The Daily Quest : blog

Weekly Digest: Kael Dead, Progression Methods, 2 G

matticus — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 12:50:18 GMT

1 What's Happening in WoW
2 What's Happening with the Blog
3 Latest Blog Posts
4 20 Questions by Matticus
5 Past Hits
6 Trends in the WoW Blogosphere
7 Blog Spotlight

What's Happening in WoW

We killed Kael on Sunday, yay! After the reset, we were able to kill him again which proves that we are now able to put Kael down on farm. After that, the special forces of Carnage decided to run into Mount Hyjal and help out Jaina. One wipe at around wave 7 before laying the smackdown on Rage Winterchill. Our healers had a tough time healing frostbolts and we're currently working on methods to counteract it.

For those that might be perplexed, Winterchill fires a frostbolt at a random player during the raid which impacts them ~4500+ damage and freezes them in place. Following that, there is a DoT applied to that player for 2500 per second.

Current solutions

Requirement of all players to obtain a PvP trinket by Tuesday

Here's some advice for players who employ DKP bidding in their loot distribution.

Bid high if you really want it
Do not bid in increments of 5

I found this lesson out the hard way the other night. I had the option to bid on a Verdant Sphere which gives you the option of picking an epic neckpiece of your choice. During round 1, I placed a bid for 35. It was revealed the highest was 45. During round 2, I placed a bid for 55 thinking that no one would go for it that high. Unfortunately, I lost the item to a Warlock who placed a bid for 56. I guess I'll need to do some more research and find me a neckpiece other then Lord Sanguinaar's Claim.

On the PvP front, my Shaman has acquired the Vengeful Gladiator's Mail Armor! That now brings me up to 2/5 S2 Resto and 3/5 Elemental. My goal is to become an Elemental Shaman in PvP. That seems to be what people want most these days. I've been thinking about what to socket them with. I'll most likely lean towards the Honor gems.

What's Happening with the Blog

I've decided to participate with a service called EntreCard. If you notice on the right side above my poll, there is a rectangular image. This service allows WoW bloggers to drop their business cards on to other blogs thereby getting traffic and raising awareness. As mentioned by TJ in her excellent summarization, the system is dominated by blogs that make money by telling other people how to make money blogging, there is no reason that it cannot be leveraged by the WoW blogging community. Why? Because you are able to approve or deny rights to blogs that wish to publicize on your blog. As such, I'm limiting blogs that show up under EntreCard to other WoW bloggers or gaming related blogs that have decided to use this service.

Latest Blog Posts

Here are the posts from this week:

A Guest post from Trackhoof helped kick off the week. In it, he discusses the synergies between a Priest and a Hunter.
Masato, a friend, helped create a Feral Druid gear guide for beginning bears that have just turned 70.
For those interested in Blogging about WoW, I started off with a few posts on things to do to get started and things to know before you devote yourself to it.
Are you having progression problems in your Guild? If you want a solution, take a look at my 3 Approaches to Guild Progression.
Masturbate much? Here's 6 telltale signs that you're playing too much World of Warcraft.

20 Questions by Matticus

This week I had a chance to sit down with Kestrel of Kestrel's Aerie.

Past Hits

Past columns I have written that still hold true to this day.

Trends in the WoW Blogosphere

Patch Notes have been strategically leaked by various Blizzard reps. Here's a few community takes and responses to them.

Blog Spotlight

Banana Shoulders - Siha is a Guild Leader and a Holy Paladin. We've had a lot of conversations on the AIM Blogazeroth chatroom. She's also a mac enthusiast!

Matt likes: The Jewelcrafting Quick Reference Sheet. I even printed out a copy. Unfortunately, since I use a laser printer it's in black and white.

Weekly Digest: Blog Azeroth, Zul'Jin Dead, Gold Se

matticus — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 06:23:52 GMT

1 What's Happening in WoW
2 What's Happening with the Blog
3 Latest Blog Posts
4 20 Questions by Matticus
5 Past Hits
6 Trends in the WoW Blogosphere
7 Blog Spotlight

What's Happening in WoW

I have a very ambitious goal in 2008. I want my Paladin to eventually become a force to be reckoned with. Last night, she's started taking the necessary steps to do it by going into Karazhan for the first time.

We're making progress! It's going slowly but surely. Carnage's finest got Kael down to 57%. On Sunday, nearly 6 hours will be allocated to him in the hopes we can finally polish him off. We'll see how that works out.

Oh and I killed Zul'Jin for the first time!

What's Happening with the Blog

If you're one of the few individuals who actually look at my Affiliates on the side, you'll notice I've partnered up with Jinx! They're a game clothing company. If you're interested in showing off your Geekiness, head over and check out their offerings.

My Blogroll has continued to plague me for quite some time. One of the measures I've taken is displaying a list of random blogs. You can find them on the side beneath the polls. I'm experimenting with the idea of having a "surprise" web link where it will take you to another blog on my list completely at random.

Latest Blog Posts

Here are the posts from this week:

I've been having some issues in Arena. It's been mostly a Rogue/Mage/Priest problem.
I took part in a PUG 25 main of SSC. Never again will that happen.
The issue of a Discipline's Priest in end game is still an important question and here's what you said.
If you have ever wondered what it's like healing in endgame, I offered a 20 second glimpse into a mind of a Priest with every action and every thought detailed and analyzed.
Some of my readers have wondered how Protection Pallies can hit 18000+ health after buffs for Zul'Aman and I demonstrated how. I also showed a quick way to mentally calculate your own Stamina after raid buffs.
Do you juggle your raid lineup? Are you doing it for the right reasons?
Gold sellers are taking a different approach to advertising their services. They've started practicing commenting and trackbacking on blogs and here are my thoughts on the subject

20 Questions by Matticus

This week I had a chance to sit down with Phaelia of Resto4Life. While you're at it, if you're a resto druid check out her mammoth post on trinkets.

Past Hits

Past columns I have written that still hold true to this day.

Trends in the WoW Blogosphere

Blog Azeroth is a new community which virtually sprouted over night. It's an online forum where both veteran and new bloggers can go to share ideas and learn more from each other. If you're a blogger or if you've ever thought about blogging, Blog Azeroth is a great place to start interacting with some of your favourite bloggers (like me =D).

Blog Spotlight

4 Haelz - If I had a copper everytime I ran into a Druid blog, I would never have to worry about repairs again. She offers a fresh pair of eyes from the shape shifting professions although she is primarily a Resto Druid.

Matt likes: Encouraging Bad Habits with Good Healing

Three Druid Noob - Okay, this is the last Druid blog (this week anyway). He's an Australian blogger that has three (3) Druids with each one specced differently. He even has a few stories to share about his dualboxing (tri boxing now, I think). This begs the question of what's worse: Having 3 druids or having 3 healers?

Matt likes: Adventures in Dual Boxing

Critical QQ - This sharp, Troll Fire Mage certainly has a feisty approach to blogging. Euripedes has been on my reading list and blogroll for quite some time and I never show any mages any love.

Matt likes: Confessions of a Magi

WoW Struggles: Maintaining Reputation

matticus — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 01:08:58 GMT

I must apologize about my lack of a posts recently. I had a term paper due, and like many WoW students, I have horrible time management skills. It's the end of semester for many of us students. But that's another topic I hope to address entirely.

Anyways, onto business!

First, I want to extend Gwaendar a hearty shoutout. He has honored me with a spot on his blog roll which I will reciprocate in kind. One Among Many has also done the same. I thank them both for their links. I believe it's important to recognize writers who link to you. Any of you aspiring writers would do well to keep that in mind.

Today, I plan to start an ongoing series of blog posts about our struggles in WoW. I guess you could call it my catch all on days when I have no material!

In addition to WoW Blogs, I also read non-WoW blogs to help improve my writing and style. Lorelle's Blog Struggles series has inspired me here, as you can see.

1 An Epic Tale
2 One Question
3 One Answer
4 He Was a Warlock
5 The Lesson
6 The End?

An Epic Tale

I've been lucky throughout my entire WoW raiding career. I cannot say there was an incident where my instance raid ID or my loot had been stolen and ninja'd. Unfortunately, others have not been so lucky. Big Bear Butt had his raid instance partially taken.

Kirk wrote an excellent reaction to the situation that I think everyone should check out.

In a game like World of Warcraft where players need to interact with others, social reputation is the currency. How players view you could either open doors or close them.

A situation like this one where a player has done something unfair will cause other players to think badly of them. The Guild in question will be labeled as an organization where none of it's members can be trusted until the culprit is found.

I know what you're thinking.

One Question

Who cares what they think? So what if I ninja loot and commit other acts? I pay $15 a month to play this game how I see fit and I don't care what other people think of me.

One Answer

Because if you do that on a consistent basis, no one is going to want to deal with you. Take a look at the following list and possible penalties.

No fun in groups because you can't get any
Zero raiding opportunities
Crafters won't want your business
Online abuse
...Need I say more?

He Was a Warlock

Let me cite an example. A year ago when I transferred to Ner'Zuhl (gosh has it been that long already?), I heard stories of a Warlock named Evilana. Apparently he was a bad player and had a bad reputation. To get associated with him meant serious bad news. I never knew precisely what the reasoning was behind it, but I did not want to deal with a player who sounded that bad. In fact, he was a target of many flamers on the WoW Forums. I was new to the server at the time and like a kid entering high school for the first time, just wanted to fit in. I didn't actively participate in any e-floggings but I stayed distant.

A while later, I had gotten word that he either transferred off the server or ebayed his character (or both).

That was the last time I ever heard about him again.

The Lesson

Do not underestimate the power of a united social force. They have a mind of their own. Think of it as the online version of the mob mentality. They can spread the word about a player's dominance and make him seem like a god. Or they can shred his reputation entirely like he is a pile of dirt. The popularity of a person depends entirely on what other people think of them. You can think of certain world leaders as an example. Popular opinion can spread like a wildfire and ruin WoW careers.

The End?

So what's going to happen with BBB? I can only imagine. I suspect if they ever find the person involved, he's only going to get a slap on the wrist and a stern talking to. But I plan to observe any developments with great interest.

Like what you're reading? Matticus runs his own blog over at worldofmatticus.com. Come by, check it out, and drop him a line!

A New Age of Blogging

Indelible — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 03:01:38 GMT

When I started blogging here on Curse my ambition was to create a resource that players would come here and read and comment on. Aiming not only to please myself but also to provide you, the people who spend your time reading this blog, with concise and clear information on everything World of Warcraft.

In a new step towards this goal, another blog here on Curse has merged with what used to be Things You Really Don't Want To Read... to form The Daily Quest.

Our aim is clear: To provide World of Warcraft fans with a fresh, new and interesting resource for all information regarding World of Warcraft. We want to give you conjecture and speculation along with fact so that when you need to know something, you come to here.

So without further ado, please welcome Matticus to The Daily Quest team. Matticus comes from worldofmatticus.com and will be providing us with posts on priests and shamans in PvP and PvE. Keep an eye out for his posts every 1-2 days. Not all of the posts on worldofmatticus.com will be included in The Daily Quests so you should head over to World of Matticus and check out the bits we leave out.

More Bloggers

On that note, we are on the look out for a few more bloggers to add to the team. If you have a good idea for a regular blog and think that it would be good for The Daily Quest, feel free to message me here on Curse.

Feedback

If you would like to request a blog or have an idea for something we could cover on a regular or one off basis, feel free to message me here on Curse. All ideas will be taken seriously unless they are really, really, really silly.

The Daily Quest : blog

Weekly Digest: Kael Dead, Progression Methods, 2 G

Table of Contents

What's Happening in WoW

What's Happening with the Blog

Latest Blog Posts

20 Questions by Matticus

Past Hits

Trends in the WoW Blogosphere

Blog Spotlight

Weekly Digest: Blog Azeroth, Zul'Jin Dead, Gold Se

Table of Contents

What's Happening in WoW

What's Happening with the Blog

Latest Blog Posts

20 Questions by Matticus

Past Hits

Trends in the WoW Blogosphere

Blog Spotlight

WoW Struggles: Maintaining Reputation

Table of Contents

An Epic Tale

One Question

One Answer

He Was a Warlock

The Lesson

The End?

A New Age of Blogging