1.02 Patch Notes!

In the spirit of archaeology, I reprint some old 'blast-from-the-past' patch notes. They make interesting reading, bringing back nostalgic aromas for the WoW veteran and surprising the more recent playerbase with it's simplicity.

(2004-12-18)

Happy Holidays!
The holidays are here and the citizens of Azeroth are celebrating the occasion with festive decorations and winter time activities. Keep an eye out for some fun and exciting surprises throughout the world!

New Dungeon - Maraudon
In the vast gray of Desolace lies the earthen tomb of Zaetar, fallen Keeper of the Grove and son of Cenarius. Zaetar rejected his Keeper heritage when he joined with the princess of the chaotic earth elementals, Theradras. Their unholy union gave birth to the misshapen and cursed centaur, who promptly slew their father for his part in their misbegotten creation. Fearful of Cenarius' wrath, the grief-stricken Theradras sequestered her dead lover's body in her secret sanctuary, the Crystal Caverns of Therramok, where she watches over him to this day. Travelers who come to Desolace have little trouble spotting Zaetar's tomb, for the blessing of nature that permeates his being transformed his resting place into a verdant paradise of flora and tranquil pools. Today, this tomb is now trodden by the hooves of Zaetar's children, who have claimed this great cavern as their sacred stronghold Maraudon.

Maraudon, a level 40-49 dungeon in Desolace, is now open and ready for business

Cloak & Helm Graphics
There are now interface options that let you not display your helm and/or cloak on your character. These options will allow a player to wear a cloak or helm, but not have it show up in the game world. The check boxes to control this functionality are in the Options menu under "Interface Options."

General Changes(detailed information for each below)

General
Players will now receive credit for killing a monster even if they die during battle.
Players will now be able to purchase and train mounts from other races in their faction. However, you will first need to obtain "exalted" reputation status with that race in order to do so. Mounts of the opposing faction are not available for purchase.
A "Looking for Group" channel has been added. Additional improvements in looking for group functionality will be added in future patches.
Daze chance has been reduced in degrees depending on the level of the monster versus the level of the player. Thus, a monster will have a better chance to Daze a player equal in level than it would Dazing a player five levels higher.
If you die in Molten Core, you will now be able to retrieve your corpse at the Blackrock Depths instance line.
Several instance bosses and sub-bosses have had their levels slightly lowered.
Giant Clams in the Vile Reef now drop Blue Pearls.
Spell Reflection no longer reflects abilities.
You can initiate a trade by dropping money onto a player.
You can no longer select targets while under the effects of charm.
Most non-elite creatures in non-instanced areas of the world have had their hit points slightly increased starting from level 20.
Messages in the chat window provide feedback when you are getting drunk or sober.
Skill gain messages will no longer appear for auto-ranking class skills when you gain a level.
Training costs for all classes are in the process of being rebalanced. For this patch, training costs have been adjusted for the Rogue and Warlock classes and we will be making similar adjustments to all classes in the future.

Talents
Damage bonus for the Warrior's One-Handed Weapon Specialization (Protection tab) increased to 2% per rank.
Amount of threat generated by Shield Bash when Shield Discipline is active has been increased.
Mortal Strike changed to deal weapon damage + a flat amount (85, 110, 135, 160) instead of percentage-based damage. Additional ranks available on Warrior trainers.
A bug causing the Hurricane talent to not require channeling has been fixed. This spell now correctly requires channeling.

Player versus Player
Gurubashi Arena - The arena in Stranglethorn Vale has been changed so that free-for-all PvP will only take place on the floor of the arena, and no longer in the stands or on the entrance ramp. Please keep in mind that on PvP realms, members of the opposite faction can still attack you anywhere in the arena because Stranglethorn Vale is a contested area.
There is now a short countdown before a duel starts.

Professions
Fishing for high-level zones has been restored.
Monetary value of fished items sold to vendors has been significantly reduced.
Chances of acquiring green weapons and armor from fishing have been reduced.
Fishing profession now requires a minimum character level, like the other professions do. Any character who already has a fishing profession past the intended level will not be affected.
The recipes for Heavy Mageweave Bandage, Runecloth Bandage, and Heavy Runecloth Bandage can be learned by visiting your faction's Artisan First Aid questgiver.
Sell prices on Runecloth Bandages and Heavy Runecloth Bandages have been reduced.
Expert First Aid books moved to a more appropriate vendor for the Horde. New vendor is still within the same general area as the previous one.
Spider Sausage added to cooking trainers.
Negative effect on Fletcher's Gloves has been changed.
Alchemists' Stone effects have been changed.
Gnomish Death Ray ingredients have been changed.
Small Spider Legs drops have been increased to aid night elf cooks.
Embossed Leather Boots are now correctly marked as Soulbound.
Enchant 2H Weapon with Intellect is now correctly giving +3 to Intellect.
Enchanter's Cowl minimum level to use set to 28 instead of 38, as was originally intended.
Decrepit Darkhounds are now skinnable.
Bloodstone Ore was made easier to mine.

Items
The damage effect on Deathblow, Diabolic Skiver, and Pendulum of Doom is now considered physical damage instead of Shadow damage.
Area effect of Piccolo of the Flaming Fire has been reduced.
Common shields sold at the shops have had their levels shifted to provide for a greater variety of choices.
The damage effect from Circle of Flame no longer gets increased by items with fire bonuses.
Area effect on Explosive Rockets has been reduced.
Damage over time effect on Demonshear should no longer be increased by items with Shadow bonuses.
Effects from Stormstout, Trogg Ale, Raptor Punch, and Keg of Thunderbrew Lager no longer stack.
Enriched Manna Biscuit now regenerates mana correctly.
Wolfmane Wristguards are now Uncommon instead of Common.
Lowered stats and armor on the Forcestone Buckler, which is rewarded from the Compendium of the Fallen quest. Existing Forcestone Bucklers have not been modified.
Smokey's Explosive Launcher and Smokey's Fireshooter from When Smokey Sings, I get Violent quest have been improved. Additional item reward added to this quest as well.
Heart of the Scale should apply the correct Fire resistance now.
Fixed a bug that caused Wildheart Boots to have duplicate stats.
Loamflake Bracers now have stats.
Effect on Cloak of Flames has been reduced.
Dog Training Gloves are now Uncommon instead of Common.
Murkgill Murlocs in Stranglethorn no longer drop Encrusted Tail Fin.
Fixed texture on Rageclaw Belt to look like a belt instead of pants.
Armor values for some Leather and Mail armor between levels 15 - 36 have been slightly changed to address an error with armor values.

Quests
Many Stranglethorn Vale quests had their experience rewards changed to be more in line with the difficulty of the quests. Some Stranglethorn Vale quests were also increased in difficulty, due to increased kill requirements or balance changes to the quest target creatures. The Green Hills of Stranglethorn and Big Game Hunter quests also now reward different items upon completion.
Two new quests added to Desolace involving the Kodo Caravan.
Number of centaur required to kill to unleash Warlord Krom'zar in the Barrens Counterattack! quest has been reduced to 20.
Time limit for the Counterattack! quest has been increased to 20 minutes.
Thazz'ril's Pick is now easier to spot.
Bloodfury quest in Stonetalon Mountains is now marked elite.
Catch of the Day quest in Desolace now requires 2 Bloodfish instead of the previous 5.
New quest rewards added to the Allegiance to the Old Gods quest in Ashenvale.
Wildhunter Cloak reward item from the Ashenvale Hunt quest has been improved.
Vagash in Dun Morogh now properly shows his Elite status.
The Encrusted Tail Fin quest item now only drops off the Saltscale Murlocs in Stranglethorn.
The Bloodfury Ripper's Remains quest item now only drops off the Bloodfury Ripper in Stonetalon Mountain.
The Blueleaf Tubers requirement of the Barrens' Blueleaf Tuber quest was decreased to 6.
Quest text for the Elemental War quest is changed. It no longer implies that a choice of rewards is available.
The Summoning Shadra quest level has been increased from 50 to 55, to reflect the level of Shadra.
Fixed the problem that was causing Mikhail in Menethil Harbor to become inactive after someone failed The Missing Diplomat quest.
Besseleth and Arikara now have statistics appropriate to their status as elite creatures.
Quest monsters for Arachnophobia quest in Stonetalon Mountains now drop the proper required quest item.
Kodo Roundup quest in Desolace has been fixed to give proper quest credit.
Homeward Bound quest in Thousand Needles can no longer be activated by anyone other than the player that is escorting the Non-player Character.
Free at Last quest in Thousand Needles can no longer be activated by anyone other than the player that is escorting the Non-player Character.
Fixed a bug with the Tower of Althalaxx quest line that allowed you to skip the step that leads into Fire Scar Shrine.
Quest related drop items from A Sample of Slime quest and a Batch of Ooze quest have been reduced in value.

Druids
Entangling Roots: Rank 4 moved to level 38.
New Spell: Gift of the Wild (Level 50) - Longer lasting Mark of the Wild spell that buffs the entire group. Requires a reagent to cast. (Spell is available via loot drop only.)
Bear Form: Armor bonus increased from 65% to 180%.
Dire Bear Form: Armor bonus increased from 125% to 360%.
Hibernate: Players now have an increasing chance to break free of the effect, such that it is unlikely the effect will last more than 15 seconds.

Hunters
Hunters can no longer sit while under the effects of Feign Death.
Disengage will cause the Hunter's target to immediately check for a new target.
Hunters will no longer show mana while they are under the effects of Feign Death.
Claw: Ranks 3-8 focus costs increased to match ranks 1-2.
Beasts under the effect of Beast Lore will now display whether they are tameable or not.
Pets: Bite and Claw tooltips now list the damage that is dealt when the pet is content. Actual damage is unchanged.
Scare Beast: Beasts now have an increasing chance to break free of the effect, such that it is unlikely the effect will last more than 15 seconds.

Paladins
Sense Undead: No longer available via the trainer; quest reward only.

Priests
Power Word: Shield: Now usable on party members only.
New Spell: Prayer of Fortitude (Level 48) - Longer lasting Power Word: Fortitude spell that buffs the entire group. Requires a reagent to cast. (Spell is available via loot drop only.)
Mind Control: Can no longer be cast on tapped targets.

Rogues
Backstab will automatically target the nearest enemy if no target is selected.
Distract is now effective against creatures that are already distracted.
Sap: Players now have an increasing chance to break free of the effect, such that it is unlikely the effect will last more than 15 seconds.
Training costs adjusted. Total training cost was decreased.
Vanish will now break root and slow effects.

Shaman
Earthbind Totem: Added a 15-second cooldown.

Warlocks
Warlock demons have a wide selection of names based on the demon type. This only affects new demons; existing demons will keep their names.
Warlocks can no longer kill players in duels.
Death Coil won't give health until it actually hits the target.
Death Coil will only give the amount of health that it actually drained from the target.
Create Soulstone: Reduced the Soul Shard cost from two shards to one shard.
Curse of Shadow: Increased duration from two minutes to five minutes.
Curse of the Elements: Increased duration from two minutes to five minutes.
Fear: Players now have an increasing chance to break free of the effect, such that it is unlikely the effect will last more than 15 seconds.
Devour Magic (Felhunter): Fixed a bug where the felhunter would be healed every time the spell was used, in addition to the healing gained from successful dispelling.
Tainted Blood (Felhunter): The reactive effect no longer causes threat.
Training costs adjusted. Total training cost was decreased.
Enslave Demon: Can no longer be cast on tapped targets.

Warriors
Warriors will now resume attacking after performing a Slam attack.
New Ability: Pummel (Berserker Stance) (Level 38) - Instant attack that causes damage and interrupts spellcasting for a short duration.
Shield Bash: No longer usable in Berserker Stance.
Intercept: Cost reduced from 15 rage to 10 rage, damage reduced accordingly.
Bloodrage: Now generates 10 rage immediately and 10 rage across the duration.
Improved Bloodrage: Now reduces the health cost of Bloodrage by 25% (rank 1) and 50% (rank 2).
Berserker Stance: Now increases critical strike chance by 3% instead of granting 10% melee haste. Extra damage taken reduced from 20% to 10%.

Mac
The vertex and pixel shader based graphic options have been reactivated on certain combinations of drivers and GPU hardware. As Apple releases future improvements to drivers we will continue to re-test and re-activate features on a case by case basis. A more detailed list of which driver/hardware combinations are enabled for shader capabilities, along with any known bugs will be posted on the Tech Support forum. Further optimization work on the client is ongoing, and we welcome your feedback at wowmacteam123@blizzard.com.
Added reverb to sound effects when a player is in enclosed spaces.

User Interface
The Minimap arrows that point to locations/players/etc. are now easier to see.
Tooltip information on players and monsters in the game has been expanded.
Alternative keyboard types (such as Dvorak) will now work correctly.
Macros that cast spells will show spell feedback (e.g. cooldowns, etc.) on the action bar.
Lua single line comments now work in script blocks embedded in XML files.
There is a new user interface to enable and disable add-ons for the current account, available at the character selection screen.
FontString has a new attribute, "maxLines," which is used to limit the number of lines the FontString will render.
Any text that goes beyond the extents of a FontString will be truncated and replaced with "."

Miscellaneous
When a player breaks the surface of the water going up (i.e. heading out of the water), the camera will move to the above-water position regardless of whether or not the player is holding down the right mouse button.
The visual effect for unlearning talents will happen after you accept the dialog instead of immediately.

Bug Fixes
A bug with bandages has been fixed. Previously, only the lowest rank bandage (Linen Bandage) was working correctly in that it brought up a channeling bar and required you to remain still while bandaging. All of the other bandage types (Heavy Linen through Heavy Runecloth) were working incorrectly, but have been fixed to operate the same way that Linen Bandages do.
Cenarion Vindicators no longer summon Forces of Nature as quickly.
Severed Dreamers no longer summon Nightmares as quickly.
Several elite creatures that were missing their elite tags have been fixed.
Will of the Forsaken is no longer grayed out on the action bar while you are fleeing.
The Emerald Dragon Whelp will assist you when summoned.
Aquatic creatures will no longer eventually teleport to you if you harass them from land.
Undead players will no longer be invisible when they first log in after watching the intro cinematic.
Fixed the rotating animations of the crystals in Un'Goro Crater.
Reginald Windsor's yell can be heard during The Great Masquerade.
Kodos in the Barrens will no longer stomp incessantly while in combat.
The Ward of Laze is now summoned at a more appropriate level, instead of level one.
Some elite creatures in outdoor areas of the world had higher than normal experience modifiers, and were corrected to award the proper amount of experience.
Rare creatures in many of the higher level outdoor zones will now use their appropriate combat abilities.
Autoloot has been fixed to work with skinning.
Fixed durability display on vendor buyback items.
Some creatures in the outdoor world had much less armor than intended. This has been corrected.
A bug causing war stomp to not affect some targets within melee range has been fixed.

WoW to be suspended in China?

07-14-2009

From http://news.mmosite.com/content/2009-07-14/20090714054025804.shtml

According to a source, the General Administration of Press and Publication of PRC has assigned Shanghai News and Publication Bureau to make a thorough investigation into the issue relating to the joint venture established by Blizzard Entertainment and NetEase. If it is proved that this joint venture is established to operate games, NetEase and Blizzard will be punished for violating the relevant regulations of China.

The US-based Blizzard Entertainment (a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard Inc, NASDAQ:ATVI, hereinafter referred to as "Blizzard"), renowned for the successful launch of World of Warcraft in China, is now trying to play "edge ball" against China's regulatory policy. As for the operation of World of Warcraft and other games in China, Blizzard is no longer content with the role of game provider any more, instead, it's trying to achieve "absolute control" through various methods.

Several Chinese online game operators analyzed, "The licensing mode grants foreign game developers little control over channels and clients, and they consequently receive drastically less revenue from the game." In such situation, how to effectively evade policy supervision so as to actually control the operation of their online game products in China has become one of the important strategic concerns of some foreign online game developers.

The Chinese law stipulates that, foreign enterprises are not allowed to operate online games in the Chinese market in the form of wholly owned company or joint venture. On April 16, 2009, Blizzard and NetEase jointly announced that the operating right of World of Warcraft in China Mainland would be handed over to NetEase after the contract with The9 expired. Since then, there have been many rumors about how NetEase had obtained the operating right of the "No. 1 online game in the world" in China. There are two issues most concerned by the people. One is NetEase paid a sky-high revenue share to Blizzard, which will quadruple the gains of Blizzard compared to the gains obtained from the cooperation with The9. And the other is Blizzard and NetEase established a joint venture to operate World of Warcraft and other games in the name of providing technical support. And particularly, recently some medias analyzed the relevant information disclosed in the financial statements (20-F) of 2008 submitted by NetEase, which attracted the attention of the game industry and the relevant competent authorities. It's learned that the government authority in charge of investigating this case has obtained a great deal of relevant information.

Because recently, many game medias and players are paying close attention to World of Warcraf's operating right transition, and because it relates to the key question whether joint venture companies can operate games in China, the General Administration of Press and Publication of PRC has specially assigned Shanghai News and Publication Bureau to investigate deep into this case. Industry analysts pointed out that, because the case involves some major regulations and policies, it's highly likely that the approval of World of Warcraft operating right transition will have been suspended before the investigation results come out.

Faction Swap in Development

Quoted from http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=18031079410&sid=1

We wanted to give everyone a very early heads-up that, in response to player requests, we’re developing a new service for World of Warcraft that will allow players to change their faction from Alliance to Horde or Horde to Alliance. There’s still much work to do and many details to iron out, but the basic idea is that players will be able to use the service to transform an existing character into a roughly equivalent character of the opposing faction on the same realm. Players who ended up creating and leveling up characters on the opposite factions from their friends have been asking for this type of functionality for some time, and we’re pleased to be getting closer to being able to deliver it.

As with all of the features and services we offer, we intend to incorporate the faction-change service in a way that won’t disrupt the gameplay experience on the realms, and there will be some rules involved with when and how the service can be used. The number of variables involved increases the complexity of implementing this service, but we plan to take the time needed to ensure that it lives up to expectations before officially rolling it out. We’ll go into much more detail on all of this here at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/ as development progresses. In the meantime, we wanted to let you know that because this type of functionality requires extensive internal testing well in advance of release, you may be seeing bits and pieces of the service in the test builds we use for the public test realms moving forward.


7/1- Due to the many questions that have come up with the announcement of this new service, we wanted to take the time to answer the ones we can at this point in time.

Q. Will we be able to switch between the races on our own faction?
A.. No. Players will only be able to switch to a race of the opposite faction.

Q. Will I be able to choose the race on the opposite faction that I want to change to?
A.. Yes, but you will only be able to switch to a race that has your class type available to it. So if you play a human paladin, you’d only be able to change to a blood elf paladin.

Q.How much will it cost?
A.. We do not have further information on this at this point in time.

Q.Will I be able to switch back to my original faction but a different race?
A.. No. You will only be able to switch back to your originally chosen race.

Q.. How will the switch between reputation, gear, mounts, etc be handled?
A.. We’ll have more details for you at a later point in time, though we plan to keep these as close to a reflection of the other faction as much as possible.

Q.How often can you change your faction?
A..We do not have any information to share on this at this point in time, however we will have restrictions on the frequency by which players can change their faction.

Q. How will this affect the balance of Horde and Alliance on the realms?
A.. We are taking great care in how we implement this new service in order to maintain balance between the factions on the realms but do not have any further details to share.

3.1.2 Patch Notes

General

Equipment Manager
When enabled from the Interface Options menu, this feature will allow players to store sets of equipment, easily swap between saved sets using hotkeys, and pull items directly from backpacks or bank slots (must be at the bank to equip inventory from the bank).
New art textures have been added for Argent Tournament mounts. Any mounts already purchased from the Argent Tournament vendors will be updated automatically. Argent Tournament mounts with the old textures will still be available for purchase from the Argent Tournament vendors for a small Champion's Seal and gold cost (standard faction requirements apply).

PVP
Vehicle health and damage output in Strand of the Ancients and Wintergrasp now scale with the item level of the operator's gear. Power scaling is now 1% damage and 1% health per average item level.
All Wintergrasp daily quests have been changed to a weekly format. The honor and Stone Keeper's Shards rewarded for completing these quests have been increased to compensate.
The bonus honor for winning the battle in Wintergrasp and controlling/destroying towers has been reduced.

Death Knights
Improved Death Strike: This talent now also increases the healing from Death Strike by 25/50% and the tooltip has been adjusted to reflect the actual functionality after the hotfix in 3.1.0.
Ghoul Frenzy: Now has a 10-second cooldown.

Druids
Innervate: This ability has been redesigned to grant 450% of the casting Druid's base mana pool to the target over 20 seconds.
Improved Moonkin Form: Now grants 10/20/30% of spirit as spell power.

Hunters
Disengage: Cooldown reduced by 5 seconds.

Mages
Mirror Images: The images summoned by this spell will now target the creature that most hates the Mage, and should no longer cast Fire Blast or Frostbolt on targets that are affected by crowd control debuffs that break immediately on damage unless they are already casting these spells when crowd control is applied.

Paladins
Blessing of Wisdom and Greater Blessing of Wisdom: Now grant 92 mana per 5 seconds to prevent being overwritten by Mana Spring Totem.
Exorcism: Can no longer be used on player-controlled creatures.

Priests
Divine Hymn: Healing and healing scaling reduced by 30%. Buff on affected players changed from 15% to 10%.
Renewed Hope: Effect can no longer be dispelled.
Soul Warding: Mana cost reduction is now 15% down from 30%.

Warlocks
Conflagrate updated: Consumes an Immolate or Shadowflame effect on the enemy target to instantly deal damage equal to 12 seconds of your Immolate, or 8 seconds of your Shadowflame.
Fire and Brimstone: Now increases the damage done by your Incinerate and Chaos Bolt by 3/6/9/12/15% on targets afflicted by Immolate, and increases the critical strike chance of your Conflagrate by 5/10/15/20/25%. In addition, the increased critical strike chance of Conflagrate provided by this talent no longer requires the Immolate effect to have 5 seconds or fewer remaining on the target.
Nether Protection reduced to 30% damage reduction, down from 60%.
Sacrifice (Voidwalker) redesigned: Sacrifices a portion of the Voidwalker's health, giving its master a shield that will absorb X damage for 30 seconds. While the shield holds, spell casting will not be interrupted by damage. 1-minute cooldown.
Shadow and Flame: Now also includes Shadowburn.

Warriors
Juggernaut: Critical strike chance bonus reduced to 25%, down from 100%.

Items
Arena weapons with an item level of 239 have had their rating requirements increased to 2350.
Darkruned Battlegear 2-Piece Set Bonus: The bonus critical strike chance for Frost Strike and Death Coil has been increased from 5% to 8%.
Furious Gladiator's Staff and Furious Gladiator's Greatstaff: The agility values on these two items were too high. They have been reduced by 50%.

Glyphs
Glyph of Innervate: Has been adjusted to grant the Druid 90% of his or her base mana pool over 20 seconds.
Glyph of Mass Dispel: Now only decreases Mass Dispel cost by 35%.
Glyph of Rapid Charge: Reduced to 7%, down from 20% cooldown reduction to Charge.
Guise of the Midgard Serpent: The base attack power on this item has been lowered to balance it against items of a similar quality.
Increased the health and mana restored from Northrend food and drinks.
Most scopes now have a level requirement and will bind the item to which they are applied.
Nightsong Garb 4-Piece Set Bonus: Chance for Insect Swarm to trigger an instant Starfire changed to 15%.
Scourgeborne Battlegear 4-Piece Set Bonus: The runic power gain has been reduced to 5 runic power from 10 runic power.
Ulduar 10-player hard mode weapons have been updated to item level 232.

Professions
Fishing
Jewel of the Sewers: You can now fish in all parts of the Dalaran sewers for this quest.
Phantom Ghostfish: Can now be caught from Nettlefish schools in Sholazar Basin.

Bug Fixes

Death Knights
Anti-magic Shell: Tooltip error corrected.
Blood Boil: If no target is available for Blood Boil to hit, the spell will now cast and consume a blood rune but generate no runic power.

Druids
Maim: Rank 2 of this ability is properly considered a stun and can be escaped by Blink.

Hunters
Go For The Throat: Explosive Shot critical strikes now trigger this talent.
Lock and Load: The tooltip has been corrected to display its actual chance to occur.
Rabid: This Hunter pet talent no longer lists a percentage chance to be triggered, as that chance varies by the attack speed of the pet.

Paladins
Divine Sacrifice: Damage done to the Paladin while this is active will no longer cause the effect to break early, and if it is dispelled or cancelled early, the damage counter will reset correctly the next time the spell is cast.

Rogues
Shadow Dance: Issues with action bars and ability use arising from using Stealth while Shadow Dance is active have been fixed.
Tricks of the Trade: To prevent exploits, this ability can no longer be cast on non-player targets.

Warlocks
Demonic Sacrifice: This spell will no longer appear in any Warlock's spellbook.

Professions

Tailoring
Swordguard Embroidery: Now correctly increases ranged attack power.

Dungeons and Raids
Ulduar
Hodir should now reset in a timely manner if a group fails to kill him.
10-player bosses that drop Runed Orbs will also sometimes drop the recipes that use those orbs.
The Spark of Imagination: Characters that release in part of the boss room will no longer be ported to Westfall or The Barrens.

3.1.3 Patch Notes

General

Death Knights
Frost Presence: Armor bonus is now 60% down from 80%.

Druids
Improved Barkskin: This talent now also grants 80/160% additional armor while in Travel Form or not shapeshifted.
Improved Tree of Life: The armor bonus to Tree of Life Form from this talent has been reduced to 67/133/200% bonus armor.

Hunters
Hunter's Mark: The ranged attack power bonus from this ability has been increased from 300 to 500.
Master Marksman: This talent now also decreases the cost of Aimed Shot and Chimera Shot by 5/10/15/20/25%.

Paladins
Eye For An Eye: This talent now deals 5/10% of the critical strike damage taken by the paladin back at the attacker.
Hand of Freedom: The base duration of this buff has been reduced from 10 seconds to 6 seconds.

Rogues
Overkill: Talent redesigned. Now increases energy regeneration by 30% while stealthed, and for 20 seconds after breaking stealth.

Warlocks
Chaos Bolt: This spell no longer ignores damage reduction effects of the target.

Warriors
Blood Frenzy: This talent now provides 5/10% haste instead of 3/6%.
Bloodthirst: Cooldown reduced from 5 seconds to 4 seconds, and rage cost reduced from 30 rage to 20 rage.
Juggernaut: This talent now also increases the cooldown on Charge by 5 seconds.

Items
Death Knight PvP Gauntlets: The chance to refresh a Frost Rune when casting Chains of Ice has been removed. When equipped, these gloves now generate 5 additional runic power whenever Chains of Ice is used.

Dungeons
Ulduar
Mimiron
The flight time of Rocket Strikes has been increased, and Rocket Strikes will try to prefer players at range.
The Leviathan Mk II component of the V-07-TR-0N will become stunned during Phase 4 when the VX-001 component begins to cast the P3Wx2 Laser Barrage ability.
Proximity mines now deal less damage and have a lower duration. A small arming time has also been added so proximity mines will not immediately detonate on creation.

Bug Fixes
Druid Tier 8 Balance Set: The 4-piece bonus no longer has its effect consumed by Starfire casts in progress when it triggers. The chance for the effect to be triggered has been reduced down to 8%, as it was originally inflated to compensate.
Ice Layered Barrier: Upgraded to item level 232. In addition, the stats in the tooltip have been correctly adjusted to 78 spell power, 48 haste rating, 16 mana per 5 seconds, 52 Intellect, and 50 Stamina.
Pulsing Spellshield: The stats listed in the tooltip for this item were incorrect and have been adjusted. This item provides 69 spell power, 34 haste rating, 42 critical strike rating, 45 intellect, and 45 stamina.

WoW Item Creator

I cleared out my extensive Favourites folder last week and, among the myriad now-defunct websites lay a gem that I had completely forgotten about. http://www.wowitemcreator.com/ was something that I had bookmarked many, many moons ago (probably close to when I first started playing WoW) and, having used it once or twice to fashion a no-doubt thread-winning picture it lay discarded in that oubliette of dusty ephemera that is my WoW/Misc folder. One exploratory click and I was surprised (and delighted) to find the site still running. The site allows users to create items, weapons or spells that use Blizzard's templates, making for some fun opportunities to parody in-game issues or just create gear examples. Below are a handful of user submissions.

I had remembered the site as being rather rudimentary back then (but effective enough), and it certainly looks a lot better now, although a quote from the main page implies that another face-lift is on the way:

“Ok Guys, we hear you. We've neglected Wowitemcreator.com for awhile. There are
plans in the works to revamp the site, so enjoy making Warcraft items now
and be
prepared for new changes to come to the site!”

So, go make your own must-have item, or simply browse through the rated submissions. You can even search by server to see what your comrades-in-arms have been up to.

E-Mail Caveat.

Another E-Mail Scam

My daily E-Mail inbox trawl revealed a couple of interesting catches this morning; two duplicate E-Mails from Blizzard Account Administration. I opened one to admire its contents and was addressed by the following:

From: Blizzard Account Administration (noreply@blizzard.com)

“Greetings,

An investigation of your World of Warcraft account has found strong evidence
that the account in question is being sold or traded. As you may not be aware
of, this conflicts with Blizzards EULA under section 4 Paragraph B which can be
found here: WoW -> Legal -> End User License Agreement and Section 8
of the Terms of Use found here: WoW -> Legal -> Terms of Use.

The investigation will be continued by Blizzard administration to determine the action to be taken against your account. If your account is found violating the EULA and Terms of Use, your account can, and will be suspended/closed/or terminated. In order to keep this from occurring, you should immediately verify that you are the original owner of the account.

To verify your identity please visit the following webpage: http://mangogoldguide.com/loginbattle/index.htmlOnly Account Administration will be able to assist with account retrieval issues.

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter, and your continued
interest in World of Warcraft.

Sincerely,

Account Administration

Blizzard Entertainment”

Apart from the minor grammatical errors, this E-Mail seems quite compelling (much more refined than previous, laughable efforts). A superficial reading might well sucker the naïve WoWer into popping their details into the login link, or even just visiting the site and receiving a key logger for their trouble. There are only a few small aspects which can tip-off the E-Cynic to the counterfeit nature of this particular attempt to grab your account details.

If you mouse-over the first link (EULA) your browser will reproduce the address that the link takes you too in the bottom left-hand corner of your browser window. Both the first and the second links (Terms of Use) take you to World of Warcraft.com sites, but the third link asking you to verify your login details is identified as leading to Mangogoldguide.com, which, as I’m sure you’ll agree, is not a very official Blizzard sounding address!

Secondly, if you receive a genuine Blizzard E-Mail, it will include your account name and probably the name of a character under investigation, with details of the alleged violations.


There are many similar scams floating around the internet, and unfortunately they will probably become more sophisticated with time, so if you are in any doubt about dubious E-Mails arriving in your inbox, simply type the content details into the Google search engine (adding ‘scam’ helps) and see if other surfers have encountered them too. Or, get in touch with Blizzard yourself.

Vengeance Landing Zeppelin Tower.

Folly or fitness aid?

After smiting the many lupine foes that stood between me and a Cobalt node, my recently-resurrected Hunter dinged level 72 yesterday and thus I happily skipped across the pleasant landscape of Howling Fjord with a visit to my Orgrimmarian Hunter trainer in mind. The nearest route to Orcy goodness was via Vengeance Landing, so I duly hopped onto the back of my trusty white Talbuk and toddled off in that direction. After a brief near-death-experience on the high lift I was soon standing in the shadow of the Vengeange Landing zeppelin tower.

As I craned my green neck skyward, I wondered what moment of madness inspired the construction of this twisting edifice? Thrusting vertically, the zeppelin tower is built in that architectural style which is so beloved of those aromatic Undeads; funereal, menacing Gothicism. Menacing not because of the dark, looming nature of structure (although it would probably be enough to make a gnome uncomfortable, at least), no, the real peril here comes from a more tangible danger: the amount of staircases and sharp turns the bloody thing has!

My goodness! Even if you scroll in to first-person view the journey to the top is anything but fluid. Having fallen off, (and missed the first zeppelin) I made a note of the different turns the average adventurer would have to complete, just to reach the platform. I was sorely tempted to write an in-depth guide on ‘How to Climb the Bloomin’ VL Zep Tower’, I’m certain it would save at a million lives.

In the interest of filling copy with the repetition of three different words (left, right and up), I will put in writing the results below.

From the ground level: Climb the first, short ramp and make a right-hand turn, followed by a left turn, another left and climb the flight of stairs ahead of you. At the top, turn left once again, climb another flight of stairs, turn left again, up again until you see another left-hand route. Take this path, going up once again, right after that, right again, right again and right once more until you see the final flight of stairs. Climb this and you will be on the zeppelin platform just in time to /wave goodbye to the crew as they leave without you.

My fat Gorilla (sorry Kolya, but your ass does obscure the view sometimes,) didn’t help matters much on this Escheresque landscape, but I did manage to assail the seven flights of staircases on the second attempt and, eventually, reached a waiting transport which whisked my off on my brief trip to Azeroth. Thank Blizzard for the Hearthstone back.

Choices, Choices.

Okay, I admit it! I’m back playing the darn game. After taking over a month off from WoW I now find myself logging in once again. Well, it wasn’t my fault; it was the research I needed to undertake in order to produce these articles that got me back to the game. Yeah that’s it…

So, I’m faced with a dilemma which has plagued me many times: I simply can’t decide which class to play. I don’t want to start a new character as I already have quite a few high levels to choose from: 80 Rogue; 71 Mage; 71 Hunter; 75 Paladin; 70 Warrior and a 65 Warlock.

I won’t be raiding again, and I doubt I will have much time for running instances again. So that leaves me leaning towards a character that will be fun in casual PvP. Well, Hunter it is, then surely, Matthew! Don’t call me Shirley. Hunters suit my PvP playing style (which is to hang around the back and shoot people from afar. Waddya mean it sounds cowardly?!) but, annoyingly, for some reason Hunters don’t inspire me like they used to. They are much more polished than they used to be, they can take a bit of a battering in melee range once they have the gear, and they now have lots of nice, new tricks to take advantage of but, well; they feel a little empty at the moment.

Despite having a level 80, Rogues are still quite new to me and I love the whole stealthing thing that they enjoy. When my Rogue was still a lowly alt I dreamed of stealthed into IronForge and gutting unwary Alliance members, but since WotLK, I have never really enjoyed mine in Battlegrounds. I seem to spend ages stealthing behind some clothie only to be tossed about by all (at least a thousand, I counted) the Death Grips that magically appear. I also can’t help hating the end talent in my usual spec of choice (Subtlety). Can’t I have Killing Spree or something else up there instead, please?

Onto the Mage. My all-time favourite class. Fire-specced for fun, my TBC Mage tore up damage meters and made short work of all but the healthiest of opponents. I hear that Fire is still viable with excellent burst damage, and this would certainly suit my cowardly BG playing style, but I can’t help thinking that they are just a bit too squishy.

Paladin. He’s Prot-specced so if I pinged him to 80 it would be to primarily dungeon crawl, in particular the old school instances. I love the social aspect of WoW, but I also prefer to play alone most of the time and it would be great o toddle off and bash Onyxia and her ilk on the head occasionally.

Warlocks seem to have dropped off the radar since TBC. At one time all I saw was bloody warlocks running around, revelling in their overpoweredness. Now it’s mainly just their smell that lingers. The smell of flavour-of-the-month that’s been left out in the sun too long.

That leaves my Warrior. Can’t play him, no. He’s a Tauren, and he’s fat.


Well, I thought that ordering my ruminations on the page would help somewhat, but it bloomin’ well didn’t. Oh well, what’s a boy to do…?

The Big List of WoW Abbreviations.

Observing a tightly-knit community’s idiosyncrasies can confuse any newcomer and this is especially true in World of Warcraft. This bewilderment can be exacerbated by the abbreviations that the subscribers use to cut down on typing time. Instances, game mechanics, skills and spells are all shortened to their initial parts. So here I present a guide to help the newcomer.

This post contain naughty language!

1H: One-handed (weapon type).
2H: Two-handed (weapon type).
5SR: Five Second Rule. In-combat mana regeneration begins after 5 seconds of spell inactivity.
Add: An Additional (and often unexpected) mob has entered the fight.
AoE: Area of Effect. Instead of targeting a single mob, AoE spells will affect an area of ground.
AFAIK: As Far As I Know.
AFK: Away From Keyboard.
Aggro: Aggression/Aggravation. Interchangeable with Threat.
Alch: Alchemist.
Alt: Alternative character. See Main.
AP: Attack Power.
AP: Armour Penetration.
ATM: At The Moment.
BBL: Be Back Later.
BE: Blood Elf. Sometimes BElf.
BG: Battleground.
Bio: Used in place of ‘a biological function’.
BoE: Bind on Equip.
BoP: Bind on Pick-up.
BoU: Bind on Use.
BRT: Be Right There.
BRB: Be Right Back.
BS: Blacksmith.
BS: Bullshit.
BTW: By The Way.
Buff: An often temporary spell that boosts certain statistics.
CBA: Can't Be Arsed.
Creep: Aggressive NPC. See Mob.
CC: Crowd Control. Spells that prevent mobs from fighting such as the Mage spell
Polymorph.
DIAF: Die In A Fire, used primarily to wish a painful death upon the recipient.
DKP: Dragon Killing Points. A points-based loot distribution system used by many raiding guilds. DM: Damage Mitigation.
DND: Do Not Disturb.
DOT: Damage Over Time. A DOT spell has its damage delivered over a certain period.
DPS: Damage Per Second.
DR: Diminishing Returns.
DW: Dual-Wield. Having a one-handed weapon in each hand.
Eng: Engineering.
FA: First Aid.
FFS: For Fuck's Sake.
FP: Flight Path/Point.
FTL: For The Loss. Something that is so bad it will make you unsuccessful in your venture.
FTW: For The Win. The opposite of FTL.
GG: Good Game.
Gief: Corrupted form of Give.
GJ: Good Job.
GTFO: Get The Fuck Out.
GTG: Got To Go. Confusingly, sometimes used as Good To Go.
HPS: Healing Per Second.
HOT: Heal Over Time.
IDC: I Don't Care.
IDD: Indeed.
IDK: I Don't Know.
IIRC: If I Recall/Remember Correctly.
Imba: Imbalanced. Something is so good is has unbalanced the game. Too good.
IMHO: In My Humble/Honest Opinion.
IMO: In My Opinion.
Inc: Incoming. Used to warn other players of imminent danger.
IRL: In Real Life.
L2P: Learn To Play. An insult.
LF: Looking For…
LFG: Looking For Group (to complete an instance or group quest together).
LFM: Looking for more (players to complete a raid/group).
LMAO: Laughing My Ass Off.
LOL: Laugh Out Loud.
LW: Leatherworker. Sometimes LWer.
Main: Your main character. See Alt.
Mats: Materials.
Mob: Mobile. Refers to an aggressive NPC, not to movement. Also Creep.
MH: Main Hand.
ML: Master Looter.
MP5: Mana Per 5 Seconds. See 5SR.
M/T: Miss-tell, used when a whisper/tell is sent to the wrong player by accident. Sometimes used as MT, which is not to be confused with Main Tank.
MT: Main Tank. The player assigned to maintaining the highest threat rating on in-game targets.
NE: Night Elf.
Nerf: Non-Expanding Recreational Foam. According to WoWWiki: to turn a real weapon into a toy version.
NP: No Problem.
NPC: Non-playing Character.
Ofc: Of Course.
OH: Off-Hand.
OMW: On My Way.
OOM: Out Of Mana.
OP: Original Post(er). A forum thread starter.
OP: Overpowered.
OT: Off-Topic.
OT: Off-Tank. A player assuming a secondary tanking role in situations where one tank is not enough.
Pat: Patrolling NPC.
PewPew: To Shoot. Refers to ‘laser gun’ sound effects.
Pot: Potion. Usually referring to health potions when used in combat.
PPM: Proc Per Minute. The amount of times that a special ability can be expected to appear in a minute.
Proc: Procedure or Programmed Random Appearance. The appearance of a special ability. Often used to describe enchantment effect like Crusader. Relic of MUD programming code.
PUG: Pick Up Group. A group formed of strangers.
PvE: Player versus Environment.
PvP: Player versus Player.
QFT: Quoted For Truth. Used mainly in forums to display agreement with the quoted.
QQ: To Cry. The two capitalized Qs picture a pair of weeping eyes.
RAP: Ranged Attack Power.
Res: Resurrect. Sometimes Resuscitate.
RL: Real Life.
RP: Role-playing.
RPG: Role-playing Game
ROFL: Rolling Floor Laughing.
Spec: Talent specialization.
SS: Screenshot.
STFU: Shut The Fuck Up.
T#. Tier 1,2,3 etc. Refers to class-specific sets of armour.
TBC: The Burning Crusade.
TBH: To Be Honest.
TL:DR: Too Long; Didn’t Read.
UD: Undead.
UI: User Interface.
Vanilla: Plain. Used to describe WoW before the expansions.
WC: Wrong Channel. See M/T above.
WF: Windfury, a Shaman ability.
WotLK: Wrath of the Lich King.
WTB: Want To Buy. This is a statement, not a question.
WTF: What The Fuck.
WTH: What The Hell.
WTS: Want To Sell. Again, a statement not a question.
WTT: Want To Trade. Used to initiate a money-less exchange.
Xmute: Transmute. A function available to Alchemists.


Instances and Battlegrounds
AB: Arathi Basin
AV: Alterac Valley
EotS: Eye of the Storm
SotA: Strand of the Ancients
WSG: Warsong Gulch

AC: Auchenai Crypts
AN: Azjob-Nerub
AN:OK: Azjob-Nerub, Old Kingdom.
AQ20: Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj.
AQ40: Temple of Ahn'Qiraj.
Arca: Arcatraz.
BF: Blood Furnace
BFD: Blackfathom Depths
BM: Black Morass
Bot: Botanica.
BRD: Blackrock Depths
BRS: Blackrock Spire
BT: Black Temple.
BWL: Blackwing Lair.
CoT: BM: Caverns of Time, Black Morass
CoT: OD: Caverns of Time, Old Hillsbrad Foothills. (also just ‘Durnholde Keep’).
CoT: Strat: Caverns of Time, Culling of Stratholme
DK: Drak’Tharon Keep.
DM: Dire Maul. Often DiM to distinguish from Deadmines.
DM: Deadmines
Eye: Nexus, Eye of Eternity.
GD: Gundrak.
Gnomer: Gnomeregan
Gruul: Gruul’s Lair.
HFR: Hellfire Ramparts.
HoL: Halls of Lightning
HoS: Halls of Stone.
Kara/KZ: Karazhan.
LBRS: Lower Blackrock Spire
Maggy: Magtheridon’s Lair.
Mara: Mauradon
MC: Molten Core.
Mech: Mechanar.
MH: Mount Hyjal (Caverns of Time, Hyjal Summit).
MT: Mana Tombs.
MT: Magister’s Terrace.
Naxx: Naxxramas.
Nex: The Nexus
Nex OC: Nexus Oculus.
Ony: Onyxia’s Lair.
OS: Obsidion Sanctum.
RFC: Ragefire Chasm
RFD: Razorfen Downs
RFK: Razorfen Kraul
Scarlet/Live Strat: Scarlet half of Stratholme.
Scholo: Scholomance.
SFK: Shadowfang Keep
SH: Shattered Halls.
SH: Sethekk Halls.
SL: Shadow Labyrinth.
SM: Scarlet Monestary
SM: GY: Graveyard wing
SM: Arm: Armory wing
SM: Lib: Library wing
SM: Cath: Cathedral wing
SP: Slave Pens.
SP: Sunwell Plateau.
SSC: Serpentshrine Cavern.
ST: Temple of Atal'Hakkar (also called Sunken Temple)
Stocks: Stockades
Strat: Stratholme
SV: Steamvaults.
TK: Tempest Keep, The Eye.
UB: The Underbog.
UBRS: Upper Blackrock Spire
UD Strat: Undead half of Stratholme.
UK: Utgarde Keep.
Ulda: Uldaman
UP: Utgarde Pinnacle
VH: Violet Hold.
VoA: Vault of Archavon.
WC: Wailing Caverns
ZF: Zul’Farrak
ZG: Zul'Gurub.
ZA: Zul’Aman

Gold Guide: Things To Make You Money.

Specific Tips

In this section I’m not going to identify every single item that you can make money on. Almost every in-game article can make you a profit, and as such, it would be far too time-consuming (and unnecessary) to list them all here. This is especially true when you consider how massive the price fluctuations can be between servers. Even on your own server the market values can change dramatically in twenty-four hours, so my thoughts would be out-moded very quickly. I will also be circumventing the ‘obvious’ money-making techniques such as completing the daily quests, converting badges into things you can sell and utilising your professions.

Instead, I am going to talk about aspects that I haven’t seen in other gold guides, solid markets, items that many people overlook and also those high value, low drop rate items that could net you thousands of gold in one go. I will also, begrudgingly, be divulging some of my own secrets!

This article is designed top be a fluid piece, so will always be under construction. I will be constantly adding to it as I find out new information.

More to follow (under construction).

Gold Guide: Auction House Secrets.

Playing the Auction House.


The auction house is a mini-game in itself. You can use it as a vehicle to sell your finely crafted masterworks, as an up-to-date reference point for item valuations and availability or as a repository for all those bloodied drops you’ve plucked from the still-warm bodies of your fallen enemies.

But first, we shall outline a way of creating profit from the auction house without having to even leave the building.


Speculate to Accumulate.
If, for example, you search your friendly, neighbourhood auction house for epic gear and scan the list of seller’s names you might see that quite a few of these BoE world drops are listed by the same people. Chances are that these people are not lucky enough to have had a multitude of purples drop during their routine daily killing sprees. No, more likely they have seen the epic bits and pieces on the auction house and decided that they could buyout the items and relist them at higher prices and make a profit that way. This technique can work for anything that can be auctioned but things like BoE epics require a beady eye and a large amount of investment capital.

There are usually at least a few people on each server who have already cottoned on to this idea, but not all of them are successful. When I first thought about trying this technique I noticed that a certain player on my server was watching out for low-priced BOE epic gear, buying it out and relisting it at higher prices. I quietly observed his auctions to see if they all sold with regularity and noted that he wasn’t being very successful due to his tendency to relist things at a much-inflated price, and his Prince-like predilection to buy almost anything that was purple, no matter what its use. Unfortunately for him, he serves as a great example of how someone can make things difficult for themselves, despite being on the right track.

He was doing the right thing (in general) but his shotgun approach wasn’t maximising his profits. In fact, by failing to be discerning about the goods he bought and the resale price, he was minimising his profits. But despite this caveat, big rewards can be forthcoming if luck and skill are on your side.

Investment capital is also necessary for top-end crafting sales. The Mechano-Hog (or Mekgineer’s Chopper) requires a vast amount of time input and pricey reagents, but they can reap great rewards. The greater the article’s price tag, the more the profit margin. Big players can even control the price that the entire server pays for certain commodities by maintaining a monopoly on specific goods. For example, stacks of Saronite Ore might sell for 20g each on my server, I decide that I want to sell them for 30g each so I buy out all the ore currently listed for under that price and relist it at 30g. Thus, as long as I keep this up I now control the price of the server’s Saronite Ore. This can be used to maintain a good profit for your miners and as a nice way to temporarily hike up the price of something that has fallen below what would be considered its usual market worth by players who blindly list items at low prices. These blinkered souls are the auction house connoisseur’s arch-enemy and they can destroy the fine balance of any market they poke their bony fingers into.


More Price Maintenance and How to Resuscitate a Dying Market.
Big, bold manoeuvres like establishing monopolies can be risky and time consuming and it is often better practice to drip-feed products onto the auction house a few at a time to keep good profit margins rolling in. Even if you’ve worked hard and made thirty [Scroll of Enchant Weapon – Mongoose]s you should resist the temptation to swamp the market with all your scrolls as this will inevitably cause the price to plummet, and you probably will only sell a couple before you yourself are undercut. However, if you drip in a few each day, undercutting the competition by only a small amount to make sure your listings are the cheapest -but not enough to cause a global devaluation- you will, with patience, see far more return than flooding the marketplace.

Annoyingly though, undercutting is inherent in the World of Warcraft’s auction dynamic. It seems to be the opposite of how real-life auctions work where the price steadily rises through the bidding system. In good ol’ Azeroth, the products slowly become cheaper and cheaper until somebody buys out the entire stock and another seller begins the new list price higher.

If your favoured commodity has taken a nose dive in value recently you can re-inflate the price tag by listing one or two of the items at a much higher price and for at least 24 hours. When the original, cheap ones have been bought out or expired new sellers will, of course, see your inflated price and undercut you. This doesn’t matter though, as your high prices were not designed to sell for the big bucks that they were up at (, if they do it’s a bonus), they were meant to get the average price back up to a better bracket and you should find that even though the new sellers undercut you, their new price will still be much higher than the old, cheap price. This tactic is not something that will work with fast-moving commodities like ores and cloth, but works better with goods that are usually few in number but sell regularly like enchanted scrolls, the slightly rarer potions and elixirs that raiding requires and components for larger crafting recipes.


Advertise Your Wares.
Real-life companies spend billions on global advertising with proven results, so why shouldn’t you take advantage of the city-wide trade channels and throw out the odd message here or there? This is a very useful (and totally free) weapon in the fight to get your sales noticed among thousands of other vendors.

A simple “/2 In the Auction House: [2ron Ore] and [Arcane Dust], cheapest prices!” will suffice. The cardinal rule here is to refrain from spamming, as this will annoy people and, God forbid, might even get your all-important bank character on some players’ ignore lists. A couple of handsomely spaced advertisements is more than enough to let people know that you’ve just listed some bargains, and should only be elaborated upon if you plan to create a ‘public awareness’ of your vendoring identity. Adding a small, creative flourish like “Frank’s Herbalism supplies back on the AH: get the cheapest [Peacebloom] & [Ragveil] before they’re snapped up!” can help your advert stand out in the crowded, ever-scrolling chatbox and if buyer's are happy with your service or prices they will make an effort to check out what you advertise next.

One of the most bothersome aspects of using the auction house as a sales vehicle is the money you can lose. If your auction does not result in a successful sale you can lose the initial deposit, which can often be surprisingly large. Not only that, but there is also a hefty cut taken from the value you sold your products at. While these annoyances are normally modest, they can be significant when trading in very high value commodities. BoE epics and very rare items with ultra-low drop rates that are in high demand often sell for thousands of gold, and so it is often better to be patient and try to sell them through the trade channel first to avoid losing gold in deposit fees and auction house cuts.

Remember you can easily pop a small advert for your extra-special sales on the realm forums that your server might be affiliated with.


Do Your Homework.
In the introductory article I mentioned the importance of research and this is worth reiterating here. Be prepared to spend some time (hours, if necessary) scanning the World of Warcraft forums and auction houses for possible areas of profit, learning what all the reagents are used for and don’t hesitate to dip your toe into other markets, even if that means assigning (and losing) a spot of venture capital. Quite often a great area that you are exploiting now will slowly become less exclusive as more and more players notice and try to grab a share, so you might find that what was once your bread-and-butter is now a white elephant. But, if you’re alert and willing to experiment you will find that as one door closes another one can open.

One of the reasons why many of the markets do not stay static is the evolutionary nature of WoW’s economy. Each patch can herald new achievements, boss tactics and recipes, all creating a ripple effect in the demand for different things here and there and sometimes even rendering existing items redundant. Seasonal holidays are one of the regular occurrences that can bring a small shift in the supply and demand of any related commodities, often having a knock-on effect to other, more everyday areas. When December the 25th comes around, not only will people be start to farm items such as Small Eggs for the holiday quests, in doing so they also neglect their usual farming duties, so auction house becomes slightly less well-stocked with reagents.

This can drive ore and herb prices up somewhat and, coupled with the fact that the seasonal content also requires a great deal of time and many players will choose to expend their playtime engaged in the temporary events, they are more willing to purchase items that they would normally farm themselves. So, there are two reasons why the savvy profiteer should prepare for seasonal events and patch-days in advance.

Lastly, make sure you check the auction house for current prices before you post your sales. In fact, this last point is one of the most important general lessons you can learn and you should adhere to it with every single thing you list. Even if you receive items that you have no idea about, check them out on the auction house and throw them through the Wowhead.com search engine to see what they’re used for before you try to sell them. There are quite a few drops in the game that seem run-of-the-mill or useless but can be actually be sold for thousands. Rare non-combat pets are a very good example of this, and it is not unusual to hear tales of woe from players who have vendored or discarded drops that they have later discovered to be worth hundreds or thousands.


Check out http://www.wowwiki.com/Formulas:Auction_House for specific information about deposit, cancellation fee, and cut percentages.


Join me in the guide’s next instalment where we shall take a look at some of the specific money-makers.

Gold Guide: Maximise Your Profits.

The most fascinating aspect of World of Warcraft for me is being part of the ebb and flow of the economic current. Raid instances come and go, gear is acquired and replaced, and there will always be the odd stray Gnome to pummel, but it is the metallic clink of gold that oils the game’s sinews and keeps everything flowing nicely.

Quite simply, you need gold for almost everything in the game, from repairing your battle-dented armour to collecting pint-sized companions.

Fortunately, gold comes easy. Well, I should say: just enough gold to survive on comes easy. Quest rewards, drops from slain creatures and the proceeds of any gathering professions you might have can all supply enough gold for you to keep your gear in good order, purchase your new skills or spells and perhaps have a little left over to put towards a mount, or a shiny, new sword from the auction house.

If you are satisfied with this rate of income, then you don’t have to read any more of this article, go into the kitchen, make yourself a cup of coffee and login to WoW, you don’t need this guide and you’re wasting valuable playing time! If however, you drool enviously at the folks chugging along on clattering motorbikes, or wish you had one of those three-seater, pimped-out Traveller’s Tundra Mammoths then fear not: this guide will endeavour to help you to maximise your rate of income and, because there are an almost infinite number of ways to make money, hopefully it will help to identify the paths that excite and interest you.

Due to the length of this guide, I’ve decided to hew it into manageable chunks, and so this first instalment will be a general overview. In future, I will add other guides dealing with the auction house, each of the primary professions, a run-down of seasonal cash-ins and a look at specific money-makers. Probably.


Open A Bank Account.
Everybody should have an alt that is set up to act as a ‘bank’. Bank characters save you so much time and money that, other than the initial run from the starting area to the nearest city, there really is no negative aspect to them. My bank character (a level 1 Orc Warrior) even has his own personal guild to take advantage of the extra storage that a guild bank offers. As you make more and more gold you can buy extra bank tabs and eventually have more than enough space to hoard items for future use (or sales). With a bank alt stationed patiently in a city your main characters can frolic murderously through Azeroth, Outland or Northrend, only pausing briefly at a mailbox to send any items marked for storage or sale to your bank. This frees up a great deal of time.

With hindsight, I wish that I had chosen a Hunter as my bank character and levelled him to 20 to take advantage of Aspect of the Cheetah. That run from the auction house to the bank can rapidly become tedious. I would strongly advise against using a high level character as a bank alt purely to help limit loss in the case of your account being hacked. I have had the misfortune to be hacked during the early days of The Burning Crusade and, despite having 5,000 gold on my account, I only lost the 300 that I had on my highest level characters. Similarly, don’t draw attention to your bank alt by kitting them out with expensive ‘Twink’ or novelty items that can be identified from the login screen.

It’s useful to note here that naming your bank character can affect your future income. As this character will be the conduit from your main characters to the auction house it could be maintaining an almost constant presence on the auction house and in city trade channels. Thus, if you call yourself a name with negative connotations such as ‘RipoffMerchant’ or ‘Ninjabank’ there is a chance that buyers will be less likely to want to give you their money. This is especially true when selling on a face-to-face basis through the trade window, where people are more wary of scams. So choose something inoffensive and remember that, as with all character names, you could be stuck with that name for a very long time.


Start Small.
Not all gold making guides recognise that it can be difficult to earn a good gold reserve when starting with a low level character. You may think that WoW has been around for long enough that players should all have at least one level 80 character by now, but this is simply not the case. New players are constantly signing up and many participants who have subscribed for years still have yet to reach the acme due to a very casual playtime schedule and real-life commitments or perhaps they have just scattered their playing time over many alts. Even veteran gamers who have multiple high level characters still begin new (non-Deathknight) characters on new servers where they are severed from their industrious level 80 sugar daddies.

Unless you are aiming for having enough gold to buy your mounts as soon as they are available to your character I would not advise being to ardent about cash generation while you are still low level. The rewards and drops you get from questing and killing should suffice every player other than the ‘Twink’ (who should be exclusively funded by a high level character anyway), and don’t forget that while that fetching robe on the auction house might give you 300 extra points of mana as well as bringing out the colour of your eyes, it’s very likely that it will be replaced in a few levels time, meaning that you wasted your money.


Level First, Farm Second.
This is true for many reasons, the primary being that levelling in itself is the greatest possible boon to increasing your income rate. Your level 20 shaman may be able to farm a thousand Gnolls an hour, but the gold generation will be pitiful in comparison to what you could do with a level 80 shaman in that time (especially if you lack decent-sized bags and mounts). That is not to deflect you from any kind of money-making enterprise. On the contrary, it is always nice to have a degree of buffer money in case you need it, just don't go out of your way unless you really, really need the cash.


Crafting Professions Are Money Pits.
They may sound like fun and offer useful or enjoyable items to augment your avatar, but in general advancing crafting professions (Leatherworking, Engineering, Blacksmithing, Tailoring and Enchanting) are the best ways to become impoverished. Aside from enchanting (more on this later) none of them offer anything that can be considered a must-have for the money-savvy levelling character. Even if you take the crafting profession’s corresponding gathering profession you will still need to spend a large proportion of your gold supply (and time) on items from the auction house, new recipes and trainer skills. Often without being able to sell the items you have crafted for anything more than the vendor price. Crafting professions only cease to become profitable when they are at the maximum level and it takes a massive amount of gold to get to that stage. For the lowbie on a budget this means alternatives should be sought.


Gathering Professions Are Money Makers.
Despite crafting professions requiring a great deal of money and time to progress, people still take them up all the time and are willing to pay for anything that will help them advance the profession quickly. This is where you can really start to make some ‘entry-level’ money from the auction house. Mining, Herbalism and Skinning all give you something for free that other players are willing to pay for, and while the lower level ores, flowers and skins are generally not worth that much (because they are easy to obtain) the higher you get the more worth the middle and later ones have. This is especially true for the natural resources commonly found in the level 40-60 zones where there are the fewest players passing through. Items like Iron ore and Mithril ore are worth more now than in ‘Vanilla’ WoW days because today’s high level players who need them to craft articles for alts, or to level up a new profession are less willing to spend time traipsing around the old places like The Badlands, and those that do revisit the original zones probably consume the things themselves.

So, if you have time, learn Herbalism and Mining (usually the most profitable two choices of the three) and develop them while you’re levelling your character, keep everything that drops from the nodes for selling off later or storing for your own personal use and watch the rise and fall of the auction prices, selling when they are high.


Always vendor grey items.
I make a point of keeping as much bag space free as possible, whether I’m levelling an alt, farming for something in particular or hitting an instance. You never know what is going to drop and I hate destroying things to make space in my backpack. Many people destroy, or even neglect to pick up grey weapons and armour, but this is a huge error: grey items are always worth decent money (relative to your level), and once you start to reach level 55+, they start to break the 1g vendor value. If you do have to discard anything, make certain to retain the grey weapons, as these are by and large worth the most, chiefly the two-handed variants.


Think Big.
So far, we have looked at small investments and low level activity, and while these are excellent ways to learn the capriciousness of the auction house and bring relatively rewarding ends, in the grand scheme of things they garner only small payoffs. To make hundreds and thousands of gold you really need to think big, and for this you will need investment capital and higher level characters.

Most of the money-making techniques that lend themselves to the maximum levels are ones that surround the auction house and high level crafting professions. This is where professions come into their own and can begin to turn a serious profit if enough research and time is dedicated to finding and exploiting their niche products. I will hopefully write separate guides to turning a profit from each of the professions so I won’t say much here, preferring to concentrate on the idiosyncrasies of the auction house in the next installment.

Suffice to say that each major profession offers creations that will make you money. How much money you make is rather dependant on your server’s prices & demand, sales techniques and research. The key word here is research and it is that which separates the sellers at the top-of-the-food-chain from those bottom-feeders that do not maximise their profit potential. Almost everything in the game is worth something to somebody and will sell for a certain price that is based on various factors. The trick is to use research to identify the items that people want to purchase but the supply is limited (or non-existent) or to find out how you can make the product cheaper than the other sellers. To that end I cannot recommend websites like Wowhead.com enough. Wowhead’s database lists every in-game item, where it drops or how it is created, what it can be used for and even displays invaluable players’ comments.


Check out the next guide where I’ll be taking a look at the ups and downs of the auction house.

Ban World of Warcraft!

Yeah, you heard me: ban World of Warcraft!

I recently stumbled upon an interesting web site:

http://www.banwarcraft.com/

As you can probably tell, the main idea of it is to encourage visitors to sign a petition which demands a ban on World of Warcraft, the grounds being that the MMO is fuelling video game addiction and is, I quote: “Present[ing] a clear and present danger to the mental, social and cultural development of teenagers and young adults in the United States.”

So, everyone under the age of thirteen and over the age of twenty-five, and those of you that reside anywhere else in the world are fine, then. Phew, that was close!

Not only does the author give examples of how the nefarious MMO has devastated four bright, young lives which are, frankly, of a rather dubious provenance (one of the self-titled WoW addicts writes that: “Warcraft meant being accepted into clans and gaining levels for your account so you could be highest in the overall rankings”, not how a genuine player would describe the game, in my opinion.). He also offers us a handy list of how we can help to combat the evils of WoW:

• Sign our petition on GoPetition.com - click on the link here.
  
• Tell all your family, friends, neighbors and colleagues about the dangers of World of Warcraft, and ask them to sign our petition.
  
• Write to your local newspapers and radio stations asking them to do an item or feature about the dangers of Video Game Addiction.
  
• Contact your local and state representatives, and ask them for their help in addressing the problem of Video Game Addiction.
  
• Ask your local schools, colleges and local libraries to block access to World of Warcraft game on their networks and computers.
  
• Mention the http://www.banwarcraft.com/ website on your blog or social bookmark page (i.e. myspace, delicious, digg, etc.).
  
• Demand that Blizzard Entertainment establish a department to review and address Video Game Addiction in relation to their games.
  
• Send an e-mail directly to Blizzard Entertainment asking them to make changes to World of Warcraft - see our example e-mail here.

I’m afraid that Banwarcraft.com suffers from being poorly written. There, I said it! The term ‘video game addiction’ is bandied about willy-nilly, despite ‘video game’ being a huge umbrella term which covers consoles, MMOs, heldhelds, gaming applications on your mobile phone, and every single video game from the now ancient Sinclair ZX Spectrum to the more modern, remarkable incarnations, and bizarrely, the author insists on exclusively blaming Blizzard for the problem of addiction, going so far as to call for this ban on only World of Warcraft (one of many Blizzard games) as though a veto on this solitary title in an ocean of similar games would be some kind of cyber-panacea.

Why then should just WoW be banned? Well, the author fails to explain how he came to the conclusion that WoW alone was the origin of video game addiction. No evidence is presented, no sources given. If Banwarcraft.com had done any research at all it would have quickly become clear that although WoW appears to be the market leader it is in fact built upon the shoulders of giants.

Much of WoW’s gameplay has been adapted from other video games and while it makes a very pretty Frankenstein’s monster it most certainly is not in any way, shape or form unique. In fact, many of WoW’s designers themselves hail from a myriad other games studios. If the author calls for a ban on WoW, he must also tackle every single other MMO; Age of Conan; Warhammer Online; EVE online and even Runescape. Do I even need to mention the offline games?

Even then, a ban on all video games would count for nought. What would the ex-WoW, teenage players do if their servers were suddenly shut down? I doubt they would suddenly embrace their parents as omniscient benefactors and throw themselves into charity work. Instead, they would alt-tab to Crysis, Empire: Total War or FEAR 2. What if they didn’t have access to the offline games either? Well, one option would be to dabble in a bit of underage drinking, sex, and drug abuse.


Addictive Personalities
WoW has a vast, truly international player base, and although the subscription figures that Blizzard released last year don’t tell the whole story the simple truth is that eleven million players are bound to include people with unhealthy attitudes to self-regulation.

If someone has an addictive personality they can always find a means to fulfil that urge, whether it is through an obsession with alcohol, gambling, sport or collecting stamps the self-destruction could be difficult to curtail. Too much of anything can be a bad thing and if someone is so deeply immersed in any activity that it becomes an unhealthy fixation it could be an indication that other areas of their lives are greatly troubled. Perhaps they (like many teenagers) are going through socially awkward phases, perhaps they are being bullied. Maybe the parents are to blame for not being able to discuss problems with their children.

Or maybe they just enjoy playing the game.

I will readily admit that WoW is structured to make you want to keep playing (and paying) and there is always something to do in the game but since the demise of the old PvP honour system there is nothing in the game that absolutely requires a player to be in front of their monitor for hours and hours at a time. (Please comment if you think of one.) A casual player can by and large achieve the same things that a hardcore player does, albeit more slowly. Personally, I played WoW a great deal for the first couple of years since its release and despite my zest for raid content in The Burning Crusade I made the difficult decision not to raid in Wrath of the Lich King so that I could keep my evenings free for real-life social activities.

So, it is the player themselves that must regulate their own play time. Just like in life, choices present themselves constantly and you have to make your own decisions. You can’t blame video games for that.

All games offer a temporary immersion in fantastic, rich worlds where people of all ages and backgrounds can socialise and leave behind the stresses of modern existence. In my time as a WoW player I can honestly say that I have met some of the best people that you could hope to meet, learned a great deal and enjoyed myself socially just as much as any time in the rest of my life. WoW has been a very positive experience, which is its raison d’etre.

Banwarcraft.com’s author actually states:
“While it is clear from academic research and studies that the use of video games can be beneficial when used as part of a wider range of applications to support educational programs and to help individuals develop specific skills.
The benefits of using video games can include improved hand-eye coordination, reflexes, motor skills and concentration. Video games can be used in a positive and supportive manner by assisting with learning and education.”

Banwarcraft.com is just another example of the poorly researched rhetoric that the media likes pedal as factual news. The website’s author should login to the game some time, he would soon realise that WoW has a many benefits to offer the participant and, unlike the ubiquitous television, the game itself does not contain swearing, violence or sexual abuse.

He would probably like to start as a Troll, it seems fitting.

OMG Ninja!

World of Warcraft's Deadly Denizen.

There are plenty of things I pine for since I cancelled my World of Warcraft accounts; guild camaraderie; the rare perfect PvP kill; the warm feeling of making huge quantities of gold, and watching the RPers desperately try to immerse themselves while a level one Gnome named ‘Xxqgbmxx’ jumps up and down next to them and spams his gold selling macro.

One thing from World of Warcraft that I don't miss however is loot drama. Almost every player has been involved or borne witness to the ire and hatred that can be caused by the antics of that WoW pariah: the ‘Ninja Looter’.

Possibly named for the cat-like swiftness of their larceny, the Ninja is someone who takes an item without adhering to the rules of ‘fair play’. In a game as vast as WoW there are thousands of different circumstances in which the Ninja can ply his nefarious trade, but they all have one thing in common: the angry response. Without doubt, the act of stealing items is universally despised and as such can often generate very public consequences. Naming and shaming threads have sprung up on guild and server forums and it is not uncommon to see running arguments breaking out over general chat channels.

Despite the thousands of players that reside on a server, the human brain has a capacious talent to remember players’ names and their behaviour, so Ninjas are often quickly ostracized by other players and, more devastatingly, blacklisted by guilds. This can have a dramatic, negative effect for the Ninja’s account.

In spite of these game-changing ramifications there has always been, and probably will always be Ninjas. Below, I identify the five different types of Ninja (concentrating on the instance-based breed), how to spot early-warning signs and ways to minimise the risks.


1) The Noob.
He's stacking strength points on his Mage, doesn’t wait for the tank to build aggro on each pull and never follows the correct boss tactics. The corpse run is this guy’s closest friend. In short, he knows nothing about his class. Nada. Often very young in real life, the true Noob really has no idea about itemization, class mechanics or how aggro works and thus every item that drops is a potential upgrade for his character. No matter how you try to show him the correct playing-style, he probably just won’t understand and he’ll keep ‘Needing’ on everything that drops. This is exacerbated on the European servers by the fact that many players don’t have English as their first language.

Noob however, is something of an umbrella term. You may be an exceptional, experienced player with a great reputation, but the second you take your eye off the ball and roll ‘Greed’ when everyone else passes for the disenchanter who was nominated at the beginning (while you were alt + tabbing to check 4chan), or jokingly type ‘Need’ when your Warlock clearly cannot wield a [Two-Handed Axe of Death], you too may enter the Ninja Hall of Fame.


2) The Career Criminal.
Possibly the most evil of all our Ninja identity parade is the Career Criminal. Premeditated robbery is his pleasure, Hearthstoning his grinning farewell. Perhaps he began his craft by mistakenly taking inappropriate loot while still new to the game, perhaps he just enjoys the thrill of watching the ensuing ‘QQ’, maybe his mother dropped him on his head (repeatedly) while still a baby, whatever the origin of his immoral activities he is a dedicated (to the point of using the Name-Change function), maybe even obsessed proponent of the dark arts. Watching his accusers’ anger is almost as fun as the shiny, new axe that graces a bag slot.

But there is a sub-class to this type, one which can fulfil every facet of the description ‘Ninja’. Like his deadly name-sake, this breed of Ninja can operate so intelligently and subtly that you might not even notice that you’ve been tricked. Under the guise of a normal group/raid member he will politely roll on items that appear to outsiders to be legitimate upgrades, even though he knows that he already has them (or better) stashed away in his bank. This form of larceny is almost the perfect crime and is often accompanied by the Enchanting profession. Nobody can see the contents of another player’s bank and thus cannot prove theft has occurred.


3) The Opportunist.
Here we meet the Career Criminal’s cousin. The Opportunist is not really such a bad egg, but temptation to have an item has motivated him to make that split-second decision to select ‘Need’ for that much-wanted article. It could be that he has been after that piece for a long time and never been lucky enough to win the roll, or maybe the group has been such a bad experience he wants to cut his losses with a nice item. Whatever the motivation, the Opportunist is more than likely a normal player, stirred to the edge of lunacy by frustration, temptation and probably instantly regrets the pilfering.

I have found that random epic drops always make even honest player’s trigger fingers twitchy.


4) The Greedy Hybrid.
WoW’s classes often overlap when it comes to itemization and the gear they need for their chosen talent specialisation. A Druid who prefers healing might find it easier to get group spots (and thus collect better healing gear) if he tanks instances. Hunters and all melee classes can benefit from Agility in some way or another. If your class can use an item that drops then you have a legitimate claim to it and most players will be happy to allow you to roll, especially if you’ve explained beforehand that, despite your current role, you need alternative gear. But there are players who sully this fragile contract, who think their class gives them a right to roll on everything, even if they have no intention of assuming the other roles that their class offers, thus preventing a group member of gear that could be used to great effect.


5) The Master Looter.
As the distribution of precious loot can be a slow and painful task (especially in raids), Blizzard implemented the Master Looter option, where a single player has complete control over who receives the items that drop. Trust is naturally a great factor in choosing who is nominated to be the Master Looter but speed can also force a group or raid to accept anyone who seems willing to don the mantle of authority. In the most unfortunate of occasions this hasty selection can lead to vast amounts of items being stolen in the blink of an eye.

The Master Looter has many varied weapons at his disposal. He can illegitimately give loot to any favourite players in the raid, he can make the odd ‘miss-click’ and give himself or, again a favourite, something by accident, or he can just collect all the Bind On Equip bits and pieces as the raid progresses (insisting that dealing them out at the end will be quicker) and then furnish himself with all the items from whichever boss he prefers (usually the end boss), citing internet problems or just Hearthstoning. It is ironic that the best prevention against Ninjas also offers the chance for a Ninja to make a really big scoop.

Of course, even the most experienced Master Looters can make honest mistakes.


Protect Yourself.
Preventing item loss is a very difficult thing, but sometimes you can spot early warning signs and take action. Does a group member refuse to follow instructions? Do they linger in a Battleground while everyone waits in the instance, or go AFK without warning? Do they roll Need on green-level items that they clearly do not have a use for? If so, they might have similar disregard to loot distribution rules.

Often by the time a group or raid has cleared the first boss, the danger signs have already presented themselves. The hybrid that refused to tank at the start when you couldn’t find a meat shield for love nor money, and yet rolls on the defence gear dropped by the first boss will probably Need on everything he can get away with. Similarly, players also may Ninja items for their professions, which until recently was a very difficult thing to confirm. The advent of the Armoury helps a great deal with this, if in doubt, Alt + tab to desktop and check out if your group’s Rogue really is an Engineer.


A good rule of thumb is to avoid PUGs. Avoid them like the plague. Apart from the fact that people have less respect for fellow PUG members and treat them accordingly, there is also the problem that everyone brings different loot rules to the table. What might be acceptable in your e-social circles might incense someone else. Also, always roll last. This will let you see if someone has Need rolled when they shouldn’t have and at least give you a shot at beating them.

When it doubt about claiming a particular item, simply ask before you roll. If your doubt has not been assuaged, then remember that there will probably be other opportunities to upgrade and Pass.

The best advice I can give is to find a nice guild that has players who play for fun first, loot second and get into their regular instance runs. You will learn their personalities, classes and play-styles and such intimate circumstances breed mutual respect and co-operation. This is the single most effective boon to enjoying your play time. If you really, really have to venture out into the Looking For Group quagmire then be sure to establish firm rules at the beginning, say which kinds of gear you are hoping to obtain and note other player’s responses.


May your rolls always be high.