Category Archives: wow

Breakfast Topic: What keeps you playing?

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Fail Squad
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the AOL guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

I've known people who played this game for many reasons. Some were in it just to kill time, some wanted to get the best gear, and many wanted to beat the game in the manner of their choice. Ultimately, for those of us who have stuck around for more than a content cycle, there's something that keeps us here rather than moving on to the next flavor of the month game.

The reason I play this game isn't really for the raiding or the prestige, and it sure isn't for the gear. In the end, I'm playing this game because I've got a good group of friends who play with me. There are about 22 of us, and while there are only 15 or so playing at any given time, it's made raiding a ton of fun and recruiting this expansion a breeze. When someone needs some time away from the game, another friend is coming back and looking to raid. While it took me about a year to cultivate all these friendships, it's paid off well in Cataclysm. I don't think I'd still be playing if it weren't for them. Thank you, guys and gals.

So what keeps you logging on? What drives you in this game?

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Breakfast Topic: What keeps you playing? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 30 Nov 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Breakfast Topic: What keeps you playing?

Posted on by
Fail Squad
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the AOL guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

I've known people who played this game for many reasons. Some were in it just to kill time, some wanted to get the best gear, and many wanted to beat the game in the manner of their choice. Ultimately, for those of us who have stuck around for more than a content cycle, there's something that keeps us here rather than moving on to the next flavor of the month game.

The reason I play this game isn't really for the raiding or the prestige, and it sure isn't for the gear. In the end, I'm playing this game because I've got a good group of friends who play with me. There are about 22 of us, and while there are only 15 or so playing at any given time, it's made raiding a ton of fun and recruiting this expansion a breeze. When someone needs some time away from the game, another friend is coming back and looking to raid. While it took me about a year to cultivate all these friendships, it's paid off well in Cataclysm. I don't think I'd still be playing if it weren't for them. Thank you, guys and gals.

So what keeps you logging on? What drives you in this game?

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Breakfast Topic: What keeps you playing? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 30 Nov 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Blood Sport: How will patch 4.3 impact PvP?

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WoW Insider covers the world of player vs. player action in Blood Sport for fans of battleground, world PvP and Arena play. Steering you to victory is Olivia Grace, who spends most of her time in Azeroth as a restoration shaman turning people into frogs.

With patch 4.3 imminent and Arena season 10 due to end Nov. 29, it seems reasonable to assume the patch will appear in early December. While you're racing to get your team into title range, get that last piece of gear, or just running laps of your capital city, you might be thinking forward to the arrival of the patch and wondering what your fate will be in PvP as the nerf bat winds up for another swing. Firstly, let's deal with some housekeeping.

Conquest points, the PvP equivalent of valor points, will now be far, far easier to earn from ordinary Battlegrounds. The first daily Battleground win will now award 100 conquest points, up from 25, and wins after that will award 50 conquest point, up from, well, none! The conquest cap will remain, so while it will still be far quicker to reach it through Arena, it will also be attainable via Battlegrounds of the non-rated variety. This makes it far easier for solo players to build up the resilience numbers people often demand (fairly or otherwise) for access to Arena and Rated Battleground teams or just to gear for Battlegrounds.

Continue reading Blood Sport: How will patch 4.3 impact PvP?

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Blood Sport: How will patch 4.3 impact PvP? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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5 reasons you should love Cataclysm

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Oh, Cataclysm. You've gotten such a bad rap. Despite popular opinion, what we got from the Cataclysm expansion was nothing short of a miracle -- one that was desperately needed after the prior two expansions' worth of content. But it's undeniably difficult to look at the current expansion with anything other than an overly critical eye, considering the fact that we're playing through all that content right now.

In hindsight, it's likely the current expansion will grow on us, and some time in the distant future we'll be looking back on it with rose-colored glasses just like we do the others before it. Don't get me wrong -- while classic, The Burning Crusade, and Wrath all had absolutely fantastic reasons to love them, things didn't seem so rosy and wonderful when we were all playing through that content, and there was just as much grumbling in each of those expansions as there is about Cataclysm now. But hey -- there's still plenty of reasons to love Cataclysm.

Continue reading 5 reasons you should love Cataclysm

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5 reasons you should love Cataclysm originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 21 Nov 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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5 reasons you should love Cataclysm

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Oh, Cataclysm. You've gotten such a bad rap. Despite popular opinion, what we got from the Cataclysm expansion was nothing short of a miracle -- one that was desperately needed after the prior two expansions' worth of content. But it's undeniably difficult to look at the current expansion with anything other than an overly critical eye, considering the fact that we're playing through all that content right now.

In hindsight, it's likely the current expansion will grow on us, and some time in the distant future we'll be looking back on it with rose-colored glasses just like we do the others before it. Don't get me wrong -- while classic, The Burning Crusade, and Wrath all had absolutely fantastic reasons to love them, things didn't seem so rosy and wonderful when we were all playing through that content, and there was just as much grumbling in each of those expansions as there is about Cataclysm now. But hey -- there's still plenty of reasons to love Cataclysm.

Continue reading 5 reasons you should love Cataclysm

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5 reasons you should love Cataclysm originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 21 Nov 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New WoW ad airing during Sunday football

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The official Warcraft Twitter account has teased a new World of Warcraft advertisement that will be airing during the Bears vs. Chargers game on Sunday. While we do not know the content of the advertisement yet, we know that it will potentially involve a foot, a hunter, someone's face, and a new Warcraft master. In the past, WoW commercials have featured celebrities attesting to their in-game personas, spelling out the awesomeness of their abilities. Who will be the newest WoW spokesperson?

Not to be disrespectful to our European audiences, I've translated the post above for you below:
Europeans, you'll be able to watch a new WoW commercial that aired during an American Gridiron game on YouTube this Sunday.
We'll have a video of the commercial as soon as it is available.
Brace yourselves for what could be some of most exciting updates to the game recently with patch 4.3. Review the official patch notes, and then dig into what's ahead: new item storage options, cross-realm raiding, cosmetic armor skinning and your chance to battle the mighty Deathwing -- from astride his back!

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New WoW ad airing during Sunday football originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 16 Nov 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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5 reasons you should love Wrath of the Lich King

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The Burning Crusade was just the first expansion in WoW's history, and though it brought many things to love, as always, there were tweaks to be made. So how do you follow up a well-put-together expansion featuring a host of memorable villains from Warcraft III? Oh, that's easy enough. To top Illidan's appearance, you bring in the villain he couldn't defeat -- you bring in the Lich King.

Ever since the final scene of The Frozen Throne, Warcraft fans wondered just what happened to Arthas after he placed the Lich King's helm on his head and took an icy seat. In Wrath of the Lich King, they were about to find out. Featuring an all-new continent with new zones to play through, Wrath also introduced the first new hero class to the game, the death knight. In the wake of The Burning Crusade, Wrath had a lot to live up to. It did that and more, paving the way for more accessibility to raids, more endgame content and new lore, to boot. Many of the players in Cataclysm today got their start in Wrath of the Lich King, and there's plenty of things to love about it -- far too many points to list. But we'll give you five of them!

Continue reading 5 reasons you should love Wrath of the Lich King

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5 reasons you should love Wrath of the Lich King originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 15 Nov 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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5 reasons you should love Wrath of the Lich King

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The Burning Crusade was just the first expansion in WoW's history, and though it brought many things to love, as always, there were tweaks to be made. So how do you follow up a well-put-together expansion featuring a host of memorable villains from Warcraft III? Oh, that's easy enough. To top Illidan's appearance, you bring in the villain he couldn't defeat -- you bring in the Lich King.

Ever since the final scene of The Frozen Throne, Warcraft fans wondered just what happened to Arthas after he placed the Lich King's helm on his head and took an icy seat. In Wrath of the Lich King, they were about to find out. Featuring an all-new continent with new zones to play through, Wrath also introduced the first new hero class to the game, the death knight. In the wake of The Burning Crusade, Wrath had a lot to live up to. It did that and more, paving the way for more accessibility to raids, more endgame content and new lore, to boot. Many of the players in Cataclysm today got their start in Wrath of the Lich King, and there's plenty of things to love about it -- far too many points to list. But we'll give you five of them!

Continue reading 5 reasons you should love Wrath of the Lich King

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5 reasons you should love Wrath of the Lich King originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 15 Nov 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Breakfast Topic: What do you want from 5-man content?

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Dungeon Finder
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the AOL guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

A good amount of the WoW population spends the majority of its endgame time in 5-man dungeons. Blizzard is acutely aware of this, and it's striven to make new and engaging 5-mans. The 5-mans were more or less left alone in The Burning Crusade, with only one new dungeon during the entire tier, and the only major innovation was the wave system used in Opening the Dark Portal, which was later mimicked in Violet Hold and The Culling of Stratholme. In Wrath, Blizzard released four new dungeons over the course of the expansion and added in vehicle-based encounters in Trial of the Champion and the Oculus (which thankfully haven't been reproduced anywhere else yet). During Cataclysm, Blizzard has already released two new instances and announced plans for three more in the upcoming 4.3 patch. It's added interactive environments, randomized bosses, and some of the most complex 5-man encounters to date.

So what is Blizzard going to add next? Since Wrath, new raid tiers are accompanied by new raid meta-achievement mounts. While raid encounters are unquestionably more difficult, it'd be a nice nod to the players who can't raid for some reason or another to have a new mount to aspire to in 5-man content. A new Glory of the Hero mount for each tier of 5-mans that come out would be a good touch and a way to make 5-man content feel a little bit more connected to the storyline. Blizzard already implemented nine achievements tied to Zul'Aman and Zul'Gurub, so tying them into a meta wouldn't be much of an issue.

What would you like to see in the future of 5 man content?

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Breakfast Topic: What do you want from 5-man content? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 14 Nov 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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5 reasons you should love The Burning Crusade

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The Burning Crusade marked WoW's first foray into expansions, and it took a while to arrive -- a little over two years, actually, but Blizzard made sure the expansion was well worth waiting for. Offering two new races, more talent choices, and an entirely new world to explore, The Burning Crusade gave players plenty of reasons to eagerly anticipate its release.

But it wasn't just the world that was different. The Burning Crusade took the game we'd been playing for a little over two years and tweaked it with small improvements that affect the way we play the game even today. It pioneered the definition of what an expansion was, in the WoW universe, and paved the way for the expansions to follow. The Burning Crusade still ranks high on many players' favorite expansion lists, including my own. Finding five reasons to love it? That's a complete walk in the park. Picking just five to show you ... that's a little harder!

Continue reading 5 reasons you should love The Burning Crusade

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5 reasons you should love The Burning Crusade originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 08 Nov 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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