The new ParentDish: helping raise kids of all ages

Breakfast Topic: Most evil quest in the game

Here's an interesting question: what's the most morally evil quest in the game? There was a quick discussion about the Stanley the Dog quest in Hillsbrad (where you poison and then kill a neutral dog), and it got me thinking: are there any quests in game where you really had a problem with what your character was doing? What's the most evil thing your character has done?

Of course, the definition of evil in this case isn't quite written in stone -- what your character thinks is OK to do may not be what you think is OK to do. My undead Rogue took a lot of pleasure in killing Stanley, even if I would be horrified to hear about someone doing the same thing in real life. But in the same vein, while I was fully convinced in character that setting off that Mana Bomb in Outland was the right thing for my character to do, personally, I thought the kill count was a little shocking. At what point does my hero become a mass murderer?

A few other WoW Insider writers mentioned the Cenarius' Legacy and the other Undead Plague quests to be a little too evil for their tastes. Are there any other quests in the game where your character is asked to do something morally questionable?

Breakfast topic: Why should you be in the Beta?

Not long ago Blizzard opened up the expansion content to selected friends and family. We've had a few days to sign up for the Wrath of the Lich King beta test. Blizzard has made it clear that assignment in the Beta test that aside from a better chance of selection among* World Wide Invitational attendees, the beta testers will be selected by a random lottery. But what is it that makes a good beta tester?

I've entered twice for the Beta, as I have two accounts. I'm not sure how many participants will be selected, but I really hope I get in. If I wasn't with WoW Insider, I probably would avoid the beta. I'm rather in favor of delicious surprised once the expansion is actually released. Recent iterations of the Public Test Realm have invited everyone to come and play. Many have taken that challenge to see nifty, new gear and test new mechanics. Blizzard has proven open to feedback through progressive testing.

Continue reading Breakfast topic: Why should you be in the Beta?

Breakfast Topic: If you could change one thing

Being a roleplayer, I spend a lot of time thinking about my characters in the context of the world, rather than just pumping their stats. Sometimes I regret making certain characters a certain class. Sometimes I wish I had picked a different race for them. Other times, I wish I could just display things on the character that we currently can't.

For example, I would probably give my Paladin a more 'angry' expression if I could go back and change it, rather than the more neutral, aloof expression they have now. I would change my Priest's hair to make it longer, since she's kind of grown out of the cutesy short hairstyle. It doesn't go very well with Absolution. One of my friends wishes their Human Mage was a Draenei instead.

The dance studio and barber shop in Wrath will help some of this, but there's still quite a bit of character customization that we don't have. And sometimes, you just plain feel like you made a mistake 30+ levels after you rolled your character, and you feel like it's too late to turn back. Have you ever felt this way? If you were given an opportunity to change one thing about your character, anything at all, what would it be?

Breakfast Topic: Farewell, Midsummer

The Midsummer Fire Festival is just about wrapped up, and all of the quests, lore and drops are going with it. It's sad to see it go, but all good things must come to an end. Daniel asked what you were doing with the time left the other day, but now that it's pretty much done for, have you gotten your hands on all you wanted?

My one and only goal for the Fire Festival was to get my hands on Ahune's Frostscythe. I've wanted a scythe on my Priest ever since Warlocks got one as a quest reward back in the day. I probably have pretty much the best guild in the world, because they took turns rotating alts to summon Ahune for me throughout the festival. When the thing finally dropped, we had killed the Frostlord roughly eighty times and we got five Scorched Stones for various people. We have decided my loot luck could not possibly be worse.

How about all of you? Did you get the brazier? The dress? Did you say 'forget it' and blow all of your Blossoms on Midsummer Sausage? Most importantly, did you stock up one these sweet new fireworks?

Breakfast Topic: Architectural wishlist

Lone of Bleeding Hollow asks when we'll see architecture, and immediately, a few other players pop up to shout out my answer: we already saw some Egyptian creatures and styles appear around Ahn'Qiraj. But his request for a specific type of architectural style is an interesting one: is there a kind of architecture you haven't seen in game yet that you'd like to?

A few people say they want to see Asian architecture, and as we pointed out a little while back, Darnassus actually borrows a lot from Eastern architecture. I'd like to see a city or village in World of Warcraft with a Northeastern United States, Cape Cod kind of fishing town feel -- Booty Bay is a nice fishing town, but it's a little too far south for my personal tastes. We are heading north for Wrath, however, and since there are not one but two coastal areas open up there, I might just get my wish. Fans of Viking and Norse architecture will also get their fill in Wrath, I'll bet, and consdering the Forsaken, as Neth says in the thread, are getting their own architecture, Gothic style will also be a highlight.

Are there any styles or cultures that you'd like to see represented in Azeroth that haven't been?

Breakfast Topic: How are you spending the last few days of the Midsummer Fire Festival?

The Midsummer Fire Festival officially ends on July 5th, just a few scant days away. That means no more Lord Ahune, no more chances to get the Deathfrost enchant, no more desecration, no more turning into a crab, no more Torch Tossing... Yeah, I'm a little bummed too.

Still, we have a couple days left to make the best of it. Of course, the question is -- what exactly do we do with it? Myself, I'm torn. My enchanter still needs the Deathfrost enchant, so I may want to get a group together and go slay Ahune a few more times. Then again, I still haven't gotten some of the Midsummer loot on a couple of my 70s, so maybe I want to make a push to get the last few blossoms for those.

But I'm also thinking that it would be nice to get my shaman to level 30 before Patch 2.4.3, and thus I'm tempted to just go out and slog through the last few levels with her, bolstered by the all the various Fire Festival buffs and the Ribbon Dance buff.

I'll have to think about it some more, but in the meantime, do you have a plan for these last few days of the Midsummer Fire Festival?

Gallery: Midsummer Fire Festival

Burning Blossom LootRibbon DancingTorch Tossing

The Midsummer Fire Festival is upon us! Check out WoW Insider's complete quest guide to collect those Burning Blossoms as well as our guide on how to spend them. Also, don't forget to eyeball our screenshot gallery of Midsummer events. Finally, find out how to kill Lord Ahune, and check out our break down of his loot table.

Breakfast Topic: Which game would you play?


Every time a new game comes out, we have a decision to make. Do we try the new game while still playing World of Warcraft most of the time? Do we take a break from WoW to give the new game all of our attention? Or do we continue to play our favorite MMO? My guild had an attendance problem when GTA IV was released and I know a few people have given Age of Conan a good try. With Warhammer Online probably coming out in the fall, we will have to make another choice then.

Now, I think that the Wrath of the Lich King expansion will probably come out in the Winter, hopefully this year. I think that Starcraft 2 will be released approximately a year after that and my guess is that Diablo III won't come out for another 2 to 3 years, unfortunately. But what if Blizzard were to do the unthinkable and release WotLK at the same time as the sequels to Starcraft and Diablo?

For me, I think Diablo III would take up most of my time for a month or two. Happily (or not), I won't have to make that choice. What would you do?

[Thanks to Dave for the idea]

Breakfast topic: Problem paradigms

My main is a resto Shaman, but I've been spending my spare time either leveling a Rogue or gearing up my Ret Paladin. It is a completely different experience. I've spent hours in the battlegrounds and have managed to earn the honor for the Merciless Gladiator's Greatsword. Thus far is has been a real challenge for me.

I have a harder time with the Paladin than the Rogue. In the battlegrounds my first reaction when I see someone going down is to heal them. I do drop an emergency heal here and a bubble there, I know that my heals are generally crummy. I should just keep swinging my sword and leave the healing to the healers. With the Rogue, there is no option for healing, so I just keep Slicing and Dicing away through the levels. On top of that, I'm used to trying to get away from my opponent, not trying to stay on top of them. The whole paradigm shift has been difficult for me, but I've learned a lot from it.

How do you feel when you play something totally different from your main?

Breakfast topic: Keeping track of WoW

Let's face it, World of Warcraft is a big game. Nine classes with a new one on the way, ten races, each with all unique spells and abilities, over fifty zones to explore and soon a new continent, each with more quests, baddies, and precious loot than we can count. With so many details a virtual world like WoW has, just how the heck do you keep track of everything? Everyone has certain goals in mind for their characters.

  • Be a master of a certain profession
  • Be exalted reputation with certain factions
  • Quests you want to go back and do (I'm with you completionists!)
  • A wish list of goodies to be gotten and exactly what you need to get'em.

Do you go for the casual approach and just store it in your noggin? Or maybe you've lined your monitor with so many sticky notes you can barely see your character. Perhaps you're the obsessively anal type and keep a notebook binder or excel document handy at all times? Myself, I'm guilty of using an online application called Backpack to keep my profession notes and wish lists in order. Share with us in the comments how you keep track of all your WoW information!

Breakfast topic: Class consciousness

Day 1 of the World Wide Invitational has been filled with exciting news for WoW players, and well as some fascinating displays of entertainment. Blizzard hosted panel discussions with information about changes for each of the classes in Wrath of the Lich King. In case you've missed it, here's the good news for each of the classes:

I'd like to know what everyone thinks about these changes. It looks to me like some classes are making out better than others. I, for one, am nearly giddy.

Continue reading Breakfast topic: Class consciousness

Breakfast Topic: What Blizzard didn't announce at the opening ceremony

By now I'm assuming you've read the liveblog or seen the announcement post and heard: Diablo 3 is go.

By now you have probably also heard that there really weren't any other announcements at the opening ceremony. Don't get me wrong, Diablo 3 is awesome. But as much as we're Blizzard fanboys (and fangirls) here, we're all about the WoW first, and we need some WoTLK news to sustain us too -- and we still don't know what that mysterious "next generation MMO" in development is either -- it seems most people are assuming it's Starcraft now though. Me, I'm not convinced. After all, there's a Starcraft game in development too, so it could presumably be either franchise, or simply an updated World of Warcraft 2.

There's quite a few things that could come out about WotLK today and tomorrow, of course. I'm still hoping for an opening cinematic and an official release date to start. While we're at it, how about giving us a demo of the Dance Studio or Barbershop, or better yet, some other unannounced new major feature for the expansion? I might even settle for new skills, talent trees, or even a new battleground preview.

What are your expectations and hopes for news from the World Wide Invitational as it soldiers on?

Breakfast topic: Future heroic classes

Blizzard has told us that the Death Knight will be the first of the heroic classes, and probably the only one we can expect to see in the next expansion. I haven't heard a word about what other heroic classes might be in the future. Therefore I started thinking of my own. Sure, sure we'd love to see Bards and Battlemages, but how about something new. Here are some of my thoughts:

  • The Craftmaster- Any existing non-heroic class, but can have three or four trade skills. They'd have access to bind-on-pickup Craftmaster-only items. No hot-glue gun required!
  • The Supertwink- No, I don't mean another rogue, but a character that cannot level past 29. The Supertwink may be able to access some abilities and skills from higher levels.
  • The Gunslinger- Somewhere between a Rogue and a Hunter. Gunslingers do not use pets, and have a few up close trick shots. They can dual wield ranged weapons and stealth about.

Continue reading Breakfast topic: Future heroic classes

Breakfast Topic: How's Season 4 going for you?

The first day of Season 4 has come and gone, and with it, I'm sure a lot of players spent a lot of time recovering from the switchover and beginning the climb to Gladiator rank for the end of Season 4. Arena players rushed out to buy new Season 4 gear -- at least the stuff that didn't need a high rating -- while many battleground regulars probably went to get their hands on the Season 2 gear for Honor points. I'm sure a lot of teams started play today if only to try to push up their rating and get more gear earlier.

If you're a little overwhelmed by all the Season 4 hubbub whipping around, let WoW Insider get you squared a way a bit better. You can check out our Season 4 Information roundup, chock full of useful articles that will help you get the most out of this season, or you can check our Season 4 brutal gladiator gear roundup for information on all the new stuff you can spend your Arena and Honor points on.

If you plunged right into the thick of things, how did you do? Did you fight enough Arena battles to get a set of bracers, or are you waiting for the teams to settle into proper brackets before you dive in? Did you just stick with buying some season 2 gear or a new belt with some saved up Honor points? Or, did you just sell armor patches and gem cuts to everyone looking to kit out their new gear? Let us know how the new season's treating you!

Breakfast Topic: Is the game being dumbed down?

We worried about this way back before patch 2.3, but now that almost everyone has gotten a chance to experience all the changes to the UI, we'll check in on what you think: did putting a glow around interactive items -- and in some cases, actual exclamation points above inanimate objects -- dumb the game down?

Makabriel thinks so -- a quest in Dustwallow that used to revolve around the player finding hidden clues now has all the clues glowing with exclamation points above them. And I've seen some pretty nutty examples ingame, too -- while, yes, before it was annoying to have to re-search an instance for a little thing to click on, nowadays it seems almost so obvious that there's no game in it at all. Of course, I still do use the various resources online to find out-of-the-way mobs (those still don't glow), but item-finding isn't even a challenge any more.

Of course, this isn't World of Findcraft -- the real game is in fighting creatures and increasing your character's stats and abilities. No one raved about finding little clickable objects in the first reviews, so why shouldn't Blizzard take that part out of the challenge? What do you think: is the game dumbed down too much, or do the glowing clickable items let you focus on finding the real fun in Azeroth?

Breakfast Topic: Ready for Season 4?

Season 4 of the WoW arena is upon us. In roughly 24 hours, the mad dash to a rating of 2200 will begin. My question for all of you today is... are you ready for it?

A lot of my friends who focus on PvP already have their compositions figured out, their team names ready, and a full bank of honor and arena points stored and ready to spend. Even if you aren't the arena type, Tuesday can mean good things for you. What does Season 4 do for you if you don't PvP? Gold, of course! Profit, profit, profit. With the influx of gear into peoples' hands starting Tuesday, gems and enchanting materials are going to spike in price for awhile. I imagine epic gems will feel this especially, as this is essentially the best gear available to PvPers before Wrath of the Lich King. They'll want to make the most of it.

So whether you play for PvP or you play for Profit, tomorrow means good things. Are you ready for it? Have you done anything to prepare? Do you go through any start-of-the-season rituals for good luck? Burning a Druid-shaped wickerman, perhaps?

Next Page >


RESOURCES

Blizzard Events
BlizzCon (190)
Worldwide Invitational (105)
Class Columns
(Druid) Shifting Perspectives (47)
(Hunter) Big Red Kitty (37)
(Hunter) Scattered Shots (21)
(Mage) Arcane Brilliance (43)
(Paladin) The Light and How to Swing It (51)
(Priest) Spiritual Guidance (26)
(Rogue) Encrypted Text (33)
(Shaman) Totem Talk (51)
(Warlock) Blood Pact (31)
(Warrior) The Care and Feeding of Warriors (55)
Gameplay
(Arena PvP) Blood Sport (27)
(BG PvP) The Art of War(craft) (25)
(Casual) WoW, Casually (21)
(Guild Leadership) Officers' Quarters (63)
(Professions) Insider Trader (63)
(Raid Healing) Raid Rx (20)
(Raiding) Raiding 101 (2)
(Raiding) Ready Check (27)
(Roleplaying) All the World's a Stage (44)
Hybrid Theory (20)
New Players' Guide (3)
Tank Talk (6)
AddOns and UI
AddOn Spotlight (89)
Macro Anatomy (14)
Reader UI of the Week (27)
Reader WoWspace of the week (31)
The Creamy GUI Center (14)
Lore and Stories
Around Azeroth (525)
Ask A Lore Nerd (9)
Barrens Chat (9)
Know your Lore (58)
Tales from the Lion's Pride Inn (14)
WoW Moviewatch (517)
Features
15 Minutes of Fame (26)
About the Bloggers (28)
Ask WoW Insider (63)
Azeroth Security Advisor (4)
Breakfast topics (728)
Build Shop (35)
Forum Post of the Day (24)
Gamers on the Street (25)
Guildwatch (82)
He Said She Said (5)
Illusionary Tactics (3)
It came from the Blog (29)
Phat Loot Phriday (92)
The Colosseum (0)
Two Bosses Enter (61)
Well Fed Buff (27)
World of WarCrafts (26)
WoW Crossword (1)
WoW Insider Show (68)
WoW Rookie (41)
[1.Local] (13)
Classes
Death Knight (100)
Druid (320)
Hunter (290)
Mage (182)
Paladin (307)
Priest (256)
Rogue (181)
Shaman (286)
Warlock (198)
Warrior (219)
News
Account Security (25)
AddOns (256)
Analysis / Opinion (3178)
Blizzard (1672)
Bugs (220)
Burning Crusade (378)
Contests (232)
Economy (198)
Events (466)
Expansions (639)
Fan stuff (921)
Features (676)
Forums (289)
Guilds (506)
Hardware (44)
Humor (809)
Interviews (166)
Lore (315)
Mounts (143)
News items (1609)
NPCs (213)
Odds and ends (1723)
Patches (1153)
Podcasting (78)
Ranking (56)
Realm News (297)
Realm Status (246)
RP (177)
Rumors (68)
Virtual selves (685)
WoW Insider Business (306)
WoW Social Conventions (156)
WoW TCG (57)
Wrath of the Lich King (426)
Strategy
Alts (118)
Arena (259)
Battlegrounds (158)
Bosses (362)
Buffs (130)
Cheats (74)
Classes (327)
Enchants (37)
Factions (166)
Guides (407)
How-tos (415)
Instances (685)
Items (884)
Leveling (304)
Making money (194)
PvP (781)
Quests (384)
Raiding (777)
Talents (153)
Tips (588)
Tricks (233)
Walkthroughs (93)
Media
Comics (80)
Fan art (49)
Galleries (195)
Machinima (603)
Podcasts (52)
Polls (67)
Screenshots (675)
Races
Alliance (119)
Draenei (66)
Dwarves (21)
Gnomes (47)
Human (21)
Night Elves (48)
Horde (120)
Blood Elves (72)
Orcs (29)
Tauren (51)
Trolls (27)
Undead (27)
Professions
Alchemy (80)
Blacksmithing (63)
Cooking (76)
Enchanting (77)
Engineering (112)
First Aid (19)
Fishing (63)
Herbalism (51)
Inscription (14)
Jewelcrafting (87)
Leatherworking (66)
Mining (50)
Skinning (31)
Tailoring (71)
Retired
Pimp My Profile (1)
(Engineering) Hoof and Horn Research and Development (17)
Azeroth Interrupted (24)
Back In The Day (3)
World Wide WoW (8)
/silly (14)

RSS NEWSFEEDS

Powered by Blogsmith

    Featured Galleries

    Scarlet Crusade Tabard T-shirt
    Reader UI of the Week 6/29/08
    Worldwide Invitational goodie bag
    WWI08 Costume and Dance Contest
    Worldwide Invitational 2008
    World of WarCrafts: Midsummer magnet
    June 2008 splash screen speculation
    Blizzard splash screen speculation
    Midsummer Fire Festival

     

    Most Commented On (30 days)

    Recent Comments

    Weblogs, Inc. Network

    Other Weblogs Inc. Network blogs you might be interested in: