- Things that were harder before13 May 2013, 8:00 pm
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, Cataclysm, Mists of Pandaria
I did a post this week about raiding in previous expansions and in vanilla WoW, and how people often say those raids were harder and my opinion that it is easily demonstrable that current raids are if anything more complicated than they have ever been. I frankly believe there is almost no room for comparison between the game at 60 and today in terms of raid complexity and difficul...
- The false memory of WoW's difficult past11 May 2013, 12:00 am
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Raiding, The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, Cataclysm, Mists of Pandaria
Vanilla raiding was not mechanically more difficult than current raiding. In fact, in terms of encounter difficulty, raiding in World of Warcraft has never been as challenging to remember and execute as it is right now. Fights like Lei Shen, Twin Consorts, Iron Qon, and Durumu ask players to learn mechanics and execute awareness at a level rivaled only by fights like Mimiron's Fire...
- World of Warcraft loses 1.3M subscribers since February, down to 8.3M8 May 2013, 10:00 pm
Filed under: Blizzard, The Burning Crusade, BlizzCon, Cataclysm, Mists of Pandaria
Today's Activision-Blizzard financial reports states World of Warcraft took a subscriber hit this quarter, losing 1.3 million players since February.
The loss brings the total number of WoW players down to 8.3 million, its lowest level since the launch of the Burning Crusade expansion in 2007. Subscriber levels have fallen by about a third since WoW's post-Cataclysm peak of 12 million subscribers. The loss is har...
- Incoming: 250,000 More Beta Invites 4.4.125 April 2012, 9:46 am
Bashiok postedThats right were in the process of sending 250,000 additional betatest invites to Annual Pass holders. Keep an eye on your email and......
- 100,000 More Beta-Test Invites(3.30.12)30 March 2012, 10:55 pm
Bashiok postedYesterdays 100,000 Annual Passholder betatest invites ran through the night, and were still in the process of notifying the invitees by......
- Dev Watercooler – MoP Looting Explained27 March 2012, 10:07 pm
Ghostcrawler postedHey, how about that landslide of Mists of Pandaria information? It has taken a few days, and will probably take a few more, for the......
- Deepwind Gorge: Simple strategy guide24 May 2013, 1:00 am
Deepwing Gorge is the newest battleground in the game, added in patch 5.3. At this precise point in time, it is not in the Rated Battleground rotation, thanks to some bugs, but it will return fairly soon. Nonetheless, this guide is intended for random groups, not for rated teams, who, with additional organization, will be able to execute more complex and precise strategies.
What are we supposed to be doing?
Good question. There are three mines, the Goblin mine, the Center mine, and the Panda... 
- Community Blog Topic: What's wrong with WoW?24 May 2013, 12:00 am
We've talked a lot recently about what's right with WoW. Whether it's the metacommunity, making with the stabby, lore, friends, etc., World of Warcraft keeps us coming back for more. But at the same time, 1.3 million people have left the game since February of this year. WoW still has the most active accounts over all other MMOs at 8.3 million, but people are leaving. Why do you think that is?
Many people complain about the dailies. There are so many and if you are a completionist, your daily ...
- WoW Moviewatch: Black Angel23 May 2013, 11:00 pm
While the song is most famous for its presence in Lost Boys, Legs turned it into the soundtrack for Black Angel in 2008. For all that it's full of gothic imagery and moody images, I still love the vision of 3 blood elf angels floating in mid-air. Call me a sucker, but it's still one of my favorite tiny bits of machinima. All that being said, this video is 5 years old. It's just amazing how time flies.
Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Movie...
- Elder Charms, LFR loot, and perception of the doubly random7 December 2012, 1:00 am
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Cheats, Raiding, Mists of Pandaria
One of the things I've noticed since Mists of Pandaria launched is rooted in a quirk of human psychology. The commonplace becomes expected, the expected becomes tedious, and what was once a reward seems less so. I'm talking about what happens when you use an Elder Charm of Good Fortune to get an extra roll on loot for a boss, whether it be in LFR or a guild raid, and you get extra gold instead of an item, or an item you alread...
- 5 tips for playing WoW with a baby on your chest14 August 2012, 1:00 am
Filed under: Cheats, Events, Humor
Seems like a lot of WoW Insider has spontaneously had a baby recently. OK, not spontaneous. A child isn't the sort of thing that creeps up on you. There's warning, is what I'm saying. You have time to plan. And that time's pretty important, because once your bundle of joy is in this world, things get a whole lot more complex. Like playing WoW.
I'm obviously not one of those folks who say you have to quit your gaming life the second you have a child, but ther...
- Blizzard issues official statement on Raid Finder exploit consequences6 December 2011, 8:00 pm
Filed under: Cheats, Blizzard, News items, Raiding
Earlier in the day, raiding group Paragon apologized for exploiting a bug in the Raid Finder tool that allowed their raiders to obtain loot from a boss more than once in a lockout period. Blizzard has followed up with a statement of its own, explaining that people who exploited the bug in a similar manner will be receiving temporary suspensions.
Raid Finder Loot Exploit Suspensions
Shortly after patch 4.3 was released, we became...
- Hearthstone's Secrets of Stranglethorn Vale23 May 2013, 10:00 pm
Filed under: News items, Hearthstone Insider
With all the excitement of patch 5.3, you may have missed this interesting little update from Hearthstone: a preview for one of the game board options, Secrets of Stranglethorn Vale. Not only is the artwork beautiful and appropriately atmospheric, but the description hints at a certain interactivity for the player.
If your opponent is taking a long time deciding their move for the turn, an interactive player board offers something for you to do while...
- Off-spec loot options, are you using them?23 May 2013, 7:00 pm
Filed under: News items
As we've mentioned before, one of the biggest changes to patch 5.3 is the ability to get off-spec loot in LFR. It has the potential to be a real game changer for players who occupy a critical non-DPS role. This means if you queue up for LFR as a tank, you'll be able to get DPS gear instead of tanking gear. And for tanks this is especially important, as they always seem to lag behind in DPS gear (while this might not help for a heroic tank having to go DPS, for everyone el...
- Blizzard soliciting feedback for pet battle changes23 May 2013, 12:00 am
Filed under: News items
Community Manager Crithto took to the forums, asking for feedback about changes to the mechanical and elemental pet battle families. As of right now, elemental attacks have both an offensive and defensive advantage over mechanical, making it imbalanced compared to the other families. Blizzard proposes to change which families both types of pets have an advantage against:
One set of changes proposes:
Critters would replace elementals in taking less damage from mechanica...
- Sunday Morning Funnies: Gratz19 May 2013, 5:00 pm
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Humor, Comics, Sunday Morning Funnies
Sunday Morning Funnies is your weekly list of WoW-related web comics.
Each week, SMF is placing a regularly updating WoW-related web comic under a spotlight. This week's feature is Gratz:
Gratz is a humorous comic by Lackinganame (Jason Nebeker). It is a relatively new comic, and family-friendly. It's fun and a great one to check out each week if you enjoy watching an artist evolve.
It began as a few character sketches a...
- Patch 5.3 is pending, but when will it drop?16 May 2013, 9:00 pm
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Humor
Now, don't pretend you're not already guessing. There have been several official Blizzard blogs, on the new scenarios we're expecting, as well as a general guide to how you can best prepare for patch 5.3, and what's more the devs have begun their latest round of interviews. The official World of Warcraft twitter account even went as far as tweeting to confirm that the patch wasn't landing on Tuesday May 14. So, all this being said, what's your prediction f...
- Sunday Morning Funnies: Fox Rain12 May 2013, 5:00 pm
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Humor, Comics, Sunday Morning Funnies
Sunday Morning Funnies is your weekly list of WoW-related web comics.
Each week, SMF is putting a comic into the spotlight. This week, the focus is on Kuo's Fox Rain:
Fox Rain is a WoW-related web comic surrounding the mysteries of the Scythe of Elune. Since October 2012, it has been undergoing a reboot. Although it is being redone in a different style and feel, the comic still features a WoW-inspired world.
The story fol...
