WoW Insider

Yes, I've stolen the title from an old Simpsons episode, before anyone nabs it in the comments.

Well, WoW -- happy birthday! I don't think anyone, least of all Blizzard, expected the game to be anywhere near as popular as it's become, and it's just getting stronger. The game has changed a lot in the past four years, both for better (if you're me) and for worse (if you're a forum troll commenting on every change that has ever been made or ever will be made, unless it results in their character being absurdly overpowered, in which case any effort to fix this will be termed "a slap in the face"). Classes have also drastically changed in the process, with far less attention being paid to their traditional roles in previous MMORPG's and more attention paid to soloability, adaptability, and just plain fun. The character you rolled when you first began playing may bear no resemblance to the character you expected to be playing now, even if it's the same toon. And for some of you, that you're playing an MMORPG at all would have been a laughable notion before WoW debuted.

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Filed under: Events, Blizzard, Breakfast topics, Features

Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft.

Welcome to today's edition of The Queue, in which we don't have any witty or necessary preamble, so we're going to skip straight to the questions.

Aigarius asked...

Is it possible to craft Ebonweave without cold weather flying?

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Wrath of the Lich King, The Queue

Ready Check is a weekly column focusing on successful raiding for the serious raider. Hardcore or casual, ZA or Sunwell Plateau, everyone can get in on the action and down some bosses. This week, we look at the sort of people who've already killed everything, and ask "Why?"...

There's been a lot of discussion over the last week concerning hardcore raiders -- specifically those among the raiding corps who've raced to 80 as fast as possible and cleared every instance in game already. To people outside this group, it's quite easy to get a bit carried away when discussing raiders: these people don't have jobs, they ruin the game for themselves, they can't be actually enjoying a moment of it...

None of the above is true, of course. This week's Ready Check looks at the current raiding game from the perspective of one who's cleared it all, and attempts to inject a little myth-busting and reality into the hyperbole.

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Instances, Raiding, Bosses, (Raiding) Ready Check

Each Saturday, Arcane Brilliance conjures forth a column all about Mages. You may well wonder: what does Arcane Brilliance do the rest of the week? The answer--up until a couple of weeks ago--was travel through time, righting the wrongs of the past. It was all very heroic, lent itself handily to an episodic format, and Dean Stockwell was prominently involved. Then Wrath happened. Now? Well, now Arcane Brilliance pretty much just hangs around in , ganking Death Knight noobs. Trust us, it's just as heroic, in its own way.

I trust we, as a nation of Mages, are all happily churning our way through the new content, gazing about us in wonder and amazement at the majesty of Northrend, and then nuking the crap out of that majesty. I know I am. Just about everything about the Wrath experience has been positive for me so far. The visuals are incredible, the quests are fun and rich with lore, and the music is phenomenal. I could (and have) spend hours just wandering about Dalaran, taking in the ambiance, feeling all kinds of magey. Seriously, Blizzard, I'm starting a slow-clap right now, and it's all for you.

One thing you've likely noticed as you've quested your way north is that almost everything you do seems to grant you reputation with some new faction or another. If you're anything like me, your first questions were probably "where might I find the quartermasters for these factions," and "what do they sell that is made of cloth and dripping with spellpower?" For a nice overall guide to the basics of these new factions, I'd urge you to check out our own Alex Ziebart's Wrath 101 posts about the subject. They can be found here and here. After the jump, we'll be focusing on the rewards these new factions offer that are specifically valuable to Mages.

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Filed under: Mage, Items, Analysis / Opinion, Expansions, Features, Factions, Guides, Classes, (Mage) Arcane Brilliance, Wrath of the Lich King

Our podcast hits the virtual airwaves again this afternoon, and it's going to be a good one -- Matthew Rossi, our tanking titan, will be on the show, as will Daniel Whitcomb, one of our bloggers and author of the new Lichbourne Death Knight column. We'll talk about Wrath, of course -- where we're leveling and how things are going so far, and how Death Knights are integrating into the game, both as tanks and DPS. And we'll talk about Wrath's difficulty and whether it's too easy or not, the new commercials, and the fact that Blizzard made lots and lots of money last week.

And as usual we'll answer your emails (you can email us at theshow AT wowinsider dot com), and we'll have an aftershow after the show where you can chat directly with Rossi and Whitcomb. Should be a great time -- it starts up in just about two hours from now on our Ustream page, or you can jump onto the stream embedded right after the break. See you there!

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Filed under: Shaman, Warrior, Analysis / Opinion, Podcasting, Odds and ends, Blizzard, Death Knight, WoW Insider Show

Daniel Howell contributes BigRedKitty, a column with strategies, tips and tricks for and about the Hunter class, sprinkled with a healthy dose of completely improper, sometimes libelous, personal commentary.

There was the day we finally got Legacy. We jumped up and down, screaming in pleasure.

There was the day we beat Lady Vashj for the first time, pre-nerf. In our jubilation, we totally high-fived a lamp to its destruction, and thus Mrs. BRK finally got rid of, "that hideous piece of junk".

And now, both those days are eclipsed with our acquiring of a Spirit Beast pet. It's been almost twelve hours and we're still shaking. We haz Laser Kitteh! /flopfaint

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Filed under: Hunter, (Hunter) Big Red Kitty

So it's been a while since I mentioned it, but I'm still pretty gung ho on helping to enforce WoW gameplay policies, especially RP server specific policies, and I will not hesitate to report anyone I see violating them by means of name or conduct. With the recent changes to the report system, I generally just stick their names and a few notes into the Report an Issue and move on, knowing that eventually, a GM will get the report and hopefully decided to be an enforcer that day.

But even though I've elected not to speak with a GM, I still often get an email telling me the usual spiel: They looked into the issue, but are not able to tell me what happened due to privacy issues and whatnot.

Then comes the customer service satisfaction survey that asks me if the issue was resolved to my satisfaction.

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Wrath of the Lich King

Uh ... hey, guys. What's up? What are you doing here? Oh, you're here to kill me. Okay. I think we must have a misunderstanding. When you heard me on the boat over, I wasn't saying "Death to the Lich King," I was saying "Depth to the Lich King." As in he has hidden depths, that I'd like to get to know better. Are you buying this at all? No? Okay. Please leave my corpse in a neat pile in the corner, so as not to upset my parents when they come to identify my remains. Thank you.

(Thanks to Earle of <Dispozable Heroes> on Misha for this shot, taken on an ill-fated field trip to see Kel'Thuzad in the Borean Tundra.)

Do you have any unusual World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? We'd love to see it on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wowinsider.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next!

Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. Please include the word "Azeroth" in your post so it does not get swept into the spam bin. We strongly prefer full screen shots without the UI showing -- use alt-Z to remove it. Please, no more battleground scoreboards, "mounted mounts", or pictures of the Ninja Turtles in Dalaran.

Filed under: Screenshots, Around Azeroth, Galleries

Those of us waking up today and tomorrow will log into Azeroth and find in our mailboxes a little Baby Blizzard Bear non-combat pet. This pet will also give you a feat of strength achievement celebrating World of Warcraft's four years online.

This is a nice little way for Blizzard to thank all of us for spending years in the game. With over 11 million people playing WoW, and Wrath becoming a hit overnight, there's definitely a lot of celebrating to do over at Blizzard HQ.

The little bear that you get looks a like a small version of the BlizzCon Polar Bear Mount those of us lucky enough to attend BlizzCon this year got. It's a perfect traveling companion for you as you adventure around Northrend.

Edit: The pet is active on US, EU, and Oceanic servers.

Thanks to Mangowire for sending us the pics you see below.

Filed under: Blizzard, Achievements

So how many of you have been playing Wrath of the Lich King with the in-game music on? I will tell you right now, if you haven't, you are missing a whole lot. The music, instead of being a low background murmur, really comes to the forefront with bold instrumentals that speak to the scenery of the zone they're in and don't hide. It feels like the composers are using more and bigger instruments too. I don't think I've heard a piano used in WoW until Wrath, at least not to the effectiveness it's used in the Dragonblight music, while the Mountains of Thunder music is by turns mysterious, heart-rending, and majestic.

Overall, while I have loved snatches and pieces of music from past WoW efforts, I can say without reservation that this complete Wrath of the Lich King soundtrack is a cut above what has come before, and enjoyable, well-crafted music in its right.

My personal favorite is probably the Howling Fjord music, if only for one reason: Uilleann Pipes. I'm a sucker for them, and the music of the Howling Fjord uses them to incredible effectiveness. The stirring notes set the mood for the soaring vistas and majestics forests of the zone, as well as the struggle with the native Vykrul. Grizzly Hills comes in a close second in part because it has those same pipes being used to similar effect. What about you? Have you been listening to the new music? If so, what's your favorite music so far?

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, Breakfast topics, Wrath of the Lich King