Recently in Top 5 Category

Today is Thanksgiving up here in Canada, so I thought that, while I could give you pre patch overload, the fan sites are filling that role quite nicely. Instead I will be giving you my top 5 things I am thankful for in WoW, with maybe some dessert. This one will be a countdown, cause I wanna save the best for last, like any treat should.

5. Game time - I am overjoyed that, through hard work and good friends, I have been able to play WoW almost uninterrupted for over four years now. I am happy that I can continue playing, exploring, experiencing, and marveling at the wonder that is...
4. The Art - WoW has, honestly, some of the best art in the many games I have played. It has a perfect mix of the cartoonish and the amazing. There are vistas and landscapes in the game, live and beta, that to this day keep me in awe of the awesome talent in the Blizzard art department. The art, in fact, is only second to...
3. The Lore - For all the flaws that became clear in the lead up to Burning Crusade, Chris Metzen and his department at Blizzard have continued to put out the most amazing lore, stories that capture the imagination, and help make the came infinitely more captivating than any non Blizzard story in my long history in computers.
2. The Fans - Between this blog, and my podcast, I think I am one of the luckiest guys in WoW new media. Of course I am likely the only one to think this, but let me just run with this. I know a lot of my fans by name. I hear their thoughts on the blog, get their insights in email, and their idea shape the podcast and blog in ways I could have never imagined. If my fans weren't here, if they didn't keep my spirits high in times of stress and apathy, I wouldn't still be blogging, and the podcast would have faded into a 404 page months ago.
1. Friends & Family - While my Real Life family are great, the family I talk about are those who carry the tag of <Shadow Walkers> proudly. As recruitment officer, I have had the privilege of helping many people work their way through the process from application to full membership, and every time I have the honor of promoting an Initiate to Member, I am overjoyed to do so. I cannot think of a better group of people with who I would like to have spent the last 3 years and then some gaming, joking, traveling, questing, raiding, and enjoying the company of. /tar Shadow Walkers /salute
   

There you have it, folks, the 5 things I am most thankful for. Oh, sure, there's bosses and badges, gold and gear, but in the end, these are the things I am thankful for. Some of the other things I am thankful for are:

• Health - So far, other than a few problems, I am overall fairly healthy.
• Love - I have an amazing woman who I love more deeply than words can explain
• Photography - My photography is one of my most treasured expressions of my creativity
  

Happy Thanksgiving to Canadians, and in the future Americans, and may the rest of the year treat you well. Cheers!

I figured that since the Achievement is quite possible the most asked about feature amongst my audience, I would give you a small peak at the ones I find neat, cool, or otherwise interesting.

1. It's Happy Hour Somewhere - This is cool simply because most of us drink so few beverages, just our normal water for the caster's among us. I would be interested to see how many people can find before they have to rely on the alcoholic beverages in the game, or whether most will simply head there first!
2. Well Read - 42 of the books found throughout the game, this will be one of the most widespread achievements to accomplish spanning from Tirisfal Glades to Tanaris, Northrend to Netherstorm. This is one I would consider worthy of more than 10 points, but I think that is the basic one for those that pretty much anyone can do.
3. Friend or Fowl? - This is one of the neatest, and most insanity causing quests in the new contest. I do not recommend even trying at the base, instead go and try when you get near the Explorer's League camp for the quests there.
4. To All The Squirrels I've Loved Before - This is another well traveled quest, with the idea being that you need to /love to each of these critters. To my knowledge no actual feeling of love must be felt, and no penalty is given if the critter is slaughtered immediately after. Most of the critters can be found in multiple locations, though there are a few with single zone locations. The highest level zone is Zul'Drak, though you can always try to run your way there and /love before you are dinner for the trolls there.
5. What A Long Strange Trip It's Been - There is a different one for each faction, but the general idea is the same. Complete all of the holiday achievements. This will take at least a year to complete, as only a few of the past holiday achievements are noted and each holiday has several of them. Essentially if it results in you getting an item, and you have the item still, it will recognize it. I imagine this will be a great deal of fun come the future holidays, and I am sure that at least a few of the composite achievements have titles.
   

So there you go, a peek at my top 5 neatest achievements in the Wrath beta, and coming Soon™ to a realm near you! What Achievements do you find cool, neat, interestingly named or just plain notable in the listings online? Let me know in the comments, Please!

Wrath is coming. We have 49 days until it arrives. I found out recently that there are many erroneous, outdated, or simply misinformed opinions about what Wrath will bring, and what will be required. I thought I would give you a Top 5 on what I have seen.

1. Death Knight - Death Knight will not require unlocking. They will start at 55. You can make one, with some limitations on new servers, if you have a level 55 on any realm in WoW. You can have one Death Knight per realm. If you are on a PvE, or normal RP server, you can make one of any faction. If you are on PvP, you can only make one on the same faction you have already, following the PvP realm guidelines. With the current state of the Death Knight, you should be at or nearly at 58 by the time you leave the Starting Experience. Lastly, you will need a free character slot on the account you want to make one on.
2. Inscription - Patch 3.0.2, currently on the Public Test Realms, will be debuting the Inscription profession from 1-375. This will not require a Wrath preorder, Wrath confirmation or anything. Anyone can level the profession from 1 to 375, dependent on the normal level per rank requirements of a primary profession. Inscription will require herbs and parchment for the most part, though vials and other sundry items may be needed. The most recent beta build brought in the need to use a Lexicon of Power, found near Inscription trainers, in order to apply glyphs.
3. Flight - You will not be able to fly as soon as you enter Northrend. I know, I know, you paid 1k-5k or more to fly your pretty birds, but Blizzard, as proven when Burning Crusade released, does not want to see all this content they are working their collective asses on to be flushed down the toilet as everyone flies over all the content they spent time crafting meticulously. Blizzard has alternated between a quest, or paying roughly 1,000 gold to enable Cold Weather Flying, but it does not seem finalized on what they will choose as of yet. You cannot fly until level 77.
4. Gear - Many are afraid of one, or both, of the following two things: Gear Reset, where all your old gear is wiped out within a level or two of entering expansion content, and Gear Appearance, where you end up going from looking like a well dressed agent of slaughter, to something more akin a rodeo clown gone bad. Blizzard has taken great pains to make sure these do not happen. Know what stats you want and you will be just fine. Medros, my first played toon in Beta, is currently halfway through 75 and still has most of his Kara level gear, only replacing most of it with awesome quest blues. I think only one piece was replaced by a green, and that was crafter at high level Blacksmithing.
5. Achievements - this is one of the neatest things in the expansion for me, who doesn't Raid or PvP much. There are hundreds of achievements, from the mundane of dinging 10, 20, 30, and so on, to killing 15 Fjord Turkey's in 3 minutes. The 'first on realm' leveling achievements are still there, but the rewards of titles are not in order to stop people bypassing content just to get them. Achievement points, like similar points on other gaming systems, have no value, though some achievements do come with rewards of titles or physical items. Examples are Leading the Calvary(currently 50 mounts and gets you an Albino Drake) and Shop Smart, Shop Pet... Smart(50 vanity pets, rewards a Reeking Pet Carrier). Look for a post or two in the near future about achievements.
   

There you have it. If you have any other Wrath rumors or features you want the facts on, feel free to post them in the comments. The beta is fun, the expansion will be more so. See you there!

I figured, since I am on an RP server, and RP servers are one of the most misunderstood beasts in the World of Warcraft, I would give you my top 5 tips. Let's start off with...

1. Naming - Yes, folks, the #1 part about being valued on an RP server is choosing the right name. No, Legolass, Legoass, Gymli, Gundalf, or Bobssexykitten are not appropriate names. The naming rules on an RP server are significantly more strict, and while it may take 65 levels for someone to report your name, it is still wrong naming for the entire 65 levels.
2. Understand - Life on an RP server is not the same as the other 2 styles of server, counting RP and RP PvP under the same banner. RP servers are often more laid back, but can be fun if you are into RP.
3. Try - Give it a shot. What will it hurt? No, you don't need to study up on Middle English. No, you do not speak like the King James Bible. You do not, though, use lol, afk, brb or the many other net acronyms that are in common use in the channels deemed In Character. These are Say and Yell primarily, though some do RP in party and whispers. Don't talk about tanking, DPS, hit rating, and all the other mechanics of the game in these channels. This is why you have parties and whispers. If there's a bunch of you, join a raid. If only two, take it to whispers. Hit R to reply, which is just as easy as Enter to open a new chat line. Addons like WIM(Warcraft Instant Messenger) are helpful in these situations as well.
4. Compromise - Ok, so you tried to RP and just couldn't get into the swing of it. You have no desire or interest in PvPing. Gotcha, I won't ask again. This is where compromise comes in. You don't like the RP, and I won't force you to. This is still and RP server, and I assume you have friends here, so let's agree that you will keep your game talk from breaking my RP, and I won't have to report you for every infraction. If someone tries to RP with you, just respond with ((I am not interested in RP, but thank you)). The (( and )) and pretty universal indicators you are talking OOC(Out of Character). The other person will either respond with thanks, or move on to more willing folks.
5. Maturity - This is a big one. If it weren't for the importance of Naming, this would be at the top of the list. RP does not mean cyber. RP servers aren't a playground for PvP server kidlets to come to and wreak havoc. GMs will suspend your account and may even ban you for harassing RPers on their server. If you have nothing better to do when your realm goes down, guess what! There's these things called books, sports, and friends. Go find some and make use of them until your playground comes back online.
   

I hope that these tips have helped you, or maybe someone you know, in knowing how to become a valuable member of an RP server's community. There were a lot of others I could have chosen, like Respect, Honor, and so on, but these 5 were a good start. What are yours? We do not demand you RP, we just demand you respect the rules. 

I figured that since there is so much yummy goodness in the beta, I would start a small series of top 5s, just to give you short roundups from my beta testing experiences. The first one I want to tackle, of course, it the top 5 Paladin spells I have learned so far in the beta.

Divine Storm - An instant weapon attack that causes Holy damage to up to 4 enemies within 8 yards.  The Divine Storm heals up to 3 party or raid members totaling 20% of the damage caused.
This spell right now is #2 in my rotation on the beta, right after Crusader Strike. While the DPS of this ability can be sweet, especially when it procs, the soloing bonus of that 20% can be amazing to see. I now almost always pull 2 - 3 mobs in order to maximize the benefits.

Judgement of the Wise - Your Judgement spells have a 100% chance to grant the Replenishment effect to up to 10 party or raid members mana regeneration equal to 0.25% of their maximum mana per second, and to immediately grant you 20% of your maximum mana.
This is commonly known among the paladins I talk to as a mana battery. Every 10 seconds, as long as I have a Seal up, I can replenish, at level 75, about 1500 mana using Judgement of Wisdom. With Global Cooldown and the other spells in my rotation, it is rare that I am not at least 85% mana as long as I do not forget to judge. In fact, I more often find myself low on health than low on mana. I am considering testing this with Judgement of Light, just to get a small heal in here and there.

Repentance - Puts the enemy target in a state of meditation, incapacitating them for up to 1 min.  Any damage caused will awaken the target.  Usable against Demons, Dragonkin, Giants, Humanoids and Undead.
This ability is what I usually use for the 4th mob I pull. If I know my Divine Storm won't hit everyone, being limited to 3 an all, I will usually repentance one of the enemies, and pull the other 3 far enough away. Often by the time the 1 minute is up, I am done with his friends and ready to take him on. Long overdue improvement to this spell.

Art of War - Increases the critical strike damage of your Judgement, Crusader Strike and Divine Storm abilities by 20% and when these abilities critically hit your next Flash of Light spell becomes instant cast.
This ability was already pretty sweet with the recent improvements to the Flash of Light component. I have not yet tried the Flash of Light side, due to repeated crashes from the beta client, but I will be deliberately watching for the buff and seeing if it is as useful as I suspect.

Divine Plea - You gain 25% of your total mana over 10 sec, but the amount healed by your spells is reduced by 50%.
This is one of the many in a new class of spell I call a MoT(Mana over Time) spells that have crept into the game in the Wrath of the Lich King. This is one of those 'Oh crap, I have no mana' spells, since judgements cost mana, and while it feels like the regen of mana takes forever, in no time you have at least enough for Holy Shield or a last hoorah spell to try to eek out victory.


While these are merely the best I found, there was at least another 5 I could find in the changed spells list of the Wrath beta. Yes, most of these are Retribution, but that's what I play. If you are Holy or Protection specced and want to give me your top 5, let me know in the comments and I will be happy to post them as a guest entry on this blog, or even link to your own. Keep reading for the next in the list of Top 5s from the beta and live game!