Filed under: Raiding, Bosses, Two Bosses Enter

Technically, this week, it’s “two bosses leave” because we’re wrapping up two separate fights. First up, Kel’Thuzad vs. Archimonde. This was a close fight, with a 14 votes (out of a total of 2508) separating the winner from the loser. As you might guess, opinions on the article were quite varied, with little consensus as to who would win or why — but in the end, 14 more voters felt that Kel’Thuzad would be victorious.

Our next fight pitted Vaelastrasz against Illidan — and this one was pretty clear cut, with Illidan getting a comfortable 67% of the vote. (Though there was a good amount of debate over the fairness of the abilities included for consideration, both Vael’s Burning Adrenaline and Illidan’s Shear.) Tragic, really, as I was rooting for Vael. (As commenter George M. noted, “Vaelastrasz destroyed Guilds. True story.”)

If you enjoyed these fights, the next is set to be just as dramatic! Check back later to voice your opinion on the Twin Emperors against Chromaggus. (And check our brackets for the upcoming fight schedule.)

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, PvP

The AFK problem has been with us for a long time now, and ever so suddenly Blizzard has decided to step up and enforce a new form of punishment on their side, to take away honor and PvP rewards from people who have been reported AFK a lot. Definitely this is an improvement, and it should help to discourage this unfair practice, yet at the same time it’s not a true solution.

As Drysc said, the problem isn’t just a matter of punishing people who break the rules, it’s finding out why they are doing this, and change their incentives, so that they don’t want to break the rules in the first place. Our reader Aviel has some insights as to why people AFK and how to fix it, and she (or he) has posted her excellent analysis on the official WoW forums.

In short her argument is that, while Blizzard is trying to develop PvP content that is “fun, competitive, and compelling,” players are generally making “game theory” decisions, about how to maximize their honor gain in the time they have to play. Fun is definitely an element, but overall, if people can’t earn enough honor to make their time worthwhile in a particular battleground, they will quit or seek alternatives. She points out that as long as honor is a kind of currency to be spent, people will choose the method with the easiest honor gain over the one they enjoy most (which can lead to get-rich-quick schemes such as AFKing). She leaves her solutions to this problem for the Suggestions forum (though I could not find her actual post there), but posters in that thread share some ideas, and there are many other player suggestions out there as well. Of course Blizzard is tight-lipped about their own solutions so far, but we can rest assured that they care about the issue and plan to do something about it.

Continue reading AFK punishment is still just a band-aid

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Filed under: Fan stuff, Blizzard, Contests

During the winter holiday season, Blizzard challenges us to get our bake on. While thousands hop into the kitchen and design elaborate WoW-themed sweets, only a handful or two will rise above the rest for recognition and lootz.

This year definitely did not disappoint. Blizzard chose the top fifteen designs, and is now displaying the winning submissions, many of which are not only creative, but display baffling skill. I wonder if they were all edible.

It was definitely difficult to pick out a personal favorite, but I think I’m going to have to choose Leyine’s refreshment table. Although it likely was not the most complicated design, it struck me as the most fun.

Which dessert would be your pick? What criteria did you use when deciding; creativity, difficulty, overall appearance, or some other?

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Filed under: Tricks, WoW Insider Business, Features, Guides

Every week, we round up all the great work of our weekly columnists here at WoW Insider, and put it all in one big post for your perusal. From funnies to serious strategy, and cooking recipes to disenchanting tips, here’s all the weekly columns from the last week of WoW Insider.

Sunday Morning Funnies: Giggles
Buffly!

Spiritual Guidance: Mind Vision of 2007
Marcie takes a look into the past year of priesting.

Addon Spotlight: Recount
DPS meter done right.

All the World’s a Stage: Something to remember me by
Putting those quirky touches on your own characters.

The Art of War(craft): Outdoor PvP, part II - an Outlandish war
Fighting in the expansion and how to do it.

Officers’ Quarters: The right stuff
Just what does it take to join the ranks of officerdom? Scott tells you.

Reader UI of the Week: Slazareth the Moonkin
My god. It’s full of addons!

Build Shop: Mage 10-47-3
This is what they mean when they talk about nuke mages. Fire at will!

Raid Rx: Pigeon-holing healers
Marcie breaks down the stereotypes on the various healers you can choose from when raiding.

15 Minutes of Fame: Noor the Pacifist
Leveling without killing? Good luck.

Shifting Perspectives: When am I outside?
When it comes to spells and mounts, the definition of “outside” gets a little weird.

The Light and How to Swing It: Year in Review
Paladins in the past year.

Guildwatch: Caught redhanded, but too late
Your weekly dose of guild gossip, progress, and recruiting news.

World of WarCrafts: Kibler’s Bits
Tasty tidbits for the feline (or canine) in your life.

Tales from the Lion’s Pride Inn: Cap’n Blain
Now here is a man who looks like he knows what he’s talking about.

Encrypted Text: 222223, or how to level 1-20 as a Rogue
I have no idea how Elizabeth knew I had SS mapped to the 1 key, but she’s right.

Well Fed Buff: Maiev’s Grudge
Revenge, like this dessert, is best served cold (all right, it’s best served lukewarm, but the saying doesn’t work as well that way).

The WoW Insider Show episode 19: Looking back on 2007
Our podcast examines the WoW year that was.

Blood Sport: “Locks OP as hell,” says top Warrior
An interview with an Arena player.

Gamers on the Street: Patch? What patch?
Lisa talks to a few people who didn’t completely read the patch notes last time around.

Totem Talk: We were not prepared
It’s been an angry past year for Shamans.

WoW, Casually: The Year of the Casual
Robin looks at casual WoW playing in 2007.

The Care and Feeding of Warriors: Saying hi to the new boss
Pushing for progression isn’t easy– especially when you’re the one staring down the big monster.

Insider Trader: A disenchanted profession
Why we’re so enchanted with disenchanting.

Phat Loot Phriday: Galgann’s Fireblaster
Wait, there’s an actual reason to go into Uldaman? Who knew?

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Filed under: Items, Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Blizzard, Raiding

Blizzard has a torrid history with the Legendary items in World of Warcraft. The first such item to raise a stink was probably Ashbringer, the sword of Highlord Mograine of the Scarlet Crusade. Though stats have been found in the game (and a Corrupted version is available), the item itself isn’t obtainable by players at all (though it still may be in the future). And reader Scott recently brought another one of these not-quite-Legendary items to my attention: the Skull of Gul’dan. This is probably one of the most powerful items in all of Azeroth– it’s been used to close and open the Dark Portal, it’s responsible for tearing apart Felwood, and it turned Illidan from just an emo elf into a superpowerful demonic badass. And yet, it’s no more than a rare trinket in the game.

Shouldn’t an item with that much legend behind it be called Legendary? Illidan’s twin blades are labeled legendary, but they’re hardly the stuff of modern legend– Illidan took them from a doom guard commander 10,000 years ago, and they’ve done nothing but sit in his whirling hands since then (heck, they couldn’t even take down Arthas). I agree with Scott– there’s no reason those blades should be Legendary when the skull isn’t. Sure, the skull might not be as powerful as it used to be, but it’s still got a load of legend behind it.

And the Legendary debate isn’t over yet, because there is one more big item looming on the horizon: when we head to Northrend, we’ll all, Horde and Alliance alike, be looking to find the item that kicked off this Arthas trouble in the first place: Frostmourne. Will that be wieldable by players, or labeled Legendary? If Blizzard’s previous experience with Legendary items is any indication, the answer may not be what you expect.

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Filed under: Machinima, WoW Moviewatch

Selserene, the machinimator responsible for the fifth place entry in the Warcraftmovies Christmas Spirit Contest, has released a trailer for her upcoming machinima, In for a Penny. IFAP is a film noir that will be broken into two parts, consisting of the prologue, and the movie itself. However, you can enjoy her teaser trailer, which does not reflect on the entire movie, now!

Set in black and white, a sexy blood elf lady is watched by a gnome playing a piano. While it’s raining outside, she decides to get a little freaky in the bedroom. As a side note, while working on this scene, Selserene discovered that blood elf males are about as “equipped” as a Ken doll!

Previously on Moviewatch…

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Filed under: Expansions, Classes, Death Knight, Wrath of the Lich King

Many people are predicting that “everyone” will make a new death knight character when the new expansion is going to come out — so many that the world will seem full of them. While it is true that everyone may very well try out the first couple levels of the new death knight hero class, it’s not true that every server will be overrun with them. Here’s why:

The addition of death knights to the game is in many ways like the addition of blood elves and draenei in The Burning Crusade. Many people made new characters just to see the new zones, but many others wanted to level their mains through Outland first. Many of those players who tried out the new races only played up to a certain point and then stopped to go back to their main characters. We never saw a flood of draenei and blood elves outnumbering all other races of Azeroth, and for the same reason we will not see a flood of new death knights. There are different things to do in the expansion, and different people make different choices about which to do first. There may be a contstant stream of new death knights, maybe even a river sometimes, but death knights will just feel like the newest kid in the WoW class, not a plague of locusts infesting the entire town.

There’s also a huge difference between trying out a death knight, and choosing one as your new main character. Wherever death knights start out in the world may be a crowded area for a while, but most players won’t ever level them out of that starting zone. Unlike the Jedi in Star Wars, death knights are only one of many types of characters in Warcraft. Besides, the death knight play style and thematic mood simply isn’t going to appeal to everyone, in the same way that most WoW players today do not play warlocks, notwithstanding the fact that warlocks are undoubtedly a powerful class. Most players prefer to do healing, shapeshifting, stealthing, ranged shots, totems, or any number of other abilities that death knights will never have, and they will stay with their favorite classes and play styles. Some players, like myself, probably just won’t like their armor decorated with skulls all the time.

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Filed under: Screenshots, Around Azeroth

Uh oh. I think I just looked down. Reader Auralez of Hakkar (who sent us this rather dizzying shot) claims to have climbed up to the top of the gates of Ironforge to coax a pet squirrel down. Risking life and limb for an adorable animal? I’m sure it would have come down on its own eventually! (For those of you who aren’t afraid of heights, it’s also available in wallpaper size!)

Do you have any unusual World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? Because we’d love to see your idea of the best looking instance on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wowinsider.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next!

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Filed under: Warlock, Humor

We knew there wouldn’t be much of anything Warcraft-related at CES 2008 worthy of coverage here on WoW Insider, but we kept our eyes open as we scoured the show floor and had a chuckle to stumble upon the Warlock vehicle security systems booth. We don’t even want to know what it does to any intruders it detects. If more gratuitous gadgetry is your thing, hit up our sister site Engadget for a literal metric ton of CES news (including the best of the worst).

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, PvP, Breakfast topics, Battlegrounds

It hasn’t been long since Blizzard announced they were implementing harsher policies on Alterac Valley AFKers, but being as it’s the weekend and, I imagine, many people are using their off hours to get in some honor-grinding time, today we’re asking whether you think it’s helping. The change is already getting mixed reviews on the forums with responses ranging from “I won’t play AV anymore for fear of getting banned” to “Thank you, Blizzard! This is everything we wanted!” So what’s your opinion — is this change going to solve the problem of AFKers in AV or just cause new problems? Jump into AV for a while and tell us what you think!

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