tame?
There is a sticky listing pets that have been reported as untamable. You can’t tame those. Aside from that the only rule is any beast equal or less than your level.
Where do I find (Insert Beast Name here)?
Explore the world, find new pets. Its part of the game. Besides, what makes a good pet is dependent on what you are looking for.
How long do I keep what I tame with my skill?
You keep it until you abandon it (See below)
How do I get my pet to appear?
Use the Call Pet ability. Your character will whistle. Your pet should appear in a few seconds.
How do I name my pet?
Click on your pet to target it. It’s picture and bars will appear at the top of the screen next to your character’s. Right-click on the picture and select Name. Then you type in a name and press Enter.
How do I use my pets abilities?
There will be a small toolbar that appears above yours, when you call your pet. It has basic commands like Attack, Stay, Follow. It will also have the pets abilities (like Growl and Cower in my Durotar Tiger). These are usually set to AutoCast. This means they will be used by the pet AI. To remove them off AutoCast, Right-click the box. Right-click it again to resume AutoCast.
Does my pet get stronger and grow?
Your pet does not grow, but it will level like you.
Can my pet learn new skills?
Just like you, the pet can learn skills. You must first learn them from a Pet Trainer. Once you know them, you can use your Train Pet ability to teach them.
[b]Where do these abilities (like Growl, Cower) come from?
Each pet will teach you its basic abilities to start with. You can then learn higher rank versions of these from a pet trainer, so you can teach them to your pet. Different pets will give you different abilities.
How do I train my pet? (Thanks to Tyramar)
Some pets come with abilities. As far as I can tell, all you have to do to learn that ability is use that pet in battle until you do. You will get a yellow text message saying that you learned a skill. You can then abandon that pet in favor of a new one, and repeat the process. Currently there are only 4-5 pet skills, and not all pets can use each skill.
Once you learn enough skills from different pets, you can have one pet (usually your favorite) learn them using the "Beast Training" skill. Simply click on it, and a list of all the beast skills you've learned will pop up, much like the list for your Hunter at your hunter trainer. You can then use your pets available Training Points on those skills and teach them to that pet.
A pet gets Training Points when its loyalty level goes up. This is easy enough. All you need to do is keep it well fed (Green Happy Face).
How do I feed my pet? What does that do?
You can feed your pet by clicking the Feed Pet ability and selecting a food item, or by dragging a food item onto your pet.
What is the symbol next to my pet when I call him?
The small coloured square with a face in it is an indicator of how happy your pet is. This can be raised by feeding your pet. This status raises or lowers your pets damage output. Green is best (125% damage). Yellow is normal (100% damage). Then orange, then red.
What does my pet eat?
You can find out by looking at the Pet tab on your character sheet.
What happens when I dismiss my pet?
Your pet will go away and await your next Call. This will lower the pets happiness. To get your pet back, just use Call Pet. Dismissing the pet basically stores it.
How do I get another pet?
You can only have one active pet at a time. You can either go to a Stable Master and store a pet, freeing up the room to get a new one. Note that you can only store two pets. Or you can Abandon your pet by selecting him and right-clicking on his name.
------------------------------------------------
I hope this helps. I know there are a lot of pet related questions still. I am just a noob hunter trying to get the Basics out there for everyone to see.
WoW Hunter Discussion -
I posted this in the Hunter forums during Open Beta, so I saved it. Here it is.
------------------------------------------------
I made a hunter. When do I get my pet?
Once you reach level 10, you may start a quest to learn the art of beast taming.
Who do I get the Taming quest from?
The second hunter trainer you run across will have a grey ‘!’ over his head. This is where you can get the quest.
Is the hunter quest race specific?
It seems to be region specific. You will tame local creatures.
Ok I got my taming quest and this rod. Now what?
Your quest will specify a creature you are to tame. It should also indicate the best location to find the beast. Find the beast. Walk up to it. Right-click the rod in your inventory. The beast will attack you. Stay still while the timer that appears empties. It will tell you whether your tame was successful or not. If not, try again.
What happens if I mess up and use all my rod charges?
Return to the quest giver and retake the quest.
I tamed my first pet on the quest. Now what?
Return to the quest giver. He will give you two more beasts to tame before you receive your skill. You have 10 minutes from the point of taming before the pet disappears. No worries though, it will still count as a completion (Not sure if the same applies if your pet dies).
Do I get to keep the creatures I tame on the quest?
After each phase of the quest, you will lose the creature you just tamed.
I finished all three phases and got my ability to tame. How do I get a pet now?
You can. Same as taming before, except no rod. You walk up and use your Tame ability.
Why can't I feed / revive / train my pet?
Once you have the Taming ability, talk to the trainer that gave you the quest. He will now give you another quest to learn the Revive, Feed, and Train Pet abilities. All you have to do is speak to the trainer he sends you to.
Where do I find the pet trainer?
I found my first pet trainer (as an orc) in Orgrimmar. I would imagine they appear in the major cities. Speak to a information person (city guard) to find out where.
What can I tame?
There is a sticky listing pets that have been reported as untamable. You can’t tame those. Aside from that the only rule is any beast equal or less than your level.
Where do I find (Insert Beast Name here)?
Explore the world, find new pets. Its part of the game. Besides, what makes a good pet is dependent on what you are looking for.
How long do I keep what I tame with my skill?
You keep it until you abandon it (See below)
How do I get my pet to appear?
Use the Call Pet ability. Your character will whistle. Your pet should appear in a few seconds.
How do I name my pet?
Click on your pet to target it. It’s picture and bars will appear at the top of the screen next to your character’s. Right-click on the picture and select Name. Then you type in a name and press Enter.
How do I use my pets abilities?
There will be a small toolbar that appears above yours, when you call your pet. It has basic commands like Attack, Stay, Follow. It will also have the pets abilities (like Growl and Cower in my Durotar Tiger). These are usually set to AutoCast. This means they will be used by the pet AI. To remove them off AutoCast, Right-click the box. Right-click it again to resume AutoCast.
Does my pet get stronger and grow?
Your pet does not grow, but it will level like you.
Can my pet learn new skills?
Just like you, the pet can learn skills. You must first learn them from a Pet Trainer. Once you know them, you can use your Train Pet ability to teach them.
[b]Where do these abilities (like Growl, Cower) come from?
Each pet will teach you its basic abilities to start with. You can then learn higher rank versions of these from a pet trainer, so you can teach them to your pet. Different pets will give you different abilities.
How do I train my pet? (Thanks to Tyramar)
Some pets come with abilities. As far as I can tell, all you have to do to learn that ability is use that pet in battle until you do. You will get a yellow text message saying that you learned a skill. You can then abandon that pet in favor of a new one, and repeat the process. Currently there are only 4-5 pet skills, and not all pets can use each skill.
Once you learn enough skills from different pets, you can have one pet (usually your favorite) learn them using the "Beast Training" skill. Simply click on it, and a list of all the beast skills you've learned will pop up, much like the list for your Hunter at your hunter trainer. You can then use your pets available Training Points on those skills and teach them to that pet.
A pet gets Training Points when its loyalty level goes up. This is easy enough. All you need to do is keep it well fed (Green Happy Face).
How do I feed my pet? What does that do?
You can feed your pet by clicking the Feed Pet ability and selecting a food item, or by dragging a food item onto your pet.
What is the symbol next to my pet when I call him?
The small coloured square with a face in it is an indicator of how happy your pet is. This can be raised by feeding your pet. This status raises or lowers your pets damage output. Green is best (125% damage). Yellow is normal (100% damage). Then orange, then red.
What does my pet eat?
You can find out by looking at the Pet tab on your character sheet.
What happens when I dismiss my pet?
Your pet will go away and await your next Call. This will lower the pets happiness. To get your pet back, just use Call Pet. Dismissing the pet basically stores it.
How do I get another pet?
You can only have one active pet at a time. You can either go to a Stable Master and store a pet, freeing up the room to get a new one. Note that you can only store two pets. Or you can Abandon your pet by selecting him and right-clicking on his name.
------------------------------------------------
I hope this helps. I know there are a lot of pet related questions still. I am just a noob hunter trying to get the Basics out there for everyone to see.
WoW Hunter Discussion -
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