Noobs Of The Year 2011

Well it Friday, but not just any Friday it is the last Friday of the year. Oh yes that is right. Normally on Friday's it is the Reader Post and today is no different except that the topic this week is the Noobs of the Year. Something which has been done every year. Where you write in and tell me who they should be. So this is really a sit back and laugh moment if there ever was one.

5)Blizzard: Now when I read everything that people where complaining about in this one it actually made sense. They wanted to vote Blizzard for Noob of the Year because they believed they were making the game easier so they actually had a chance at them completing there content. In all the Blizzard votes though there was a special mention of Ghostcrawler. So if this was an award show he would come up and get the stupid looking statue.

4)All the people who bought Guardian cubs to make gold: I was actually surprised when so many sent in about this. Sure the market crashed and your money to gold conversion isn't even close to what it should be. But there are everyday people who waste money on lottery tickets and no one looks poorly at them. Hell the governments love them for participating in a voluntary tax system. But power to the people you all get #4 this year

3)Wally the Mage: Everyone loves Wally because everyone knows a friend who is like Wally. I guy who is so stuck in his ways that he will never give in even when he realizes how completely awful a player he is. It doesn't matter if he has enough hit for a level 90 boss. He doesn't believe he has too much hit so it is just the right amount. Your DPS meter must be wrong because there is no way I should be at the bottom. I have had the pleasure of group with this player on 3 occasions. Yes I know the world hates me, but that is just me. I have had countless emails and tells informing me of being graced by the person who will forever be known as Wally the Mage.

2)Tom Brady: No not the football player, well who knows it could be. This is a player who is the definition of a player you never want to have in your LFD or LFR group. This is the player that everyone is talking about who will ruin the system. I did one blog on how running with this player in Deadmines was more painful then getting my arms and legs sawed off with a steak knife, and you all have never forgotten.

1)Bagellord: He is the Icon of Noobs. There is no one to compared and for the 3rd year in a row Bagellord has been voted the Noob of the Year. He may not even play anymore or may even play a different toon, but that doesn't mean that what he stands for will ever be forgotten. Bagellord has more than any other noob in history sparked things in his honor. Special Kind of Stupid is a phrase coming from him just being around, every time you dive in water you remember that he couldn't, he has blogs devoted to his life, guilds named after his stupidity, and of course everyone has a deathknight they haven't leveled up without realizing is a tribute to the one only known as Bagellord.

So there they are. The noobs of the year chosen by you. I cannot say I was surprised and who was going to win, but could the Gauss Nation actually exist without that of Bagellord? I am pretty sure the answer to that question is no. This is the last post of the year so be safe and have a Happy New Year.

The End Is Near

So many of you may remember awhile back I did a post about a particular plant that seemed to be just a little too happy. That seemed to sing and smile too much for my liking. A pet that was so happy and so nice that it made you believe that one night you would wake up with a knife to your throat with its giant eyes looking right into yours. Many of you said I was crazy. Some of you agreed with me and my craziness. Today though our fears have come to the forefront. I give you this!

That's right. Someone was nice enough to send this to me and point out the fact that the flowers are now meeting and plotting their takeover of the world. And you all said I was crazy...

Common and Uncommon Mounts and Pets

Recently MMO champion has been doing these lists that show how common or uncommon particular mounts pets, and whatever else is for level 85 characters. Now they just did the lists, but I wanted to talk about them a bit. I would suggest you take a look at the lists before I start talking about them.

Mounts: Click Here!!!!
Pets: Click Here!!!!

So it shouldn't be a surprise that the most people mounts for level 85 characters is the Abyssal Seahorse since it is part of a quest chain in one of the starter zones. What should surprise you is that only just over 70% of level 85s have done enough of Vashj'ir to actually get it. The most common mounts there isn't really one that surprises me at all, and I think that is obvious since you see them all the time.

The Rare mounts on the other hand there is some surprises. Let's ignore the Darkmoon stuff because there has hardly been any chance at that. I knew the black AQ bug was rare, but I never would have guessed it would have been that rare. I guess this could be explained that characters with this mount may have never been leveled to 85, which to me would make more sense. Another mount that I am glad to see is the love rocket because compared to other holiday mounts this seemed to be completely non existant. So this proves it is not just my horrible luck.

On the topic of pets well I don't think mr chilly should be a surprise at all along with the pug since they are pretty much automatic. Once again the common pets are what you would expect since you know there are common and you see them all the time.

For the rare ones I actually was hopping some of the pets where the profits went to charity such as the cenarion hatchling and the moonkin hatchling would be higher. The big surprise in the rare list to me is the fox as it seems to be more rare than some extremely rare TCG pets. I guess those pet farmers complaining about the drop rate of this have a good argument.

I don't know about you, but when MMO-Champion does these lists it is always interesting for me to look at them. Trying to find out if I am in the normal group or outside the box or have found or using something not a lot of people have. That's just me though. I do know people will see these and change everything they do just to be like others or try and get one of the super rares. Just do me a favour and don't go mad.

You Fail At Complaining Someone Killed A Boss Before You If...

Well it is Tuesday and that can only mean one thing. It is Fail Day and it is time fore a laugh. Everyone's favourite day of the week where we feel a little guilty about laughing and poking fun at random people, but that doesn't stop us from laughing or pointing out who these people are. Oh the joy of it all. This week's Fail Day has a jealousy component to it. So sit back and enjoy because it is about to start.

You Fail At Complaining Someone Killed A Boss Before You If...

• You have never killed a current tier boss
• All your raiding has been done in LFR
• You used an excuse of being banned
• You go on and on about how they had more lockouts on past content
• You always point out how many legendary staffs are in their screen shots
• You start a rumor that they exploited
• You inform everyone that the GM in their screenshot must have helped them with the kill
• You start a conspiracy that a Korean guild had to be World First so that Blizzard could help get the Real Money Auction House approved there
• You say no one cares about anyone but Paragon
• You point out everyones ranking in Firelands that has killed more bosses then Paragon in Dragon Soul
• You went on and on about how the LFR exploiters needed to be punished then complained when they did because they didn't get their World First Kill

and finally

• You said it doesn't count because they are not from Europe

There you have it this week's edition of fail. Hope you all enjoyed it. As always here is a quote I thought fit well.

"A worthy effort... but futile."

Good luck on your new reset the last of this year.

Dragon Soul In Under A Minute

Happy Boxing Day. You know that crazy day when you are absolutely mad to go to the store. When anythng and everything is packed to the extremely and all laws of personal space are forgotten. Oh what a great day to be Canadian. So with it being Boxing Day and it being Monday. I thought I would showcase a machinima, which could deal with the time restraints you will have on a day such as today. This is a machinima done by FatboyTV which is a guide to Dragon Soul in under 1 minute. The hilarity factor is much higher if you have completed the raid itself. Enjoy!



That is it. Hope you enjoyed it. Good luck cleaning up your reset today!

Ask Gauss

Sunday and a Merry Christmas to you all. That is right it is Christmas to me and if it is not politically correct to say I don't give a crap because it offends me when people say Happy Holidays to me. So live with it. It is Sunday though and no matter what it means it is time for Ask Gauss so here goes.

What do you want Blizzard to give you for Christmas?

Well from Blizz all I want for Christmas is a Diablo III release date. Yes I know that is what everyone wants, but there is a reason for it. WoW wise I want Blizzard to not back down on their promise to give us PvE scenarios. I want a reason to explore the older areas of the game besides questions, and last time they were going to add something that made us go back they scraped it. Path of the Titans of you remember. So Blizzard if you cannot give me a Diablo III release date at least make me that promise.

Did you make the Naughty or Nice list this year?

Well let's put it this way. After going through all the emails I received this past year I got about 30% less hate mail. Now this could mean I am being nicer this year and people don't have to send me countless emails telling me that they hope I burn in hell. Now the other side of that is that people have finally realized I am not going to change so if I am going to say something I am going to say it. So when I make comments they are just that. So honestly I guess I cannot really make an argument for either side. The only thing I can tell say is expect the same answer from me next year.

If I said Happy Holidays to you what would you say?

I would inform you that the holiday is Christmas and don't you forget it, and shove your political correctness up your ass on your way out, oh then I would throw in a Merry Christmas :)

There you have it. Merry Christmas everyone have a safe and happy Day. If you missed it on Friday the next Reader Post is going to be your Noobs of the Year nominations. As always you have until Thursday night to get them in!

That Should Have Been A Movie!

Well Friday is here and it is 2 days before Christmas. I am done all my Christmas shopping, but just going out and about now is making me think I moved to Tokyo overnight. Being Friday though it does mean it is time for the Reader Post. You know the post of the week where I give you a topic and tell me anything and everything about it. This Friday is a special edition of the Reader Post, and it has nothing to do with the topic I chose. Which is about what part WoW you would have wished had a movie part to it. So why is this special then? The answer to that is simple. It is because I was busy to the max last week and didn't have time to put the post together. So basically I gave you all 2 weeks to contribute to this. So with that in mind let's see what you came up with.

I really think the Illidan death scene needed and still does need a cutscene. I complete understand that it wasn't the "End" of TBC, but he is Illidan he is the Hero that everyone loves, which is seen with ease with the popularity of him in the new Well of Eternity instance. Please Blizzard give the fans what they want.

I believe Uldum needs more cutscenes it obviously doesn't have enough. I really think there needs to be a close up every time you swing your hammer at a Pygmy. How is this not a good idea. Gauss you have some pull make it happen.

There really should be some sort of Tribute to Carine. Somewhere that you can click on like the Deathwing thing and see how he died. How he went down with an Epic fight that he was screwed out of the victory he so rightly deserved. So many people get so mixed up with the lore and assume that Garrosh just killed a Tauren who was already on his deathbed.

It would be really awesome if they did an entrance cut scene for the other races like they did with the Worgen and Goblins. I understand that it was a new thing they just started with this expansion, but it would be a great thing to go back and do for the other races some how. I think this would get people playing more toons and experiencing the game more as well.

I really think it would be a great idea if they added visuals to the journal. Therefore not just the explanations but the actual visual that goes with it. Maybe it is just me but reading never does it for me. I always find myself going to watch videos finding out everything anyway. Who knows maybe it is just me.

There you have it. That is it for this week's edition of the Reader Post, hope you all enjoyed it. If you are interested in taking place in next week's Reader Post it is the Yearly tradition of Noobs of the Year. So vote away and let me me know who is your noob of the year. Enjoy your holiday, I will be here Christmas Day for Ask Gauss.

KIN Raiders Speak Out

So if you didn't know KIN Raiders the Korean guild were able to take down Heroic Deathwing. The Deathwing encounter itself seeming much easier then the Spine Encounter. The guild themselves actually sat down and answered a few questions from Playforum, here are a couple questions I thought were interesting.


Q: The time you spent on Madness, compared to Spine, was rather short. How would you compare the difficulty between the two?A: Spine was harder. It was as if a huge wall was blocking your way. Every time you first encounter a difficult boss, you can naturally feel that way. For Madness, it was like "hey, this isn't so bad". As for the Spine, it was more like "we don't wanna repeat this next week..." But no matter what, the members that had to be on stand-by had to go through the most stress by far.


Q: In US & EU, many people are claiming that you used an exploit using SLT, which allegedly negates a debuff that lowers your health.A: Regarding that, we have received personal apologies from MMO-Champion and Paragon website (From the people that made such claims). At that time, I wasn't too concerned about it because I was focused on the next encounter. But when we finally release the video of our kill, all of the suspicions will go away.


Q: For this raid, class specs seemed very critical. Can you give us a word on that?A: For tanks, Paladins were far inferior to DKs and Druids. Thus, prot Paladins were benched. Also, enhancement Shamans and Hunters had to be benched for Madness encounter as the pets weren't attacking tendons. For healers, holy Paladins and resto Shamans were good. Other healing classes had to be on stand-by. And for caster DPS, boomkins had to be benched most of the time. I want to thank all of them for sticking around for the entire duration of the fights.

If you are actually interested in the the kill video of Spine of Deathwing you can see it here




So if I haven't said it enough a huge grats goes out to KIN Raiders for all of the hard work they put in. I know people are finding anyway to shoot them down because they are not the normal world first crew, but it isn't there fault that the likely suspects decided to exploit and fall behind. They did it and deserve the credit for it.

Z Nerfs

So if you didn't know or hear this happened

Zul'Aman

• Amani'shi Warbringer's damage has been reduced by 12%.
• Amani'shi Medicine Man's summoned Protective Ward health has been reduced by 60%.
• When an Amani'shi Scout is alerted, he now idles for 1 second before running to summon reinforcement.
• Amani'shi Reinforcement's damage has been reduced by 15%.
• Amani'shi Flame Casters' Fireball Volley now inflicts less damage.
• Jana'lai's Flame Breath ability now inflicts less persistent fire damage.
• In Dragonhawk form, Daakara's Flame Whirl spell increases fire damage taken by a lesser amount.
• Daakara's Creeping Paralysis now inflicts less damage.

Zul'Gurub

• Berserking Boulder Roller's Boulders now inflict less damage.
• Bloodlord Mandokir's Decapitate cooldown has been increased by 5 seconds.
• Gurubashi Shadow Hunters are now immune to Disarm.
• Gurubashi Shadow Hunter's Shadowed Shot ability now inflicts less damage.
• Gurubashi Blood Drinker's Blood Leech ability now inflicts less damage.
• Lesser Priest of Bethekk's Shadowflame ability now inflicts less periodic damage.
• High Priestess Kilnara's Wave of Agony now deals less damage.
• Jin'do's Twisted Spirit health has been reduced.
• Jin'do's Twisted Spirit damage has been reduced.
• Jin'do's Shadows of Hakkar now inflicts less damage.

So people are going nuts over these nerfs. Especially with a new raid instance out so you will outgear it even further. Now to the people who raid these nerfs aren't going to matter at all. They outgear the content and really will make the instance go by quicker. When you think about this it is what you want. You don't want to spend extra time to do something you just want to get your points for and be done with. So the question is, why nerf at all? Well that is simple. The Z heroics have been added to the normal rotation so people that were ungeared for them were getting placed in them. So you could have tanks and healers who were severely undergeared for them have to take a primary role. Now this is Blizzard's fault for not still teiring the heroics, and the nerf is an easy fix for them. It is also a nerf that really hurts no one because it is not current content and the players who are going to learn from these heroics are going to be the ones doing them for the first time, those being the players who are ungeared for them.

So with that all in mind before you go to the forums and typing in all caps think about why this happened in the first place.

Happy 1 year left to live.

You Fail At Christmas If...

It is Tuesday and you know what that means, Fail Day everyone's favourite day of the week. Isn't it wonderful that we can sit back and enjoy everyone elses failures, isn't the world great! This week since this is the last Fail Day before Christmas I decided to do a Fail Day special just for that. So just like always sit back and enjoy!

You Fail At Christmas If...

• You think it is called Winter's Veil in WoW has nothing to do with Political Correctness
• You break out into song with "You're a mean one Mister Greench"
• You try to wrap snowballs and mail them to your guildmates
• You don't change your mount into a Reindeer
• You have no clue who Metzen the Reindeer is the namesake for
• You don't buy stakcs upon stacks of snowballs and save them for random points throughout the year
• You complain about the quests being the same every year, but you have no problems putting up the same decorations every year in your house
• You don't have the mp3 of Greatfather Winter
• Oxhorn's Christmas Tree special is not part of your holiday special list to watch every year
• Winter's Veil sneaks up on you like the ending of White Christmas
• You learned the cooking skill just so every year you can make gingerbread cookies
• You upped your Ogri'la rep just to get the achievement needed for the meta
• You like fruit cake in WoW and outside

and finally

• You wish people Happy Holidays

And there you have it, this week's edition of Fail. Hope you all enjoyed it.

'Twas the feast of Great-Winter
And all through the land
All the races were running
With snowballs in hand.

The cooks were all frantic
And for those "in the know"
Swoops and owls were crashing
Like new-fallen snow.

Cookies and eggnog
Were consumed by all
As the snowballs flew freely
And drunks smashed into walls.

May your feast of Great-Winter
Be one merry and bright
And from all here at Blizzard
We wish you a fun night!

Good luck this reset. As the race to world first is over, but then you probably already knew that.

Oxhorn's Christmas Tree

Monday morning and it is offically less than a week till Christmas. So really how can you not be all fired up? If you are not though I am sure Machinima Monday will. When thinking about what machinima I would showcase today there wasn't much of a choice. Oxhorn has created many great videos of the years but this Christmas special is one of my absolute favourites. If you haven't seen it you are in for something that will make you laugh and that I am sure you will share with many others. So sit back and enjoy



Hope you all enjoyed it. Good luck this reset the last before Christmas

Ask Gauss

Sunday! It is that time again. It is as if a week just came and went and it is Sunday again. Well actually that is what happened. Sunday, what does that mean? Well simple it means it is time for Ask Gauss the Day of the week where I sit back choose some questions sent to me throughout the week and answer them. I know it is exciting isn't it! So without making you wait forever with my ranting let's just get to it.

So what are your thoughts on the Korean Guild getting world first Spine of Deathwing?

Well first off a big congrats to Kin Raiders for their achievement. They probably put in countless hours of work and I hope they are proud of their achievement. On what I think about them getting it? Well I think it is great for WoW as a whole. Now this isn't a guild that has came out of no where. They have been top 10 on almost all heroic kills, but regardless of that point this is important. No one wants to see complete dominance from one guild, although I am sure the one doesn't mind. It is not good as a whole when the best is always assumed, and everyone is in the running for second place. Look what happened to golf and Tiger Woods. Now I am sure everyone is saying only reason Paragon didn't get it was because of their temporary ban. This may very well be the case, but you cannot live in a world of what ifs. The more the better, a race is only a race when you don't know who is going to win.

So BattleTags, is this what Real ID was supposed to be?

In one word, yes. Blizzard wanted a way for anyone and everyone to be able to connect themselves across all their games and their forums. They didn't expect when they announced that Real ID would function in this way that so many people would go nuts. Now players will have no issue with giving out their battlenet tag. In fact mine is Gauss #1973. I have no problem giving anyone that. Giving someone your actual identity is a different story. Not just for the purposes that you don't want people to know your name because that is silly. In fact most people that know me in game call me by my real name. The issue was you wouldn't give random people your name just like you wouldn't give someone random on your street your name. So the forums was where Blizzard's dream of Real ID ended. This doesn't mean that Real ID is going anywhere it will just be an extension of the system. I am glad Blizzard will get their vision in their games even if it took longer than they wanted.

What happened to the Reader Post this week?

Well I was busy and had everything together, but wasn't able to complete it. So I will just be extending it to next weeks. Sorry for those looking forward to it.

There you have it, that is it for this week. Hope you got something out of it. One week to Christmas hope you enjoy it!

Diablo III Collector's Edition Pet

Well it was announced. What is really interesting is they have announced what the Diablo III collector's edition pet it, but they still haven't told us what the release date for Diablo III is. That in itself though is a topic for another day. So you all should know because you play WoW that every collector's edition Blizzard has sold for their games since WoW has been released has came with a bonus pet you can enjoy in Azeroth. You cannot enjoy pets in Outland because you are always scared for their survival since it is a massive flying meteor.

So with all of that in mind here is the "cute" little companion coming with the Diablo III collector's edit



So maybe cute wasn't the right choice of word, but regardless it is unique and something which screams Diablo. This may be my favourite collector's edition pet, but with frosty as a close second. What do you all think? Is it too much? Do you hate the collector's edition pets?

LFR Is Now Somewhat More Idiot Proof

If you had not heard many of the items in the Dragon Soul raid have now been reclassified for LFR purposes. The issue was that many players were unsure if an item was either and upgrade or if it was supposed to be used by them at all. And with how fast LFR moves it became an issue. This is the Blue Post on the matter.

As a part of the on-going evaluation of Looking For Raid and the loot system, we have recently implemented a change to the Looking For Raid Need Plus system. Weapons, trinkets, rings, neck pieces, shields, offhand items, and the Robe of Glowing Stone are now class-restricted to their intended users. With the speed at which a Raid Finder group moves through a zone, we’ve found that it makes it challenging for players to evaluate loot decisions – by class restricting these items, we hope that the natural behavior will have a more positive set of results for everyone involved. This change will not apply to normal or heroic raid or dungeon loot rules.


Raid Finder and Need Plus are both very new systems, and we’re working to iterate on these systems rapidly to ensure that everyone has the best possible experience as we learn more about how players are using the system. Please keep in mind that this system is not considered complete and we have further plans to improve upon it within Mists of Pandaria.

If you looted an item from Looking for Raid which replaced another and you need Game Master assistance to recover your old item, please place a petition with the new item name, that you can no longer use it - and the old item name you need restored. For more information on the affected items, please visit the Customer Support forums here- http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/3729953854#1

We apologize for the inconvenience.


So what does this mean? Well if you look at the list of items that are now classified by class I think you would be quite surprised that these items were ever in question. Seeing something like this always makes me think about the people rolling on such items. Now I understand that LFR is supposed to be at its core a way to get the now raider interested in raiding, and I agree this is a great way to do it. But there is a big BUT if you have absolutely no idea what kind of gear your class uses should you be raiding at all? If you don't know what stats are good with you, how will you understand basic concepts of DPS, stopping DPS, moving in and out of crap, stacking up, spreading out, and so on and so forth. Now you would think that a raid is the only place these people can learn such a thing, but I would say instances are the best place to learn these basics. I am of the opinion players like this would make the people who are first trying out raiding dislike it because it will not give them the experience Blizzard hopes for.

You expect there to be morons, idiots, and such and such in Heroics, and yes LFR is not going to be perfect, but Blizzard if they want to expand their raiding base of players have to do everything they can to deter players who will ruin the experience from new raiders from partaking.

You Fail At Transmogrification If...

Fail Day that is what day it is. You all know the day of the week where it is time to feel better about yourself because you haven't failed horribly at something. Or it could be the day where it is time for you to feel horrible because you are the person being poked fun at. Oh the hilarity of it all. This week's edition of Fail Day I decided to go with something new, because new things are the things that everyone messes up with.

You Fail At Transmogrification If...

• You Transmog the piece you are wearing to the piece you are wearing
• You are the one complaining about Heirlooms
• You think the costs are too steep
• You think it is stupid how you are not allowed to dual wield fish
• You really wish Karma wasn't such a bitch for all those times you laughed at the packrats
• You are farming "The Shoveler" because it is the greatest mace in the game
• You spend all your gold on actually transmoging the gear and deciding you don't like it instead of just using the dressing room
• You realize the months you spent farming that twill set was all for nothing
• You think people won't notice your colour blindness
• You think anything but the Bulwark of Azzinoth is the greatest shield in the game
• You are farming mobs someone told you a version of Garrosh's shoulder pads dropped off of
• You vendored all your gear in your bank before the patch came out because you had it with keeping it for this long and getting nothing for it
• When you ask "where is the transmog guy?" and someone says the ethereal you haven't a clue what he is talking about

and finally

• You're a Deathknight

There you have it this week`s edition of fail. Hope you all enjoyed. Finding a quote was easy this week had to go with everyone`s favourite Ethereal.

"I have such fascinating things to show you."

Good luck this reset newly nerfed spine of Deathwing on heroic.

 

Greatfather Winter

It is Monday and it is that time of year. The feast of Winter Veil doesn't officially start till Thursday, but to me it has already started. Many of you know I am a big fan of Cranius and his song Greatfather Winter has become a Christmas Classic for me just as was intention when he wrote it. So every year I get excited and every Christmas playlist I have includes this song. Of course their also is a great video to go along with it, but here it is Greatfather Winter. I will also include the lyrics so you can feel free to sing along.

Listen children young and old
Gather 'round and you'll be told
It's tradition every year
Winter Veil is drawing near
Listen up today's the day
Father Winter's on his way
Bringing with him treats and toys
Giving them to girls and boys

Greatfather Winter won't you bring
Something for my stocking
Something shiny something bright
Some goggles I can use at night
Greatfather Winter don't be late
For that day we just can't wait
So bring us lots of treats and toys
And fill our Winter Veil with joy

See the presents at the tree
A blunderbuss for you and me
Don't you cry and don't you pout
Don't you shoot your eyeballs out
Sip the eggnog try some cake
Find the Greench for goodness sake
Fly a reindeer 'cross the sky
Don't fall off or you might die

Greatfather Winter won't you bring
A Turbo-Charged Flying Machine
Some rocket boots that make me fly
And I just want a motorbike
Greatfather Winter won't you please
We're begging you down on our knees
So bring explosives and a gun
And then we'll surely have some fun

So grab your girlfriend just like so
And kiss her at the mistletoe
If you want some epic loot
Pick her up a winter suit
Buy a pint of Winter Ale
Drink too much and you will fail
Turn yourself into a Gnome
Send a stolen reindeer home

Greatfather Winter won't you bring
A Clockwork Rocket Bot for me
Something violent, something loud
Something to disperse a crowd
Greatfather Winter can't you see
We're excited as can be
So bring us lots of treats and toys
And fill our Winter Veil with joy

Now that you are in the spirit. Good luck this reset!

Ask Gauss

Sunday, yes that is what day it is. So if you are waking up and are hungover it is the morning after. Unless you had more than anyone and you in fact did miss Saturday. Being Sunday though you should know it is Ask Gauss. The day where I pick some questions asked to me throughout the week and have a go at them. If you are unsure how to ask a question it is pretty simple. You can click on the link on the top right of the page or just send the email directly to gaussafication@gmail.com. So let's look at what is on people's mind this week.

What are your thoughts on the Darkmoon Faire's new incarnation?

I think the idea behind it is great much better than the old way. My only knock against it is Blizzard has gone back to the super grindy style with this. I know they have tried to get away from this as of late as is easily seen in the fact you can do all your heroics in one day if you choose. I just think they should set a cap of what you can do each time the faire is in town and let you work towards that. I have no issue that rewards will take awhile, but just take away the everyday needs. In my opinion I really think it has to be one or the other and not both.

Have you seen the new Diablo III cinematic? And if so do you ever think we will see cinematics of that quality in WoW?

Well all I can give you to that answer is Yes and No. We do see epic quality cinematics of that quality in WoW. They are always revealed as the expansion cinematics. Do you remember the Deathwing cinematic when he broke out of the Maelstorm and destroyed the world? Now if you are talking about such cinematic in regards to trailers and in game cutscenes I really think this will never happen. WoW is an MMO and it is content based. We will continue to see Machinima style cutscenes and trailers. Blizzard already puts forth extensive work on an MMO and cutscenes as you are talking about bring nothing to the game. In a game like Diablo which is an RPG cinematics such as what you are referring to are an essential part of the game that helps progress the story.

Do you ever think there will be different difficulty options for the LFR? The content is just stupid easy on that level.

Honestly, it won't change. It is meant to be an entrance difficulty.

There you have it questions answered for the week. Hope you all got something out of it. For those waiting for it next week's Reader Post I want you to send in your ideas that a point in WoW if you could create an epic cinematic for it what would it be for? As always you have until Thursday night to get your response in. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, Monday is almost upon us.

Your Favourite Easter Eggs

Friday it is. The day of the week that you always look forward to. The day you find yourself staring at the clock wondering when it is going to tick over to quiting time. It is also the day where I hand the post off to all of you. This week I asked all of you to send in your Favourite Easter Eggs in WoW. So sit back and let see what everyone has found.

Some of the best are as follows. The bankers in Stormwind are Olivia, Newton, and John, and my favourite the Wing Commanders in Alterac Valley, Mulverick, Guse, etc.

"Clam Master K" in Borean Tundra makes me laugh all the time. Of course most people have forgotten that the dashboards of the shredders have a tiny display that shows the image of Kerrigan from the old Brood Wars box. Blizzard creates these I think for their older players.

It may be just me because I was a huge fan of the show but the hatch with a plaque reading "4 8 15 16 23 42" you find  in Sholazar Basin is pretty epic.

I am a huge Final Fantasy fan so maybe this isn't an Easter Egg but Aerith Primerose in Dalaran... Flower vendor to me was simply amazing.

In the Borean Tundra, there is a boar, Unliving Swine, that, when he attacks you, can give you Swine Flu. When you are Infected by the Swine Flu attacking has a chance to trigger an outbreak. Maybe it was too soon for the joke, but I thought it was awesome.

What about the ghosts of Lorderon? Thats a real easter egg. A throw back from the days when the city was assaulted and the alliance but up their best defense. In the end of course the city fell. If you have a warlock cast see invisible you can see the ghosts flying around the courtyard just outside the throneroom to Undercity. I loved waiting for people to walk by then cast the spell on them and watch them stop and look around in amazement. Of course if you sit still near the blood stain on the floor where the crown hit the floor and rolled (its near the throne to the entrance to Undercity) you can hear the ghosts of that cutscene replay (audio only) the scene that happened there. Its really wispy and creepy. One of the few places in WoW that can kinda creep you out once you realize it's there and hear it (it's kinda faint and hard to hear).

To me I have always thought Un'Goro was a giant Easter Egg. It's ALL Nintendo land. Mario and Luigi, who make you kill plants. dinosaurs could be yoshi, I believe it is the luigi guy who makes you kill the gorillas, which are donkeykongs, and who could forget Linken....

There you go that is it for this week's edition of the Reader Post. Thank you to everyone who submitted something as always this post would not be possible if you all did not take part. If you are interested in taking part in next week's post look for the topic during Sunday's Ask Gauss. Until then have a great weekend!

The New Abilities: A First Look

You may or may not know that at the Daily Blink lately they have being doing these comics where it is called "A First Look". Now what this series basically is, is a gag about the new abilities coming in MoP. They are beyond funny and make me laugh no matter how many times I read them. Some days like today I just need a laugh and I go to this one, which explains everything that everyone is always thinking about every other class in the game.

Is that laughing I hear? I thought so. If you are interested in this one and others you can see them all by clicking here. Keep on laughing, driving people crazy in LFR pointing out mistakes in the CoT instances and anything else you can possibly think of, because if you didn't it wouldn't be the WoW community! 

LFR Exploit

Well Blizzard decided to act on what had been going on for the first week of the LFR system. People who they have found out have used this exploit were given anywhere from a 3 to 8 day ban. What this basically has done is taken away a week of raiding from players in top end guilds and in turn has made it so the ground they have to catch up to attain world first kills is a substantial one.

Here is Blizzard's official statement on the suspensions

Shortly after patch 4.3 was released, we became aware that some players were abusing an exploit to obtain loot from the same Raid Finder bosses multiple times in a single raid lockout period (one week). The Raid Finder loot mechanic is of course intended to only allow a person to roll on boss loot drops once per raid lockout period. The raid lockout mechanic has been a mainstay of the World of Warcraft rules since Onyxia and Molten Core, ensuring that no one can obtain loot from a boss more than once per lockout. Due to the nature of the exploit and the clear intent of those who abused it, they've been issued notices and given temporary suspensions from the game. We’re also working to remove all Raid Finder items from those who used the exploit.

Some would say it was Blizzard's error and therefore the players did nothing wrong. That is like saying if someone left their bank card in the machine logged in it would be ok to clear their bank account out. Yes they were not the brightest for doing this, but the players in this case knew what they were doing was wrong and should have acted accordingly.
 
Paragon who is always under the microscope posted this apology on their website.

An LFR Apology

There has been a lot of misinformation going around, so to clear things up, here is a truthful account of what exactly happened with the LFR and what we have to say about it:

The patch hit EU servers on Wednesday. We started off with our 5x Firelands runs to wrap up legendaries and called it a night. For Thursday, we had an elaborate plan to run a personal LFR raid for every main character to get the maximum amount of loot.

As we were doing the first few runs, we noticed an unrealistic amount of tier pieces on some guilds' armory profiles, which we thought was unattainable through normal means. We started looking into it, and found out that you can loot passed gear from bosses, regardless of save status, if you zone out and back into the instance. This did not provide the raid with any extra loot, but it did eliminate a major portion of the RNG that would have been involved in simply doing personal runs for everyone.

We acknowledge that using this unintended behavior, which was quite clearly a bug, to our gain, was wrong. The fact that others were using it as well is no justification for doing it ourselves. We apologize for doing it, and accept whatever consequences follow.

This shows that the knew it was wrong and they did it anyway. This really shows you what guilds have been doing to get world first kills. in 4.2 entire guilds faction changed just to get a 1 week ahead of everyone else. There was no ban in that case and Blizzard had to change the system. Also the entire Lich King issue last expansion. Now is this because it is competitive or because the guilds feel they have to cheat because everyone else is? The whole steroid issue in some professional sports only time will tell. Until then I think anyone who exploited this should get what they deserve.

You Fail At Understanding The Cataclysm Ending Cinematic If...

Fail Day it is, and I promise today it won't be a rant. Have some real fails to take care of today that cannot go unnoticed. I want to say though there will be SPOILERS in this post if you have not seen the ending cinematic. So do not read it if you don't want to this to somewhat spoil it. Time to get to it.

You Fail At Understanding The Cataclysm Ending Cinematic If...

• You had no idea who the Dragon Aspects are
• You some how think when Thrall says "the Cataclysm is over" you lose the ability to do the Dragon Soul raid again.
• You think by power being expended means they are going to drop dead
• You believe they have no power at all
• You think they will now be stuck in human form
• You believe this some how makes it impossible for Nozdormu to become Murozond
• You think Alexstrasza impregnated Aggra for some crazy Christan reference
• You believe thrall is smiling because he is thinking "ya I tapped that"
• Your first feeling after seeing it is Kalecgos got screwed
• You believe they went with this idea because there was no one to be the Aspect of Earth
• You think this means anything that we kill now will not be as epic because we have no Dragon Aspects
• You some how believe this means that Old Gods cannot be killed because to kill their greatest minion needed 4 aspects that are now powerless
• You are making jokes that the age of mortals should be renamed age of pandas
• You think Nozdormu is bleeding to death when the sands are pouring out of him

and finally

• You think this was all caused because the Aspects took an arrow to the knee

Really only think there is one possible quote this week

"I can feel the elements awakening...rejoicing.. the Cataclysm is over"

There you have it. This week's edition of fail. Hope you all enjoyed it. Good luck on this reset also the first week that Deathwing will be Available in LFR let the failures begin.

The Beauty Of WoW - Glory Of The Horde

Monday morning. I know it is depressing. So this is why Monday is Machinima Monday. The day where you can take a few minutes with whatever you are doing and enjoy the machinima I am going to share with you. Ever since I showcased the explorer timelaspe video so many of you have been asking for another landscape video. Michellemag83 has been known for the beautiful videos made called the Beauty of WoW they concentrate on zones and the ins and outs of them and are extremely well done. If you are interested in that sort of thing I strongly recommend you check them out you will not be disappointed. I didn't choose one of those machinima those. I chose the "Glory of The Horde" you can guess which zones it takes a look at in this one. Hope you enjoy it.


Good luck on this last day before reset and probably some big LFR changes.

Ask Gauss

It is Sunday the day of the week where we try and forget what tomorrow will bring. It is also the day though that I get to answer the questions you have sent me throughout the week. We call it Ask Gauss here in Gauss land. To be a part of it is very simple just click on the link at the top right of the page or send an email to gaussafication@gmail.com. So time to see what is being asked this week.

So what is the best thing you have noticed about 4.3?

Well to me it isn't an instance or a raid or a piece of gear. In the Well of Eternity instance there is an Easter Egg that Blizzard put in that can only be described as epic. After you kill the first boss and Illidan leaves you, and you have a player with the Warglaives equipped he says the following "Curious Weapons you wield...such power. You seem prepared." Really how awesome is that. That may be the greatest Easter egg Blizzard has ever given us.

Being a Lore guy your thoughts on using the current Deathwing model for WoE?

I am kind of disappointed that they did go this way. I almost think that an overly large black dragon would be better than this model. I am sure most people who play the game don't even care about it, and this would be why Blizzard in their own words didn't think it was worth the additional resources. He really isn't the main focus of the instance so I understand why they wouldn't think it was worth it. Not that I am not disappointed in the decision, but I do understand their reasoning. For those who haven't seen it here is the blue response to the issue.

I know that this might be a bit tough to swallow for some, but the use of the current Deathwing model in that scene was a matter of efficiency. A ton of work went into 4.3, and we squeezed in as much as we could, but it didn't make sense to dedicate the huge resources it takes to create a custom model for that one cameo, and we were concerned that using a generic black dragon model wouldn't have the same immediate value of recognition.Modifying the Illidan model made more sense because you actually spend some time running around with him in the dungeon.On that note, I should point out that creating custom models actually consumes substantial resources, so they're precious to us. Tyrande didn’t have her own model for seven years, Sylvanas didn’t have her own model for several years, etc. We'd love to have custom models for every character, for every scene at every point in the timeline, but the resources simply don't exist to make that happen. In the meantime, we hope that players can use a little bit of imagination and still enjoy the dungeons anyway, even if a given model isn't always a perfect reflection of the character.

I grouped with a druid named Tom Brady yesterday...

This really isn't a question, but trust me a feel sorry for you.

There you have it questions answered for the week. As always if your question doesn't get answered on here I will answer it and sometimes that takes longer than expected. For those waiting next week's Reader Post is going to be about the best Easter Eggs Blizzard has given to us throughout the years. As always you have until Thursday night to get those submissions in.

Your Favourite Voice

Friday is here, which means it is time for the Reader Post. You know the post of the week where it is your submissions which make the post what it is. This week I asked you all to send in who you thought had the best voice overs in WoW. And not just tell me who, but why you think so. So shall we see what all of you thought?

I don't know if anyone can ever top Nexus Prince Shaffar from many tombs of all the raid,dungeon and instances I have been in this guy is one of the most gentlemanly bosses I have ever met! He is my personal fav as a boss.



Prince Kael'thas is the character who made quotes and voice overs popular, and even he outdid himself in Magisters Terrace. Out of any boss who has ever died there isn't one who has a death quote who can match his. All hail Kael'thas and his epic voice overs.



I do not think there is anyone more creepy or epic than C'thun. I will never tire of hearing his voice overs. It just simply is not a competition anyone else can win.



Who doesn't wish everything they said was in rhymes. The Headless Horsemen is by far the greatest voice over in the game. The only thing that sucks is he is only available around Halloween. He is the boss I always look forward to just because of his voice. I wish there were more that were as epic as he is.


How could anyone think there is a better voice than Algalon? Even when you are a part of the fight it doesn't feel a boss fight it feels like something completely different. I don't think anyone could argue otherwise especially when he says "See your world through my eyes". And then there is the speak of speeches which is probably the most epic thing ever said in Warcraft.



There you have it this week's edition of the Reader Post. As always thank you to everyone who sent in something. Regardless if they made it into the post or not I read them. This post would not be possible without your submissions. If you are interested in participating in next week's post look for the topic during Sunday's Ask Gauss post. Until then have a great weekend!

Dragon Soul End Cinematic

Ok first off this post is going to have SPOILERS. So if you don't want to hear about them or see the ending cinematic for Cataclysm please stop reading. I don't want to hear about how I ruined everything for you. I said it, but will say it again. This post contains SPOILERS. That word again was SPOILERS.

Here is the cinematic



So the age of mortals is upon us? Well I completely understand that this was the perfect point in time have to  the Aspects powers to diminish. Why you ask? For the simple fact that Deathwing is gone. The last tie in for the Aspects themselves. Now I think many people will misunderstand what them losing their power means. It doesn't mean that they are dead. They are still dragons and extremely powerful. They are like the other dragons that exist throughout the world. They now are not demi gods that can pretty much do anything. They have a lifespan, and will not live forever.

Also I very much enjoy that the mortal races will now just not run to the Dragon Aspects for help every time there is a problem. If you haven't realized the mortal races have done a lot to ensure Azeroth's survival. This now is the realization of everything, which has happened and everything the mortal races have done to make sure it has.

Thrall and Aggra having a baby fits nicely into the cinematic, but I am not sure it was needed. Not that I am against it at all. It basically comes full circle with everything that was done during the elemental bonds questline. I just hope Aggra isn't pregnant for years like Auduin seemed to be 8 for 5 years. As long as they don't mess this up it works.

And lastly, I think this really is a good way to be heading with Mist of Pandaria coming. Remember the entire expansion is going to be about the War between the Horde and the Alliance. With the Dragon Aspects not there to keep the mortal races in check both will be pushing back and forth to see who gains the power, and that leads us to the Pandarians who will teach us that balance is and always will be the most important thing.