Breakfast Topic: Looking ahead to patch 3.3
WoW.com — ... Filed under: Patches, Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Virtual selves, Breakfast topics, Raiding, Leveling Breakfast Topic: Looking ahead to patch 3.3 originally appeared on WoW.com on Sat, 24 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

WoW Insider Show Episode 113: LFG with a vengeance
WoW.com — ... We had a fun show as always on our podcast last Saturday -- Gregg Reece joined Turpster and I to talk about the most popular stories of the last week. We talked at length about Hallow's End and how it's going for everybody, the new LFG system coming to patch 3.3 and what to expect in there, as well as last week's developer chat on Twitter and whether or not Blizzard should do it again. And of course we answered your emails, and actually went longer than I think we ever have before. Not three hours long -- we're only doing that if we ...

The best of WoW.com: October 20-27, 2009
Joystiq — ... It's a great time to be a WoW player -- Hallow's End is in the air, patch 3.3 is being tested, and the Cataclysm expansion is slowly revealing its secrets to us. Heck, Eliza Dushku is playing World of Warcraft, why aren't you? After the break, ten of the most popular stories from Joystiq's Azeroth-obsessed sister site, WoW.com. If you haven't ever visited the biggest MMO around yet, now might be the time to finally take the leap. ...

The indomitable LFG chat channel
WoW.com — ... The first thing I thought when I saw the new LFG interface coming in patch 3.3 was what I said on last week's podcast: that's cool, but where's the LFG channel? If you remember way back during patch 2.0.1, when Blizzard originally released the LFG system, there was quite a clamor raised when they took away the LFG channel then, so much so that they eventually had to resurrect it. And so, when I saw in the latest patch notes that the LFG was set to return as a citywide channel, it didn't come as a surprise at all -- even in the new era of ...

Phat Loot Phriday: Jeweled Fishing Pole
WoW.com — ... If you're planning on heading out to join the Kalu'ak Fishing Derby in patch 3.3, you might as well look good doing it, right? Name: Jeweled Fishing Pole (Wowhead, Thottbot, Armory) Type: Rare Two-hand Fishing Pole Damage: 410-610 / 3.00 (169.3 DPS) Attributes: 1603 Feral Attack Power. Yes, it's true. Just in case you druids leave this on while in a different form. Requires Fishing 300, which as we've said before, isn't too hard to do. ...

Breakfast Topic: The ninja problem
WoW.com — ... that barely helps -- even if people do remember a ninja on their server, one name change later and they're gone. A few guildleaders over on Jubei'thos have tried putting a site together to track known ninjas on the server, but even that has issues; it's tough to avoid false positives, even if you do require screenshots. But surely there must be a solution, so let's put our heads together: a debuff? Something like the group vote-kicking system that's coming in patch 3.3? If Blizzard wanted to really go for fair, they could just take the ...

The best of WoW.com: October 27 - November 3, 2009
Joystiq — ... to guide them. You can read all about that fight, the new patch, and other popular stories in the World of Warcraft on our weekly roundup after the break. ...

The argument for paladin stances
WoW.com — ... Righteous Defense lays out an intriguing argument for an idea that I still personally can't get behind: paladin stances. The recent changes around patch 3.3 have shined a light on paladin versatility, and basically, paladins are forced to pay the hybrid tax three times over -- because they can do it all without limiting themselves, they can't do anything as well as other classes. So RD makes the suggestion: instead of letting paladins have all of their spells under any aura, it's time to narrow things down a bit. Devotion Aura becomes tanking stance, ...

The best of WoW.com: November 3-10, 2009
Joystiq — ... It's been a big week in the World of Warcraft -- aside from both the impending patch 3.3 release and the onset of the game's fifth anniversary (yes, it's been almost five years since Blizzard brought their MMO online), Blizzard has finally done something that many thought they would never directly do: start ...

How Blizzard used the dungeon system to change Oculus
WoW.com — ... ), but that's still weighted towards what instances you've already done. We may see more changes coming to current dungeons depending on what kinds of information Blizzard gets after the patch 3.3 release. ...

Advancing the battlegrounds
WoW.com — ... coming in patch 3.3, we haven't done much thinking lately about that other form of group play in the game, battleground PvP. But Cassandri at HoTs and DoTs has, and she ...

WoW Insider Show Episode 117: Classing up the place
WoW.com — ... We had a great show this past week -- Michael Sacco jumped in via dialup from his country home to join Turpster and I to talk about the most popular stories in World of Warcraft over the past seven days. We talked about Mr. T and his mohawk grenade, how the new tier 10 system will work in patch 3.3, the beautiful axe that is Shadowmourne, and what it means for weapons coming in Cataclysm. Plus, we answered your emails (including wishing one of our listeners a happy birthday), and we even played two ...

New Perky Pug animations
WoW.com — ... , which you will be able to obtain in patch 3.3 by running pickup groups with random players (the current guess on the pet is running with 100 random players, but of course we won't know for sure until it appears on the live realms). The first few animations in this video just look like the Pug has been tweaked a bit (looks to me like that weird leg thing got fixed), but the last animation is definitely new. MMOC suggests you might not want the pet any more after you see it doing this, but I guess Blizzard wanted to go for realism. ...

Patch 3.3: Fishing pool guarantees and what it means for the market
WoW.com — ... Wryxian has written a book on fishing over on the forums -- he originally responded to the thread with a quick link that affirmed in patch 3.3, you will never ever catch trash from fishing pools, regardless of your fishing level. If you put the bobber in a pool, you'll get what you're supposed to, no matter what (presumably to allow even low level players to do the fishing quests). But players have problems with that. First, there's the old issue of things always getting easier as the game changes -- people are complaining that they had to level with missed ...

The best of WoW.com: November 24 - December 1, 2009
Joystiq — ... Patch 3.3 is just around the corner in the World of Warcraft, and WoW.com is there as usual: we've got lots of information about what's coming in the new patch, including the new Icecrown raid instance, the cross-realm Dungeon Finder system, new loot and gear, lots of class updates and changes, and of course lots of new achievements and quests. Hit the break below to read ten of our most popular posts from the last week -- whether you're a new player or just coming back for the game's fifth anniversary, we've got something for you. Continue ...

Val'anyr destroyed after lost bet
WoW.com — As you may have noticed, there was no patch 3.3 this week, which means the guesses are starting to be wrong. Way back in October, we guessed that the patch would drop sometime in the next three weeks (on Tuesdays, of course), but Matt "Matticus" Low was an outlier -- he said in the aftershow of this podcast that the patch would drop on December 1st. In fact, he said he was so sure that he'd shard his legendary mace Val'anyr if it didn't. Of course, as you now ...

Guildwatch: "You guys raid like little girls"
WoW.com — ... Ok Blizzard. We give up. Patch 3.3 can come out now, please. Guilds are cleaning up even the Tribute achievements in Trial of the Crusader, and pretty much everybody is just sitting around waiting for Icecrown to drop. Even drama is taking a break -- with plenty of loot to go around and everyone getting what they want, nobody is actually fighting any more. Where's our crazy ninjas and raiding breakups? We need to get some new progression content, and soon! ...

Jeff Kaplan on WoW development: "We debate like crazy"
WoW.com — ... a look inside Blizzard's design process. What's probably most interesting is that it's very fluid and very dynamic -- just as much as we're arguing on this site and on the forums about how Blizzard should do things, they're also arguing and going back and forth behind the scenes. He does talk specifically about cutscenes, saying that the Wrathgate scene was an experiment that paid off well, and we should expect some more of that kind of storytelling even as soon as in patch 3.3 (you may have seen it before if you're checking spoilers). And he does talk ...

Tank opportunities in the late endgame
WoW.com — ... I've been tangling with the tough issue of tanking again lately -- I have finally leveled up my paladin to 80, and ideally, the plan is to jump in as a dual specced tank and healer when patch 3.3 hits. All LFG all the time, eventually headed to higher level raiding. But ...

WoW Insider Show Episode 119 with special guest Mary Varn
WoW.com — ... Our podcast was live on the air as usual last Saturday, and the show is now up for your listening enjoyment. Artist Mary Varn was aboard to talk with us about her comic and her Warcraft career, and Matt Low of World of Matticus also jumped on to chat with Turpster and I about the latest WoW news, including the impending patch 3.3, the recent server outages, and the Taiwanese player who picked up all of the achievements in the game (which, probably not entirely concidentally, is the subject of Mary's comic today). ...

The best of WoW.com: December 1-8, 2009
Joystiq — ... It's patch day again in the World of Warcraft, and that means there's a whole bunch of upgrades and updates and brand new challenges, quests and things to do in the most successful MMO ever made. Joystiq's sister site WoW.com has all the patch 3.3 info you'd ever need, from ...