Episode 53 – The Podcast Formerly Known As TNB

mike_schrammThis week the show welcomes Mike Schramm from wow.com (the site formerly known as WoW Insider) and mikeschramm.com . Yes, again the interview goes long, but it was more than worth it! The hosts also talk about the official iPhone WoW App , lots of Q&A, listener emails and much much more!

SPONSORED BY: Buff’D – Player Powered WoW News (Contest Info)

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

SharedTopic

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!

Resource Site Spotlight: Kaliban’s Class Loot Lists

screenieHi again folks! Today I’m going to spotlight a very useful utility site called Kaliban’s Class Loot Lists (wiki link). Some guilds, whether they have a DKP system or not, want to ensure that loot goes to players who will use it for their primary spec before it goes to people who would only use it for an offset. In theory, the guild will get better use of gear if it’s played more. While this is a fairly inexact science (especially now that dual spec is available), a large amount of time can be spent arguing about whether a piece of gear is “meant” for one class or spec or another.

Kaliban’s class loot lists has categorized all the drops in the current end game by which class can use it most. I don’t always agree (note my improvements in the screenshot), but it can be handy to have a list broken down already before you embark on a raid.

In theory, any loot distribution system that needs an absolute reference for which classes should be allowed to roll on something can use this to avoid having long, boisterous, frank exchanges of opinions about whether it’s a rogue piece without expertise, or a leather hunter piece.

To use, simply select the raid you’re doing from the first page, scroll down to the boss you get the loot from, and check what classes are considered first, second, and third priority for it.

Tune in next time, and please contact me if you have anything you’d like to see here!

The resource site spotlight (aka wiki tiki utility posts) should happen every week, but is written by Euripides from outdps.com, and endeavors to fill your favorites bar with an unmanageably large quantity of WOW resource sites. So much knowledge that it hurts. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow.

TNB Live Thursday 7/23 9:30pm PST – Mike Schramm of WoW.com

wowcom Join us Thursday evening at 9:30PM PST as we talk with Mike Schramm of WoW.Com (the site formerly known as WoW Insider) and other projects. Join the fun in our live chat room!
  • When is it?: This live show is scheduled for Thursday July 23th at 9:30pm PST (12:30 am EST). Not sure what time that is for you? Use this handy-dandy time converter!
  • Where do I go? To participate on the live show, you will need to go to the TNB Live Show page to connect with the stream. See, totally easy. If you are having issues then go to the Ustream page.
  • Some general ground rules:
    1. Be nice. If you say very inappropriate things be aware you will be kicked from the room. We are doing this to have a great time, come with a beer, come during a raid, come how you wish, just don’t come to cause trouble.
    2. You may ask questions to the participants during the show, but we reserve the right to use them if and when we can. I will be monitoring the chat room and if I can I will use the comments during the show. We love that you are with us, but I will have to weave them in. Even if it isn’t asked, we all appreciate your questions

Outside of that, we will love to have you join us and partake in an enlightening discussion that is sure to follow! Hope to see you there!

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

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!