The Queue: 2 companion pets to go


Welcome back to [hide]The Queue[/hide], the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. [hide]Mathew McCurley[/hide] will be your host today.

I have two companion pets to go for my [hide]150 pet achievement[/hide]. Madness is taking hold. There are lots that I don’t have yet, including a bunch from the Blizzard pet store, but I refuse to get this achievement through spending cash. The low-drop-rate pets are starting to get to me. Archaeology has been very unkind. Damn you, pets. Damn you all to hell!

Really, I never wanted to do this achievement. I couldn’t care less about companion pets. One day, Mike Sacco gave me a [hide]Landro’s Lil’ XT[/hide] and then I realized, hey, I don’t have that many pets to go. Now I’m WoW-broke, driven poor and destitute in my search for the rest of the pets to finish the achievement. This is all Mike Sacco’s fault.

[hide]Celestial Dragon[/hide] is so adorable, though …

Ksteinhoff asked:

Lately when I PuG, I have a easier (quicker) time finding healers than tanks, sometimes even when I go as healer I spend almost as long as when I go as DPS. I thought that with the Threat change it would encourage people to Tank more? I’m just with bad luck or we’re with a Tank shortage more than a Healer shortage?[hide]Continue reading The Queue: 2 companion pets to go[/hide]Filed under: [hide]The Queue[/hide][hide]The Queue: 2 companion pets to go[/hide] originally appeared on [hide]WoW Insider[/hide] on Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our [hide]terms for use of feeds[/hide].[hide]Permalink[/hide] | [hide]Email this[/hide] | [hide]Comments[/hide]

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WoW Moviewatch: Rolling with Mad Deeps

Occasionally, you get to see a music video for WoW that raises the bar a little higher than the norm. [hide]Rolling with Mad Deeps[/hide] is one such video. It features a wonderful vocal performance, accessible lyrics reflecting on real gameplay, and a simple, fun video. This is the kind of stuff we most love to see.

Xander and PaddyDCups are responsible for the video, and I hope to see more from them in the future. I really loved this song. The vocal performance is so strong that I wasn’t distracted by the fact that this is obviously a parody. If this is the kind of quality these folks can consistently put out, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them become fan favorites very quickly.

Interested in the wide world of [hide]machinima[/hide]? We have new movies every weekday here on [hide]WoW Moviewatch[/hide]! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at [hide]moviewatch@wowinsider.com[/hide].

Filed under: [hide]WoW Moviewatch[/hide][hide]WoW Moviewatch: Rolling with Mad Deeps[/hide] originally appeared on [hide]WoW Insider[/hide] on Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our [hide]terms for use of feeds[/hide].[hide] | Permalink[/hide] | [hide]Email this[/hide] | [hide]Comments[/hide]

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Choose My Adventure Live: Return to Winterspring

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[hide]Choose the adventures[/hide] of Robin Torres as Roblinator the goblin shamanator or join in with [hide]It came from the Blog[/hide] on Zangarmarsh (US-PVE-H) every Wednesday at 1 p.m. EDT.

I’m a slacker. So we return to questing today in Winterspring. Join me in game or by watching the stream above and participating in the chat after the break.

Update: I put it up to a vote and we switched to dungeonating. Click on the image above if you would like to see the [hide]replay of Stratholme[/hide].[hide]Continue reading Choose My Adventure Live: Return to Winterspring[/hide]Filed under: [hide]It Came from the Blog[/hide], [hide]Choose My Adventure[/hide][hide]Choose My Adventure Live: Return to Winterspring[/hide] originally appeared on [hide]WoW Insider[/hide] on Wed, 24 Aug 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our [hide]terms for use of feeds[/hide].[hide]Permalink[/hide] | [hide]Email this[/hide] | [hide]Comments[/hide]

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The Classifieds: A bit of song, a bit of filk

[hide]The Classifieds[/hide] brings you weekly news from around the WoW community, including our famous Random Acts of Uberness shout-outs to players who make your WoW sessions memorable.

Machinima and WoW filk is tricky business. Not everyone has the gumption to get up in front of the infinite masses of YouTube and show off some talent. Aily, however, has that courage. The [hide]video above[/hide] is a cute performance dedicated to one of Aily’s friends. Something about this little song won my heart and made me go, «Awww.» C’mon, Blizzard, let’s get her some pigtails already.

In only slightly related news, check out the trailer for [hide]To The Moon[/hide], which includes music from Laura Shigihara, the [hide]voice of the Singing Sunflower[/hide]. This is what Laura has to say about it:

Work and side projects have been keeping me pretty busy lately! My favorite project right now is my friend’s indie game To the Moon… I’ve been helping him out with some music for it, so that’s been fun. It’s a reverse chronological adventure game about a pair of scientist who traverse the memories of an old dying man in order to fulfill his greatest wish.

[hide]Continue reading The Classifieds: A bit of song, a bit of filk[/hide]Filed under: [hide]The Classifieds[/hide][hide]The Classifieds: A bit of song, a bit of filk[/hide] originally appeared on [hide]WoW Insider[/hide] on Wed, 24 Aug 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our [hide]terms for use of feeds[/hide].[hide]Permalink[/hide] | [hide]Email this[/hide] | [hide]Comments[/hide]

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Know Your Lore: Silvermoon


The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You’re playing the game, you’re fighting the bosses, you know the how — but do you know the why? Each week, [hide]Matthew Rossi [/hide]and [hide]Anne Stickney[/hide] make sure you [hide]Know Your Lore[/hide] by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft.

It may be the most glorious city ever built by mortal hands.

It has rivals, to be sure: Dalaran, with its magnificent spires, floating in the Crystalsong Forest, and Darnassus atop the World Tree Teldrassil. Gilneas, Stormwind, the former Lordaeron can all claim greatness in one way or another. But Silvermoon, fair Silvermoon, might well simply be the most straightforwardly beautiful city on the face of Azeroth.

Silvermoon was carved out of the northern reaches of the Eastern Kingdoms thousands of years ago, following the Sundering of the ancient single continent of Kalimdor during the War of the Ancients. The exiled Quel’dorei (children of noble birth in ancient Darnassian) found themselves changed by the exile from their homeland and the Well of Eternity, growing slighter, paler, and suffering from the pangs of magical withdrawal. Their leader, Dath’remar Sunstrider, came up with a plan not entirely dissimilar from the one Illidan Stormrage hatched when faced with the loss of the original Well during the war. He would make a new one.[hide]Continue reading Know Your Lore: Silvermoon[/hide]Filed under: [hide]Analysis / Opinion[/hide], [hide]Lore[/hide], [hide]Know your Lore[/hide][hide]Know Your Lore: Silvermoon[/hide] originally appeared on [hide]WoW Insider[/hide] on Wed, 24 Aug 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our [hide]terms for use of feeds[/hide].[hide]Permalink[/hide] | [hide]Email this[/hide] | [hide]Comments[/hide]

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The Queue: Attunement was awesome

Welcome back to [hide]The Queue[/hide], the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Adam Holisky, senior Sunwell editor, will be your host today.

On today’s podcast, you can hear about the attunement required in the old The Burning Crusade expansion. Some people hate it with a passion, but you know what? I loved it. It was hard, it was an accomplishment, and you were set apart when you could just enter the raids.

Alas, those days are over.

For a reference, look at the [hide]attunement chart over on Wowpedia[/hide].

Krazy asked:

Did Blizzard ever release a design philosophy change as to why mobs no longer drop the highest level healing and mana potions?[hide]Continue reading The Queue: Attunement was awesome[/hide]Filed under: [hide]The Queue[/hide][hide]The Queue: Attunement was awesome[/hide] originally appeared on [hide]WoW Insider[/hide] on Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our [hide]terms for use of feeds[/hide].[hide]Permalink[/hide] | [hide]Email this[/hide] | [hide]Comments[/hide]

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WoW Moviewatch: I Found Away

Folks seemed to like [hide]The Pretender[/hide] by [hide]N3rkz[/hide], so let’s hit another music video by the same creator. [hide]I Found Away[/hide] is a music video for the [hide]Alkaline Trio’s[/hide] I Found a Way. The video’s title is actually I Found Away, which I prefer to think is a clever comment on the machinima’s content.

I really like what N3rkz does with these videos. The action is compelling, and the narration moves with a sense of urgency. While the story itself is clearly up for interpretation, you definitely get a sense of events and emotion.

I also appreciate being introduced to the song I Found a Way. While all the hip kids might already know the Alkaline Trio, I was too busy barking for you to get off my lawn to have heard of them. The music fits the video very well, and the tune was pretty catchy.

Interested in the wide world of [hide]machinima[/hide]? We have new movies every weekday here on [hide]WoW Moviewatch[/hide]! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at [hide]moviewatch@wowinsider.com[/hide].

Filed under: [hide]WoW Moviewatch[/hide][hide]WoW Moviewatch: I Found Away[/hide] originally appeared on [hide]WoW Insider[/hide] on Tue, 23 Aug 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our [hide]terms for use of feeds[/hide].[hide] | Permalink[/hide] | [hide]Email this[/hide] | [hide]Comments[/hide]

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Blizzard looking for «meaningful difference» in expansion releases


World of Warcraft’s expansion cycle is not the norm in the MMO genre. The Blizzard expansion cycle is a new boxed expansion every two years, on average. [hide]According to Gameinformer[/hide], which got to talk to Tom Chilton at the Gamescom show in Germany last week, Blizzard is on track for a more timely release schedule with World of Warcraft expansions.

Chilton told Gameinformer:

We’ve been able to do it in one sense, but not as much as I would like to in another sense. I would like for all patches to reliably have raid bosses. Our first Cataclysm patch didn’t have raid bosses. From a raider’s persepctive, it probably doesn’t feel any faster than it did before. For us, where the biggest improvement is going to be in this cycle is in the actual expansion release. Traditionally we’ve only been able to do an expansion about every two years. We’re really hoping to make a meaningful difference in that.[hide]Continue reading Blizzard looking for «meaningful difference» in expansion releases[/hide]Filed under: [hide]Blizzard[/hide], [hide]Cataclysm[/hide][hide]Blizzard looking for «meaningful difference» in expansion releases[/hide] originally appeared on [hide]WoW Insider[/hide] on Tue, 23 Aug 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our [hide]terms for use of feeds[/hide].[hide] | Permalink[/hide] | [hide]Email this[/hide] | [hide]Comments[/hide]

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MMO Roundup: Gamescom, Gamescom, and more Gamescom


Sometimes you’d like to know that there are other MMOs out there, right? It’s not all WoW, all the time! Our sister site [hide]Massively[/hide] can provide you with everything you need to know about all of the other MMOs around — past, present and future.

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[hide]Massively’s Gamescom coverage[/hide]

Gamescom is one of Europe’s largest gaming events of the year. More news comes out of that event than we could ever hope to sum up in MMO Roundup, but Massively has it all. Head over to Massively’s Gamescom hub for all of the event’s MMO news.

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[hide]NCsoft announces new MMO: WildStar[/hide]

Developed by Carbine studios, WildStar is a sci-fi/fantasy hybrid MMO of «high adventure» in which players «lay claim to a mysterious planet on the edge of known space» by playing as explorers, soldiers, scientists, or settlers. Hit Massively for concept art and the game’s cinematic trailer.

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[hide]Blizzard quashes speculation about a potential World of StarCraft[/hide]

Just in case all of Blizzard’s previous indications of a StarCraft MMO not being in our future wasn’t enough, here’s another verification from Blizzard senior VP Frank Pearce: Blizzard currently has no plans to adapt the StarCraft setting to an MMO.

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[hide]Guild Wars 2 shows off 40 minutes of gameplay[/hide]

On the Gamescom floor, ArenaNet’s Chris Lye took time to walk Wartower.de through the full Guild Wars 2 demo for the event. During the tour, he shows us character customization, the Asura, and the Charr starting experience, capping it off with a giant dragon boss encounter.

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[hide]Massively Speaking Episode 161[/hide]

Massively Speaking, Massively’s MMO podcast, is back this week to bring you all the latest MMO news with your hosts Shawn and Rubi. This time around, the focus is Gamescom 2011, which exploded with new game announcements, video trailers, and screenshots.

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[hide]Massively’s week in review[/hide]

Don’t let WoW Insider do all of the talking when it comes to Massively’s best content of the week. The Massively staff themselves have picked out what they think is the best content their site has to offer, in their own weekly roundup.

Filed under: [hide]MMO Roundup[/hide][hide]MMO Roundup: Gamescom, Gamescom, and more Gamescom[/hide] originally appeared on [hide]WoW Insider[/hide] on Tue, 23 Aug 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our [hide]terms for use of feeds[/hide].[hide]Permalink[/hide] | [hide]Email this[/hide] | [hide]Comments[/hide]

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Reader UI of the Week: Simple UIs for laptop gaming

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Each week, WoW Insider and [hide]Mathew McCurley[/hide] bring you a fresh look at [hide]reader-submitted UIs[/hide] as well as [hide]Addon Spotlight[/hide], which spotlights the latest user interface addons. Have a screenshot of your own UI that you’d like to submit? Send your screenshots along with info on what mods you’re using to [hide]readerui@wowinsider.com[/hide], and [hide]follow Mathew[/hide] on Twitter.

Laptops are becoming increasingly more popular for gaming ever since the ascension of the capable laptop video card and the desktop replacement. Coupled with the fact that most developers found the need to make their games laptop-compliant to succeed in the global marketplace, laptops are the big gaming PC for many, many people. World of Warcraft is notorious for being able to run on practically any machine, and I am sure there are some high school kids out there playing during Chemistry right now on their [hide]TI-85[/hide]. That joke hurt because I realized how long it’s been since I had a TI-85.

Qiuxiang’s laptop setup does laptop UIs right — it’s simple, boils the game down to very basic elements, and does not take up the precious screen real estate with too much stuff. Sure, during raiding you get bombarded with notifications and warnings, but everything is manageable with a little bit of legwork. Not everyone raids to the extent many people do, so it’s nice to see a user interface setup that makes just playing the day-to-day game something gorgeous.[hide]Continue reading Reader UI of the Week: Simple UIs for laptop gaming[/hide]Filed under: [hide]Add-Ons[/hide], [hide]Reader UI of the Week[/hide][hide]Reader UI of the Week: Simple UIs for laptop gaming[/hide] originally appeared on [hide]WoW Insider[/hide] on Tue, 23 Aug 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our [hide]terms for use of feeds[/hide].[hide]Permalink[/hide] | [hide]Email this[/hide] | [hide]Comments[/hide]

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