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Rolling restarts for January 23rd, 2010

It looks like we have some quick play disruption coming our way this Saturday morning, as Blizzard has announced rolling restarts for all realms at 5 AM pacific, or Noon pacific for Oceanic Realms. Judging by Ghostcrawler's words in a recent thread, this is likely meant to jump start the resilience hotfix.

Either way, if you're one of those folks weird enough to get up early on a Saturday morning, you may as well grab another hour or sleep or so, since you may not be able to jump on WoW for a 15 minute window. There's still no word on Tuesday's downtime, so maybe we were spoiled by the past couple of weeks. Then again, maybe they're just seeing if they can get that minor patch ready for a release this week too. Either way, keep it here, and we'll keep you informed.

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Rolling restarts for January 23rd, 2010 originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 22 Jan 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WoW.comJanuary 22nd, 2010Rolling-Restart Server-Maintenance World of Warcraft News downtime realm-downtime realm-maintenance realm-status restart restarts rolling-restarts scheduled-downtime scheduled-maintenance server-downtime server-statusRead More >No Comments


WoW Moviewatch: SABR Recruitment Ad

A type of machinima that we don't see very often are recruiting videos. There's certainly been a few, like the Scytheguard Recruitment Video. But they tend to be relatively few and far between. Creating a recruiting video can be a lot of work for what most guilds consider not enough payoff.

Today's video is the SABR Recruitment Ad, for the SABR Guild on the Wyrmrest Accord roleplay server. SABR stands for Special Action Battle Regiment, so the video is an apt parody for the Army Strong advertisements. The SABR version follows the same flow as the original Army video, and has the same general epic feel.

This kind of video can be a lot of fun for a guild, and my hat's off to SABR for their work. Here's hoping it works out for them.


Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an e-mail at machinima AT wow DOT com.


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WoW Moviewatch: SABR Recruitment Ad originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WoW.comJanuary 21st, 2010World of Warcraft News guide-to-machinima machinima movies world-of-warcraft-movies world-of-warcraft-videos wow-created-movies wow-fan-movies wow-guide wow-machinima wow-machinima-guide wow-movie-guide wow-movies wow-video-guide wow-videosRead More >No Comments


WoW Moviewatch: SABR Recruitment Ad

A type of machinima that we don't see very often are recruiting videos. There's certainly been a few, like the Scytheguard Recruitment Video. But they tend to be relatively few and far between. Creating a recruiting video can be a lot of work for what most guilds consider not enough payoff.

Today's video is the SABR Recruitment Ad, for the SABR Guild on the Wyrmrest Accord roleplay server. SABR stands for Special Action Battle Regiment, so the video is an apt parody for the Army Strong advertisements. The SABR version follows the same flow as the original Army video, and has the same general epic feel.

This kind of video can be a lot of fun for a guild, and my hat's off to SABR for their work. Here's hoping it works out for them.


Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an e-mail at machinima AT wow DOT com.


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WoW Moviewatch: SABR Recruitment Ad originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WoW Rookie: Building bigger, better newbies

New around here? WoW Rookie points WoW's newest players to the basics of a good start in the World of Warcraft. For links to all our tips, tricks and how-to's, visit WoW.com's WoW Rookie Guide.

We're taking out the mop and bucket at the WoW Rookie Guide this week, scrubbing down outdated articles and polishing up pieces that cover recently updated features. We think you'll like the new section we're creating within the guide specifically for brand new level 80s. By no stretch of the imagination will WoW Rookie end up expanding to the point of becoming a virtual WoW 101 ... But we will keep a corner devoted to players who've just hit 80 for the first time.

So while we're madly cooking and cleaning behind the scenes this week, we've rounded up a few new and old favorites for you to poke through. Or hop on over to the WoW Rookie Guide itself for even more -- but if you should spy a pink-haired gnome in a maid's outfit or (heaven forbid!) encounter an undead harridan wielding a rolling pin, please keep in mind that housekeeping is still in progress.

Continue reading WoW Rookie: Building bigger, better newbies

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WoW Rookie: Building bigger, better newbies originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WoW.comJanuary 21st, 2010World of Warcraft News featured guide how-to-play-wow new-to-world-of-warcraft noob-guide rookie-guide world-of-warcraft-gudie world-of-warcraft-help world-of-warcraft-noobs world-of-warcraft-rookies wow-guide wow-help wow-noob-guide wow-noobs wow-to-play-world-of-warcraftRead More >No Comments


Spiritual Guidance: Everything I know about magic I learned from Rydia


When I was growing up, I was a total Final Fantasy geek. I can still remember the thrill I got when I first started playing Final Fantasy II (Final Fantasy IV to you purists).

I never paid much attention to stats aside from the basics back then -- there was no reason to. When I did take a look under the hood, though, what I found was easy to understand. Cecil beat stuff down with a sword, so he had a high amount of strength. Rosa was better at healing things than Cecil, because she had more will than he did. Rydia blew things away with black magic and summons, so she was loaded up with wisdom.

When I eventually got around to playing World of Warcraft, I went into it with a lot of preconceptions from my Final Fantasy days. This healing priest? Spirit. Makes total sense, that's a healer stat. When it was time to use the darker side of the priestly art, it was time to look for gear with intellect. It made logical sense from a Final Fantasy standpoint. And just like in Final Fantasy, the most important thing to pay attention to was how well a piece of armor protects you from attack. Right? RIGHT?!

Continue reading Spiritual Guidance: Everything I know about magic I learned from Rydia

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Spiritual Guidance: Everything I know about magic I learned from Rydia originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WoW.comJanuary 20th, 2010Cataclysm Stat-Simplification World of Warcraft News armor class-help featured final-fantasy guide guide-to-priests patch-3.3 preist-info priest-guide priest-talents shadow shadow-priest shadow-priest-guide simulation stat-consolidation stat-removal stat-weightings statistics stats talent talents world-of-warcraft-class-guide world-of-warcraft-guide wow-class-guide wow-class-help wow-guide wow-priest wow-priest-info wow-priests wow-talent-guideRead More >No Comments


Lichborne: Icecrown Citadel – Lower Spire loot for death knights


Welcome to Lichborne, where your host is still figuring out the perfect roleplay celebration macro for when he downs the Lich King -- when he's not writing about death knights, of course.

With Icecrown Citadel now properly breached, hopefully even some of the less uber among us are making our way into the breach to say hello to the father of all death knights, the Lich King himself. Of course, as we start upon the final leg of the journey that started so long ago at Light's Hope Chapel, as we trudge ever closer to our destiny to the fight that will bring our story full circle, that may lead to our damnation or to a brighter new destiny, there's certainly a question that's on everyone's minds: What about the loot?

It's a good question. Let's take a look at the loot from the first few bosses up in the citadel. Before we do, though, it's a good idea to take a quicker refresher course in why we choose what we choose:

Continue reading Lichborne: Icecrown Citadel - Lower Spire loot for death knights

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Lichborne: Icecrown Citadel - Lower Spire loot for death knights originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WoW.comJanuary 20th, 2010ICC World of Warcraft News blood bryntroll-the-bone-arbiter class-help death-knight-dps death-knight-dps-gear death-knight-guide death-knight-info death-knight-loot death-knight-loot-guide death-knight-talents death-knight-tank-gear death-knight-tanking death-knight-tanks deathbringer-saurfang deathbringers-will dk-guide dk-info dk-talents featured frost guide guide-to-death-knights gunship-battle icc-loot icecrown-citadel icecrown-citadel-raid icecrown-loot icecrown-lower-spire icecrown-raid-loot lady-deathwhisper lower-spire marrowgar talent talents unholy world-of-warcraft-class-guide world-of-warcraft-guide wow-class-guide wow-class-help wow-death-knight wow-dk wow-guide wow-talent-guideRead More >No Comments


Blood Sport: Resource mechanics in arena, Part I


Want to crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of their women? Blood Sport investigates the entirety of all-things arena for gladiators and challengers alike. C. Christian Moore, multiple rank 1 gladiator, examines the latest arena strategy, trends, compositions and more in WoW.com's arena column.

Listening Music: Roger Waters and the classic combination of Pink Floyd's "The Happiest Days of Our Lives + Another Brick In The Wall, part II." I hate when the radio only plays half of this piece. Even though Floyd split the piece into two on the album, I find it hard pressed to do the latter half justice by dropping the epic "intro." The helicopters and interlude scream is the best part, be honest with yourselves.

Last Week: We addressed the issue of protection warriors in arena. We talked a bit about a few of Ghostcrawler's posts dealing with the most annoying specialization to face. After that, we discussed some of the problems with both perception and design.

This Week: Before getting back to the beginner's guide to arenas, we'll be discussing energy, focus, and rage. Each have individual benefits and detriments in an arena setting, often very different from one another. More after the break!

Continue reading Blood Sport: Resource mechanics in arena, Part I

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Blood Sport: Resource mechanics in arena, Part I originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WoW.comJanuary 20th, 2010Arena World of Warcraft News arena-guide arena-strats arena-tips arenas combo-points energy featured focus guide how-to-play-battlegrounds how-to-pvp mechanic mechanics pvp-guide rage resource resource-mechanic resource-mechanics resources wow-arena wow-arena-guide wow-guideRead More >No Comments


The Classifieds: WoW player/MMA fighter on the mend


The Classifieds brings you weekly updates on guild recruiting, rankings, splits and merges, progression and more. Have guild news or a Random Act of Uberness to share? E-mail The Classifieds.

In news from the WoW community, guildmates of MMA grappler Haydn Clasby, aka Croc of <Defiant Hearts>, US Bloodscalp-H, are rallying in support after he suffered a broken neck in what was called a freak accident during a match in New Zealand last month. Friends and fans are publicizing a Recovery Fund to help Croc out with the medical costs of the devastating accident.

Our friend Jens "Little Evil" Pulver, also an MMA fighter and inveterate WoW player (and seen in yesterday's 15 Minutes of Fame), offered these words of support for Croc: "My heart and thoughts go out to you, brother. Make sure you keep your spirits up and tackle this with the same grit and guts you used to get in there in the first place. Take the time to heal and get well soon. Chin down, hands up and always come out fighting; don't let this stop you. I wish you all the best."

Best wishes, Croc, for your continued recovery!

Let's open up The Classifieds ...

Continue reading The Classifieds: WoW player/MMA fighter on the mend

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The Classifieds: WoW player/MMA fighter on the mend originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WoW.comJanuary 20th, 2010WoW-community World of Warcraft News community community-news downings dungeon-finder grouping groups guild guilds milestones progression random-acts-of-uberness ranking recruiting research the-classifiedsRead More >No Comments


Pimp My Profile: Shippleton, beast mastery hunter

Welcome to Pimp My Profile, the column in which the WoW.com staff turns zeroes into heroes. Don't think you're performing where you should be? Not sure how your class/spec is supposed to be gearing up? E-mail us with your Armory link, and you might be next to receive our help!
Hi, I'm 80 and I've been so for weeks. I've been running random heroics for gear and I followed your guides for my pet specs (though I think I messed up on my Tenacity). My DPS barely cracks 1000. As far as I know, as a hunter, there is almost no excuse for this. Please help me.

-Shippleton
Thanks for writing in, Shippleton. You are wise enough to understand that your DPS is lower than it should be and intelligent enough to ask questions. It seems likely that you are also uncommonly good-looking, a trait shared by most hunters. You are to be applauded for taking the first step down the road to becoming a death dealer, which is the right of every hunter!

Right off the bat 1k DPS seems sufficiently low that I suspect we should be taking a look at your shot rotation as well as your talents and gear. In the interest of science I went ahead and ran Utgarde Pinnacle heroic with some extremely understanding friends while I was completely naked except for my gun, shirt, and tabard. My lack of mana kept me in viper for about 50% of the fights, and I ended up at about 1,100 DPS for the run. So that gives us an absolute bottom DPS benchmark.

Continue reading Pimp My Profile: Shippleton, beast mastery hunter

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Pimp My Profile: Shippleton, beast mastery hunter originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WoW.comJanuary 20th, 2010World of Warcraft News armory beast-master beast-mastery beastmaster bestial-discipline endurance-training focused-aim frenzy furious-howl hunter hunter-dps hunter-dps-guide hunter-enchants hunter-gear-guide hunter-gem-guide hunter-gems hunter-guide pimp-my-profile thick-hideRead More >No Comments


Know Your Lore: The Second War

Welcome once again my friends to the lore that never ends, we're so glad you could attend, come inside, come inside Know Your Lore.

When last we got together over the nonexistent campfire to share stories of Azeroth and Draenor and the peoples of both, our heroes were either fleeing the destruction of Stormwind or destroying Stormwind, depending on who you think of as the heroes. Once again, the 'canonical' nature of these events has shifted somewhat from the time they were first presented to now, so bear with me if you see any inconsistencies as I attempt to work several disparate accounts together. Also, wow, did a lot happen in the Second War, so please forgive anything I miss or merely allude to from the Alliance and Old Horde KYL's.

We know that following the loss of Stormwind (and by following I mean that they could probably see the buildings burning as they sailed away) the survivors, led by Anduin Lothar, sailed north for Lordaeron and the court of King Terenas Menethil. It was this journey and Lothar's arrival that led Terenas and Lothar to begin the diplomatic work that created the Alliance of Lordaeron. It's important to keep in mind that, at the time, not many people actually knew much about the orcs aside from the survivors of Stormwind. King Llane Wrynn had an adviser who knew a lot about the orcs but that ultimately ended in Stormwind's destruction as we covered last week. Still, Lothar was the one person both connected enough through his descent from the ancient Arathi bloodline and knowledgeable enough about the enemy to command the military of this new Alliance.

Continue reading Know Your Lore: The Second War

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Know Your Lore: The Second War originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WoW.comJanuary 20th, 2010Alezstrasza Anduin-Lothar Deathwing Doomhammer Guldan King-Terenas-Menethil Orgrim-Doomhammer Quelthalas Terenas Teron-Gorefiend Turalyon World of Warcraft News Zuljin Zuluhed featured guide guide-to-lore know-your-lore lore lore-guide role-play role-playing-guide rp-guide world-of-warcraft-lore wow-guide wow-lore wow-role-playing wow-role-playing-guide wow-rp wow-rp-guide wow-rpingRead More >No Comments