Need a ride?

Now that WOW 3.2 is out level 20 characters can buy mounts. This looks like an effort by Blizzard to speed up the level grind at mid range 20-40. Getting to a quest destinations faster can really speed things along. The low level mounts cost 4 gold and move you 60% faster than walking. You will also need Apprentice Riding skill.

If you use carbonite, the quest coloring on the maps really speeds things up. Also the 3.2 update makes the quest log two panes for easier browsing . Nice.

Finally an easy way to manage your add ons. It’s Wowmatrix .

Imagine a world where you can automatically check for, and update all your add ons. Now imagine that you can search all available plugins and add the ones you want – with out surfing the web!

That’s Wowmatri. Best of all it’s free.

It runs on macs and pc’s (but if you are using a pc, what are you doing here?)

The original story was posted at mmorpg.qj.net

Check out the BestBuy page.

The nice people at Blizzard have started posting articles to their official Warcraft Encyclopedia.  The main link is located at the top of the ‘Workshop’  section of the main WOW community site.

While it far from complete and lacks much of the depth found in the wowwiki, it is the official source and it has some noteworthy features. The official encyclopedia takes a very dry authoritative tone and focuses on rather abstract concepts such as immortals and demigods (with liberal doses of Burning Crusade references).

Speculation: It seems that either Blizzards creative writers want to flesh out their back-story for the upcoming expansion, or they have nothing to do right now (seems unlikely) and they are emptying all their notebooks onto the website (also seems unlikely).

Processor:

933MHz G4/G5 processor,
1.8GHz G5/Intel or better recommended

RAM:

512MB RAM,
1GB DDR RAM is recommended

Video:

NVIDIA or ATI graphics processor with 32MB VRAM,
64MB VRAM recommended

Controls: A keyboard and mouse are required.
Input devices other than a mouse and keyboard are not supported

All Platforms
Connectivity:You must have an active broadband internet connection to play.
Mouse: Multi-button mouse with scroll wheel recommended.
Note: System Requirements are subject to change.

I’ve dabbled in Second Life, but couldn’t find much to do that had lasting enjoyment. After I toured around looking at everyone’s nifty creations, I realized all the neat stuff had to be purchased from someone. Blah.

In case you missed it, SL is one of the few other MMORGS that has Mac and PC clients. It cost $10 to join for life and you can build nearly anything in-game.

Anyway, I found this article (see below.) Apparently some guilds discovered that SL is a great place to plan raids (see the screenshot below) like a war room. It’s a pretty sexy idea. Add Vent and that’s a pretty dynamic remote planing tool.

Which brings me to my point there’s a point?. What if Guilds used SL for guild halls? You all get together and buy some of their virtual land. Build a structure you like (the sky is literally the limit.) Post text from DKP’s and bank inventory for people to see. Hold meetings. Plan Raids and BG campaigns.

I know you could just get one of the free guild web sites, but none of them are interactive at this level plus you get to fly. This could be fun and add to the guild value.

At Last! Something useful to do with Second Life!: “Sean Bonner:

I’ve written before about my less than glowing feelings about Second Life. I’ve got friends who practically live there, and guildies who spend tons of time on their own island but everytime I check it out I leave disappointed and wondering ‘ok, so… ?’ Well, some folks on the alliance side of We K(no)W finally figured out something useful to do there – plan raids during Tuesday downtime. Above is my Avatar standing on the UBRS map with a few notations. I’ll admit I only lasted a few minutes in there again this time, but at least it was interesting finally!

(Via Metroblogging Azeroth.)

Recently I’ve been playing a NE Druid, El. I find that I really like the versatility of the role and that when I run low on mana, I can go all animal for a fight. It’s a much more interactive role than my hunter, Kurn. The thing is that with all these abilities and animal forms, there is much to learn and even more that is not told in-game, or on the Blizzard site.

Fortunately, Azoth has posted a long and very helpful FAQ on the blizzard Druid forums.

It provides some of the most complete explanations for how item buffs affect animal forms in combat and suggests best uses for the animal forms. It also features very nice explanations for skills and spells.