Reader comments — ahh, yes, the juicy goodness following a meaty post. [1.Local] ducks past the swinging doors to see what readers have been chatting about in the back room over the past week. True confessions time: It really is that cool to work at WoW.com. We’re a chatty team. You’re probably already getting a taste of that at @wowinsider on Twitter, manned randomly by team members who’re feeling particularly gabby. If you’re a real Twitterati, you may be following individual staffers (listings available in the latest WRUP; follow me @eMused). But the real WoW.com snark and hot debates go on behind closed doors. There’s a chat room where everyone who’s “on duty” hangs out – always good for a heated debate on mechanics or lore, as well as the inevitable off-topic romp on … well, off-topic stuff. (Like Michael Sacco’s post-dental work, Vicodin-inspired ravings, screenshotted above – but that’s another story.) There’s also the news line/team e-mail list, where nobody can ever seem to resist

Looking for a guild? Well, you can join ours! We have a tabard and everything! Check back every Friday for Amanda Dean talking about guilds ad guild leadership in We Have a Tabard. I’ve been having a blast raiding since Ulduar was released. It’s been a joy learning new fights and getting more and more bosses on farm. I understand that learning new fights in raid encounters takes time, but once a fight is on farm the only thing more annoying than healing preventable damage is wiping because someone wasn’t paying attention. Just like distracted driving can cost lives, distracted raiding can cause wipes. In most cases the time for tank and spank is over once you walk in the portal to a raid. The encounters require players to be prepared and on the ball. Not only should officers lead by example when it comes to raid awareness there are a number of things that can be done to improve attentiveness: Be sure to keep the raid channel in vent clear during raid encounters. Folks who are not in the raid probably shouldn’t be in vent. Quell unnecessary chatter. Know

Every Wednesday, Chase Christian of Encrypted Text invites you to enter the world of shadows, as we explore the secrets and mechanics of the Rogue class. This week, we talk about the Rogue Q & A recently released by Blizzard. Last week, Blizzard released the long-awaited (at least by me) Rogue Q&A series. Ghostcrawler and the rest of the community team answered many of our long-standing questions, and gave us some insight into where Rogues are headed as a class. You can read the full details of the Q&A that Eliah posted for us. After reading the questions and answers, I breathed a sigh of relief. No hints or indications of any nerfs coming our way, and Blizzard actually acknowledged several longstanding flaws with the class. Not only that, but they actually provided possible solutions; I’ll be taking them with a grain of salt. New Rogues are excited about our class’ complexity and diversity, while experienced Rogues are proud that we are now respected as damage dealers instead of being seen as second-class DPS. The highlights are after the

The Colosseum takes us inside the world of the Gladiator (Brutal, Vengeful, Merciless, Furious, and otherwise), to interview some of the top Arena fighters in the battlegroups. Our goal is to bring a better understanding of the strategy, makeup, and work that goes into dueling it out for fame, fortune, and Frostwyrms. We’re especially focused on the people who play these games, to further shed light on the world of the PvP player. Last week, we had the opportunity to look at a mega-mix of about six different gladiators from Korgath. However, since it’s likely going to be a little while before I can come back around to Korgath, I wanted to make sure to include one final person. This person is Starcaller Dimitrius. While Paladins have probably had enough face time in the highest Arena echelons since Wrath of the Lich King, the accomplishments from Dimitrius are a little different from what we’ve featured before. Specifically, Dimitrius has achieved the #1 spot on his battlegroup in 5v5. Take a look at what Dimitrius had to say behind the cut. Don’t worry

After reading through the comments on our 1-9 guide, I feel obligated to note that these guides are being written with the following assumptions: 1. I assume that you do not have access to BoA items. It’s just a nice bonus if you do. 2. I assume your Druid is not starting life as the offspring of a wealthy main, with an array of BoE items awaiting them as they level. Not everyone’s that well-off — and even if you are, there’s no law saying your Druid is on the same server (or of the same faction). I won’t tell you to do something that only a character with 1,000g worth of gear and enchants can realistically do at a certain level. 3. I assume that you’re not necessarily familiar with the game at large or with the gameplay of a ranged/melee DPS. The readership demographic for WoW.com leveling guides runs the gamut from very experienced players of multiple classes to people who have only just bought the game yesterday. I do apologize to more experienced players who may resent being given advice they don’t think they need, but when I started

Veritable Avarice, a new blog on moneymaking in WoW, took a break from financial discussion and looked at class representation in tank, DPS, and healing roles by filtering and comparing data available from WoW Popular. Spec population was then checked against class population data available from Warcraft Realm’s census and three live realms. Data differences, according to VA, weren’t statistically relevant, and he/she is pretty sure that the numbers are at least a ballpark representation of which class is most likely to be filling a particular role within a group. I play a Druid, so that’s really what I feel comfortable commenting on here. While I can’t speak to the ultimate accuracy of the numbers, I do a lot of pugging and have to admit that VA’s data seems pretty close to what I’ve seen on my own server. The tank numbers are also consistent with a few things Ghostcrawler’s mentioned recently concerning the overwhelming population advantage still held by Warrior tanks, although I wonder whether the Feral statistics are somewhat inflated