Addon Spotlight: Gear levels at a glance with iLvLr

Posted on December 30, 2011 by WoW Insider

Each week, WoW Insider's Mathew McCurley brings you a fresh look at reader-submitted UIs as well as Addon Spotlight, which focuses on the backbone of the WoW gameplay experience: the user interface. Everything from bags to bars, buttons to DPS meters and beyond -- your addons folder will never be the same.

One of the best ways for addon developers or fans of addon developers to get their addon some attention is to have it featured here on Addon Spotlight. If you're a developer who wants to see your addon in the spotlight or you're a friend of a developer looking to do your buddy a solid because of that thing you did in Cabo three years ago with the guy's on-again, off-again love interest, send me an email at mat@wowinsider.com and tell me to feature the addon. I try to read all my email, and you'll most likely have the experience JerichoHM did.

Some time ago, I covered Skill Helper, an addon that was sent to me by its creator, JerichoHM, that made missing a skill point because of forgetting to train a thing of the past. Now, Jericho sends me another email discussing his newest addon called iLvLr, which adds new information about an item's ilevel and durability percentage to the character pane. Addons that add to the already existing user interface are some of my favorites, since I don't have to clutter up the screen with new pictures, boxes, and other crud.

Continue reading Addon Spotlight: Gear levels at a glance with iLvLr

Filed under: Add-Ons, AddOn Spotlight

Addon Spotlight: Gear levels at a glance with iLvLr originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 29 Dec 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A 16th Minute of Fame: Where are they now?

Posted on December 29, 2011 by WoW Insider

From Olympic medalists and Hollywood actors to the guy next door, millions of people have made World of Warcraft a part of their lives. How do you play WoW? Where World of Warcraft and cool ideas and people meet, you'll find players who deserve 15 Minutes of Fame.

A college choir that specializes in choral arrangements of music from video games. A Hollywood horror actress. A guy known for Moonfiring targets out of the sky. We like to keep track of all the WoW-playing friends we've met through 15 Minutes of Fame. Even the stories of folks who aren't playing WoW anymore are stories many of us can relate to, offering a glimpse behind the curtain among players you and I may very well have grouped with during the past year.

Not everyone has time to respond to a year-end retrospective (we're looking at you and your Game of Thrones shooting schedule, Hodor!), but everyone still has a story to tell. Pull up a chair and our year-end gallery and sit awhile with some friends who play World of Warcraft, too.

Gallery: 16th Minute of Fame

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Filed under: Interviews, 15 Minutes of Fame

A 16th Minute of Fame: Where are they now? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 29 Dec 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A 16th Minute of Fame: Where are they now?

Posted on December 29, 2011 by WoW Insider

Gallery: 16th Minute of Fame

Continue reading A 16th Minute of Fame: Where are they now?

Filed under: Interviews, 15 Minutes of Fame

A 16th Minute of Fame: Where are they now? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 29 Dec 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The unveiling of Hogger cosplayer Bryce Masunaga

Posted on December 29, 2011 by WoW Insider

World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music, fan fiction and more. Sample the whole spectrum on our Arts and Crafts in WoW page.

Perhaps you're familiar with the photo above, we've used it on several occasions for a variety of articles here at WoW Insider, partially because it' a really cool costume with a lot of detail and partially because hey, it's Hogger! But I've always wondered just how that costume was put together -- and more importantly, who the heck is in there, anyway?

Luckily, that question has been answered by an email from the costume's creator, Bryce Masunaga. While Hogger was a fantastic costume that many remember, Bryce has done a couple of other costumes for BlizzCon as well -- a sturdy Tree of Life that does the Twist, and a lovely version of priest tier 5. Bryce sat down with us and chatted about the art of costuming, patience, and how exactly he managed to walk around in that Hogger costume and still see where he was going!

Gallery: Hogger, Tier 5 and Tree of Life by Bryce Masunaga

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Filed under: World of WarCrafts

The unveiling of Hogger cosplayer Bryce Masunaga originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 29 Dec 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How to level up using the Dungeon Finder

Posted on December 29, 2011 by WoW Insider

New around here? WoW Rookie has your back! Get all our collected tips, tricks and tactics for new players in the WoW Rookie Guide. WoW Rookie is about more than just being new to the game; it's about checking out new classes, new playstyles, and new zones.

One of the quietly celebrated features in contemporary Cataclysm is the ability to level up entirely using the Dungeon Finder. It's a little rough in a few places where you cross expansions, around levels 58, 68, and 80ish. But other than those few spots, you can fly through the so-called younger levels without much trouble at all.

While speeding your way to level 85 this way doesn't require a lot of strategy per se, it still helps immensely if you get your act together beforehand. Consider issues like leveling professions, keeping up with gold, and even how you'll handle your downtime between queues. Most importantly, once you're actually inside the dungeon, you should be prepared with some tips to avoid annoying the heck out of your groups.

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Filed under: WoW Rookie

How to level up using the Dungeon Finder originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 29 Dec 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Queue: No cats, but still furry feet

Posted on December 29, 2011 by WoW Insider

Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Adam Holisky (@adamholisky) will be your host today.

I don't have any pictures of my cat handy today, but here's some furry feet still.

Plus I don't think The Queue has run The Hobbit trailer, and I think that's the sort of thing we're obligated to do.

Tyler asked:

Is there any reason why Deathwing wouldn't have just gone to Outland to destroy it as well? I think the dark portal is still open. So why not go there after he destroys Azeroth? Has his insanity caused him to overlook the opportunity to destroy what's left of outland?

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Filed under: The Queue

The Queue: No cats, but still furry feet originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 29 Dec 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Light and How to Swing It: How to evaluate your DPS using World of Logs

Posted on December 29, 2011 by WoW Insider

Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Light and How to Swing It for holy, protection and retribution paladins. Seasoned ret paladin Dan Desmond is here to answer your questions and provide you with your biweekly dose of retribution medicine. Contact him at dand@wowinsider.com with any questions, concerns, or suggestions!

When it comes to tanking or healing, it's pretty obvious when you're doing things correctly. The metrics for these important roles typically involve staving off death as long as possible, whether it be through drawing a monster's ire or invoking the name of some unseen deity to mend the wounds of one's allies. As members of the damage-dealing brigade, we ret paladins can be said to adhere to the same requirements in that we attempt to kill our adversaries before they kill us, but truly gauging a DPSer's value involves more than just looking at meter addons like Recount and Skada. Today, we will discuss the use of a very versatile and amazingly useful tool known as World of Logs in the context of retribution paladin DPS.

Buffs gained

In my opinion, buffs gained is one of the more handy parts of World of Logs. Here, you can see what buffs you gained throughout the course of an encounter, from Bloodlust to Divine Guardian and beyond. Notice that if you click on the pound sign (#) next to any ability, a graph comparing your damage done with overall raid DPS will pop up at the top of the screen. Underneath that graph will be your selected ability, with green boxes representing the uptime on the buff or debuff. The check box next to the name of the ability will overlay this uptime information on top of the graph itself.

Continue reading The Light and How to Swing It: How to evaluate your DPS using World of Logs

Filed under: Paladin, (Paladin) The Light and How to Swing It

The Light and How to Swing It: How to evaluate your DPS using World of Logs originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 28 Dec 2011 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Best of WoW Insider: September 2011

Posted on December 29, 2011 by WoW Insider

Curulan: Pigeon raid boss. I love it. GET ON THIS, BLIZZARD.

September was pretty much all patch 4.3, all the time. The PTR didn't actually go live until close to the end of the month, but we definitely made up for lost time when it did. Transmogrification thoughts still dominated the site's more idle discussion -- who doesn't love cool-looking gear? -- but art-related talk kicked into high gear once everyone saw the visual proc off the new rogue legendary. That would go on to provide one of December's better jokes.

Continue reading The Best of WoW Insider: September 2011

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, WoW Insider Business, Humor

The Best of WoW Insider: September 2011 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 28 Dec 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Encrypted Text: Remembering 2011 as the year of the rogue

Posted on December 29, 2011 by WoW Insider

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Encrypted Text for assassination, combat and subtlety rogues. Chase Christian will be your guide to the world of shadows every Wednesday. Feel free to email me with any questions or article suggestions you'd like to see covered here, like how to sneak around wearing a gaudy sweater.

With 2010 fading fast, rogues apprehensively looked forward to Cataclysm and how it would shape 2011. We were the crowned kings of Icecrown Citadel, with armor penetration and attack power as our top stats and both assassination and combat battling for first place. Mutilate rogues still tied down by Hunger for Blood, and combat rogues were spamming Blade Flurry on cooldown for the attack speed increase.

Looking back, we have grown since Wrath. Each of the rogue specs has evolved and found a niche, and even subtlety can make a reasonable claim for a raid spot now. With the massive talent system revamp, the developers struggled initially to balance each spec against the others. Rogues entered into 2011 and Cataclysm with a whimper, as the loss of armor penetration and the conversion of attack power to agility was not as smooth as Blizzard would have hoped.

Continue reading Encrypted Text: Remembering 2011 as the year of the rogue

Filed under: Rogue, (Rogue) Encrypted Text

Encrypted Text: Remembering 2011 as the year of the rogue originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 28 Dec 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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