Stop removing content. This deals with the old Naxxramas instance.   The old Naxxramas was a great dungeon. I’ve only been in once, but I could tell that it was a brilliantly designed tactics-heavy dungeon. It was also without a doubt the hardest dungeon in the game. The mob strength was higher than those in AQ40, so only players equipped with the highest end-game pre-BC gear had a chance. Coupled with its extreme focus on tactical precision, it was difficult for any guild, and remains difficult even with level 70s. That led to a decision to move the dread citadel to Northrend and restructure it as a 10-25 man raid. That’s a good decision, and I support it, with one exception: I don’t think that old Naxx should be removed.   Not only was it a good dungeon, but it had some of the best items in the game, which, given Blizzard’s stated policy of not rebuilding items, will never be seen again. Atiesh remains the only permanent Legendary for casters, and is deeply linked to Karazhan, which is probably raided more than any other instance in the game. The

Beta Impressions after the first 1.5 weeks   Background: Where I am coming from.   On the live servers for about 6 months I was a raider. My “main” a druid tank has 5/5 T4 and 1 T5 there would be more but there were personality conflicts in the guild I was in and left and I am currently waiting for the 10-mans in this expansion. Prior and after being a raider I am 2 things. First and foremost a crafter and alt-o-holic. Many of the leaks and official information released prior to getting into beta had set my expectations pretty high. A secondary trait of being an alt-o-holic is that I like to explore for the sake of exploring, unless driven to complete a goal. As such many times I will take a new character on a tour to get the flight point and speed up travel and leveling later. I have been playing since June/July 2005 and I did not have any characters at level cap when tBC launched. I most likely would have if I did not switch factions after about my 3rd month.   The Good: What IMO is looking good.   1. The number of quests at each quest node seems like it will be

Please keep Dalaran level restricted   First off, I realize these are the beta forums and we are meant to be polite – but please learn to spell. Second – what does it hurt you or the other people against arbitrary travel restrictions if lower level people can go to Dalaran? Does it wound your sense of specialness somehow?   Restricting travel by level is just wrong, stupid and unfair. There are usually higher level items associated with the higher end of professions, like Shadowcloth or Spellcloth. As a level 58 who just entered Outlands you can power level the profession with the backing of a 70 and then continue to flood the market with overpriced Shadowcloth/Spellcloth/Mooncloth. Putting the level restriction on Dalaran makes that not as easy, and makes having a Grand Master in a certain profession a lot harder to come across like it should be. Also its Dalaran, its supposed to be there for the highest level players in the game, not for alts to use as a transport city.   If its anything like The Burning Crusade its a bad idea, it makes the “best in

BigRedKitty: Defaming character since January, 2007 Daniel Howell contributes BigRedKitty, a column with strategies, tips and tricks for and about the Hunter class, sprinkled with a healthy dose of completely improper, sometimes libelous, personal commentary. We were much too busy “earning a paycheck” and “keeping Mrs BRK in a manner in which she demands” to attend Blizzcon. But that doesn’t mean we’re incapable of scoring a major, one-on-one interview with an important someone at Blizzard. When one talks with a person who controls the fantasies and desires of eleven million people, one would expect that person to have a slightly elevated ego, and perhaps a bit of pride at all he’s accomplished. This was hardly the case. For most of the interview, our subject mumbled incoherent phrases like: “… 1800+ in 3v3 and he wants more cowbell…” “… I told him, I’m a Shaman, not a doctor…” “… and you will know my name is the Lord, when I strike down my Warglaive upon

 Scattered Shots: Getting started with talents in 3.0.2 as a Beast Mastery Hunter Before we get into the meat of this week’s column, I have a confession to make. I was tempted to make a very short column that consisted primarily of a recording of me making squealing noises that you would generally only expect to come from a giddy schoolgirl, punctuated by a bit of gibberish that might sound something like “Aspect of the Dragonhawk.” But that said, there’s a lot of other things I could talk about, and I won’t leave you hanging. It’s a busy time in WoW, and Hunters have a lot of stuff to do now that 3.0.2 is out. By now, hopefully, your server has calmed down enough for you to get on, play around with learning all your companions and mounts, and start trying to figure out talent specs. Hopefully by now, you’ve seen some of our articles on the subject, such as Big Red Kitty’s Hunter and Pet Talent overviews, and David Bowers’ guide to exotic pets currently available in game. They’re great resources, so I’m not going

Will there be any nerfs for class balance   PVP wise will moonkins armor/damage reduction be “toned down” so they don’t play like mages in plate? Or how about, again PVP oriented, will druids continue to have as much mana regen-to-healing ratio (ie little mana for large heal with large mana regeneration) coupled with the ability to regen mana in bear form with current survivability that appears to not be balanced in comparison to the rest of the healing classes in the game?   I think this covers a little bit of the balance problems that were uncovered by blizz when they charted the makeup of arena teams. From seeing all the top rated arena teams with druids, the amount of a single spec (moonkind/resto) and experience of playing arenas that would be a pretty obvious question of “is this intended or unbalanced?” to me. Again, like i said, all of your concerns seem very vague and not really backed up with facts.   Team Makeup – 2000+ rating: 2v2 Warrior/Druid 33% Rogue/Druid 21% Warlock/Druid 16% Rogue/Priest 16% Rogue/Mage 13%

So I have an extra beta invite I was fortunate enough to be part of the alpha and I also was at blizzcon. Which means I have an extra beta invite.   So the question is what to do with it.   If a blue wants to come up with something fun (a competition or anything really.) I’d be happy to hand that code off for the blue to award at their discretion.   If thats “ok to do” and the beta code itself isn’t linked to my account in any way.   Possible? Thoughts?    

Breakfast Topic: Unofficial BlizzCon achievements If you’re going to BlizzCon, you don’t have to wait for Echoes of Doom to come out to get a head start on racking up achievements, at least according to the playful commentary going on in the forums right now. Here’s a taste of some of the humorous achievements they’ve suggested you can earn at BlizzCon. ·         I Have No Use for This - Try to sell a piece of junk to any vendor at BlizzCon ·         Ruler of BlizzCon – Survived both days of BlizzCon without sleeping, eating, and showering (Blue poster Bashiok begs you not to attempt this one) ·         Savior of the Public – Brought enough soap for yourself and at least 1 other person (takes achievement away from Ruler of BlizzCon) ·         I put on pants for this! – Worry about the fact that you’re missing a raid with your guild ·         Defender of the Throne - Order a greasy, overpriced hamburger from the convention center floor and spend at least 2 hours on the john

Overheard at BlizzCon 2008: A real, live Blue   Scene: Just outside the BlizzCon badge pickup area, the Thursday before BlizzCon, 10 minutes before 4pm badge pickup. Crowd: (Mills around, is huge, waits patiently, talks occasionally about everything from the Protoss to the weather. Throws out a random “WoW Insider rocks!” yell as we pass by — thanks for that!) BlizzCon Employee: (Steps out of Convention Center to address the crowd) Hi everyone! We’re going to open up the doors here in just a minute, but we will not be giving out badges until 4pm. So when we open the doors, in about five minutes from now, come on in and line up, but we won’t give out badges until four. Crowd: (Various murmurs of excitement, until, from in the back:) Why aren’t you wearing a blue shirt? (Laughter from all sides.) Employee: Ha, that’s funny. No, I’m wearing a black shirt today, not a blue shirt. Ok, so in five minutes we’ll let you in, and then we’ll give out badges at 4pm. (Turns and heads back inside.) Crowd: (Follows immediately, calmly

OK so we have the following new AP enchants: Enchant Weapon – Greater Potency – 50 AP Enchant Weapon – Superior Potency – 65 AP Enchant Weapon – Greater Savagery – 85 AP (only for 2H, although the spell itself isn’t labelled as such, only the description) Enchant Weapon – Massacre – 110 AP Questions/Suggestsions: I’m guessing that potency enchants are AP instead of strength now so more people can make use of them? Enchant Weapon – Greater Savagery should be renamed to Enchant 2H Weapon – Greater Savagery. Also: the bonus AP given doesn’t seem in line with the 1H weapon enchants. Massacre is a 1H enchant that trumps Greater Savagery and Superior Potency (obviously more expensive), but is it a placeholder that is actually supposed to be a proc based enchant? Or is it intended that all AP enchants are replaced with Massacre?