No comments Posted in Без рубрики | 01.05.2013 

The [hide]World of Warcraft Armory/community site[/hide] has [hide]been updated[/hide] with a useful new feature showing players the mounts and companion pets they have collected so far. You’ll be able to see where each pet or mount comes from or who drops them, a picture of each, and even a listing of not-yet-collected pets and mounts, making it easier to be an achievement hunter or collector.

The armory has changed drastically from its original interpretation and implementation, adding features over time that give players a more cohesive out-of-game experience. What is most interesting are the potential tie-ins later on with the [hide]previously announced WoW APIs[/hide] coming down the pipe in the near future; we are still unsure of the amount of data that developers will be able to access from the WoW armory. I would not be surprised to see collected pet and mount data also being part of that package.

We’ve got a pretty full-featured armory at this point. What other types of data do you think the armory could or should provide? Perhaps next we’ll see a tabard and title tab, showing players’ collected tabards and a scroll list of titles earned. The sky is the limit, apparently.[hide]Continue reading WoW Armory now displaying mounts and pets[/hide]Filed under: [hide]Blizzard[/hide][hide]WoW Armory now displaying mounts and pets[/hide] originally appeared on [hide]WoW Insider[/hide] on Fri, 08 Jul 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]

No comments Posted in Без рубрики | 01.05.2013 

Every week, WoW Insider brings you [hide]The Light and How to Swing It[/hide] for [hide]holy[/hide], [hide]protection[/hide] and [hide]retribution[/hide] paladins. Protection specialist Matt Walsh spends most of his time receiving concussions for the benefit of 24 other people, obsessing over his hair (a blood elf racial!), and maintaining the tankadin-focused blog [hide]Righteous Defense[/hide].

Is there anything more stressful than sitting there in front of the valor point vendor for the first time in a new patch, your pockets flush with new (ephemeral) currency, and your eyes wide at all the possibilities of what you can buy with them? All those dead trolls and fire elementals were piled up to bring upon this one glorious moment.

Now. What item is the best choice for you at that moment? You don’t know! The skin flushes, sweat glimmers on your brow, the throat tightens, your mouth becomes arid. A horrified stasis clouds your face as Jamus’Vaz stares at you with open contempt. «Buy something, would ya?»

Okay, there are things far more stressful than that. And perhaps I’m the only one who can suffer a total mental shutdown in front of a virtual shopkeep. Irregardless, such panicked madness does not need to be your fate. There is a very clear path to victory here when it comes to managing your valor point expenditures here that will result in your getting the best bang for your buck in very short order.[hide]Continue reading The Light and How to Swing It: The tankadin valor point pick order[/hide]Filed under: [hide]Paladin[/hide], [hide](Paladin) The Light and How to Swing It[/hide][hide]The Light and How to Swing It: The tankadin valor point pick order[/hide] originally appeared on [hide]WoW Insider[/hide] on Fri, 08 Jul 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our [hide]terms for use of feeds[/hide].[hide]Permalink[/hide] | [hide]Email this[/hide] | [hide]Comments[/hide]

No comments Posted in Без рубрики | 01.05.2013 

Pop law abounds in [hide]The Lawbringer[/hide], your weekly dose of WoW, the law, video games and the MMO genre. [hide]Mathew McCurley[/hide] takes you through the world running parallel to the games we love and enjoy, full of rules, regulations, pitfalls and traps. How about you hang out with us as we discuss some of the more esoteric aspects of the games we love to play?

The machinima and streaming communities built around World of Warcraft are filled with some of the most talented and creative people in gaming, from awesome musicians to dedicated streamcasters. The first time I ever got to experience the WoW beta back in 2004, I was watching someone stream footage of their human warlock messing up mobs in (if I remember correctly) Westfall. Streaming is beneficial to gaming, MMOs, and e-sports because of video games’ competitive nature and spectator-oriented design.

You’ve probably heard of [hide]Senate bill S.978[/hide] already, most likely from many video game blogs and news outlets or YouTube campaigns fighting against the passage of this bill. Bill S.978 aims to institute a «10 strikes» policy, making the unauthorized streaming of content a felony, resulting in potential jail time. The main purpose of the bill is to strengthen the law and punishments available to organizations such as the [hide]MPAA[/hide] and other content conglomerates to stop illegal streaming of millions upon millions of dollars in stolen entertainment. As is the way of things, gamers might be caught in the crossfire.

Some of you fine readers sent me a few messages [hide]on Twitter[/hide] asking me to weigh in on the 10 strikes streaming bill and maybe give a basic analysis of the thing, so I shall oblige. Lawbringer this week is all about the odd future of bill S. 978 and what it could mean for MMOs and WoW.[hide]Continue reading The Lawbringer: The odd future of bill S. 978[/hide]Filed under: [hide]Analysis / Opinion[/hide], [hide]The Lawbringer[/hide][hide]The Lawbringer: The odd future of bill S. 978[/hide] originally appeared on [hide]WoW Insider[/hide] on Fri, 08 Jul 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our [hide]terms for use of feeds[/hide].[hide]Permalink[/hide] | [hide]Email this[/hide] | [hide]Comments[/hide]

No comments Posted in Без рубрики | 01.05.2013 

Every week, [hide]Raid Rx[/hide] will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is [hide]Matt Low[/hide], the grand poobah of [hide]World of Matticus[/hide] and a founder of [hide]Plus Heal[/hide], a discussion community for healers of all experience levels and interests. Catch his weekly podcast on healing, raiding and leading on the [hide]Matticast[/hide].

After a disastrous first week when my raid group got completely shut out of Shannox, we were able to storm back in and take him down fast. The main reason for our initial trouble was the fact that we were using the completely wrong approach when it came to tanks and who they were on.

Whoops!

Tank healing an encounter like Shannox is demanding on so many fronts. A standard healing template I use is to place one healer on each tank and the rest on the raid so that they can exercise their judgment. From there, I can scale up the amount of dedicated tank healers if I feel it becomes necessary. Once a dog gets taken down, his damage just goes up. In other words, it is necessary to add more tank healers as the fight progresses.

On top of that, there is a high amount of traps that get dropped. Don’t get trapped in one of those red ice block traps (more commonly known as a Crystal Prison trap).[hide]Continue reading Raid Rx: How to heal the Shannox encounter[/hide]Filed under: [hide]Analysis / Opinion[/hide], [hide]Raid Rx (Raid Healing)[/hide][hide]Raid Rx: How to heal the Shannox encounter[/hide] originally appeared on [hide]WoW Insider[/hide] on Fri, 08 Jul 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our [hide]terms for use of feeds[/hide].[hide]Permalink[/hide] | [hide]Email this[/hide] | [hide]Comments[/hide]

No comments Posted in Без рубрики | 01.05.2013 

Android and iOS device users have had the luxury of using the Battle.net Mobile Authenticator, a software version of Blizzard’s downright necessary keyfob authenticator, on their phones or tablets for a while now. As of today, Windows 7 Phone users can also take advantage of the Mobile Authenticator by downloading it from the Windows Phone Marketplace.

At this point, there’s pretty much no reason not to have an authenticator — they’re 6 bucks and free to ship for a physical device and no cost at all for a software version available for every major mobile platform. Just get it!

[hide]Battle.net Mobile Authenticator now available for Windows 7 Phones[/hide] originally appeared on [hide]WoW Insider[/hide] on Thu, 07 Jul 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our [hide]terms for use of feeds[/hide].[hide]Permalink[/hide] | [hide]Email this[/hide] | [hide]Comments[/hide]

No comments Posted in Без рубрики | 01.05.2013 

The last few weeks have not been kind to PVPers, to be sure. Despite the new arena season starting on Tuesday of this week, conquest points were accidentally down-converted to honor points a week early, with the excess irreversibly converted to gold. Then, making matters worse, Blizzard launched a new tier of ilevel 371 Season 10 gear on Tuesday without warning, just a week after making ilevel 365 Season 9 gear available for purchase with honor. It was a pretty unique double screw, and it rightfully had a lot of players incensed.

In a rare moment of humility, Blizzard has taken to the official forums to address the pair of what the company is calling «mistakes.» Specifically, Community Manager Zarhym (who looks adorable when [hide]posed next to a lifesized wyvern[/hide]) had this to say:

The full post, which is available after the break, gives a pretty good summary of the facts behind the case, and perhaps more importantly, what Blizzard intended to happen for the start of this and subsequent new arena seasons. In short: After an arena season ends, that season’s PVP tier, previously available only via spending conquest points, will be available for purchase with honor points to give players one last opportunity to spend excess HP before the impending conquest-to-honor conversion (essentially, a one-week-only sale). When a new season begins, the old, sale-priced PVP tier will be taken off the market in lieu of new, better, current season gear.[hide]Continue reading Blizzard explains, apologizes for PVP Season 10 gear debacle[/hide]Filed under: [hide]PvP[/hide], [hide]Blood Sport (Arena PvP)[/hide], [hide]The Art of War(craft) (PvP)[/hide], [hide]Cataclysm[/hide][hide]Blizzard explains, apologizes for PVP Season 10 gear debacle[/hide] originally appeared on [hide]WoW Insider[/hide] on Thu, 07 Jul 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our [hide]terms for use of feeds[/hide].[hide] | Permalink[/hide] | [hide]Email this[/hide] | [hide]Comments[/hide]

No comments Posted in Без рубрики | 01.05.2013 

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

We’ve featured plenty of various artists here on WoW Insider, each with their own unique style and method of bringing their characters to life. Today, we’re going to chat with one who has taken the fan art just a little further by bringing those artistic creations to life through story and art. Kelly Aarons should be a familiar name to those who follow WoW Insider’s weekly comic Safe Passage, but her comic [hide]WoW Eh[/hide]? has been chugging quietly along for much longer than Safe Passage or even its precursor, Byron the Tauren Rogue.

Launched in October 2008, WoW Eh? started out as a wacky series of strips about an unlikely pair — a fiesty blood elf paladin named Kissless and a gentle, nature-loving tauren named Cadistra. Over the course of a couple of years, the comic has transformed every step of the way, from artistic style to content. Remaining ever constant amidst the madness, Cadistra, Kissless, and their camaraderie through it all form the backbone of the comic and its story. We sat down with Kelly and had a chat with her about comics, art, writing, and Warcraft.[hide]Continue reading World of WarCrafts: WoW Eh? and Safe Passage artist Kelly Aarons[/hide]Filed under: [hide]World of WarCrafts[/hide][hide]World of WarCrafts: WoW Eh? and Safe Passage artist Kelly Aarons[/hide] originally appeared on [hide]WoW Insider[/hide] on Thu, 07 Jul 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our [hide]terms for use of feeds[/hide].[hide]Permalink[/hide] | [hide]Email this[/hide] | [hide]Comments[/hide]

No comments Posted in Без рубрики | 01.05.2013 

From Hollywood celebrities to the guy next door, millions of people have made World of Warcraft a part of their lives. How do you play WoW? We’re giving each approach its own [hide]15 Minutes of Fame[/hide].

The boss is enraging at 7% health and you’re locked on target, hunched over your keyboard in a white-knuckled frenzy to squeeze every last drop of DPS from your avatar. Finally, the beast succumbs to your assault, and you sit back, exquisitely aware of the tension crumpling your neck and shoulders and radiating into your fingertips. As you pull in a deep, shuddering breath of relief, you wonder if perhaps it might be more natural to simply stand in front of your screen and show the computer, using gestures similar to those of your character, what to do.

Now, you can.

[hide] Dr. Skip Rizzo[/hide], associate director at the University of Southern California’s [hide]Institute for Creative Technologies[/hide], is head of a research project that’s applying the same kind of technology used in the Xbox Kinect to the World of Warcraft. The aim of the project, however, is not so much to turn games like WoW into virtual tarantellas of movement and gesture but to make games more accessible to disabled players and to open new avenues for rehabilitation, therapy and even education. The project’s Flexible Action and Articulated Skeleton Toolkit (FAAST) middleware integrates full-body control with games and virtual reality applications, using tools like [hide]PrimeSensor[/hide] and the [hide]Kinect[/hide] on the [hide]OpenNI[/hide] framework.[hide]Continue reading 15 Minutes of Fame: Full-body WoW with motion-sensing software[/hide]Filed under: [hide]Interviews[/hide], [hide]15 Minutes of Fame[/hide][hide]15 Minutes of Fame: Full-body WoW with motion-sensing software[/hide] originally appeared on [hide]WoW Insider[/hide] on Thu, 07 Jul 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our [hide]terms for use of feeds[/hide].[hide]Permalink[/hide] | [hide]Email this[/hide] | [hide]Comments[/hide]

No comments Posted in Без рубрики | 01.05.2013 

It might seem like crazy talk, but it’s been around 10 months since we last featured [hide]Craft of War: BLIND[/hide]. I mostly keep track of things by the number of requests we receive. Once I get enough emails to demand a re-feature, then I capitulate to the wishes of the masses. Also, believe it or not, new people get involved with machinima all the time … and they may have never seen the video!

Know what else is crazy? BLIND hit the streets in late 2008. That’s right; this video is three years old. Time flies when you’re a blood elf rogue slicing it up in Stormwind, I guess. Despite its age, BLIND is still one of the most intense, action-packed machinima available. It looks like Percula’s work is going to be around for a long time to come.

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: Craft of War: BLIND[/hide] originally appeared on [hide]WoW Insider[/hide] on Fri, 08 Jul 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]

No comments Posted in Без рубрики | 01.05.2013 

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. Mike Sacco will be your host today.

Hnnngh! Exertion! Anne did such a good job on yesterday’s Queue that now I really need to push the envelope, so I answered a pretty good number of questions today. If I didn’t, Anne would probably take my jerb.

TimTheEnchanter asked:

How far in advance are WoW Insider articles written? In what ways do these articles get deviated or pushed back (since all articles seem to be released at the top of every hour)?

Just curious 🙂

Well, obviously, breaking news is written as soon as we hear about it. Weekly columns like WoW Rookie, Shifting Perspectives or Know Your Lore are all completed («… or supposed to be completed,» he said, glaring at his writing staff) at least one day prior to their publication. We allow our writers to edit their posts past that date, obviously, especially if new information comes up that completely changes an article. This happens to poor Allison Robert all the time.

The Queue is completed … well, pretty much whenever it’s completed. I tend to do them late at night, when it’s my turn. Adam is weird and sometimes completes his fairly early in the day, depending on comment volume. Alex is a sentient spore cloud, so I’m not exactly sure what his process is.[hide]Continue reading The Queue: Effortposting[/hide]Filed under: [hide]The Queue[/hide][hide]The Queue: Effortposting[/hide] originally appeared on [hide]WoW Insider[/hide] on Fri, 08 Jul 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]