Hated Instances

I was reading today's around Azeroth and it got me thinking. They were talking about instances and players hated doing them. So this really got me thinking. When Cataclysm came out everyone thought or most thought that the instances themselves were challenging, but there really wasn't an instance that players wished the death upon. I am sure many of you are screaming Stonecore, but when I relate this to past instances you will truly understand what I am talking about.

Old Sunken Temple: I don't know if any of you remember what this was like in the start, but trash respawns were quick as hell, and having to have the right alignment of towers although was cool was in practice what hell in an instance was all about. So yes people eventually learned how to do it, but that didn't really matter too much because all of the trash and the maze. People got lost and over course this was before instance maps were around.

Opening of the Dark Portal: Everyone had to do this instance back in the day when they were not really geared for it because they wanted to get into Karazhan. This was hard in its own right, but then everyone in the guild needed to be attuned for Karazhan so this meant endless amounts of runs over and over again, which lead to more and more pain just for this part of the attunement. And of course this lead to...

Shadow Labyrinth: This was not horrible beyond the second boss who mind controlled your part and you ended up killing one another. One would think as the expansion went on this would have gotten easier, but no because when you got more gear you killed one another so fast because in PvE gear you demolished one another and your toons were not smart enough to use abilities that would actually stop you from dying. And if I am complaing about this instance should complain about the randomness of the fears when you were clearing to Murmur

Oculus: When discussing what would be the most hated instance in Wrath I am sure many of you instantly think of Halls of Reflection, but then you must forget how awful Oculus was. There was a time when drakes didn't scale with your item level and part of the reason they changed that was because of peoples hate for this instance. Remember also everyone hated this place so much that when LFD was introduced they had to reward you for actually staying and completely this instance with extra rewards from a bag. They never did this for Halls of Reflection. Also I may hate this more than the average person because of the pain of trying to get the drake achievements and Make it Count before all the drake buffs. I felt complete exhausted and pain whenever the name of this instance was mentioned.

So there we have it. Agree or disagree with me? Regardless I am sure there will be many more instances come that we all late.

You Fail At Garrosh Lore If...

Oh yes that is right it is Tuesday, which means it is Fail Day. Everyone's favourite day of the week where you find out if you should hang your head in shame for the rest of the week because of your fail. If you haven't been living under a rock for the past couple of Fail days you would know that I am doing a lore type fail day were you basically find out how little or how much you actually know about specific Lore Characters. I have been rotating between Horde and Alliance and that means this week we are back to Horde so here goes.

You Fail At Garrosh Lore If...

• You didn't know he is the son of the hero Grom Hellscream
• You don't know what a Mag'har
• You were unaware he escaped demonic corruption because he suffered from Red Pox and was quarantined in Nagrand.
• You forgot he was the depressed whimp in the middle of Garadar asking for help during the Burning Crusade
• You didn't know he had a duel with Thrall during the pre-Wrath events
• You forgot he started a fight in the Violet Citadel with Varian which had to be broken up by Rhoin
• You didn't know he was the commander of the Horde Forces in Northrend
• You are special and didn't know he is the current acting Warchief appointed by Thrall in his absence
• You were not aware that his new armor was created from the skeleton of Mannaroth
• You didn't know Garrosh was such an elequent writer when he wrote one to Magatha wishing her a slow and painful death
• You live under a rock and didn't know he killed Carine with his axe being poisoned without his knowledge by Magatha
• You don't know what Gorehowl is or that he uses it
• You think Vol'jin and Garrosh are best pals and go out for beers every weekend

and finally

• You are unaware that he has some of the best one liners in all of Warcraft

There you have it this week's edition of Fail. Hope you all learned something, and as promised the quote

"Am I a murderer, Krom'gar?"

Good luck on this reset!

The Hunt Full Feature

Monday is here everyone so try to not be so depressed. Today though is Machinima Monday the day of the week where I get to showcase a Machinima I believe you all will be interested in. Normally, I would give you a machinima which was probably  3-5 minutes in length, but today I am going to link you to one in 5 parts which total about an hour. This is because this is a Machinima I waited years for and deserves to be watched after all that anticipation. You may remember in the past I linked to the trailers hoping this would finally be finished and it finally has. So without making you wait any longer here is the full feature "The Hunt" by Fubarius.











Hope you all enjoyed the movie and thought it was worth the wait. Thank you to Fubarius for finally finishing it. Good luck everyone on your last day before reset

Ask Gauss

Sunday! I don't know why I am so excited it is Sunday maybe it is because I don't live on the east coast and I am not getting blasted by a huricane. Now I know I just made a little joke about that, but I hope everyone out east is safe and sound. So Sunday means it is Ask Gauss. The post of the week where I decide to put myself on the spot and answer questions. Let me first state about this there is only so many Transmog questions before my head explodes and I actually learn how to pronouce the word correctly. So as I will answer the emails I won't be putting any more put during Ask Gauss, so keep that in mind. Now let's get to this week's questions

I am assunming you took a look at the Darkmoon Faire Preview, what you think of it?

Well when the the Faire first came out I was a big fan of it because you were able to go out and have a little fun with something that really didn't matter to the game as a whole. A mini game that really had minimal rewards, but was still a lot of fun. By giving them their whole island and expanding upon it they are really making the week the faire comes an event. This I like. Also with making items available that have the same models as some now non existant weapons and gear. This will make 4.3 anf its "Fashion" component that much more attainable. Another big thing is it will get players out of the cities, which to me is needed quite badly.

Blizzard needs to get everyone out of the Orgrimmar it is getting really stupid that you never have to leave don't you think?

I completely agree. You can do everything basically once you are capped in the city. Besides go to your raid. You can queue for a dungeon, a BG, and so on and so forth. Blizzard redid the world for leveling but no one ever sees it after they are done leveling. By making everything queuable, which is a great convenience they have killed the world. If you go out and about you are lucky to find 1-2 people in the zone you are in. They need to get people out in the world. I don't mean daily hubs because that just means people are there for that, which is better than nothing I guess. It could be world events in specific zones, could be a hunt for something, a bounty. I really don't know but they need to do something. Even if they put in some world PvP with town objectives to bring back the old school save the lowbies attitude. Whatever they decide they have to realize they need to put it in.

What you think about mounts being Transmogrified?

Really? You need the item to actually modify it. So in the case of the mount you could just ride the mount. Since mounts themselves don't have stats...

So that is it for this week. Hope you all got some information that may be a little insightful or helpful.  For those waiting for it, next week's Reader Post I want to know what you think about the Darkmoon Faire Island. As always you have until Thursday night to get your responses in. Enjoy what is left of your weekend!

Time To Talk About Fashion

Friday is upon us, and with that brings us to this week's Reader Post. You all know the post each week where I give you all the topic and take your submissions. See now you are following. This week I asked you all what Armor and weapons you will be wearing when you can messes with your gear come 4.3. So let's see what everyone has to say.

First just want to say I have a lot of toons, but with some thought this is what I have come up with. Gnome Warrior: T1 for DPS, and Heroism for Tanking. Not sure what shield I'll use.
Draenei Shaman: 5 Thunder (how many draenei shaman have that set?) for healing, Cyclone for DPS
Human Paladin: I'd love to get the T8 (10 person) set, but that seems to be an issue. Ran Ulduar yesterday, only 1 of the 5 tokens was the right one.
Draenei Paladin: I'd like to finish my T5 set, but I've also got the Soulforge set too.
NE Priest: Hallowed (dungeon set from BC)
Gnome Mage (Frost): Lieutenant Commander's Arcanum (60 pvp set)
Dwarf Hunter: Lieutenant Commander's Pursuance (60 pvp set)
Gnome Priest: Virtuous
Death Knight: Probably the starter green set.
Gnome Warlock: T1
Gnome Rogue: Lieutenant Commander's Guard
Gnome Mage(fire): Not sure, T5 maybe? I'm open to suggestions.
NE Druid: No clue... I'm not terribly fond of any of the sets.
Worgen Druid: She's still too low to hunt up a set for.

Black Mageweave. It is beyond awesome looking and best of all it isn't a tier and almost no one will be wearing it.

My DPS set will be T6. My tank set will be a plate bikini set with a bulwark of azzinoth and a lightsaber looking sword. Cause in my mind nothing says "HEY BUDDY! PICK ON ME!" better than a large spiked shield to the face.

I am a rogue so I'm gonna start with T7 while working at T9, T1, and T2. Everyone is going to be Bloodfang so I don't really intend to use it, but I need to collect all I can regardless.

The red recolour of DK T8* is definitely a set that I want to get if I can find people able to clear Ulduar 25. Beyond that I'm still looking around through various armour models to see what looks good. The Westguard greens* wouldn't be bad at all, but I need to find a helm that doesn't look like it should have a drool cup attached to it.

My mage doesn't have anything armor-wise yet, but she will be using her Quel'Delar, Lens of the Mind again. I'll probably give her the Black Embersilk Robe to make her look sexy until I get her some old tier gear.

Who cares what armor I just know I want to use the Greatsword of Horrid Dreams. That thing is the most epic looing simple sword in the entire game.

My shammy, green dragonscale. I really liked my shammy wearing belly shirt kinda things. It's a tauren I'm no perv.... i just liked the style :P and really hated it when they started looking like warriors with a shield, one handed mace, and heavy armor...

I think I'll go with something rare on this ... The Blessed Regalia of Undead Cleansing. It was one of those sets one could acquire during the event, which introduced Wrath. There's really not an awful lot of sets, that look good on male human casters, but this one does. Imho it also fits really well to mages in particular and I don't expect seeing too many people running around with it. I'm not a big fan of fancy looking armor, such as T6 for instance, so that's a bonus too. Not sure which weapon to wear, though. Would love to equip a staff, but it's not like you have much of a choice about that as a dedicated raider ... if a MH/OH combo is BiS, then you just have to deal with it. Ah well, at least there are a ton of great looking daggers out there to choose from.

There you have it, that is it for this week. Thank you to everyone who submitted something even if I didn't post it with the rest. It seems as though many of you are putting a lot of thought into this and that is great news. If you would like to participate in next week's Reader Post make sure you look for the topic during Sunday's Ask Gauss post. Till then enjoy your weekend!

The DK Issue

So anyone that I know is excited about the whole Transmogrification coming with 4.3. That is everyone besides Deathknights who for the most part think they are getting screwed over with the system. The problem being they haven't existed since the beginning of WoW and their choices of sets to use is very minimal. The other problem or issue they have stated is that their sets all look very similar. So even if they decided on a past set to use they really wouldn't look that different. I really understand this argument, but a Deathknight is not really a class that you can make a colourful set for. It just doesn't fit with lore and the actual model of the class. Some of you will say what about a Warlock? And I will say that model or design still isn't even close to the same. Yes, warlocks use dark magics, but there is nothing stated in lore saying they are anything close to a former scourge being.

So what are the Deathknights choice? Well they could just wear the current tier or suck it up and use past tier sets and realize that is what the class they chose is all about. Rades over at Orcish Army Knife even has a layout today about not tier plate sets you can take a look at. If that is something you are interested in. You can see that post here. Check it out a lot of time and effort went into developing it.

The other option is to do what the Daily Blink suggests

Sorry Deathknights for causing laughs at your expense.

Interesting Answers

During Gamescon there was some interesting responses to questions. They really didn't go into detail about them and during the question period. No one jumped on it, but just leave that to me to speculate then.

Patch 4.3 and beyond

• The new 5 man dungeons will help to introduce the Deathwing Raid.
• The current plan with the Deathwing raid is to have it all available immediately upon release.
• The Deathwing raid will be smaller than Ulduar with many phases or encounters with Deathwing.
• Patch 4.4 will bring a world event before the next expansion.
• The next expansion should be released with a "meaningful difference" in the release timeline compared to previous expansions.

So I am amusing the 5 mans helping to introduce the Deathwing raid will be the same as the ICC heroics worked. Making them gated like their predecessors would be a great idea and I hope they make that happen.

Making the raid completely available upon release means we will not have a gated progression like we did with ICC. This will make many people happy and sad. I know people don't like to see the content defeated so quickly, but doing so will not make us be in the instance for what seemed like forever as was the case with ICC.

Saying right out that 4.4 will be the event before the next expansion doesn't directly say that there won't be a bridge raid. It just means there won't be a conclusion raid. So what is the difference? Well Sunwell was a conclusion raid, and Ruby Sanctum was a bridge raid. I foresee a world event maybe not to the extreme as say the plague infestation, but the elemental unrest combined with a raid is something I think is definitely possible.

I see "meaningful difference" as a way of saying it will mean we will see it probably during the end of Summer or early Fall 2012. They want to release the expansions quicker and I think this is the way to do it. I also think we will get more hints of this at Blizzcon when we will actually see how close they may be to the Alpha of Mists of Pandaria.

So those are my thoughts on the random points brought up at Gamescon. Have another idea, be sure to let me know if you think I am full of crap.

You Fail At Varian Lore If...

Fail Day is here! I know you are all excited to know how much you fail or if you actually don't. I got an email a couple weeks ago saying that my Fail Day posts tell him if it is going to be a good week for him or not depending if he fails. Now I think that is a little extreme, but whatever works for you. I am going to continue with the Lore fails and I am going to take an idea from one of the comments saying I should go back and forth between Horde and Alliance. I am also going to pretend that I actually thought of that beforehand. So I think that is enough babbling and let's get to what people came here for.

You Fail At Varian Lore If...

• You have no idea why he was away for the first few years of WoW
• You didn't know his Father was assassinated in front of him
• You were unaware his father's name was Llane
• You did not know his wife was murdered in a riot caused by the Edwin VanCleef
• You didn't know Arthas and him were childhood friends
• You were not aware lore wise it is Varian who killed Onyxia
• You don't know his son was named after the man who cared for him after his father was killed Aduin Lothar
• You we not aware he also was a Gladiator like Thrall
• You didn't know one of his best friends is a Blood Elf
• You don't know the relationship between Varian and Lo'Gosh
• You believe Varian is only interested in war
• You didn't know Varian's Sword had a name that being Shalamayne
• You didn't know he was chosen by Malfurion to lead the combined Horde and Alliance forces in the war against the Emerald Nightmare 

and finally

• The question "who the hell is Varian?" came to mind

There you have it this week's edition of Fail. Hope you all learned something, and here is the quote as promised

"A gladiator's life is simple: You win and live, or lose and die. A king's life is more complex. The only truth for a king is that there are no easy answers."

Good luck on this week's reset.

Goodnight Orgrimmar

Happy Monday everyone. Hopefully you are not too pissed off that it is no longer the weekend. I am guessing you cant be since you are here reading this. Or it could be that you decided to come here because it is Monday and it is time to see the machinima I will be showcasing this week. This week I decided to choose another Machimima by WoWCrendor. It is called Goodnight Orgrimmar done as a parody to the popular children's book Goodnight Moon. As always WoW Crendor is always at his best.



Hope you enjoyed it. Good luck on this your last day before reset.

Ask Gauss

Sunday is here everyone. I know you probably knew that already, but just figured I would state the obvious. Sunday means Ask Gauss around here. The time of the week where I answer the questions on everyone's mind. If you don't know how to send in your questions it is the same as it always is. There is a link on the top right of the page or you can just send an email to gaussafication@gmail.com. With that out of the way let's get to it.

So LFR is this going to be the nightmare I am thinking it is?

Well if you are expecting that a random assembled raid of 10 or 25 people is going to be flawless then you must be dreaming. I really don't think this system was created to make a full raid and if it was then the people at Blizzard are really out of touch with reality. But think of it this way, how many times have you not been able to raid or spammed in trade when you were short 1 or 2 people in order to complete your raid. This is where the system will shine and what I believe is the purpose of it. Sure you may get a moron every now and then, but for the most part it will be on par with the person who you would be getting out of trade. This is what you have to take into account when you evaluate a system such as this.

So what will you be wearing as your full time set come 4.3?

Well the greatest warrior set ever designed is the tier 6 model. It to me represents what a warrior should look like. I was quite proud when I was walking around in my T6. The last set that included belts, braces, and boots. Sometimes I miss those days where sets had 8 pieces, but then it was a pain when you actually wanted to match and nothing did. In regards to weapons. One handers will go with the Quel blades. Two-handeder would be Apolyon, The Soul-Render. If I wasn't using a sword, than would have to think a bit about the route I would go. Who knows though maybe a set will come along in the future that will spark my interest and I would change me mind. And who knows when they make it possible I do have that full twill set I could use.

So with Void Storage will you finally have space?

Well I have always had the problem when given more space I always seem to decide to keep more things. So no matter how much space I am given I will find a way to use it.

There you have it that is this week's edition of Ask Gauss. Thank you to everyone who submitted a question even if it did not appear in the post. For those who have been waiting for me to say it next week's Reader Post is going to be about what set or weapons will be a part of your look come 4.3. As always you have until Thursday night to get those into me. Enjoy what is left of your weekend everyone!

What to make of Alcaz Island?

Friday! The end of the week the day we hope goes nice and fast so we can get to the weekend. Also the day where you can sit down relax and read the Reader Post. You know the post of the week where we hear the readers ideas about the topic at hand. This week I wanted to know what you all think will be going on with Alcaz Island. So without making you wait any longer shall we see what they said.

New dungeon probably, or just a place you visit doing the quests for a quest chain that relates to Deathwing when he comes out. can't see anything else it could be used for. could be a new BG/daily hub like Quel'Danas or Tol Barad, but i highly doubt it.

CoT instance if anything. The word Scenario screams this. It's probably going to end up a 5-man similar to Thrall and Durnholde Keep. Not everyone has read the comics, so not everyone knows how and why Varian just showed up out of the blue.

The Alcaz Island thing is interesting. I hate to burst your bubble though, it's probably nothing worth noting. Some parts of the game have had instanced areas/instance portals since time immemorial the one at the end of Stratholme, and the SW 'Vault' or whatever it was. There's always a chance that they might add something there, but I don't see how they can fit Alcaz Island into the story.     
I really think this is the link to the next expansion. It will be the Neptulon type raid where some how Azshara gets his weapon that controls the seas and someway is able to make it to reveal what is behind the "Mists of Pandaria". So this will be the Ruby Sanctum of Cataclysm.

I think this will be the Darkmoon Faire Island we just heard about. Why? Because it is an island that isn't used since all the quests and such were taken away, and it is the perfect size to create a six flags type theme park! It better have a Roller Coaster because we need more log type rides in this game!
I have a feeling this will be a phased area and have something like a molten front type feel to it. This will be where we will prepare for our voyage to the south seas and prepare ourselves to save the world from Azshara. So this won't be an instance that will lead us into the next expansion, but a focal point to build up our forces for war. Think of it like the pre AQ event where both factions were preparing for war and all of the sudden BOOM. It will will be a pre expansion event that will make all the rest of them look like a joke. And I for one cannot wait for it.

There you have it. Thank you for all the submissions everyone they are very much appreciated. If you are interested in taking part in next week's Reader Post look for the topic during the next Ask Gauss post. Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Threat And You

I know people have been sending in questions, asking me like crazy about the things coming right at us in 4.3. I just wanted to say that I am not ignoring you all. I am going to be going through them on Ask Gauss so make sure you check out the next Ask Gauss post. I figured I would do it this way because we are not in 4.3 yet and we still don't know everything. So maybe more information will be available and will be able to give more informative answers. With that in mind I decided to look at something which is now live in the game and that is threat.

Threat generated by tanks has been increased from 300% of damage dealt to 500%.

Yes this is live in the game right now. This means that DPSers ability to pull aggro from being "amazing" has been severely reduced. For example if you are a tank and are doing 5k dps  a DPS will have to do 25k dps to match your threat level compared to which it was 15k. To pull off you before they would only have to do 16.5k as melee and 19.5k as range. Compare this to now which is 27.5k as melee and 32.5k as range. Now many are worried that this will make tanking easier, and I think it will be the complete opposite if it is implemented correctly.

Think of it this way. Mobile encounters will be much more of a possibility without them being unfun because of silly threat issues. DPS can do their thing while the tank is still able to do his thing while kiting a boss around. Yes this will make instances easier for the full geared person doing their daily compared to the new tank, but I really think this is just a bonus from the implementation.

Making tanks think more then just mindlessly getting the highest TPS is something that will bring more interest to tanking. Making it something, which can be fun and exciting is the best way to want people to be a tank. No one wants to be the person who is to blame because they may be doing a great job but their threat is just way too low. So I say congrats to Blizzard on bringing fun back to tanking and making it just as interesting and relaxing as the other roles in the game.

Huge News

So in case you didn't know. Over in Germany at Gamescom they made some huge announcements about patch 4.3. So if you don't know what they said you better sit down and prepare yourself.

Cosmetic armor skins

Yes it is true. You may remember I did a post awhile back (found here). This is actually coming true in some form. You will be able to change the appearance of your character with different armor sets. So you will be able to wear your favourite tier set. Instead of the one you are forced to wear with current content. The implementation of this is not detailed, but putting it in with any implementation is something the WoW community has been waiting for, for a long time.

An armor closet to store old gear, freeing up bank space

All I can say is FINALLY. Coming from someone who keeps everything and never wants to get rid of anything, including every tabard I have ever owned. This is something that should have been added to the game a long time ago. Better late then never though. I swear the programmers who finally got this put into the game should all be patting themselves on the back.


Deathwing's raid and three new 5-man dungeons

This is probably the biggest surprise. Deathwing in 4.3! Remember that 4.1 wasn't really a raid tier so this compared to past expansions means the big baddy in the second raiding tier patch. Also it has been stated that one of the 5 mans at least is a CoT instance. Is this the War of the Ancients that everyone has been waiting for? I really hope not was really wanting it to be a raid. On another note does this point to a Sunwell type tier following this? Where we will come face to face with N'Zoth? Only time will tell.

One thing I want to point out is the Star Wars MMO is in place for coming out for the holiday season. Is Blizzard pulling out all the stops in 4.3 to make that games impact the least possible to their player base? It seems to think they are heading that way. Also with Deathwing coming I really think without a question we will get an offical expansion announcement at BlizzCon.

So I know it is a lot to take in, but it is all true so it is ok to be pumped.

You Fail At Thrall Lore If...

Happy Fail Day everyone. Yes it is that day of the week again, so yes it is ok to laugh at those less fortunate. Recently, I have been getting a lot of emails regarding Fail Day and how I should do some sort of series like I did back before Cataclysm with the Class Fails. Someone else then asked when I don't do another fail on lore. This was when the planets aligned and angels sang and I had this brilliant idea that I would do a series of fails on Lore Characters! Yes I know, it was a great idea. So as the first I decided to choose Thrall because really now, who doesn't like Thrall?

You Fail At Thrall Lore If...

• You don't know that Thrall means slave
• You didn't know that his birthname was Go'el
• You were unaware that he was born into the Frostwolf Clan
• You didn't know he was raised by humans
• You don't know the prophecy of the Doomhammer and that he fulfilled it
• You didn't know he named Orgrimmar after Orgrim Doomhammer, and Durotar after Durotan his father
• You did not know how special his blue eyes were
• You thought he was ever in love with Jaina Proudmoore
• You think Garrosh could have ever bested him in a Duel
• You don't know the connection between Thrall and Blackmoore
• You didn't know he was the first in the line of the new shaman of the Horde
• You don't believe Thrall will one day return to the Horde
• You didn't know Aggra and Thrall were married

and finally

• You don't know who Thrall is

There you have it this week's edition of fail. Hope you all enjoyed it. I will be taking suggestions on who you would like to see as the Lore Character for the following weeks. Also after each of these I am going to include a quote from each of the said characters.

"When I reached adulthood, I became Orgrim's friend, as had my father before; and it is I who have fulfilled the prophecy of the Doomhammer. In their honor, this land is named Durotar, its greatest city, Orgrimmar."

Good luck on this week's reset.

Heroes

Happy Monday everyone. I know I know it is a little depressing to actually except the fact that it is in Monday. But the sooner you accept it the sooner you can enjoy the fact that Monday means it is time to showcase a machinima. This week it will be a machinima called Heroes. Now this is done to a song and no direct dialogue or anything like that. Now I don't normally enjoy machinima done in like this, but the images and effects in this video make it something to behold. The story behind this is simple It showcases a lot of fellow WoW players that most of you may already know and refers to them as "heroes" I know seems pretty cheesy, but don't knock it till you watch it.



Now wasn't that something to watch. There is something to appreciate when you have a piece that is filmed this well. Enjoy your last day before reset.

Ask Gauss

Sunday, yes that is what day it is today. Every morning on Sunday I have to admit I always double check to make sure it is Sunday. Mostly because I don't want tomorrow to be Monday so I hope that when i went to bed on Saturday that some sort of Groundhog Day thing happens and it is Saturday again. This has yet to happen, but I will keep hoping. Being Sunday though it is time for Ask Gauss the post of the week where I get to answer some questions that have been sent in to me throughout the week. So let's get to the questions then, and see what I have to say about it.
The topic of 15 man raids came up recently, what are your thoughts about it?

Well to be honest Blizzard cannot make a 3 raid setups and expect to keep people happy. They have already put a lot of work into trying to balance the 10 and 25 setups so that one is not viewed as easier than the other. So as along as 10 and 25 exist there will never be a 15. That being said I would be in favour of dropping 10 and 25 and just having a 15 setup. It makes more sense with balancing the role setup. The issue with 10 mans is you have no flexibility in your raids. You cannot bring all your friends because they may play classes that counteract anything you are trying to accomplish in your raids. It is the complete opposite in 25 man. After you have what you need you can just stack the raid with a composition that will make encounters easier. Be it from bring a large amount of one class, or a large amount of a type of class. Now raids that do this are not doing anything wrong they are doing everything within the rules and who can blame them for trying to be successful. In BC 25man raids were perfect because classes didn't share abilities. Blizzard made it so you had to have this class and that class, and so on and so forth. So after you had those things you maybe had a choice of 1-2 people to fill out your raid. Now we don't have that because the bring the player not the class idea. This I am in favour of, but it might be something for Blizzard to look at so we don't have an unbalance in raids.
Would you like to see some of the unused areas as some form of 85 content and what places? What do you think "Scenario: Alcaz Island" could be?

Of course. I am always a fan of using zones that have been underdeveloped or ignored. Rades wrote this amazing piece about Stormgarde and how it could be used. If you haven't read it you can take a look at it here. Other zones that I would love for them to expand upon are Thunder axe Fortress and Mannoroc Coven in Desolace if you ever did the quests in Desolace pre Cataclysm you know the background story that went on here with demons and everything within it, and then it just ended. There are demonic portals in this area and no one seems to realize this. Another place being Demon Fall Canyon in Ashenvale. Most people know this as the place where Grom died fighting Mannoroth, but why is there demons there in the first place, and why are they still there? I just hate zones or areas existing where there is no explanation as to why they still exist the way they do.

Regarding Alcaz Island I really think this when I first heard was going to be our link to the next expansion. Then when I heard the new expansion is really going to be a South Seas expansion this made me think I was on the right track. On why it is called Scenario well I have always liked what Blizzard has been doing with cutscenes and phasing and all that other fancy stuff. What would happen if you had to go through this event on Alcaz island before being granted passage to the South Seas. I just know something is going to happen to cause some sort of segue. Maybe this is where you meat up with Chen and partake in something like the elemental invasions bosses. Like when we fought alongside our faction leaders. People enjoyed that and I really think that is what is in the works again.

Can you try to not mention Pandas during this weeks Ask Gauss?

It was going great till your question.

There you have it. Questions answered for the week. As always thank you for all the questions sent in. If I didn't get to it on here doesn't mean it wasn't appreciated. Next week's Reader Post I want to know what you think Alcaz island is all about. As always you have until Thursday night to get your responses in. Enjoy what is left of your weekend everyone.

Nation's Thoughts On Mists of Pandaria

Friday is here everyone! Ah yes the day that where 90% of our effort is focused on what we are going to do when we are done for the day. So in that spirit of things is this week's Reader Post. We are not going to concern ourselves with the here and now of WoW we are going to look at what you the Readers think this Mists of Pandaria is all about. So lets get to it shall we

It would make more sense for a Warcraft RTS game. WoW expansions haven't been named after a races homeland yet, and if they were going for another new race, you would assume there would be two of them again and naming the game after only one of the races doesn't make sense. Unless they revolve a whole expansion around Panderans as a neutral race and players go to their homeland to fight the evil there.

I have a feeling this is Blizzard's Mysterious project Titan. What better way to introduce the most people thing Blizzard has ever created to the world by making an entire game just about them.

I heard Blizzard is doing a TCG Online game, maybe this is it? Blizzard has never named an expansion after a place, but the Trading Card packs always have been. I really don't think this is a coinsidence at all. I just think everyone wants it to be the next expansion so bad they aren't looking at something which is so obvious.

Think this is the next expansion and a way for Blizzard to introduce a new hero class and another secondary profession "Brewing". They dropped the ball on archaeology so I think this would be the right direction to go. Also I have always wanted to play a pandaren so maybe I am just hoping.

Obviously a decoy before Blizzcon, no way would they do a whole f'ing expansion on pandaria. This is like some April fools joke in August and so many people including you are falling for it. I cannot wait to Blizzcon when I am right and everyone is all stir crazy about this.

There you have it. Some readers opinions about what this Mists of Pandaria think is all about. Thank you to everyone who submitted something and if yours didn't get posted it doesn't mean I didn't read it. As always next week's topic can be seen during this Sunday's Ask Gauss. Enjoy your weekend everyone!

World First Legendary Staff

Yep it has been done. Siiz from Premonition was the first player in the world to acquire Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa's Rest! It was a US guild and an surprisingly an Alliance player as well. I cannot remember a US and the Alliance was the first in the world to do something. Here are a couple screenshots taken one as the mount transformation and one during the end of the questline event.

So a big congrats to Siiz well deserved for all the work that was undoubtedly put in. I know how much work goes into making a legendary and the relief that comes when it is finally completed.

Gender Ratios

So MMO Champion has been working on a lot of stats lately and the first they have released is the Gender Ratio numbers. Now this is for level 85 characters and some of the results are very surprising to me. Look at the numbers here for the races male to female

Human 66.48% 33.52%

Orc 89.34% 10.66%
Dwarf 86.72% 13.28%
Night Elf 56.2% 43.8%
Undead 77.4% 22.6%
Tauren 85.82% 14.18%
Gnome 69.43% 30.57%
Troll 74.24% 25.76%
Goblin 72.44% 27.56%
Blood Elf 55.05% 44.95%
Draenei 47.73% 52.27%
Worgen 80% 20%

Looking at these numbers some things are rather surprising. One being that dwarf female is not the lowest as it has been stated for years that this is the least played race and gender. What it probably relates to is the fact that more people play orcs than dwarves so the percentage of female dwarves is actually higher. I really think the Blood Elf and Night Elf numbers must be skewed some how. There really is more males than females? Have I been playing on the wrong server to actually change my thoughts on this? I can understand why Draenei Female is higher for the fact that male casting animations and the way their tail design works can be bothersome. Also I always thought there was many more female Undeads, maybe this is because the number of male Undead rogues that I have been unable to see because they must be stealth all the time.

So what is everyone's thoughts on this? Think the way I do or do you completely believe this? 

You Fail At Pandarens If...

So Tuesday is here once again. It is like it snuck up on us after Monday again. Damn that Tuesday being the same time every week. Ok again awful humor, but admit it you love it! Anyways, with Tuesday comes the epicness of Fail Day and what better thing to talk about today on Fail Day then the thing that has taken over the WoW community like a storm. So here we go

You Fail At Pandarens If...

• You think this whole "leak" is an effort in Blizzard trolling us
• You think there is some sort of law in China about violence against Pandas
• You have no idea who Chen Stormstout is
• You think Blizzard would make an entire expansion only having to deal with Pandarens
• You think Pandarens have no characteristics that could result in a hero class
• You think they are a joke
• You believe they have no background lore
• You don't know what the "Mists" in Mists of Pandaria are about
• You think Blizzard is bringing Pandarens into the game because of recent subscription losses
• You have written a 16 page article about why the Alliance/Horde should be the faction to get Pandaren, because you believe this will change Blizzards way of thinking
• You don't see how a Monk class would be awesome
• You live under a rock and have no idea why I am talking about Pandarens

and finally

• You think they will have to be an Alliance race because they are cute and cuddly

There you have it, this week's edition of fail. Hope you all enjoyed it. Good luck on this reset may all the loot that you ninja go unreported.

Unlimited Escapism

Monday is upon us and with it comes lack of sleep and horrible moods and angry people encircling themselves around us. What else does it bring though? Well A machinima showcase. As you know I like to showcase machinimas that have stories or are funny in some sort of way. Well today will be different because I am going to showcase a machinima which Blizzard should show to the public to get them interested in WoW. Baron Soosdon has created the 5th volume of Unlimited Escapism. The camera work in this machinima is nothing short of miraculous, not to mention the display of the landmarks, cities, population, and general beauty that is within WoW is nothing short of spectacular. There really is no words to describe what you will watch. Just sit back, watch it in HD and see it for yourself.



Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did

Ask Gauss

Sunday morning you know that time of the week when you are sitting there wondering, why the hell am I awake? Yep don't you got to love Sunday? Anyways, what does Sunday mean? Well Ask Gauss, of course. The time of the week where I look through all the questions that have been sent to me throughout the week and decide which to answer in this post. I know very exciting. If there are people who don't have a clue how to send me their questions, well I would think you might be blind and didn't look at the top right of the page. If you are one of those people scared to click on links then you can just email them to me at gaussafication@gmail.com. So with that out of the way let's get to the questions shall we?

Do you think Blizzard playing the Panda card is a desperate attempt to bring people back to WoW?

When Cataclysm came out this expansion was in all likely hood half way done. It is not  a spur of the moment that this decision was made. I think many people read the name "Mists of Pandaria" and think oh that is just going to be about Pandas. That is not the case at all. I believe this is the South Seas expansion everyone has been waiting for. If you watched the Metzen panel type thing you also heard him announce that the book after Wolfheart is going to be a book about Jaina. Let's think here for a minute before Lich King we had Arthas book, which led us into Wrath, before Cata we had The Shattering that brought us to Cata, so this book I am saying is going to bring us into the South Seas. What better way then introducing Kul'Tiras. I am calling it now besides Pandaria we are going to be visiting the Broken Isles, Plunder Isle, Tel Abim, and Zandalar. So let's not get hung up on Pandas.

Don't you find it weird they are going to base an expansion off an Apirl Fools joke?

Let's make something clear. Let me link you something directly from WoW Pedia

The pandaren started as a creation of the Blizzard artist Samwise Didier and an April Fool's joke, but they got a massive response from Warcraft fans. In the first BlizzCast episode launched on Jan. 10, 2008, Samwise recalled the process to the creation of the Pandaren April Fool's page: "But so we put that up in there and everyone was like “Oh my God! A PANDA RACE? That’s kind of cool!” And I’m like “Are you kidding me, really? You want to see pandas in Warcraft III or whatever?”" Soon, they were included in the Warcraft III expansion and Chris Metzen began to write them into the game lore.

So yes they did start out as an Apirl Fools joke, but they are way beyond that and are part of the lore. There probably has been more written about them then some of the races, which are already in the game. They are no longer a joke they are part of the universe so everyone better get used to it.

How can Panda's be playable, whichever faction gets them will be so unfair.

Keep in mind when we went to Northrend we had Tuskarr, but didn't get to play them. Even though that would have been awesome.

That is it for this week. Hope you all got what you needed out of this Panda focused Ask Gauss. For those waiting for it Next Week's Ask Gauss is going to be about what you think "Mists of Pandaria" is all about. As always send in your ideas by Thursday night. Enjoy what is left of your weekend everyone!

The Fate Of Calia Menethil

It is Friday, Friday.... Ok that wasn't funny and probably gave a lot of you nightmares, and you haven't even slept yet. It is Friday though, which means it is time for the weekly reader post. You know the post of the week where all of you send in your thoughts or ideas for the topic given to you. This week I gave you all the topic of what happened to Calia Menethil, because I know like me, a lot of you are interested in the lore of the game like myself. So lets see what everyone is thinking about this shall we?

There is a SI:7 agent named Calia Hastings. To my knowledge there is no other character in lore with the name Calia and she very well could have changed her name when she crossed the ocean with Jaina during the Third War. I know it seems far fetched that a princess would be secret agent, but it wouldn't be the weirdest thing that has happened.

In the Arthas novel when he is running out of Lordaeron through the secret tunnels he reflects on the other people who knew about the tunnels his mother, father, Faol, Uther, and his sister Calia. He says they are all gone. I know it isn't the best answer, but maybe she was killed during the chaos and that is everything there is too it. This doesn't mean she is not an undead somewhere, but something to think about.

Maybe she actually was taken by Deathwing the person she was about to marry. He is hiding her somewhere as his trump card hostage. Deathwing is the kind of dragon that thinks everything through and always has some sort of backup plan. This could be his diamond in the rough. He is about to be defeated and he shows his cards.

There is a girl in a house where Aliden Perenholde the former leader of Alterac. The girls name is Elysa, but there never really is any story to her. I just feel that every time I have done this quest there is something special about this girl. Perenholde really has no good feelings towards the Menethil because Arthas' father stripped him of his title and kingdom. So there is chaos going on during the Third War Calia runs and is kidnapped by the syndicate. Sounds like it could work to me.

Everyone keeps saying Sylvannas is on her way out some how. I am not sure I believe that because there would need to be someone to replace her. Well what about the true heir to the throne of Lordaeron? That would be Calia Menethil. Many if not all of the forsaken have strong ties to their roots they respect their heritage and having their princess or now their queen back would mean the world to all of them. If someone was going to step forward and take Sylvannas job I couldn't think of anyone better to do so.

There you have it. Thanks to everyone who submitted something . I read every single submission even if I do not post it on here. This weekly post could not be possible if all of you did not help with it. If you would like to participate in next week's post look during Sunday's Ask Gauss post for the next topic, Till then enjoy your weekend everyone.

Possible Hero Classes

So I really don't think we will see Pandaren be a playable race. The reason is for this to work both sides Horde and Alliance would have to get the opportunity to play as them. This would mean creating a neutral faction something Blizzard has said in the past they don't really want to do. The other reason being not as convincing being there were new races with BC, a new class with Wrath, and new races with Cata, so logically you would say Mists of Pandaria would bring a new class.

So on that idea lets have a little speculation. The last hero class that was put in was a plate wearing melee or tank. So my guess would be the next hero class would be a leather or cloth wearing Range DPS or Healer. Making a hero class that is a healer could accomplish the same ideas why they wanted a hero class as a tank. This would increase the amount of healers in the game. So with this in mind we have 2 possible hero classes which I would assume the Pandaren's would some how teach you to be, since we will not be playing them.

Monk or Brewmaster. A monk would accomplish the healer roll, but would be melee DPS, which doesn't really fill the range roll, but a melee healer wouldn't be an awful idea. The Brewmaster is what Pandaren's are know for more than anything else. If anyone remembers the Warcraft 3 hero he had some kickass DPS with his Earth, Storm, and Fire split. Think talent trees it could work the same way one of them most likely earth being the healing tree. Having a non-Pandaren Brewmaster might be weird, but could still be doable. If I had to choose it would be the Brewmaster. Everyone who thinks Brewmasters would be no something which would scare the enemy at all. Let me remind you of the greatest of the Brewmasters

Mists Of Pandaria

So this document was "leaked"

So before people going all crazy this is the same process Blizzard went through with Cataclysm and Wrath. So this is going to be the name of the next expansion. So what does this mean? Well it means that we are finally going to see Pandaren. But in what sense?

Well I don't think that Pandaren will be playable. What I do think is after Deathwing meets his maker and how everyone thinks that N'Zoth will be in this expansion and some how I think he is going to be the link from this expansion to the next one. Either he will be a boss in an instance kind of like Ruby Sanctum or someone connecting to him. After the fight we will Azshara will be introduced some how down south in the islands. She shows up there in Pandaria and I think Chen Stormstout will come back to Kalimdor and asks for help from the Tauren and Night Elves and that brings us down Pandaria where we will fight Queen Azshara as the big Baddie for the expansion.

So that is my guess just thinking off the top of my head what may be on our plate.

You Fail At Overreacting At Something Going Into Another Game If...

Happy Fail Day everyone! You know the day where it is time to feel better about yourself, because someone else is doing or has done something to make you look amazing. I know it is like the very culture of humanity to celebrate such things, which is why I believe Fail Day is such a success. Today my topic is an interesting one because it has to do with something that was announced is going to be in Diablo III. That being having an auction house that you can buy things with real money. Ah yes, so now everyone thinks that this would instantly be put into WoW. There you have it instant topic! So here goes

You Fail At Overreacting At Something Going Into Another Game If...

• You think this would some how be a bad idea
• You believe the gold spam and farmers are a great part of the community
• You don't think people spend real money on the game anyway
• You think Blizzard is only in it for the money
• You don't see this as an easy way to make a quick buck off of idiots and morons
• You think buying things off the auction house in WoW would actually give you an advantage over people
• You believe this is more about spending money then making it
• You have no economic insight or background
• You believe such an implementation would be bad for the in game economy
• You believe this will increase the number of gold farmers
• You pull out the "I already pay a subscription" line anytime real money is mentioned
• You say you will quit the game if this is put in and you actually think people will care
• You don't think your mom will increase your allowance so you can buy the newest "of the whale" gear
• You believe you have to take part in it

and finally

• You think just because something is in one of Blizzard's games it is going to be in another

There you have it this week's edition of fail. Hope you all enjoyed it, and are done going nuts about it. Good luck this reset in whatever your plans are.

Epic Blue TIme

Happy Monday everyone! So it is Monday and it does mean it is time for a machinima. Today though I thought I would share something with you all which makes forum reading exciting and entertaining. Myndflame has decided to create videos known as "Epic Blue Time" with the purpose of reading them with his voice acting. Now if you don't know who Myndflame is well first off you might live under a rock if not then let me remind you. He did the Roflbear series, illegal danish, that retarded lion, theory of a deathknight, and so on and so forth. So if you are looking for an entertaining way to take in the blue posts from day to day I say this is by far the best way to do it. Here is him reading some hotfixes.



Hope you all enjoyed it.