A friend and former WoW player asked me a question yesterday that left me hemming and hawing: What's my favorite instance in Mists of Pandaria and why? I found myself looping about in circles, citing oddities that tickle my fancy and new fight mechanics that entertain. When it became apparent that I wasn't coming up with a firm response, my friend scoffed that perhaps Mists hadn't presented me with a scenario worth appreciating. "Aha!" I cried. "Scenarios!" And I launched into a lengthy description of scenarios, happily diverting his attention from the fact that, well, I can't seem to choose a favorite Mists instance.

Can you? Is there a Mists 5-man that rises to the top of your list as a favorite? I'll toss scenarios in there too, just to broaden the field. What about your favorite 5-man or scenario makes it enjoyable for you? Is it the setting, the music, the story? Or confess your greed: Is it more that the loot inside is your favorite loot?

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Filed under: Breakfast Topics

Spoken like a proper gamer, today's Breakfast Topic is less a question of "Are you starved for WoW time?" but rather "How much more WoW time do you need?" Let's face it, whether or not you take your recommended daily dose of dailies every day without fail, there's always more to do in Azeroth. WoW has arrived at that ripe, juicy stage that tempts even the most dedicated players with one more bite.

But despite the availability of a playstyle to suit almost every player's schedule, most players seem to end up wistfully pining for at least a little more play time. Do you? Do you feel that you have enough time to get into everything you'd like to try, enjoy, and accomplish in WoW? What would you do if you had more time to play? If you feel short on time, is that shortage a short-term situation, or is it simply the shape of your life right now?

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Filed under: Breakfast Topics

I can't find a banker's alt guild on the latest realm I'm playing on. That frustrates me, because I like to keep my banker free from guild ties and other characters' relationships while still enjoying a guild tag and a little camaraderie. But on this realm, apparently, bankers simply create vanity guilds populated by no one but themselves -- probably a wise idea, since then they can benefit from all those lovely, lovely guild bank tabs.

Some players create their own vanity guilds because they like having a guild tag over their heads. These players aren't groupers or joiners. Unreliable schedules or other circumstances keeps their WoW on single-player mode -– they like seeing all the hustle and bustle, but they aren't able to or prefer not to dive into it. Guild tags help these players feel more a part of the player population, with a "hometown" label and sense of identity that a guild provides.

Do you have any characters in a vanity guild? What was behind its creation: more bank slots, a way to indulge in a fun pun or clever concept name, a place to feel you belong? If you've had your vanity guild for a long time, have you found that it has slowly grown, accumulating friends and family members?

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Filed under: Breakfast Topics

You can never go back -- well, unless it's via the Caverns of Time or unless Blizzard ever decides to open classic-era WoW servers. Of course, Blizzard has already given a thumbs down to the idea. Really. No, seriously. Even so, many players continue to keep the candle burning in hope of rekindling a classic, expansion-locked WoW server.

Before you start cynically smirking about rose-colored glasses, consider this: There really are good reasons to love classic World of Warcraft. This is the content that made us fall in love with the game. It's what melted our hearts for Azeroth, offering some of the best and most enjoyable fights in Azeroth. Plenty of players still enjoy the classic content via retro raiding and more casual trips back for transmog gear.

The question is, do you miss the classic game so much that you'd play on an expansion-locked classic server? Would you perhaps even pay a special fee to unlock or subscribe to that experience? Remember, there would be no new talent systems or gameplay improvements, no new content or leveling curves. You'd start out with nothing but the original World of Warcraft experience, unlocking each expansion in a realmwide effort over time. It would be all old school, all the way, baby. Sound like fun? Sound like a grind? Sound like a fun grind?

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion

Loot, no loot ... Loot, no loot ... All this hullabaloo over the pixels our pixels wear. Frankly, the most confusing aspect of the whole equation to me is the fact that so many players leave themselves at the mercy of Blizzard's loot systems in the first place. That's not to say I feel those systems are unfair or that they haven't seen significant improvement over time. I think they're fine.

What I don't understand is why more players don't band together in guilds with flexible systems that help members beat the element of chance. I'm a fervent believer in the loot council system, of playing with folks who have your back. Shouldn't there be a home team advantage when it comes to staring down the RNG? Is looping back through the LFR on your own that much easier or more effective than running with a team that wants to see its members equitably and strongly geared, with friends who enjoy helping you snag your most coveted pieces?

What do you think about loot councils as a way of fairly distributing drops? If your guild uses loot council, have you been satisfied with the overall results? If your guild relies on another method, what about that method do you think makes it a better choice?

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Filed under: Breakfast Topics

Whew, we got the snark over with right up front in the headline -- because now it's time to get down to business. Sin'dorei-exclusive guild Selama Ashalanore spins Azerothian lore as tautly as any of the most stringent of the racial guilds we've profiled in recent weeks. "Out of character, Selama Ashalanore is a 'safe place' for lore-compliant blood elf roleplay," notes GM Tholmai Lightbreaker. "In many, many roleplay communities, blood elves are traditionally seen in a very negative light. In our guild, we are working hard to undo that image."

In character, members act out the lives of a group of like-minded blood elves devoted to the restoration of their people since their near extinction during the Third War. "Following the Third War, the blood elves have been caught up in Horde affairs in Outland, the Northrend campaign, the cataclysm, and, most recently, the events in Pandaria," Tholmai explains. "They've barely had a chance to recover. Our group acknowledges this and works round the clock for the Horde agenda, as well as to restore glory to their ancient people."

Can Selama Ashalanore members manage to maintain a sense of levity about the notorious reputation of their race while remaining focused on their compelling racial lore? Oh yes, they can -- and then some.

Read more →

Filed under: Interviews, 15 Minutes of Fame

Life happens; we all get that. But should your life be happening to the 24 other people in your raid group? We (and your 24 raidmates) think not. After all, if you're here to play World of Warcraft, why do you keep going AFK?

The need for and the etiquette of going away from the keyboard (AFK) was stronger in WoW's earlier days. During classic WoW, 5-manning places like Blackrock Depths was an all-night affair. Players were more forgiving of a quick dash to the bathroom, and groups doing longer content tended to schedule natural breaks along the way. Today's WoW is a much more terse affair. Scenarios, group instances, and raids are likely to be over long before your bladder is. It's not so difficult to simply plan ahead or wait for a group to come to a natural conclusion.

Yet people don't always do that. Like That Guy who's always texting and checking his Twitter feed instead of looking you in the eye during a conversation, That Guy in game is likely to wander AFK just when you need him the most. Tuning out the people you're with, online or off, simply is not socially acceptable behavior. (You've heard what they're calling those tuned-out types who'll be wearing Google Glass, right? It's not a complimentary term.)

The best way to handle going AFK is to avoid it in the first place. For the rest of those moments when something comes while you're grouping that's beyond your control, let's look at the best ways of managing the interruption and getting you back into the game.

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Drama Mamas

It appears that WoW Insider's illustrious editor-in-chief Alex Ziebart is afraid of bears. While acknowleding their real-world badassery, he still seems confounded by their power.

Bears should not be stronger than dragons!

- Alex Ziebart (@AlexZiebart) April 24, 2013

Bears? Really? But players chimed in: Bears are notoriously tough, from Azeroth to Earth and other worlds online. I'd agree that bears are tough cookies and I give them wide berth, but they don't inspire the same fear in me that skeletons do. There's no getting around the unnatural aggro radius of even a garden variety skeleton. Oozes are like that, too; my head tells me I'm not afraid of them, but they aggro and gank me in some pitiful, overbalanced way every single time.

Confess: Is there some type of monster you're irrationally afraid of and avoid on principle, no matter what level it might be? Is it unique to Azeroth, or do you find that that particular beastie remains your nemesis in every game you play?

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion

A fantasy game like World of Warcraft doesn't have to stick too closely (or even at all) to the laws of science -- but oh, when the two worlds collide, players who love both can discover a true thing of beauty. That's how it came to pass that a zookeeper from Florida has created a taxinomical website outlining the biology of the wildlife of Azeroth. WoW Biology 101 offers curious players a scientifically grounded look at the creatures of WoW, both fantastical and based on reality.

"I think when we see these connections, it brings these worlds a little closer together and, for me at least, increases my enjoyment of both," notes Banya, a beast master hunter (because you knew that's what she'd play, right?) on Drenden (US). "My site is truly just flavor and a potentially different way to look at the game. When you're running around and see one of the awesome animals in game, my site would let you know how closely it is based off of a real-life animal. "

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Filed under: Interviews, 15 Minutes of Fame

Today is "Friday Dailies" for my guild, all ... day ... long. We're pushing for Daily Anticipation, the guild achievement for 150,000 dailies done. Sure, your guild may already have this achievement -- but it's not so easy to snag for a guild without a deep member roster.

We're close: 140,608 as of last night. And there's no way we do 10,000 dailies in one day, so a single, mind-numbing night of grinding is out of the question. Still, wondering when we might notch the achievement gets one ticking off one's fingers and wondering ...

Assuming you haven't stopped dailying around, how many dailies do you do every day? How many do you think you could complete in a normal-length (for you) play session if you really put the pedal to the metal? Which dailies would you line up first? If you were trying to do as many dailies as possible, is there somewhere you'd head outside of Pandaria to crank them out?

[Thanks for the topic go to Gimmlette, who I suspect is merely trying to remind me to log in tonight and, er, do my dailies!]

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Filed under: Breakfast Topics