Twisted Nether Blogcast » Shared Topic

Shared Topic: Positive Random Dungeon Stories

Ophelie — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:38:27 +0000

Guild drama and angry PuG stories getting you down? Take your mind off the bad stuff with last week’s sunny Shared Topic: Positive Random Dungeon Stories. Suggested by Zan of Altoholic Anonymous, this topic is all about the good experiences we’ve had with those random strangers from other servers we’ve encountered on our dungeoning adventures.

We’ve had the new Dungeon Finder for about two months now and there are plenty of horror stories floating around. There’s tanks and healers feeling abused, not queuing, people feeling generally disenchanted about the whole thing and a whole lot of mean nasties flying around in the dungeon system.

Where’s the love? I know there have to be good positive warm and fuzzy experiences going on in the random dungeons as well. Have you helped or been helped by a total stranger in the random dungeon systems? How did you help? Let’s share some stories of those positive, feel good, experiences. Don’t have any stories? Go get some.

(Note that the suggestion was made back in January, hence the “we’ve had LFD for two months”.)

Sharing their happy tales are:

Zan from Althololic Anonymous (And the Shared Topic suggestion was inspired by this post of his.)

Lissanna from Restokin

Gypsy Red from Mischief, Magic and Rocket Science

Poneria from Fel Concentration

Saithir from Angry Dwarf

Jaedia from The Lazy Sniper

Rajjs from The Angry Alt

Ophelie from The Bossy Pally and the Giant Spoon

Shintar from Priest with a Cause

Gothmogs from Emerald Dreamers

Apparently, contrary to popular belief, good PuG stories aren’t a rarity at all!

This week’s Shared Topic is another social one, but instead of WoW and random in-game strangers, we’re invited to talk about WoW and random out-of-game strangers. Ever overhear a conversation about WoW and felt the irresistible urge to join in? Write about it and participate by checking in on Blog Azeroth.

Shared Topic: How Will Cataclysm Change YOUR Game?

Ophelie — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:21:01 +0000

Right before Blizzard gave us a big update on Cataclysm stats and system changes, we were thinking about the expansion as we took part in the weekly Shared Topic. Rilandune from Heroically Random! had suggested we talk about our personal plans for Cataclysm and Pheadra from DI the Tank had proposed discussing the changes to the game we’d like to see.

It’s a new expansion, it’s a new game in many respects. How will it change YOUR game? Will you play a new class you’ve been dying to play for years? Will you play a new role you’ve never played like tanking or healing? Have you been a hardcore raider and would like to get more into the lore and questing or vice versa?

Everyone’s talking about how talent trees and gear mechanics for Cata. will work, class balancing, etc. However, how else would you like Cataclysm to change the game for things like your character? They’re doing a huge overhaul of many of the original areas so it makes sense that they’ll be going back and changing other things. What do you hope gets changed, and what do you hope stays the same?

Taking part last week were:

Rilandune from Heroically Random!

Lissanna from Restokin

Elionene from Good Morning Azeroth

Rajjs from Angry Alt

Ophelie from The Bossy Pally and the Giant Spoon

Next week’s Shared Topic is about PUG stories…but no QQ this time! With almost every blogger having at least some random dungeon horror post on their blog, it’s time to balance the scale and talk about the good stories and great people we’ve encountered in our random dungeon adventures.

To take part in that or any other Shared Topic (there are a number of fantastic topics coming up!), check out the Shared Topic forum over at Blog Azeroth!

Shared Topic: What sort of Boss would you be?

Ophelie — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 20:35:37 +0000

Tired of boring, repetitive raid bosses? I know I am! This week’s Shared Topic encouraged our imaginations to run wild as we design our own, personalized boss fights. Sephrenia from Guild Mum is the one to thank for this very creative topic:

I was lying in bed the other day, thinking…. and I wondered what sort of boss I would be if I was a boss in WOW. Would I be an easy loot giving boss like Loot Reaver, Chess Event, Gunship, or would I be a really hard one, like STUPID ROTFACE who is driving us crazy at the moment, or Shade of Aran was in Karazhan for our guild many moons ago? What would my special abilities be? What loot would I drop?

Sharing their takes are:

Sephrenia from Guild Mum

Pheadra from DI the Tank

Exanna from OMG…Priest!

TwilliK from Arcane Envoy

Zan from Altoholic Anonymous

Dristanel from The Physician’s Log

Windsoar from Jaded Alt

Ophelie from The Bossy Pally and the Giant Spoon

Next week’s Shared Topic has a more futuristic flavor as we stop to think about the effect Cataclysm will have on our gameplay as well as the game changes we’d like to see.

To be part of any of the Shared Topics, stop by the forum at Blog Azeroth and take your pick from the many upcoming and past topics!

Shared Topic: A Conversation With Your Character

Ophelie — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 20:21:41 +0000

This week’s Shared Topic had us getting groovy with our role playing side as we, the players, had a little chat with our characters. Azryu from the Arcanery was the one who came up with the idea:

If you gave your character a voice, how would a conversation between you and them go?

How would you interact with them? Would you play god? How would your character sound? Would they be intelligent, witty, or be the embodiment of the stereotypical “huntard”?

Responses took on all sorts of different forms! Some bloggers wrote stories to accompany their encounter with their character, some interviewed their characters in a more formal setting, others shared the ups and downs of their day to day relationship with their alter ego.

Enjoy the creative posts by:

Azryu from The Arcanery

TwilliK from Arcane Envoy

Marariel from Real Life Aggro

Liniya from Elune’s Guidance

Daraia from Daughter of Ravenholdt Manor

Exanna from OMG.. Priest!

Dristanel from The Physician’s Log

Ophelie from The Bossy Pally and the Giant Spoon

I know a couple of people mentioned they wanted to take part in the topic but were concerned about how “weird” they would sound… Trust me, the internet is a big place. There’s always someone who’ll appreciate your weirdness! And as long as it’s PG rated, new posts on the topic can be linked to in the comments!

So next week, we keep working our creative sides as we explore What sort of boss we’d be.

To take part in this week’s Shared Topic or in any other, check out the Shared Topic forum at Blog Azeroth!

Blog Azeroth Event: Secret Admirer Project

Ophelie — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 02:56:54 +0000

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, Dristanel came up with a fantastic Secret Admirer idea! It sounds like a lot of fun and a great way to get to know some fellow bloggers!

Similar to Christmas’ Kris Kringle, interested bloggers can get in touch with her to be secretly paired with another blogger. Each participant then puts up a post on their own blog regarding the event and linking to the other bloggers. The purpose of this is two-fold: exposure for the community, and something the secret admirer can respond to. Said admirer then does so under an anonymous handle, adding poetry, flattery or other warm fuzzies, giving one subtle hint about their identity in each, for a total of three comments.

The first person to get back to Dristanel with a correct guess as to the identity of their admirer will win a small prize! At the end of the event, folks can make a new post with a final ‘open declaration of blog love’ for their assigned person, and of course links to the other posts if they so desire.

Sign ups run until Thursday (February 10th) and the event will take place over the weekend!

For more information and to sign up, you can get a hold of her at Blog Azeroth, at The Physician’s Log or via email at physicianslog at gmail dot com.

Shared Topic: Leave of WoW Absense

Ophelie — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:03:32 +0000

When you’re not playing WoW, what do you do? That was the theme of this week’s Shared Topic topic, suggested by Nim from Anhk = Life:

So after about a month of broken computer, it still can’t run WoW, which means I have to find other things to do to waste time. Which got me wondering how other people spend their WoW time when they can’t play WoW.

Eager to share their thoughts on time spent away from the game were:

Malfean from Raided M
Nim from Anhk = Life
Jen from Stories of WoW
Shawndra from Escapist Scrawl
Ophelie from The Bossy Pally and the Giant Spoon

The current week’s Shared Topic brings us right back into the game, and invites us to reveal a glimpse of our role playing side by posting a conversation with our character. Quite a few bloggers have stepped up to the challenge already and it’s bound to be an interesting week for Shared Topic posts!

Check out the Shared Topics forum at Blog Azeroth to join in on this or other Shared Topics!

Shared Topic – Surviving PvE as (a Melee) DPS

Fimlys — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:48:23 +0000

The Shared Topic going on last week was suggested by Skip Cocoa from More Bars Than You. Upon becoming a full fledged level 80 DPS feral druid, he began pondering the deep question : How do I stay alive? He then invited the rest of us to share our own tricks and tips on staying alive as melee DPS.

Death Knights, Feral Druids, Ret Paladins, Rogues, Enhancement Shaman and Fury/Arms Warriors, how do you keep your Melee DPS up and kicking for the entire fight? Gear, talents, tactics, etc. If you don’t, what frustrations of your class make it such a painful challenge, and what do you do to extend your up time or make it count?

Since this topic could potentially exclude a lot of bloggers, Shared Topic participants were encouraged to adapt it however they felt comfortable.

Sharing their melee DPS wisdom are:

Skip Cocoa from More Bars Than You
Rilandune from A Rogue’s Tale
Kaelynn from Azure Shadows
Rackhman from Flame Shock
Snobby Belf from The Snobby Blood Elf
Elnia from The Pink Pigtail Inn

Providing a slightly different perspective:

Kae from Dreambound Druid contributes a message from your healers, encouraging you to follow the advice given by our melee DPS survival experts.
Ophelie from The Bossy Pally and the Giant Spoon offers some tips on surviving the game when you fail to survive as a melee DPS.
Thakarron from Track…Knowledge? suggests way hunters can help their melee counterparts survive. After all, raiding is a team sport!

After reflecting on our gameplay this week, next week’s Shared Topic will bring us outside the game. When we can’t (or don’t want to) play WoW, what do we do with our free time? Come and prove that WoW players do have rich lives outside of WoW by checking out the thread at Blog Azeroth and taking part in the Shared Topic! If you would prefer to join in on any other topic (or you just want to do them all), feel free to browse the Shared Topic forum whenever!

This was Ophelie, usurping this week’s Shared Topic writeup.

Blog Azeroth Shared Topic – After Arthas

Fimlys — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:13:51 +0000

This week’s Shared Topic invited us to gaze into our crystal balls and share our thoughts on what will happen to Azeroth and its people after Arthas is defeated.

This great idea was suggested by Ringo Flinthammer of Flinthammer Hall:

What now? What happens to the world of Azeroth? What happens to the people, the factions. How does this affect the relationships between the Alliance and Horde? What does your character think happens next? Is this the end for you, as a player, especially if you started, as I did, with Warcraft III? Is this the "end of history?"

Getting their fortune teller skills on are:

Zan from Altoholic Anonymous
Littlebark from The Tree Unleashed
Jaedia from The Lazy Sniper
Ophelie from The Bossy Pally and the Giant Spoon

While I expect my post-Arthas speculations to fail miserably, I can predict with some certainty that next week’s Shared Topic will stray away from lore and focus more on gameplay tricks as we share tips (or, in some cases, silly stories) on staying alive as a melee dps. If you’d like to take part in the upcoming shared topic or any other shared topic, stop by the forum on Blog Azeroth!

I also predict that Saresa will be back in town by the time the next topic ends. While I look forward to seeing her around the Nether again, I have to say I’m sad to hand these writeups back to her. It’s been a blast!

Cheers!

Ophelie, filling in for Saresa one last time.

Blog Azeroth Shared Topic – When Wrath Was Young

Fimlys — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 21:32:40 +0000

It’s time for another Blog Azeroth Shared Topic! This week, Jaedia from The Lazy Sniper suggested we take a stroll down memory lane and write about our experiences from back in the day, back when Wrath was young.

I have an idea for a blog post which is basically looking back to the beginning of Wrath. Memories of how I felt, what I did, things I discovered, things I now miss. I’m interested to see a few other responses however, what are your fondest memories from the beginning of this expansion?

Sharing their memories are

Jaedia from The Lazy Sniper
Skip Cocoa from More Bars Than You
Anea from Oh look, an alt!
Zan from Altoholic Anonymous
Ben from Lucky Lurky
Deyndor from Swift Retribution
Kae from Dreambound Druid
Snobbybelf from Snobbybelf
Ophelie from The Bossy Pally and the Giant Spoon
Rilandune from A Rogue’s Tale
Windsoar from Jaded Alt
Fen from Ventchat
Phoenix from Azeroth Metblogs
Elsen from View Through the Branches
Altoholicmom from Altoholics R Us

Next week’s Shared Topic will take us in the opposite direction! Looking forward, we’ll be speculating on what will happen in Azeroth after Arthas faces defeat. Should you like to join in on this week’s or next week’s (or any week’s, really) Shared Topic, head over the the Shared Topic forum on Blog Azeroth.

This was Ophelie, filling in once again for Saresa.

Shared Topic – Year in Review

Saresa — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 19:09:13 +0000

After a holiday hiatus, the Shared Topics are back! Saresa is currently off touring the world, but the show must go on!

Some time ago, Anexxia from Bible of Dreams suggested we look back at our year in World of Warcraft to answer a few questions.

In the spirit of the annual RL year in review meme I have completed for the better part of this decade, I created one for Warcraft that I thought would be a good potential shared topic.

My Warcraft Year in Review Meme

Instructions: Please leave a link to your meme post in the comments at (http://www.furlinedteacup.com/bibleofdr … -meme.html). Please tag 5 other folks to complete the meme and copy these instructions and the questions into your blog with your answers.

What did you do in the World of Warcraft in 2009 that you’d never done before?

What was your favorite new place that you visited?

What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?

What was your biggest achievement of the year?

What was your biggest failure?

What did you get really, really, really excited about?

What do you wish you’d done less of?

What was your favorite WoW blog or podcast?

Tell us a valuable WoW lesson you learned in 2009.

The topic ended up being quite popular! Included here are all the links that were posted in response to the topic on Blog Azeroth plus a few others I came across. I did my best to be inclusive, but I’m sure I missed a few. If you participated in the topic or know of some who did and who isn’t listed here, feel free to add the link in the comments.

Anexxia from Bible of Dreams
Typhoonandrew from Typhoonandrew
Psynister from Psynister’s Notebook
Lissanna from Restokin
Littlebark from The Tree Unleashed
Rilandune from A Rogue’s Tale
Daraia from Ravenholdt Manor
Ophelie from The Bossy Pally and the Giant Spoon
Kirstimah from Rustled Leaves
Nevik from Nevik’s Notebook
Deyndor from Swift Retribution
Shawndra from Escapist Scrawl
Larísa from The Pink Pigtail Inn
Kim from World of Warcraft Wanderings
Morrighan from Caer Morrighan
Skip Cocoa from More Bars Than You
Windsoar from Jaded Alt
Casual Adam from Casualcraft
Syrana from Sideshow and Syrana
Sideshow from Sideshow and Syrana
Gameldar from WoW in an Hour
Elsen from View Through the Branches
Jaedia from The Lazy Sniper
Icedragon from Druid Main
theerivs from High Latency Life
Arioch from Clearcasting
thedoctor from WFTspaghetti
Alis Dee from Void Star
Megan from Forbearance added her own twist to the meme
Kyrilean from Casual Hardcore
“D” from LFM: Need Healer Plz
Zan from Altoholic Anonymous
Rhidach from Righteous Defense
Issy from I can do alts, me
Adam from The Noisy Rogue
Naithin from Tank’n'Tree
Tessy from Reflections from the Pond
Tahas from Tahas’ Blog
Eviscerate Spam from Eviscerate Spam
Anea from Oh look, an alt!
Lassirra from The Hunter’s Mark
Nochecazador from Of Marks and Beast
Aoirselvar from Casual Huntering
Pheadra from DI the Tank
Rajjs from The Angry Alt
Ben from Lucky Lurky

Check back next week for a shared topic on Looking Back on Wrath.

If you would like to to participate in the Shared Topic, or post a new one, please visit the Blog Azeroth Forums!

This was Ophelie, filling in for Saresa.

Miss Saresa’s Secret Santa (aka Blog Azeroth Kris Kringle)

Fimlys — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 01:43:35 +0000

(A Message from Blog Azeroth… c/o Gnomaggedon)

Some silly Gnome had a silly idea about the silly season.

Throw your name into a hat to give and receive a Secret Santa blog post.

Miss Saresa came to the rescue and organized the 1st Annual Miss Saresa’s Secret Santa.

There are lots of bloggers involved (you can see the full thread here: WoW Blogger Kris Kringle (http://blogazeroth.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=2031&st=0&sk=t&sd=a).

As each of the bloggers unwrapped their secret Santa and let’s it loose on the WoW Blogsphere, they can link here and you can see what sort of novelty rubbish… err truly inspired writing they would share with their blogging colleagues.

Merry Christmas and Safe and present filled to all…

May all your loot be purple and your posts linked by WoW.com!

Gnomer and Out, Squidly and Stout
(Miss Saresa’s little helper)

Shared Topic: Strategies for Guild Retention

Saresa — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:09:00 +0000

Windsoar suggested this fantastic Shared Topic, exploring how guilds can retain their members.

“Members (and oftentimes guilds) come and go on different servers — with the increased flexibility of players to move their characters to new locations, what steps should guilds be taking to recruit, train, and retain their members (raid or casual setting as you prefer)?”

Responding to this Shared Topic are the following fantastic bloggers:

Jaedia from The Lazy Sniper

Ophelie from The Bossy Pally

Windsoar from Jaded Alt

Snakedriver from Bible of Dreams

Rilandune from A Rogue’s Tale

If you would like to participate in the Shared Topic, or post a new one, please visit the Blog Azeroth Forums!

I am also looking for someone who would like to handle the Shared Topic between the 28th December and the 28th January while I am schlepping around overseas, neglecting my internet duties. Basically, you would be asked to write a post very similar to this one – pretty easy, huh? If you are interested, feel free to contact me (whether it be on Twitter, or through email at destructivereach AT yahoo DOT com DOT au) for more information.

Shared Topic: Of PTRs and News Websites

Saresa — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 00:00:50 +0000

Windsoar of Jaded Alt suggested a topic from quite a few weeks ago (unfortunately, I was crit by the RL monster and haven’t been able to get the Shared Topics up) exploring the impact of PTR’s and news websites on the game.

“I thought it’d be interesting to see how people felt about PTRs and the news information about WoW that this generates. It seems more and more these days that before content is widely available (live!) that the community at large is already aware of all the bosses, the items that will be available, and people walk into a dungeon with a firm strat and a gear list in hand.
I personally am divided on this issue — for example, I love seeing my tier sets and their bonuses before they come out, but I avoid any and all information regarding dungeons — I don’t want to see pictures of the dungeon, I don’t want to know the boss’ abilities, and I sure don’t want a loot table. To me, having all that information detracts from the noobish awe and fun of a new raid instance.”

Responding to the topic this week are the following:

Jeffo at Looking for More

Windsoar at Jaded Alt

Rajjs at The Angry Alt

Adam at Casualcraft

Ophelie at The Bossy Pally

Uskan of The H(e)alo

If you would like to participate in the Shared Topic, or post a new one, please visit the Blog Azeroth Forums!

Shared Topic: Best Change to the Game

Saresa — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:05:10 +0000

This week’s Shared Topic was suggested by Lathere of Hots & Dots, and asks us to consider (in honour of WoW’s 5 year anniversary) what the best change to the game would be.

I’m suggesting the following as a shared topic:
Many things have changed and improved within the game between Vanilla, BC & Wrath. Which change that Blizzard released, made a fundamental difference to your gaming experience?
A possible expansion to this topic would be what really irritates you that they still haven’t gotten around to fixing?
Thought this would be a fitting topic seeing it’s Wrath’s 1 Year anniversary
Be as nostalgic as you want!

Responding to the topic this week are:

Autumnn of Grumble and Autumnn

Shawndra of Escapist Scrawl

Ophelie of The Bossy Pally and the Giant Spoon

Almaster of Lux Legis

Cass and Lath of Hots and Dots.

We are running low on Shared Topics and desperately need your help! Head on over to the Blog Azeroth forums and suggest a topic of your own, or contribute to an existing one.

This week’s Shared Topic is Of PTR’s and News Websites, suggested by Windsoar of Jaded Alt.

Shared Topic: RPG Nostalgia

Saresa — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 07:11:13 +0000

This week’s Shared Topic was brought to us by Triv of Raid Naked: Game in the Buffs. Triv asked us to consider the following:

How about a shared topic on RPG Nostalgia? Something along of the lines of your first love in the rpg universe, possibly even mmorpg universe.
For me it harkens back to the days when I first discovered MUD’s. I could actually play a game and interact with other people outside of my own home. It was amazing to me and so varied. MUD’s were the dreamchildren of individuals, and since they are individuals each MUD had it’s own flavor.
I would also add my initial rpg experiences such as Nethack or even console based games like Phantasy Star 3.. (awesome game). I would love to hear how other people fell in love with the genre. I think it would be a great topic to share because it expresses our individuality as well as our community in gaming. (we are all different but the same)
What do you think?

Responding to this week’s topic are the following fantastic bloggers:

Triv from Raid Naked: Game in the Buffs

Rajjs from The Angry Alt

Naithin from Tank ‘n’ Tree

Kirei from A Gamer of Sorts

Phoenix of Azeroth Metblogs

Ophelie of Bossy Pally

Windsoar of Jaded Alt

Next week’s Shared Topic is The Best Change to the Game, suggested by Lathere of HoTs and DoTs. If you would like to submit a Shared Topic, or contribute to an existing one, visit the Blog Azeroth Forums.

Shared Topic: Relationships within Azeroth

Saresa — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:29:05 +0000

This week’s Blog Azeroth Shared Topic was suggested by Naithin of Tank ‘n’ Tree, and asks us to think about the different relationships that are formed within Azeroth.

And I don’t (necessarily) mean the romantic ones (although I know of a couple that have worked out). Quite a broad topic really, could take it from the angle of how friendships (or acquaintances) develop relative to those in the real world, or a list of things people do in WoW (that they probably would never do in RL.. Or maybe they would with some people?) that irk you to no end and have you sending them to the abyss of /ignore faster than trade spamming inappropriate jokes?
I’m sure we’ve all dealt with people at either extreme, those we make fast friends with, and a friendship that may endure many years and even across multiple games… Through to those that while they may’ve been within our guild or circle of game friends for some time? Are just an absolute drain to be around for any period of time.
Don’t get me wrong, I understand that the beating of dead horses is quite possibly audible from space on this one, but even if you don’t have a unique take on the matter, perhaps you have a rather unique (or at least interesting!) story of your own on the matter.

Responding to this week’s topic are the following:

Jaedia from The Lazy Sniper

Ophelie from The Bossy Pally and the Giant Spoon

Windsoar from Jaded Alt

Cybac from Raid Leader

Phyl from WoW and Me

AngryAlt of Angry Alt

Anea of Anea

Naithin of Tank ‘n’ Tree

Cassandri of Hots and Dots

If you would like to respond to a Shared Topic, or suggest your own, head on over to the Blog Azeroth Forums! Next week’s Shared Topic is RPG Nostalgia.

Shared Topic Bonanza!

Saresa — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 07:53:15 +0000

This week, because I’ve been lazy, we again have 2 Shared Topics in one!

The first of these was suggested by Boize of Moonglade:

Recently I found WoW in a place that I hadn’t expected it to be in the world outside the interwebs.
I was out grocery shopping, saw someone looking at the iPhone Armory app, and struck up a conversation with them about WoW, completely out of the blue.
This was my first real out-of-game “hey, other people around me play WoW too!” kind of moment.
Have you had any of these moments? What’s the most unexpected place you’ve found something WoW-related?

Blogging about finding WoW in unknown places are the following:

Boize from Moonglade

Almaster of Lux Legis

The second Shared Topic, Gearing for a Role You Cannot Yet Perform was suggested by Naithin of Tank N Tree:

Which is to say, Tanking or Healing as the two primary culprits here. Not that I condone waltzing into a heroic as a freshly dinged 80 to ‘DPS’ without having put any effort in either, but you can do this and get through a run. To a lesser degree you can with healing as well, if the tank is suitably geared. Most difficult of all, tanking. Even if the healer is absolutely wonderful and able to keep you alive, good luck then in keeping agro off everyone else.
I haven’t yet finished my take on the topic, but will be sure to link through to it when I have. Feel free to take the idea any way you wish, be it a simple list of gear you can buy cheaply or through to methods of obtaining gear while being something else and their associated ethics (or lack thereof).
Would be very curious to see what others come up with. In this day and age in WoW, it’s probably never been easier to do, but yet, it’s still not precisely easy, and I see post after post asking how it’s done. So have at it!

Reponding to this topic are the following:

Icedragon of Druid Main

Naithin of Tank N Tree

Orc Shaman of Orc Shaman

Cybac of Raid Leader

As always, we are looking for more Shared Topic suggestions! Head on over to the Blog Azeroth Forums and suggest a Shared Topic!

Shared Topic: Penalty Systems and Player Entitlement

Saresa — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 02:41:57 +0000

This week’s Shared Topic was suggested by Relevart of Relevart’s Druid Reliquary, and it asks us to ponder penalty systems in WoW, and player ‘entitlement’.

I know a few other bloggers have shown interest in the idea of player motivation and I absolutely love the idea of examining the concept of what makes us want to/need to/desire to play.

I thought a neat springboard for such a discussion would be that of the penalty system (or lack thereof, as you might see it) in WoW as well as the recent claims that Blizzard is caving to the casual players’ feeling of entitlement to see and subsequently conquer any and all content, regardless of capability or time.

I suggest these two because I think they are inherently linked at the core, with entitlement driving the penalty system and to a lesser degree, the inverse. However, I would not be opposed to separating out the most relevant topic in order to condense posts.

Responding to the topic this week are the following bloggers

Relevart (obviously) of Relevart’s Druid Reliquary

Syrana of Sideshow and Syrana

Saresa of Destructive Reach

Next week’s Shared Topic is WoW Where You’d Least Expect It. If you have a contribution to make to a Shared Topic, or a suggestion of your own, head on over to the Blog Azeroth Forums!

Shared Topic: Fails

Saresa — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:52:09 +0000

This week’s Shared Topic is Fails, brought to us by Skraps of ShamWoW.

I am sure this topic has been covered, but among all my other fails I fail at searching.
I have noticed a string of my recent posts covered how I fail, often epically. I would like to see how others fail.
I think it is very good for newer players to see how those of us make dumb mistakes, even though we have been at this for quite a while.

Obviously, we all clearly fail at some point. Perhaps that is why we have so many responses this week!

Dertt at A Tranquil Spirit

Naithin at Tank ‘N’ Tree

Almaster at Lux Legis

Shawndra from Escapist Scrawl

Xeonio from Rez the Weak

Iriya from Heal My Life Tap

Spinks from Welcome to Spinksville

Jaedia from The Lazy Sniper

Victorie from RP Geeks – The Dragon Slayer Project

Have a Shared Topic of your own to suggest? Think that you could make an awesome contribution to a Shared Topic? Have a blog of your own to register? Head on over to the Blog Azeroth Forums.

Next week’s Shared Topic: Penalty Systems and Entitlement in WoW.

Shared Topic: What If You Could Change One Talent?

Saresa — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 01:21:10 +0000

This week’s Shared Topic was suggested by Relevart of Relevart’s Druid Reliquary, and was inspired by a post by Lissanna from Restokin.

If you could change one talent in any of the druid talent trees, what would it be? You could talk about what you want it changed to, or just talk about what makes it a weak talent that should be either changed or replaced in some way.

This came very close to being an all-Druid special, but we were lucky enough to get one fantastic non-Druid post. So, here we go!

Lissanna of Restokin

Relevart of Relevart’s Druid Reliquary

Graylo of Gray Matter

Kae of Dreambound

Elam of Shamenonramen

If you would like to contribute to a Shared Topic, or have a suggestion, feel free to post at the Blog Azeroth Forum! Next week’s topic is “Fails”

Shared Topic: 10 Changes That Will Make [_________] More Heroic

Saresa — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:34:58 +0000

Once again, the Blog Azeroth Shared Topic has extended itself to over 2 weeks, thanks to a lazy administrator who couldn’t keep up with it all. However, the extra long time has meant we have some truly fantastic posts written this week by a host of bloggers.

Gryphonheart of The Lion Guard suggested a great topic for this week.

Where "___" is an old-world instance (such as Deadmines or Shadowfang Keep).
Here’s what I had to suggest for Deadmines. Feel free to be as serious or as humorous as you’d like.

Responding with some fantastic new looks at old instances are the following:

Relevart at Relevart’s Druid Reliquary on Rage Fire Chasm

Darkpurple at Druidic In Nature on Scarlet Monastery

Gryphonheart at The Lion Guard with The Stockade

Xeonio at Rez the Weak with Maraudon

Fuyuko at The Unconventional Priest with Dire Maul

Lissanna at Restokin with Sunken Temple

If you have a contribution to make to an existing discussion, or a Shared Topic of your own to suggest, don’t forget to head on over to the Blog Azeroth Forums!

Shared Topic: Faction Changes!

Saresa — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:34:19 +0000

With Faction Changes live surprisingly early, this Shared Topic happened to be timed just about perfectly. This topic was suggested some time ago by Nigiri of Adventures of a Priest.

After publicly stating a while ago that they would not do this, Bliz has announced in their forums they are working on Faction change mechanic for players who want to switch. Here is a link to the European WoW forums with some Q&A by a Blue.
This topic is a mine field. People who are against it seem to be very against it and people who are for it seem, for the most part, quiet on the subject. It would be interesting to read something longer than a short forum post with some well thought out discussion.

Answering with a wide variety of opinions are this week’s bloggers

Shopshopshop of Runeforge Gossip

Rubymelon of Rubymelon

Kel of Awakening in Progress

Phoenix of Azeroth Metblogs

Dertt of A Tranquil Spirit

Natarumah of Twisted Faith

Snakedriver of Bible of Dreams

Boize of Moonglade

Almaster of Lux Legis

Would you consider changing factions? What would it mean to you to do so? If you have any ideas on this week’s Shared Topic, or have one to suggest of your own, make sure you head on over to the Blog Azeroth Forums!

Shared Topic: Blizzcon!

Saresa — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:00:58 +0000

This week the blogosphere brings you news of all things Blizzcon! Whether it be where to go, who to meet up with, or what to do if you can’t make it, we have it all for you!

Can’t get enough of Blizzcon? Make sure you take a look at the following!

Boize of Moonglade discusses the road to Blizzcon

Saresa of Destructive Reach offers tips on how to spot that elusive blogger

Shelbi of The Bronze Kettle helps you to put together your very own flimsy mask

Lisim of Aussie WoW Cast plans a Blizzcon Week

Wynthea of World of Matticus helps you with the hairy problem of packing your bags

Matticus of World of Matticus talks about his truly awesome t-shirts that will make it easier for you to spot the World of Matticus Crew!

Nibuca from Mystic Chicanery has some super helpful Blizzcon tips (learned from valuable experience!)

As an additional note, people not attending the ‘con can keep up with all the news and talk with like-minded Blizzard fans at TwizzCon, the Twitter/Vent/Webchat Blizzcon experience! Also remember to keep an eye on Twisted Nether Blogcast’s very own live updates.

No matter your interest in Blizzcon, whether you are going or staying at home, the bloggers of Blog Azeroth all have a wide selection of posts to offer. Enjoy your Blizzcon, and remember: head over to the Blog Azeroth Forums to contribute or suggest your own Shared Topic!

Shared Topic: What Would A WoW Movie Be About?

Saresa — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 08:37:56 +0000

This week’s Blog Azeroth Shared Topic was suggested by Halopheonix of Azeroth: Here and Now.

So we’ve all heard the news by now that Sam Raimi is going to be directing the Warcraft-based movie. While the speculation runs rampant about how the movie will be compared to other movies in Raimi’s resume, I’m more curious what everyone thinks the movie will be about.
The movie could always be something entirely new, set in the World of Warcraft universe and up-to-date lore, or it could be some defining moment on Warcraft lore that’s set thousands of years before World of Warcraft or in one of the Warcraft games. At the same time, the responses I’m getting from people make the solid point that whatever it is, it has to appeal to current players and can’t require 3 previous games of story to understand.

Responding to the topic are the following:

Dertt from A Tranquil Spirit

Saresa From Destructive Reach

Next week, we have a very special, very different Shared Topic! Posting something about Blizzcon? Going to Blizzcon? Going to Twizzcon? Make sure you go to the Blog Azeroth Forums and link your post in the Shared Topics!

Shared Topic Double Whammy! The Olden Days/Why So Many [insert class here] Blogs?!

Saresa — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 08:55:29 +0000

This week we have a double whammy of Shared Topic posts! First off the rank we have a suggestion from Solomonx of Magetable:

I was playing my mage yesterday when I got to reminiscing about what raiding used to be like for me. Polymorphing, being only desired as a vending machine and portal maker…that kind of stuff.

So what do you guys remember about the older days of WoW? Was it vanilla or BC? Do you miss it or are you glad that it’s gone? Post an entry telling the world you’re memories!

This was a very popular topic last week, with the following people responding:

Darkpurple from Druidic In Nature

Kae from Dreambound

Lerali from Casual WoW Player

Consolea from Magic and Madness

Erinys from Harpy’s Nest

Ysinnia from Limb to limb

Lissanna from Restokin

Spinks from Spinksville

Gweninu from Out of Ammo

The other topic was suggested by Shopshopshop of Runeforge Gossip:

I have absolutely no evidence that there really are more druid/hunter blogs than other types (though this seems to be the case from looking at the BA author intro forums). Basically my idea for this is to have people just come up with random/serious/funny reasons as to why there are so many hunters and druids who blog but not other classes. You could also give reasons why some classes don’t blog, like, say… "Mages don’t blog because they are vending machines, and everyone knows vending machines can’t talk/write."

So far this week, Calli of Pew Pew Lazers has come up with a great response, examining why the heck there are so many Druid blogs out there!

If you have a topic suggestion, or would like to contribute to a Shared Topic, visit the Blog Azeroth Forums!

Shared Topic: If You Could Buy a Month of WoW With Gold?

Saresa — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 07:28:51 +0000

This week’s Shared Topic was suggested by Veneretio of Tanking Tips, and asks readers and bloggers alike to consider the implications of ‘reverse RMT’

I was browsing the net and it hit me, what if Blizzard implemented the ultimate gold sink. What if they allowed you to buy a month of WoW time for 10,000 gold? What would this do to the WoW economy? What would it do to the game as a whole? Would raiding suffer? Would PvP suffer?

Answering the call this week were the following bloggers

Honorshammer of Honors Code “I don’t think this would ever really happen because it exposes the truth of RMT. You really are spending something of tangible value (your money) for something without tangible value (1s and 0s in a computer server somewhere).”

Lerali of A Casual WoW Player. “The idea of converting in-game cash into out-of-games goods such as game time kind of reminds me of how gold selling sites will also offer to buy your gold. If you’re willing to go one way, I don’t really see why they would not go the other way.”

If you have a contribution to make to a Shared Topic, a suggestion of your own, or if you are a blogger who wants to join the wonderful Blog Azeroth Community, head on over to the forums!

Shared Topic: What Does It Mean To Be Horde/Alliance?

Saresa — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 06:41:18 +0000

This week Spinks asks us to consider what it means to us to be a part of the Horde or the Alliance.

I got this idea from the paid faction changes, and I was trying to list out some things I thought you had to do in game to be a real Horde.
Then I figured this might be a fun shared topic. What does it mean to you to be Horde/ Alliance?

Contributing patriotically this week are the following Blog Azeroth Bloggers

Solomonx from Magetable: “I found myself with a newfound respect and loyalty to the Horde”

Kirei at A Gamer of Sorts: “not only do I play both Horde and Alliance, but I realized that I do actually think differently of both my characters”

Darkpurple from Druidic In Nature: “I see Alliance as proud and sophisticated, giving great value to intellectual pursuits”

Plague from Cataclysm’s Edge: “The olden days world PvP was something to be proud of and I dare any player from them times to not get misty eyed when “Southshore” gets mentioned.”

Nigiri from Adventures of a Priest: “Help Abercrombie get his wife Eliza back, only to realize you were vastly underpowered for what was about to come your way”

Saresa at Destructive Reach: “I just wanted to be pretty”

To contribute to this weeks topic, or to suggest one of your own, head on over to the Blog Azeroth Forums!

Shared Topic: What If There Were WoW Lobbyists?

Saresa — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 06:25:25 +0000

This week at Blog Azeroth we get all political! Euripides of OutDPS muses upon the following point

The US hunting and gun lobby is quite powerful. The US Fish and Wildlife Service says 12.5 million people hunted (in real life) in the US in 2006. The number of WOW players has reached 11 million globally, over half of them US based.
Here’s my idea for a shared topic: How would our lives change if a lobby representing the interests of US WOW players had as much clout per capita as the hunting (and long gun) lobby?

Would President Obama have photo-ops with him rolling a Paladin? Raiding Naxx? Would politicians have to try to balance their message so they attract people who are partial to both Horde and Alliance?

Rising to the challenge is MomentEye from NoobSaysWoW, with a highly entertaining look at the possible strengths (and weakness!) of the WoW player base in the political scene. I take a more… Warlocky view of the situation at Destructive Reach.

What do you think? Could WoW players really influence global affairs? Have your say by linking your post on the Blog Azeroth Forums, or suggest your own Shared Topic!

Shared Topic: Humour in WoW

Saresa — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 06:55:41 +0000

Shopshopshop of Runeforge Gossip has suggested a doozie of a Shared Topic for this week, which is guaranteed to have you ROFLing and LOLing and every other acronym-ing all over the place: Humour in WoW and how it affects the game.

Since I can remember, Blizzard has always inserted the odd pop culture reference or joke in either NPC names or achievements more recently, so I thought it might be interesting to discuss the effect of this stuff on the game.

Contributing to the discussion of all things funny, punny (or even sometimes dunny related) are the following

Gordon from We Fly Spitfires

MomentEye from Noob Says WoW

If you wish to make your own contribution to this topic, or have a topic of your own to suggest, visit the Blog Azeroth Forums!

Shared Topic: Being Aware of your Surroundings During Raids

Saresa — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:58:35 +0000

We have all been there, whether it be on the dying side or the ‘watch what you are doing!’ side. Void zones. Fire walls. Other massive blobs of certain doom that appear on the screen. One thing that people always get irate about is people not watching their surroundings during raids, so it is a very popular topic that Lissanna from Restokin has suggested for this week.

As a raid healer, a common thing these days is trying to balance keeping everyone in your raid alive, while still being able to move when you need to (ie. having the right amount of situational awareness to your surroundings during raids).
I thought it would be neat to see how all the classes (even tanks and DPS) handle the multi-tasking that is required during raids. Do tanks and DPS sometimes have tunnel vision and forget to watch for the AOE effects or whatever they need to move out of? How do other healers deal with avoiding the tunnel vision problem?

Contributing to the anti-tunnel vision cause are the following

Shopshopshop from Runeforge Gossip

The Renaissance Man from Children of Wrath

Almaster of Lux Legis

Kahleena of Fel Deeds Awake!

Aeltyra of And Two Rogues

Euripides of OutDPS

Honorshammer of Honor’s Code

Molsan of MolsanMethod

Boize of Moonglade

Kae at Dreambound

Some really great contributions this week, with plenty of food for thought for those of us (not me, I swear!) who are a bit prone to, um… standing on the black puddles of doom. Remember to keep the contributions coming! Visit the BlogAzeroth forums to read past posts, make your own contributions and suggest your own topics!