WoW Insider

Steins come to the EU

Mike Schramm — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Items, Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Blizzard, Economy, Humor

Good news, EU players -- now you can store your ale in a WoW stein also. 3 Point Entertainment, the group responsible for making those official World of Warcraft beer steins, has announced that they are now selling the steins overseas as well, meaning that even EU players can spend $80 on a cup that won't even fit in your cup-holder.

We kid -- at $80, these things better be nice, and they probably are -- each one, we're told, is handcrafted and made of "fine grain stoneware," whatever that is. The company says that the North American sales have been very good so far, and that a few people have even bought them for wedding or groomsmen gifts. Because nothing starts a marriage off right quite like a WoW stein, yeah?

Still, Europeans, if you've been waiting to get your hands on one, now's your chance. Cheers!

Steins come to the EU originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wrath sells 2.8 million in the first 24 hours

Mike Schramm — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:25:00 EST

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, Economy, Making money, Wrath of the Lich King

We knew it was going to be a lot, but I think the game outsold even our expectations: Blizzard has announced that the game's second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, sold 2.8 million copies worldwide in the first 24 hours, and undoubtedly many more in the weekend after that (we're expecting an announcement later this month around five million in the first 30 days). That makes the game the fastest selling PC game of all time, and by far the fastest-selling expansion of all time (remember that this isn't even a complete game that's flying off the shelves). The previous record, of course, was set by the Burning Crusade, which sold 2.4 million copies during launch.

Pretty huge, but when you consider that the game has 11 million subscribers around the world, those numbers are just about right. Looks like Morhaime is on to something -- as long as they have players ready to buy the game in numbers like this, Blizzard will undoubtedly release expansions as long as they can.

Thanks, Doug!

Wrath sells 2.8 million in the first 24 hours originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Insider Trader: Inscription from 200 to 305

Amanda Miller — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Herbalism, How-tos, Walkthroughs, Economy, Expansions, Features, Leveling, Guides, Making money, (Professions) Insider Trader, Wrath of the Lich King, Inscription

Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.

For the past two weeks, Insider Trader has been helping you level your Inscription cheaply and efficiently.

Beginners should read through the walkthrough up to skill point 100, as it not only shows you how to reach it, it discusses the basics of Inscription in detail and offers some helpful hints.

Once you've reached 100, move on to the guide to hitting 200. You will need to be at least level 20 to complete this!

This week, I am walking you from skill 200 to skill 305. At 225, you will need to be at least level 35, and by the time you hit 300, you will need to be level 50 in order to train from 301 to 375.

Remember to click on any of the Wowhead herb links to view detailed maps of where to find each herb!

Continue reading Insider Trader: Inscription from 200 to 305

Insider Trader: Inscription from 200 to 305 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 14 Nov 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wrath profession goodies

Amanda Miller — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 09:30:00 EST

Filed under: Alchemy, Blacksmithing, Cooking, Engineering, Leatherworking, Tailoring, Enchanting, First Aid, Items, Economy, Quests, Expansions, Jewelcrafting, Features, Making money, Enchants, Mounts, Wrath of the Lich King, Inscription

The days of choosing a profession and maximizing it solely based on a few purples at the very end are no more. Not only will many more crafted epics be bind on equip, they will be available earlier than the maximum rank.

Instead, the incentive to choose between the available professions will be based more on fun and personal preference. Each profession is getting its own 'goody bag' of items that are fun and promote individual customization.

Intrigued? Here's an overview of what you can expect to see:

Continue reading Wrath profession goodies

Wrath profession goodies originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 13 Nov 2008 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Breakfast Topic: To bug or not to bug

Mike Schramm — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Items, Analysis / Opinion, Cheats, Odds and ends, Economy, Breakfast topics

We reported last night that some of the PvP gear was being shown as discounted or even free, and players were reportedly flooding the vendors, trying to pick up cheap gear. Of course, we also warned that taking bugged gear could be considered an exploit, even as some veteran players warned that taking free gear could result in a server rollback, suspended accounts, or even banning.

Therein lies the question: did you bite? I can see arguments for both sides: maybe you stood your moral ground, said that that gear wasn't really supposed to be free, and didn't try to take advantage of a mistake one of Blizzard's coders made. Or maybe you said, "well, if it's on the live realms, it must be legit," and looted as much of the gear as you could (and maybe you're paying for it, too, either now or later this week).

So what'd you do? This isn't the first time a game-changing exploit has made loot accessible to players when it shouldn't be, so if given a possible exploit in the game, do you grab away and let Blizzard worry about their own mistakes, or do you decide not to take advantage of mistakes Blizzard didn't mean to make and wait for them to fix it while you do things fairly?

Breakfast Topic: To bug or not to bug originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 12 Nov 2008 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Preparing for Wrath Day 2: The dying wallet

Allison Robert — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 10:45:00 EST

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Economy, Expansions, Features, Humor, Making money, Wrath of the Lich King

Off a question on professions we recently took in Ask A Beta Tester, it occurred to me that it would probably be helpful to provide players with a few ballpark figures on budgetary expectations for Northrend. Blizzard's been pretty frank about its desire to reduce ingame inflation, so it's reasonable to expect a number of compelling demands made on your e-wallet (especially if legions of grasping guild leaders worldwide get their wish and start taxing the living hell out of you). Bottom line? You're going to bleed gold out of your ears unless you exercise some financial restraint. But...whatever. Screaming over the ingame cost of everything keeps me from looking at my real-life stock portfolio. I need a drink.

PROFESSIONS: Your first few minutes on the continent, no matter where you land, are going to be pretty expensive if you train up your tradeskills immediately. Polar22 in the AABT comments provided an extremely helpful link to WarcraftEcon confirming that each major and minor trade skill, with the exception of First Aid, will cost 35g to level to Grand Master. First Aid is more expensive at 50g. So, assuming you train your two major tradeskills in addition to Fishing, Cooking, and First Aid, count on being out 190g in addition to whatever it will cost you to train new recipes. WarcraftEcon estimates the total damage for an average player will clock in around 400-500g for these initial recipes and the Grand Master skill-up. That sounds broadly accurate from my experience in the beta, so plan on toting 500g along if you want all of your professions trained up immediately. The bleed begins!

Continue reading Preparing for Wrath Day 2: The dying wallet

Preparing for Wrath Day 2: The dying wallet originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 11 Nov 2008 10:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tracking the BoE market in Wrath

Mike Schramm — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Items, Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Economy, Making money

The folks over at WoW Economist have started up a blog on one of the most popular problems in World of Warcraft: making money, and lots of it. The truth is that it's not hard to do, whether you're working with professions, trying to hang in the AH, PvPing, or just starting out, but everyone's got a tip to share, it seems, and WoW Economist is no exception.

This time around, they've got a good short analysis up of what might happen to green BoEs in Wrath of the Lich King. Once upon a time, there was actually a good market for BoEs on the AH -- some of them even challenged Karazhan gear in the early days of level 70, so anyone new to 70 could just spend some time in the Auction House and pick up some nice gear for running the basic instances and starting to build up blues and epics. But in my experience the market has thinned out lately -- while there's always a market for enchanging materials you can get from BoEs, people aren't that interested in buying green gear with epics so easy to get elsewhere. Most of the time, I get more from vendors for greens than I can actually sell them for on the AH.

But WoW Econ says there's a bump on the way -- Death Knights are going to be shooting through 60-70 directly after Wrath, and they're going to want the level 66-70 greens floating around (plate gear with Strength and Stam on it), so that will probably sell well. But everything else is pretty much dried up -- DE it if you can, or just vendor it away and move on. The gold will come quicker in Northrend anyway.

Tracking the BoE market in Wrath originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Insider Trader: Inscription from 0-100

Amanda Miller — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Herbalism, Items, Tips, How-tos, Walkthroughs, Economy, Leveling, Guides, Making money, (Professions) Insider Trader, Inscription

Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.

This week's edition of Insider Trader will stand as an introduction to becoming a scribe. After covering some of the basic information you will need to know, I will walk you through the leveling process until you reach the 100th skill point.

I will also discuss Minor Inscription Research and glyphs in detail, ensuring that you can make informed choices when choosing how to level your inscription. In the coming weeks, I will continue with the guide until the new maximum, 450.

Hop on through the break to learn how to boost your scribe's levels quickly and cost-effectively.

Continue reading Insider Trader: Inscription from 0-100

Insider Trader: Inscription from 0-100 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Zombies are bad for the economy

Zach Yonzon — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 19:00:00 EST

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

It's a good thing the zombies are going away now, isn't it? For the past few days, I noticed -- or rather my money-making wife noticed -- that the undead throng was badly tanking Azerothian commerce. The reason is that a lot of players' bankers and Auction House entrepreneurs are low-level alts that succumbed easily to the plague and random zombie attacks. When a Level 65 city guard turned into a zombie, it would naturally aggro the low-level bank mules and auction house regulars, killing them instantly. It didn't help that most players-turned-minions-of-the-Scourge usually targeted the Banks and Auction Houses for infection. Actually, we even recommended it as the best course of action as a (not so) mindless ghoul.

When the disease grew potent enough to transform anyone it infected within a minute, it became practically impossible to accomplish anything. Especially not with Argent Healers calling for a hasty retreat. Entire cities -- or key areas of cities -- were quickly transformed into ghoulish carnivals and it was simply too bothersome to do any business. As a result, players couldn't put anything up on the Auction House nor could anyone buy anything, either, slowing commerce to a crawl. My wife's daily Auction House profits of upwards 500 Gold dwindled down to nary a copper with her alt being unable to collect from the mailbox, move stuff from the bank, or scan the Auction House, as she died istantly to roving zombies.

What's next in store for us? Did Blizzard really cave in to the demands of players who felt that the World Event disrupted their normal routine too much? Or is there something more devious waiting in the wings? I know my wife was so upset by being unable to conduct her business that she decided to hold off from logging in at least until the event died down. Now that the zombie infestation seems to be under control, perhaps business will pick up again. Or maybe not, depending on what Blizzard has prepared for Azeroth. One thing's for sure, these Dawn of the Dead-type events certainly take a bite out of the economy.

Zombies are bad for the economy originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 27 Oct 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ask a Beta Tester: Dalaran coins, environment effects, and AoE tanking

Allison Robert — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Druid, Paladin, Warrior, Fishing, Blacksmithing, Analysis / Opinion, Economy, Expansions, Features, Factions, Classes, Wrath of the Lich King, Achievements

I ran into two common questions last night on the Dalaran coin post, so I thought I'd start off by answering those here. I apologize if we haven't yet gotten to everyone's questions; most of them, like Gurluas' question concerning The Missing Diplomat and the high elves in Northrend, we're just not 100% sure of the answer to yet, but I'll keep trying.

Keyra asks...

Just curious...the gold coins all have "Use: Throw this coin back into the Dalaran fountain", yet I've seen people commenting (as well as the author) that they'll carry the coin in their packs. What happens when/if you throw the coin back in?

When you toss a gold coin back into the fountain, you gain the "Lucky" buff for 2 minutes, increasing your chance to fish up any and all coins from the fountain (rather than fishing hooks or goldfish). You don't have to toss them back in if you don't want to, in which case they'll just occupy a bag slot like anything else, or you can sell them to a vendor (not for much). But most people throw the coin/s back in because fishing the coin up is enough to give you the Achievement for getting it. Particular coins would be carried solely for personal or sentimental reasons, i.e. I can definitely appreciate the irony and RP value of grimly hunting Arthas down like a dog while carrying a symbol of Sylvanas' wasted hopes.

Rexigar asks...

Question though, do we have to keep the coins for the achievement or does it count when we throw it back in?

It counts as of the moment you've fished it up. No matter what you do with it afterwards, the Achievement's yours. The same mechanic is true of everything else; once the game "knows" you've done something and an Achievement's gained, nothing can take it away.

Continue reading Ask a Beta Tester: Dalaran coins, environment effects, and AoE tanking

Ask a Beta Tester: Dalaran coins, environment effects, and AoE tanking originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 12 Oct 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ask a Beta Tester: It's all about the money

Allison Robert — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Druid, Hunter, Mage, Shaman, Herbalism, Alchemy, Engineering, Tailoring, Enchanting, First Aid, Analysis / Opinion, Tips, Economy, Expansions, Features, Classes, Making money, Enchants, Death Knight, Wrath of the Lich King, Inscription, Achievements

We have a lot of profession questions today, but also a few about Achievements, the Beast Mastery 51-point talent, and what happens when you push Death Knights off a cliff:

Riley asks...

How is the Shaman Hex ability working? Does the target still have control of movement and does the PvP trinket work against it?

Hex is a the crowd-control spell for Shamans referenced by the devs at the class panel here, and it's been tinkered with a lot since we first heard about it. It was originally meant to be more of an emergency-only, short-duration CC. In its present form, Hex's duration has been increased to 30 seconds and it doesn't necessarily break on damage. However, in PvP the target can control where they go, the PvP trinket does work (you can also shapeshift out of it as a Druid), and it's considered a curse and can be dispelled by Mages, Druids, and restoration Shamans (who will have the ability do dispel curses with a 31-point talent Cleanse Spirit). Think of it as a somewhat odd combination of Counterspell, Fear, and Polymorph.

Continue reading Ask a Beta Tester: It's all about the money

Ask a Beta Tester: It's all about the money originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 11 Oct 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sewer fishing for fun and profit (mostly fun)

Allison Robert — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fishing, Analysis / Opinion, Tips, How-tos, Economy, Expansions, Buffs, Achievements

I have a confession to make; I love fishing. Most people seem to hate it, and it's certainly not one of the more popular professions to level, but I could pass a perfectly entertaining afternoon ingame doing nothing more than chatting on vent and emptying pools of delicious and lucrative fish. Blizzard made a lot of effort towards improving the fishing experience in Burning Crusade, and tons of people wound up leveling it for a shot at Mr. Pinchy, the Find Fish skill, or the high-end raiding food buffs like Spicy Crawdad and Blackened Sporefish.

You'll find an array of new fish and pools in Wrath, but for my money the two great joys are fishing in the Dalaran sewers and the Dalaran wishing fountain. The fountain is actually the more interesting of the two for a reason we'll cover in a bit, but you'll also need the sewers if you're interested in a new noncombat pet and the Accomplished Angler achievement (the one rewarding the "Salty" title, which I'm sure no one in the game ever intends to abuse).

Spoiler warning: if you don't want to know the disgusting but highly interesting things you'll coax out of the Dalaran sewer system, just keep scrollin'.

Continue reading Sewer fishing for fun and profit (mostly fun)

Sewer fishing for fun and profit (mostly fun) originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 09 Oct 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ask a Beta Tester: The Alchemist

Allison Robert — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Herbalism, Fishing, Alchemy, Blacksmithing, Analysis / Opinion, Tips, Economy, Expansions, Features, Factions, Guides, Classes, Making money, Alts, Wrath of the Lich King

Apologies to Paulo Coelho fans for borrowing his title, but we have two Alchemy-related questions to start us off today, in addition to questions on Blacksmithing, cinematics, and dailies:

Horizons asks...

Do the alchemy specializations in wrath still work the same way as they do now in BC? For example, will I still have a chance of getting 5 wrath potions even when I'm leveling starting at 375 such as Wrath Elixirs or Icy mana potions? And will transmute spec ever be fixed?

Yup, alchemy specializations work the exact same way in Wrath. As a potions master, I've already procced a few, but don't expect to see the Runic Mana or Runic Healing potion recipes until...I want to say it's 410 Alchemy. You'll skill up on the array of new elixirs like Elixir of Mighty Thoughts and Elixir of Mighty Agility until then, but do save mats for the new Alchemy trinkets that become available at (I think) 400, like Mighty Alchemist's Stone. We'll have more information soon on materials you'll start getting in Northrend that you'll want to set aside for crafting.

Continue reading Ask a Beta Tester: The Alchemist

Ask a Beta Tester: The Alchemist originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 09 Oct 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WoW Insider interviews 38 Studios' Brett Close about Azeroth Advisor

Mike Schramm — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, News items, Economy, Leveling, Guides, Interviews

Last week we reported that 38 Studios, a company working on its own MMO property, had picked up the Azeroth Advisor, a custom newsletter directed towards players of World of Warcraft. At the time, we were slightly confused -- why would another gaming company want to purchase a guide written to promote and help players of a competitor's game? To get the answer, we went straight to the top, and sat down to talk with Brett Close, CEO of 38 Studios, about the reasons behind his company's purchase of the Azeroth Advisor and the technology behind it.

Last week, Curt Schilling, the company's founder, spoke on The Instance podcast about the buyout (that took place in May of this year), and what Mentor Media's newsletter and technology had to offer 38 Studios, so we asked Close about that, including how they planned to extend the custom newsletters to games that didn't have WoW's Armory and why they want to support players of a competitor's MMO. And we also talked about the fact that the newsletter is going free and why they decided to start giving it away.

The conversation with 38 Studios' CEO starts right after the break.

Continue reading WoW Insider interviews 38 Studios' Brett Close about Azeroth Advisor

WoW Insider interviews 38 Studios' Brett Close about Azeroth Advisor originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Behind the scenes on the Comcast bandwidth limit

Mike Schramm — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Blizzard, Economy

Our friends at BigDownload have a long but interesting feature up about that Comcast bandwidth limit and how it might affect PC gamers like us. Even though they chat with a lot of people higher up in both the ISP and gaming industry, the bottom line hasn't really changed: most people won't be affected by the limit, and if you are, there are things you can do about it. As we determined last time, at max, even if you run WoW 24/7 the entire month, you're still using only about 5gb, nowhere near enough to trip Comcast's limit. And even if there's a big patch download that comes through, it'll still be a very, very small percentage of people that come anywhere near it. While Comcast may change things in the future, there are a few voices already speaking out against bandwidth caps, including the Entertainment Consumers Association.

And if you do get suspended out of the blue? Best option is to just use another ISP -- even if Comcast isn't willing to support people who use tons of bandwidth, there will likely be another company that does. And if high-level broadband does become really widespread, it would be a bad business decision for Comcast as well to suspend large numbers of their userbase -- while there's always the chance that they could start charging a premium for more bandwidth, smaller companies will likely step up to fill any spaces that Comcast tries to screw over.

In short, right now, this isn't a problem. While in the future, Comcast may try to bring the bandwidth cap lower and lower, at this point, it doesn't effect enough people out there to worry, and even if you are affected, there are likely steps you can take to get around it, including going with another ISP if that's an option.

Behind the scenes on the Comcast bandwidth limit originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 03 Oct 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Going Deep Sea Fishing for some better 375 Fishing rewards

Mike Schramm — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Blizzard, Economy, Leveling, Making money

I've been leveling up fishing lately (hit 373 last night, along with 375 cooking, thanks to El's great guide), and I've actually found it pretty fun. It's a little too boring to do it without something going on in the background (last night it was the Cubs game, as depressing as that was), but it's kind of fun just to throw a line into some random water or pool and see what comes out. That said, the rewards could use a little tuning -- while events like the STV Fishing Tourney are fun (I've done it twice now and haven't won it yet) and offer some nice items, fishing itself even at the highest levels just isn't as rewarding as, say, running dailies or Heroics. The only reason to run it all the way up is really just to say you did -- while there's a promise of a Mr. Pinchy somewhere out there, there's no real fishing endgame in the way that there is for the rest of the game.

Which makes Qann's suggestion intriguing -- he says that high level fishers should have access to certain areas via boat that offer them tougher fishing challenges, and better rewards for it. A boat could shuttle you out to a remote island or location, where only certain fish could be caught or found. And we don't even really need a boat -- just more events like the STV Extravaganza (where certain fish that appear in special pools can be turned in directly for items) would be great. And why is it that the best items obtained through fishing are apparently scrolls? Why can't we fish for Badges, or even have a fishmarket, where fish can be exchanged for gems, crafting materials or other rewards?

Even Blizzard admits that there's a lot of work to be done for fishing, but it doesn't seem too hard -- if they're giving out epics for holidays, fishermen and women who make it up to 375 should deserve some good loot for their hard work as well, whether it's through Deep Sea fishing, keys that will unlock special chests, or just a vendor that will take all of those Barbed Gill Trout off your hands and give you something worthwhile in return.

Going Deep Sea Fishing for some better 375 Fishing rewards originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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38 Studios buys WoW newsletter

Mike Schramm — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, News items, Economy, Guides, Making money

Here's a strange little story -- 38 Studios is the MMO/entertainment company owned by baseball player Curt Schilling (who is himself a very big WoW fan). They're working on a secret project codenamed Copernicus (which our sister site Massively has been covering closely), but apparently they have other interests as well -- they've picked up a company called Mentor Media, whose main product is the Azeroth Advisor, a custom newsletter about World of Warcraft.

I don't know if we've ever mentioned Azeroth Advisor on the site before -- they claim to send you a custom newsletter (for a fee) built around your own personal character, but most of the information and guides you can actually get from them are pretty much equivalent to what you'd find here on WoW Insider (~~or less helpful, if we may say so ourselves~~ see update below*). Still, for casual players who just can't get enough information (and who don't want to browse our WoW insider Directory to find guides for your specific class), it might give you something else to read.

But what's strangest about this is why 38 Studios, a company working on its own MMO, has chosen to pick up a company that produces an unofficial newsletter about World of Warcraft. It's like Bioware buying World of Matticus (not that Matt is for sale or anything like that). Maybe they eventually have plans to have Mentor Media start producing content about Copernicus, or maybe Curt Schilling just found the guides really helpful and figured he'd like to own the company that made them. Stay tuned for a possible interview with 38 Studios to see if we can figure out the reasons behind the purchase.

Update: I let my obvious bias for our site show a little too much there -- Azeroth Advisor provides a valuable service to some players, and they work hard to do so. I apologize for hinting otherwise. Stay tuned for an interview to learn more about the site and the people behind it.

Update2: The guys at The Instance actually asked Curt about all of this (including this very post), and he told them a lot of the reasons why they picked Mentor Media up, including that the newsletter is going free within the week, that they see the platform of delivering customizable newsletters as expanding even beyond the gaming market, and that Mentor is seeking writers for all kinds of content, including even other games.

38 Studios buys WoW newsletter originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 02 Oct 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Arcane Brilliance: The state of the Mage

Christian Belt — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Mage, Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, Economy, PvP, Expansions, Features, Raiding, Classes, Talents, (Mage) Arcane Brilliance, Wrath of the Lich King

This week, Arcane Brilliance would like to address all Mages everywhere, from level 1 to level 80, in a spirit of optimism and brotherhood. We only have a little over six weeks left before the release of Wrath, and we need to come together as one Mage...one freakish, mutant Mage with a million arms and legs and wands sticking out all over the place...one giant, horrific ball of flesh, cloth, and silly hats that could hurl a Pyroblast roughly the size of a planet. Let's do it! I'm pretty sure if we all stand facing each other like so...and then blink at the same time...oh sweet mother of all that is good and pure...that's awful...just...just nevermind. We'll clean that up later.

My fellow Azerothians...

We've been through a lot these past four years and change. There was the great respeccing crisis of Molten Core. A string of Blink mishaps. The table-ninjaing scandal of '07. We've Fireballed our way through the scourge invasion, the rise of the silithid, the opening of the Dark Portal. We've killed Ragnaros, Kel-Thuzad, Nefarian, Onyxia, Illidan, and on like 14 separate occasions, Kael'thas Sunstrider. We've emerged unscathed from the bloody, neverending Southshore/Tarren Mill conflict (though countless questgivers and flight masters were lost), and moved on to more organized, focused wars in the various battlegrounds. These were battles with a clear purpose, an attainable goal, and with the notable exception of Warsong Gulch, a firm timetable for troop removal.

Fortunately, throughout all of these conflicts, the economy has remained strong. Seriously, have you seen the price of Runecloth lately?

So now, my fellow Mages, it is time for us to look closely at the state of our glorious class. We know where we've been, and where we are now. We're fully aware of our past, and we know where we want to be as the future rushes toward us. Let's take a constructive look at our unresolved concerns, and try to foretell our place in the coming expansion. Follow me through the break, won't you?

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: The state of the Mage

Arcane Brilliance: The state of the Mage originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 27 Sep 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Key items and tabards out of the bags soon, says Tigole

Mike Schramm — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Items, Virtual selves, Economy, Expansions

Tigole has gotten over his little weekend rampage on the forums and gotten back to business: he's got two tidbits about a popular subject among most players: making more bag space available.

First up is tabards -- he says that there are no plans to move tabards from the bags to the UI (as with the pet and mount changes), but that players shouldn't worry too much, because Blizzard is making it easier for players to get lost and destroyed tabards back if necessary. Since the Championing mechanic means we won't have to wait till Exalted to get tabards, there'll be a tabard vendor in Dalaran that'll have most of the tabards you need at a relatively cheap price.

And "keys" that aren't keys are also mentioned -- by this, we mean things like the Scepter of Celebras or the Mallet of Zul'Farrak; attunement items, in other words. Tigole says there's a plan for these also (another "keychain" tab, maybe?), but that we won't see it in time for the expansion.

Good news on both ends for people short on bag space, even if we have to wait a while. Personally my bag space is freeing itself up lately -- it's an "everything must go" sale on the AH for me as I try to convert all my soon-to-be obsolete crafting items into gold.

Key items and tabards out of the bags soon, says Tigole originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 24 Sep 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Engineer's dilemma

Allison Robert — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 14:00:00 EST

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

After a recent article on how the Engineering motorcycles of Wrath are going to be BoE items usable even by non-engineers, there's been a lot of commentary both here and on the forums about many Engineers' preference for the mount to be BoP -- or at least usable only by fellow Engineers. Last night we heard from reader Deftek who made the following three points: a). the motorcycle would be the only mount in the game beside your own faction's that doesn't require a rep/token grind or a profession; b). the vast majority of Engineering's gadgets have always been for Engineers only, and; c). everyone is going to have one if all you have to do is buy the reagents on the AH and track down an Engineer.

It's an interesting conundrum. Profitability and accessibility seem to be zero-sum in the game, and Engineers have complained for years that the profession was a complete money sink because they could sell so few items or services. I'm leveling Engineering on my Warrior right now and it became apparent pretty early that the profession lacked the usual lucrative items available to others; there's no real equivalent to Tailoring's bags, Leatherworking's armor kits, or Alchemy's raid potions. I've made money selling Mechanical Squirrels and that's it. So while I understand where Deftek's coming from, I still think the profession would benefit greatly from the addition of marketable BoE items, and Engineers have just been handed something that basically sells itself.

Having said that, a mount isn't an equivalent to, say, super mana potions or golden spellthread; you buy the motorcycle once and you never need to replace, consume, or update it, so the market for it will never extend beyond these one-time purchases. So while Engineering needs more moneymaking items, from an economics perspective the mount isn't a good choice and possibly should be BoP. But it sure looks cool, and I'd love to have one on my (non-Engineering) main.

The Engineer's dilemma originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 23 Sep 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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