Some phish with your spam today?

For some reason, I have been experiencing a major upswing in phishing emails regarding World of Warcraft. Not only that, but over the past few days I've also received some regarding my "compromised Aion account" (I don't play and never have played Aion). These are pretty much all landing in the Blizzard folder on my email account, since they are all spoofed to look like they're official emails from Blizzard.

So, instead of deleting them all, or forwarding them all to hacks@blizzard.com, I do what I often do when faced with new data: I studied them.

Looking at the emails, I learned patterns and keys to identifying scam/phish emails. Some of them are quick and easy, some are blatantly obvious, and some are far more subtle. The worst one I have seen nearly exactly mimicks the real email Blizzard sends when you change your contact information or password, but it too has some dead giveaways.

One question I have heard asked in regard to getting these spam mails: "How did they get the email I use with my registered account?"

The short answer is: they didn't. They don't know you have a WoW account. They sent this out to general marketing mailing lists and they're hoping that they hit some people who do have one. That's why these emails are called "phishing" -- they're casting their lines and seeing who bites the bait.

Ever gotten a spam email from a bank you have never done business with? That's phishing. Same thing.

The important thing is this: the purpose of spam/phishing emails is to get you to give them data they don't have so they can steal your account.

So, without further ado, here are ways you can tell if a mail is legitimate or not.

1. Fake emails ask you for your account name and/or account password, OR they ask you to "verify your account information" on an online form. They do this because THEY DON'T HAVE IT. Blizzard has this information already and does not need you to "verify" it.

They attempt to get you to do this by frightening you into immediate action. There are two common scare tactics:

Scare Tactic #1: Your account has been reviewed and you are under suspicion for being hacked, or buying gold, or using powerleveling, or attempting to buy/sell your account. Only by verifying your account information can you clear your name and save your account.

Truth: If Blizzard suspects you of doing any of these things, they don't warn you. The first you will know of the "suspicion" is that you will receive a letter that starts out with "We are writing to inform you that we have, unfortunately, had to cancel your World of Warcraft account" and goes downhill from there. They don't warn. They just do it.

Scare Tactic #2: They send you a faked email that your contact information or password has been changed. The letter looks nearly identical to the real one Blizzard will send under those circumstances.

Truth: You can easily determine if this is true by going to Blizzard's account page yourself, logging in, and seeing if anything has been changed. If you can't log in, you have a problem and need to call Blizzard account services. A real Blizzard notice for a password change will not tell you to log into anything; it will tell you to phone Blizzard account services.

Fake emails will give you a link to a page where you can log in to try to see your account -- this is a simple capture program that will let you give the would-be hackers your login information. And if you look at the letter logically, it's incredibly stupid. First, it tells you that if you made the change yourself to disregard the notice. Second, it tells you that if you did not change it, follow this link to Account Services to review your settings. Well, if someone changed your password without your knowledge, you couldn't very well log into Account Services, could you?

In summary: Blizzard's emails about account changes will direct you to call them if you have questions or concerns. Fake emails will give you "handy" links to check your information online.

In fact, Blizzard never asks for verification of any information through any kind of linked web-based form. Never.

2. Fake emails never greet you by name.

Nearly all Blizzard emails start out with "Hello Jane," (substitute your own name of Jane; they will use the first name associated with this account). This is true for nearly all correspondence that actually comes from Blizzard, because unlike the spammers, they have your actual data.

Fakes will open with "Greetings!", or "Hello", or even "Dear Valued Blizzard Customer".

There is only one exception to this that I am aware of where a Blizzard email does not start off with a greeting. When you email something to Blizzard, they will send you a short automated response acknowledging receipt of the letter. But this is an easy cause/effect relationship; you send an email, you get a response acknowledging receipt, nothing more. In these, there is no greeting at all.

3. Fake emails do not go back to the same address they came from.

Most fake emails will seem to come from a legitimate Blizzard address, such as donotreply@blizzard.com. However, if you do reply, they don't go back that way.

Real Blizzard emails generally come from noreply@blizzard.com. If you hit Reply anyway, it will put "noreply@blizzard.com" in the To: field.

Fake emails will go to a different address -- and not a blizzard.com one. Just hit Reply and see where it goes. Don't hit Send, though, because all you will be doing then is verifying to the recipient that this is a legitimate email address.

On that note:

4. Fake emails often include links that don't go where they say they go.

To repeat: Blizzard will never link to any form that asks you to verify your information. But some try anyway, and many include spoofed web addresses that look like they go one place but actually go somewhere else.

The most subtle of them will make an address that may appear legitimate, such as wowadmin-blizzard.com, but that is an entirely different domain. Dashes are like any other character in a domain name. What they are hoping you will think when you see it is that it's actually a subdomain, like us.blizzard.com, which is a legitimate name. The periods are signs of subdomains. The dashes are just other characters.

Some of them will also do subtle misspellings, like worldofwarcrarft.com or wor1dofwarcraft.com (play spot the inconsistencies!). One fun thing I do (OK, I think it's fun) is to copy these and look them up in the Whois database. One of the ones I found recently is owned by a couple of Chinese men in Toronto.

They may appear legitimate in the email, but it's very easy to have a link show as one thing and look another; it's a basic function of HTML email. See, I can make a link that looks like http://www.blizzard.com, but if you hover your cursor over it, it shows a completely different address. It's a quick way to check links.

5. Some fakes are obviously written by non-native speakers.

Most of them aren't that stupid and very closely mimic the appearance of a real Blizzard email. Some even use it as a standard boilerplate and just change a few things here and there. However, occasionally you get a doozy, like this one I received the other day:

"Today, we are do all activities of the World of Warcraft accounts a routine check. We have evidence to show that your account transactions involved in the disputed. Please visit our web site as soon as possible to clarify [bad link removed] otherwise we will lock your account."

Don't expect all would-be hackers to be this stupid, but it's worth mentioning anyway.

On the subject of stupidity, I got another good one just today that appeared to come from NCSoft. However, both the subject line and the enclosed email were about a supposedly compromised WoW account. For those of you who don't know, NCSoft is the company behind Aion. Looks like the hacker had some cut and paste issues.

So, in summary, fake emails:

• ask you for information Blizzard should already have
• ask you to verify information online
• do not address you by name
• have return addresses that don't match when you hit Reply
• have spoofed web links that don't go to the place they say they go

So what can you do to increase account security?

Buy an authenticator or use the mobile authentication application for certain phone models. This is your absolute best and strongest defense against hacking. There have been a very, very few cases of people getting hacked despite the authenticator -- back in mid-2008 there were some reports of authenticators being removed from people's accounts without their knowledge, but hopefully whatever loophole existed then has been closed. While I have seen many of my friends' accounts hacked, not a single one of them had an authenticator on their account at the time. They have all gotten it since. Get it. Get it now.

Read - don't react. If you get an alarming email about your account being threatened with closure, read it. Remember, Blizzard closes without warning. Analyze the letter and pick out the common weak points of spam.

If you're concerned about your account, pick up the phone. Blizzard never asks for verification over the web. If you have a concern or question about your Blizzard account, call Blizzard.

Use a strong password. There was something on the news recently about large numbers of people who still use passwords like "password", "12345" or "abc123". Sure, it should be something you'll remember, but it shouldn't be something anyone can guess easily. A phrase or quote can easily be turned into a strong password; something like "Pee-Wee's Playhouse" could be turned into "p33weEzpl4yHwz". Microsoft has a good password strength checker and suggestions for how to create strong passwords.

Consider opening an email account only for your game account, particularly if you don't have an authenticator. Most email lists come from the web. If you use your email anywhere else -- forums, websites, contacts for anything -- someone will harvest it. If you make that email account name something similar to a strong password, like p33weEz@yahoo.com, it's also very unlikely anyone will guess it. Since Blizzard made the decision to make your Battle.net ID the same as your email account (a decision I disagree with -- your very discoverable email address is half your security if you don't have an authenticator), you can further fox would-be hackers by making your email address difficult as well.

Help Blizzard by forwarding any suspicious emails to hacks@blizzard.com. You'll get an immediate automated message with no greeting.

Don't worry.

This one's for real.

Citizen Azeroth: Carpal tunnel sucks

It looks like I may have carpal tunnel syndrome. The curiosity isn't that I might have carpal tunnel, but that I got to be 42 years old without ever having a repetitive motion injury before.

I never realized how much of my daily activity involves my right hand until it started hurting around the beginning of last December. I'm actually ambidextrous, but through habit and laziness I tend to use my right hand more. It makes sense, since this is a world set up for righties, not lefties -- scissors, knitting techniques, computer mice, etc., are all set up for right handed folks.

At first I ascribed my hand problem to knitting too much to get ready for Christmas. I'd actually planned less Christmas knitting this year, but I'd also put it off longer, so I was trying to finish it. I started getting pain between my first and second fingers, and decided I'd lay off the knitting and make my apologies to the family I was knitting for (nobody grumbled a bit, just told me to get better and not worry about their socks or knucks being late).

But the pain didn't go away. It stayed all backgroundy and annoying. I had a general physical set up for late January, so I tried to put it off, until I was playing WoW and started getting pains that felt like electrical shocks shooting up my thumb.

I am not the most efficient WoW player in terms of my use of interface. I'm a mouser, not a keyboard user as much. I have very, very few macros -- I have one for assisting when I'm playing DPS, one for targeting that I change depending on what I am doing (my shaman was using /target Theramore Infiltrator in Dustwallow Marsh the other day), and one for deleting all my greys for when I am trashing low-level dungeons. That's about it.

I don't even use the number keys much for my hotbars. Except in instances, I mouse-click the buttons. When I am healing in instances, I do a combination of selecting abilities on the keyboard with my lefthand and mouse-clicking Grid and Decursive with my right (yes, I know Grid and Decursive can be partly redundant depending on how you set them up, but I like using both). I will need to look into solutions which make me use my keyboard more and my mouse less. Suggestions are more than welcome.

I have a good mouse that fits my hand well -- it's a Logitech MX Revolution rechargeable cordless optical mouse (how's that for a string of adjectives?). I am very picky about mice and trackballs because I also have basal thumb arthritis in both hands, so anything with thumb controls is out the window. But I guess I am going to have to switch to an ergonomic keyboard for my gaming machine. I have always liked ergonomic keyboards, but had stopped using one in favor of my Microsoft Razr keyboard with backlighted keys, which I really like (I will really miss the backlit keys. I like my office dim).

And then there's work. I am self employed as a web designer and work on a laptop. Laptops are not built with ergonomic keyboards. It's at a good height and I have a great office chair (yes, I sprung for an Aeron about four years ago and love love love it).

But other than work and gaming, my other major pursuits are genealogy (also computer intensive), knitting, and violin. I pretty much haven't knit since early December, except for one pair of heavy wool mittens that I knit in one day and regretted having knit for the next two. My hands were cold, I didn't have good mittens, so I knit a pair rather than buying them because I had gorgeous wool yarn in my stash. Now I wish I'd bought them.

If this was my left hand, I'd have to give up the violin for awhile because I wouldn't be able to reach the strings with the rigid brace. But since it's my right, I CAN play, but my bowing will suck royally. I already have the problem of "playing from the shoulder" -- that is, using the shoulder to move the bow rather than the elbow and wrist, which is how to bow properly and get it so it moves perpendicular to the strings. Without wrist bend, I'll be sawing -- the bow will run in one angle up and another angle down and sound terrible (not to mention reinforcing bad habits I already have). But I can't just hang up the fiddle because I'm the primary musician for a Morris dance group and we're practicing for the New England Folk Festival in late April.

So, next step is nerve induction tests and a treatment plan, and seeing what I can do about balancing what I need to do with what I can physically do at this point. Anyone who has any suggestions on how to help with the gaming aspect can leave them here or tweet me; I'm all ears. I want to get rid of this problem, not prolong it, but I also don't want to give up everything in the meantime.

Citizen Azeroth: Secrets of Winter Veil

It's time for the Winter Veil achievements connected to the "What A Long Strange Trip It's Been". Here are my tips to a stress-free holiday.

The Winter Veil Gourmet: Cook the following products - Egg Nog, Gingerbread Cookie, and Hot Apple Cider.

This requires a cooking skill of 325 to complete. You will need the following items for all three:

From the holiday vendors:
- holiday spirits (2)
- holiday spices (1 group of 5)
- sparkling apple cider (1)

From regular vendor (innkeeper or bartender):
- ice cold milk (1 group of 5)

Farmed:
- small egg (2)

On small eggs: There are plenty of places to farm these easily -- any low level bird-type creatures will drop them. Favorite spots you can hunt includes: carrion birds in Mulgore or Westfall, dragonhawks in Eversong Woods, or moonkin near Auberdine. You can buy them in the auction house, but at least for the first day or two you'll pay through the nose for small eggs. Last night, the first night of Winter Veil, they were selling for 5g each (this morning, the second day, they were down to 3g apiece).

You can combine this with the quest "Treats for Great-father Winter", which is for 5 Gingerbread Cookies and 1 Ice Cold Milk. If you do this, you will need a total of 6 small eggs. You can buy the remaining cookies on the auction house, but again, expect to pay a premium. Curiously enough, the cookies generally sell for a great deal less than the eggs.

This is a quest where it can pay to wait a few days before you do it, especially if you plan to buy your items on auction. The prices will drop like a stone; by the third or fourth day, people can't give cookies and eggs away.

On Metzen: Rescue Metzen the Reindeer

This quest is to rescue Metzen the Reindeer. You are given the "tools" you need to do this. You can find him in two locations: in Searing Gorge near the tunnel to the Badlands (68,34), or in Tanaris in Lost Rigger Cove with the pirates (73, 48). You need to be at least level 40 to do this.

This one is actually good to do a bit early if you're low level, because people will be clearing to him all day and you won't have to kill the pirates yourself. If you're higher level, nothing here is going to pose any problems. Get to Metzen and use the items in your bag to free him. Return for your reward. Save the fruitcake!

This quest does give experience and WILL count toward 3000 quests completed. It also gives you goblin city reputations without reducing Bloodsail reputation. Curiously enough, the follow up quest that allows you to use Deeprock Salt and money to turn temporary holly into permanent holly also counts toward the 3000 quests, though only the first time.

'Tis the Season: Eat fruitcake while wearing 3 pieces of winter clothing.

You get the fruitcake reward from one of two places: by completing the "Treats for Great-father" quest, or from the Metzen quest line. They come in gift packs mailed to you afterward. Do not throw out the fruitcake or eat it all before you do this.

The good news is that the winter clothing and boots are not soulbound and may easily be shared among several characters. The Red Winter Clothes come from an Alliance available pattern, sold by holiday vendors, and the Green Winter Clothes are available from a Horde pattern, also sold by holiday vendors. These require 250 tailoring. The Winter Boots are made with 285 leatherworking from a holiday vendor pattern. All three of these patterns are BoP (bind on pickup), but the clothes themselves are not.

The bad news is that the third piece is the hat, and you will need to be at least level 70 to acquire it. In previous years, the hat was available on lower level bosses, but this year they are only available in one of three locations: the Nexus, Ahn'kahet, and the Oculus. By far, the easiest is the Nexus, off Grand Magus Telestra. If you take the lefthand path when you zone in, you can go more or less directly to her, after clearing some trash. This can probably be soloed by a well geared 80; we had a group of 5 80s last night and it was laughably easy. With the other two areas, you will need to clear to the third boss. Telestra always drops the Red Winter Hat, but she only drops one, so you will need to reset this instance to get hats for everyone in your group. Be careful NOT to reset too often; you can only do five instances in an hour.

If you're set on a Green Winter Hat, Mage-Lord Urom in the Oculus is your only option.

Scrooge: Throw a snowball at King Magni Bronzebeard/Cairne Bloodhoof during the Veil.

This one is easy and self-explanatory. You can buy snowballs from holiday vendors, scoop them up in Alterac Valley, or get them occasionally as rewards from the "blue lady" daily in K3.

However, my tip here is that you should combine this with the quest line "The Reason for the Season". This starts in Ogrimmar, near the bank, or with a dwarf near the bank in Ironforge. Both of these quest lines with the snowball targets of "Scrooge".

Let It Snow: Use a Handful of Snowflakes on the race/class combinations below.

This is another where you have to find a bunch of unusual class/race combos and throw snowflakes on them. You get snowflakes from /kissing winter revelers in old world cities, or in the Scryer/Aldor inns in Shattrath and Dalaran.

The snowflakes are not soulbound, but they are limited in duration and thus can't be mailed or placed in guild banks.

You can throw snowflakes onto a person who already has snowflakes on them. It's not like the turkey-turning quest where you don't get credit if you try to use it on someone who is already a turkey. You will get credit for "flaking" someone who already has flakes on them. This can be an easy way to spot the right targets, but always check before throwing.

Fa-la-la-la Ogri'la: Complete the quest Bomb them Again! while mounted on a flying reindeer during Winter Veil.

There are several parts to this quest.

First, if you didn't open these quests up on another toon, you will have to do a few quests to open this daily up. The good news is that you don't have to do the entire, twelve-step quest leading up to that, so no worry about the whole King/Queen of the Ogres line. As of patch 3.1, there is a new quest called The Crystals that leads into just a very few Ogri'la quests. This skips all the group quests. You'll still have to do some quests, such as the Relic's Emanation (get the Ogri'Lazy mod from Curse to help with this) and a couple others, but this quest line has been significantly shortened because of the changes.

Second, you need to get some holly to turn your flying mount into a reindeer. You can get Fresh Holly by the bucketload by /kissing a winter reveler in an old-world inn or Shattrath. You can use this to turn either a land mount or a flying mount into a reindeer. In this case, you will need to use it on a flying mount.

Druids have an apparent problem with this quest because it requires a flying mount; flying form will not do. If you are a druid, you will need to purchase at least a regular flying mount ( you have the skill to ride it as part of getting your regular flight form). So this will set you back about 50g, less for reputation.

HOWEVER, you don't need an epic mount, because you only need to be ON the flying reindeer for the turn-in. You don't need to do the actual quest. You can do the entire quest without being on a flying reindeer, BUT you must be on one when you turn in the quest, or you won't get credit. I did the entire bombing run on my unaltered Swift Green Windrider, landed, turned my mount into a reindeer, did the turn in and got credit. In my case, I did this because the flightHUD mod I use doesn't seem to work in reindeer form.

With a Little Helper From My Friends: Get 50 honorable kills while in little helper form from a Wondervolt machine.

There is a Wondervolt machine right in the middle of Dalaran, as well as outside every major Horde or Alliance city. If you're 80, the easy way to do this is in either Wintergrasp or Alterac Valley. My priest got this extremely easily healing in Wintergrasp. It's pretty simple: queue up, turn into a gnome, don't die. If you die, you will lose the costume and there is nowhere to get it inside the BG so you may have to do more than one.

Simply Abominable: Complete the quest to retrieve Smokeywood Pastures' stolen treats and receive a Smokeywood Pastures' Thank You box.

This simply means completing the "You're A Mean One..." quest line, which involves killing the Greench in the Alterac Mountains, near the yeti caves in the south. This can be done in a group, and it's best to wait at least a few days to get this. By the time four or five days have passed, the poor Greench will be wandering about, all by his lonesome with no one to play with.

This year, they've significantly sped up the Greench's respawn time.

Bros. Before Ho-Ho-Hos: Use Mistletoe on four named mobs.

These will differ between the Alliance and the Horde. This does require either level 77 or cold weather flying skill, because one of the brothers is always located on the flying ship in Icecrown. Use Wowhead to find the four brothers if you don't know where they are.

A Frosty Shake: Dance as a snowman with the Winter Veil Disguise Kit in Dalaran.

You will receive the Winter Veil Disguise Kit about 1 day after completing the Smokey Pastures' Treat/Greench quest line. Requires a snowball. Simply go to Dalaran, turn into a snowman, target another snowman, and /dance. You can almost certainly find a friend to help you with this if you can't find one.

He Knows If You've Been Naughty: Open one of the presents under the tree once they become available.

This is the #1 reason why it's so silly to rush this achievement line. Put simply: you can't complete Merrymaker the first day because the presents don't become available until the morning of December 25th. The presents are then available until the end of Winter Veil. These are level restricted and don't become available until level 10.

Crashin' and Thrashin' and BB King are also holiday achievements, but not required for the meta-achievement for "Merrymaker".

Happy holidays to all.

Citizen Azeroth: The story thus far (3.3)

When I wrote the 3.3 post, I hadn't actually logged onto the servers. Now that a few days have passed and I have given 3.3 a try, mostly I have to give the patch a decent score. It was less broken than many patches (aside from the usual first-day problems), with fewer of my mods breaking. Sure, I had to turn off the Look 'n' Feel part of Cartographer, but not much adaptation ended up being required.

The built-in quest finder and quest helpers attached to the new minimap are fine for those who don't like fully featured mods such as QuestHelper and Carbonite, but ultimately it's no more a replacement for them than their built-in Equipment Manager is a replacement for Outfitter. Sure, it works -- but like the Equipment Manager, it does only about 3/4 of the job, is a little hard to use, has a rather barebones approach to the UI changes, and isn't super intuitive. Personally, I turned off the Blizzard attempts and continue to use QuestHelper. Score: A for effort, B- for execution.

I had problems with some of the default UI changes they made, probably to make life easier for real newbies. Two changes several people, including myself, had to find a fix for was making the loot appear under the mouse by default. Sure, the option has always been there -- but it's always been off by default. Suddenly, it was on by default. It took me a little while to find where to turn off the option under the Interface menu. It also defaulted my camera in such a way that I couldn't look uphill anymore and I had to play with the camera options to get it "right" again. Blizzard, most of your players aren't newbies -- don't go messing with those kinds of defaults when you've had it one way for so many years. Score: D-.

Dungeon Finder is a great addition and seems to work beautifully, although obviously the instance servers were not ready for the new level of demand, as evidenced by the old "Additional instances are not available" errors. I like the fact that the loot is hardcoded in so no one can mess with it, although this does not remove the need for groups to communicate about loot rules. And unfortunately, a pug is a pug is a pug -- making them cross server may cut down on wait times for dungeons, but it doesn't remove the fact that pugging is a crapshoot. Score: A for execution. Minor downgrade for the fact that pugs still have all the same problems they've all had, but that's hardly Blizzard's fault.

The new ICC dungeons are ... well, simply put, they're awesome. I haven't been this excited about new content in a long time. The fights are fun, and bosses are somewhat gadgety without being overwhelmingly so. The loot, even on regular, is excellent. The Quel'delar weapon quest line was great fun. The third dungeon takes gauntlets a little bit far, but the tension caused by watching the Lich King slooooowwwwlly stalking toward you (he must have gone to a zombie's track school) on the last part of the third dungeon is awe inspiring.

But... who put in all that monologuing? I've NEVER seen NPCs talk that much! And Sylvanus' interminable opening speech makes me want to go over and stuff a few Devout Candles in her mouth so she'll quit talking. Score: A+ for dungeons, C- for "for gods' sake STFU!"

The core hound pup is the cutest damn thing I've seen in a long time. I really love how Blizzard is making pets more interesting and more interactive. I believe this started with Murky. Early pets just kind of stand around and do nothing interesting. Maybe Blizzard should revamp some of their older pets to make them more interesting. And if it gets a few more people to buy authenticators, so much the better. Score: A+.

Putting arena points as rewards of the PvP daily seemed like a good idea when I first hear it until I talked to Christy about it on Analog Hole Gaming's annual call-in show. Apparently, the PvP daily dungeons are being flooded with entire high-geared arena teams who are just wiping the walls with people. Someone with actual PvP experience should have seen that coming. Score: F.

Oh, and please fix the problem with the exalted PvP titles so I don't have to listen to Christy whine. ;)

At the urging of several friends, I decided to go through the process of rolling up a new character to see the changes made to the character creation screen. It really is a lot better. The racials and the class roles are explained much better. While this information is not new to experienced players, I'm sure real newbies will appreciate it. And the mana regen for a new toon is truly sick; what I wouldn't give for that some nights on my priest. Score: A+.

And /hugs to whatever developer suggested they make Vampiric Embrace a 30-minute self buff. It's one less thing I have to remember to cast on a mob, and it seems to work with Mind Sear, which has made wiping out cultists in Icecrown just that much easier. I use the mod PriestFriend to remind me to redo my buffs, and there isn't one for Vampiric Embrace yet, so I just recast it whenever I need to recast my Prayer of Shadow Protection, since both are on 30-minute timers. Score: A++++.

There are whole sections of 3.3 I have not touched yet, but these are the things that popped to mind. I thought I should revisit the subject after spending a little time living with it. Again, it's a good patch, better than most, and I just hope it will keep us all entertained until Cataclysm arrives.

Citizen Azeroth: Guide to the Quel'delar quest line

Last night, my priest finished the quest for the Hammer of Purified Flame, the weapon from the Quel'delar weapon line that starts with the Battered Hilt, a random drop from any one of the three new Icecrown Citadel dungeons. I won the roll on this item in my first try at the heroic dungeons, the morning after the patch, and finished it in a few days. I know many people who did this in one day, but I took a little time to enjoy the ride.

The quest line is long and involves a certain amount of running around. The quest lines are quite similar for both sides, but the quest names vary slightly and the NPCs are slightly different, but they're mostly in the same locations and involve the same steps.

The Battered Hilt: (Soloable: Yes) The first thing you need to do with the item is take it to an NPC at Quel'delar's Rest, south of the Argent Tournament grounds. There is a road going south out of the center of the tournament grounds and here you will find a small camp. Both the Horde and Alliance quest NPCs are here: Caladis Brightspear for Alliance and Myralion Sunblaze for Horde. You'll be coming back here later.

What the Dragons Know: (Soloable: Yes). This is a simple trip to the top level of Wyrmrest Temple to talk to another NPC. You will need to go to Dalaran to talk to another NPC, an arcanist or magister who is in either the Horde or Alliance areas, depending on what side you're on.

The Sunreaver's Plan/The Silver Covenant's Plan: (Soloable: Yes). This involves killing an agent in the sewers. If you're Alliance, it's in the Black Market; if you're Horde, it's in Cantrips & Crows. Kill the agent, who isn't elite, and loot the orders. Just as you exit the sewers, you'll be attacked by another one, but again, it's another easy kill. Return to the arcanist/magister.

A Suitable Disguise: (Soloable: Yes). The arcanist will send you to Shandy Glossgleam, a new mob on the outside second floor balcony above Threads of Fate (right on the same area where one of the books for Higher Learning spawns). There's a task similar to the drink-making quest in Sholazar Basin, but instead of throwing fruit, you'll be fetching laundry and water. Follow the gnome's directions, and you'll get a request to deal with the "clean laundry". Loot the bag that appears and take the tabard. Return to the arcanist/magister.

A Meeting with the Magister/Arcanist: (Soloable: Yes). You'll be put in a 5-minute disguise and sent into the enemy side's area. If you're not familiar with the other side's area in Dalaran, it may take you a moment or two to locate it. For the Horde side, the quest describes the Archivist as being at the "top level" of the Silver Enclave; in fact, this is not quite true. Run into the area with the alliance's city portals, run to the back, and find one of the stairs going up. You'll find the Archivist (yellow-name mob) on a middle floor among several bookshelves. The Magister is easier to find; he's inside the horde's inn near the stairs. Talk to this NPC, get the book, return to your arcanist/magister.

Return to Caladis Brightspear/Myralion Sunblaze: (Soloable: Yes). Return to Quel'delar's Rest and talk to the appropriate NPC.

Reforging the Sword: (Soloable: No). You'll need to return to the Pit of Saron (Icecrown Citadel) to complete this section. This is the second instance in the group, the one where you freed the slaves. This time, you'll need to collect 5 bars of Infused Saronite. These are found in the area with the slaves and they will show up as green piles of bars among the tents. Click to loot them.

After you have the 5 bars of saronite, you will need to kill the first boss, Forgemaster Garfrost. Loot his hammer and then take the hammer, saronite, and sword to one of the forges behind where he spawned. This will create the Reforged Quel'delar. Go outside the instance; Caladis Brightspear for Alliance or Myralion Sunblaze for Horde is now outside in the area near the summoning stone. Turn in this quest for the next step.

Tempering the Blade: (Soloable: No). This time, you'll be going into the Forge of Souls, the first instance in the group. This time, you'll need to kill the Devourer of Souls and go to the crucible (forge) behind where he spawns. Click the Reforced Quel'delar to temper, run outside, and turn it in to Caladis or Myralion.

Note: Apparently, if you've previously cleared the Forge of Souls and it's been less than two hours, you can go back inside and use the crucible with no repop. After two hours, you'll need to clear the trash again.

The Halls of Reflection: (Soloable: Maybe). You don't have to do the first event in the Halls of Reflection; you don't even have to clear anything. When you enter the instance, Uthyr Lightbringer will start yelling at you not to bring the sword any closer. Ignore him and approach Uthyr (don't step on the middle platform or you'll trigger the event). The sword will fly out of your inventory, and after a few moments will start whirring around and turn into a miniboss, much like the disembodied weapons in the military wing in Naxx. Kill this single boss and don't forget to re-loot it afterward.

I have heard of people soloing this mob, particularly pet classes, but it is easier with a group.

And now we're done with everything requiring or possibly requiring a group. It's all easy street from here.

Journey to the Sunwell: (Soloable: Yes). Head to Quel'danas Isle (the place with all those level 70 dailies we all learned to hate) and go to the entrance of the Sunwell Plateau. There is a mob outside, Halduron Brightwing. Turn in the quest to him.

Thalorian Dawnseeker: (Soloable: Yes). Halduron tells you to get the blessing of Thalorian Dawnseeker, who is located in the Dead Scar in the southern part of Isle. Just mount up and run to the southern tip of the island, then run up the Dead Scar until you see his corpse (turn in nameplates to make this easier). Don't worry; the mobs you previously had to bomb are nowhere in sight.

After you talk to Thalorian, who comes back as a ghostly figure, a level 80 elite mob shows up. Don't worry. He will summon three waves of non-elite undead, small groups that a level 80 player who got a heroic drop in ICC should be able to handle with ease.

Here's where it got a bit confusing for me, so I'll clarify it. After the third wave, nothing appears to happen. The 80 elite yells something like "I'll have to deal with you myself!" but just stands there. Hit him with anything -- doesn't matter; he goes down like a gnat on the first blow. Thalorian expresses astonishment that you bear Quel'delar, then gives you his blessing. Go back to Halduron Brightwing.

The Purification of Quel'delar: (Soloable: Yes). FOLLOW THE QUEST INSTRUCTIONS HERE. Do NOT go straight into the Sunwell. Halduron Brightwing instructs you to go into the Sunwell, BUT he tells you to get in there by talking to one of the Wardens. Do this and you will enter a non-raided, friendly mini-instance where all the NPCs are green-con. Walk down the ramp and enter the large room, walk up to the Sunwell in the middle and click the sword in your inventory. which will now appear to hover in midair. This will start a long dialogue, finally ending when the quest completes and you are able to loot the floating sword. Make sure you DO loot it before you leave.

You are directed to go to the end of the room and take the portal to Dalaran, where you are told an NPC in Dalaran will be waiting to greet you.

This isn't quite true. And this was quite confusing for me, because as a priest, this gave me entirely the wrong directions.

First, if you are a sword wielding quest, the mob isn't precisely WAITING for you. I expected the mob to be there when I ported in but he was not. The mob is in the Violet Citadel. Talk to this person, turn in the quest, and then choose your sword flavor.

HOWEVER, if you are a class such as priest or druid who can't wield a sword, you're left completely hanging wondering what the hell to do. This is because you have to do something completely different. YOU have to fly up to Argent Tournament and go back to Quel'delar's Rest south of the Tournament, to the first camp you went to, and turn in the quest to Caladis or Myralion. THEN you will be sent to Justicar Mariel Trueheart in Argent Tournament, in the main tent on the western edge of the tournament. Then you can pick your mace reward.

Update 12/16: This has apparently been fixed in the patch, so mace wielders are directed to the right place.




Anyway, it was fun. Hopefully this little guide will help others treading the same path.

Citizen Azeroth: My take on 3.3

HUGE patch is going in today. When I printed it out to study the patch notes (which I admit I hadn't really glanced at until today), it took 21 pages to print them all. So, I'm not going to comment on everything, but I am going to cover some of my thoughts on some of the patch notes. Like all patches, it's filled with "it's about time", "that sounds like it might be cool", and "wtf were they thinking" moments.

General

Of course, the new Icecrown Citadel instance goes live today. Since I haven't even gotten through all the current content with my priest yet, I'm probably less ecstatic about it than those who have been champing at the bit for new content.

Several of the new General patch notes are directed at the super-newbie experience: clarifying race descriptions and making level 1-5 characters immune to daze (which will make the now-totally-unnecessary run across Wetlands from Darnassus to Ironforge a lot easier -- that change came a little too late, since you can now just take a boat from Auberdine to Stormwind). However, what's with the change of not putting food and water in the inventories of new characters? Are they at least going to give them a little more starting cash, or increase the money you get from the beginning quests so they can buy their own more easily?

I like that Meeting Stones no longer have a max level requirement. That will make summoning people to do holiday quests in low level areas much easier. For example, the Headless Horseman would have been a lot easier if us 80s could just use the summoning stone to get party members in place more quickly.

Classes: General

AOE damage caps now restrict maximum damage to a max damage value "equal to the damage the spell would do if it hit 10 targets". There aren't that many situations in which you're AOEing more than 10 targets, even the rafts of spiders in Naxx, even in PvP, so I'm not particularly worried here. And my rogue loves her Fan of Knives.

Again, there are several here that are directed to the SuperNewbie toon. Level 1 casters are no longer going to have Attack on their bars by default -- which at first seems very puzzling since my casters always had to use hand to hand weapons early on, at least until they're level 10 or so. However, they are also increasing mana regen rates up to 200% and reduced the mana cost of spells for lowbie characters. Perhaps this is better preparation for casters' reality, and you won't see so many level 30 mages still trying to hit things with sticks. (Yes, my casters still try to hit things with sticks, but this is to level up weapon skills for achievements. I know it's silly).

They're also starting characters with more uniform and more effective starting weapons, and rogues are starting out with dual wield. This is slightly disappointing; I sort of liked having to work up to that at level 10, the way hunters looked forward to pets.

Races: General

Orcs and trolls will have their own unique totem art. About time. Almost makes me want to roll up a shaman again.

Will of the Forsaken now shares a cooldown with similar items, such as Insignia of the Horde. I guess my undead warrior can thrown her Insignia away now.

PvP

Arenas now forbid the use of any spells with a cooldown of 10 minutes or more. Since they also have reduced the cooldowns of several spells (Divine Hymn, Preparation, and Tranquility have all been reduced from 10 to 8 minutes, for example), it doesn't affect as many as it did. However, there are several spells that have 10-minute cooldowns, including Raise Ally, Divine Intervention, Fire/Earth Elemental, Army of the Dead, and Inferno. However, be aware that even though talents may take some of these abilities below the 10-minute cooldown, most of these still can't be used in arenas.

Battleground experience has been changed to apply to the character getting experience, not to the level of the highest level person in the battleground. Also, the level 71-80 bracket's PvP daily now awards 25 arena points; I can see where this might make doing the daily a bit more popular.

Dungeons and Raids

In Naxx, you'll no longer have to kill all four bosses to get to Sapphiron. This will be nice for those who just want to get the dragon down for achievements. Not sure what this means about access to Big KT.

A note that was slipped into the section about the new Dungeon Finder system: daily heroic and regular dungeon daily quests have been removed from the game. This has been replaced with weekly raid quests. Look under the section for the Dungeon Finder for new ways to get emblems.

Death Knights

Army of the Dead's cooldown is being reduced from 20 to 10 minutes, but even with the talent to reduce the cooldown to 6/8 minutes, you still can't use it in arenas. This is good; Cryler often bitches about the long cooldown of AotD. However, the ghouls will only do half the damage they used to, so maybe the bitching continues.

Druids

Prowl is no longer controlled by multiple ranks and movement speed is penalized at a flat 30%.

Rebirth's cooldown has been reduced from 20 to 10 minutes; still no arena use. However, Tranquility had its cooldown reduced from 10 minutes to 8, and it is useable in arenas.

Hunters

You can now call a stabled pet once every 5 minutes instead of once every 30 minutes. Nope, can't use that in arenas either. Pick right the first time.

Under the "about frikkin' time" category -- several hunter bits fall into this.

• Multiple hunters can now misdirect to the same target.
• COWER IS BEING FIXED. This has been one of the major headaches of hunters everywhere, especially since cower was perpetually bugged and couldn't be turned off. Instead of shedding threat, cower now reduces the amount of damage a pet takes by 40% and reduces movement speed by 50%. Now, even if they haven't fixed the fact that it's very, very hard to turn Cower off, it won't bug me anymore because it's actually useful. The Improved Cower talent, the least-used pet talent in the game, can erase the movement speed penalty completely at the second rank.
• Pets only need 5% of the experience a player needs to level, down from 10%. There was just no reason to make pets lag so far behind their people for so long.

Mages

My mage is an auction mule, so I don't really have many comments on mage changes.

Paladins

And I deleted my paladin.

Priests

Divine Hymn's cooldown has been reduced from 10 to 8 minutes, making it useable in arenas.

I also like that Power Word: Shield can be used on friendly people who aren't in your party. Since it's an instant cast, it's a quick way to help save someone you see who's in massive trouble. A PW:S can also give you a few seconds to cast a halfway decent heal. This will be particularly nice when I'm running around in shadow form and my heals aren't so great.

Mind Flay's range has been increased by 10 yards, which is very nice. However, in some ways, it won't change the way I do business, since I tend to dot up the mob and then apply the Mind Flay. I used to do this because my dots had longer range, but now I'll probably just keep doing it out of habit.

But what I'm most excited about: Vampiric Embrace is being changed into a 30-minute undispellable buff you put on players, not on the mobs. Any shadow damage from single-target shadow damage spells will generate healing (sorry, doesn't appear like you can heal your raid with a single Mind Sear). But it does mean you don't have to worry about having to remember to VE every target -- it's set it and forget it, at least until it needs to be refreshed.

Fortunately, Prayer of Shadow Protection also has a 30-minute cooldown, so when PoSP goes, I can just remember to recast VE. Hopefully someday, there will be Prayer of Vampiric Embrace.

Rogues

I'm disappointed that stealth is no longer going to have multiple ranks. I just hope that the Improved Stealth talent won't be affected; my subtlety rogue really enjoys practically being able to step on mobs' toes. Base stealth speed is increased, though, which is good. Again, I hope the Camo talent will still be around.

Shamans

I don't have a shaman anymore, but it is worth noting that the earth and fire elemental totems have had their cooldowns reduced to 10 minutes -- though they are still not useable in arenas.

Warlocks

Again, in the "about frikkin' time" category: soulstones now have a 15-minute duration instead of 30 minutes. While this puts some more onus on the warlock, it does mean that repeated wipes are made that much easier to deal with.

They're making life easier for baby warlocks, in that Imp is learned immediately at level 1 and doesn't require a quest. A small concession, but I think the early quest was a bit confusing for some.

Warriors

Only a couple small changes here, but not going to comment because my warrior is in mothballs.

User Interface: Quests

It looks like they're finally bowing to the fact that many players use various quest mods, like QuestHelper or Carbonite, and they're sneaking in a few features of these mods. You can now track quest objectives on the map, and the quest log features a "Show Map" feature. This is also a "keeping up with the Joneses" moment, since a lot of games such as Warhammer already includes these kinds of features by default.

Speaking of maps, lots of changes here too. The map is being divided into four panes: a map pane, a pane listing active quests for that zone, a pane for the full quest text of any highlighted quest, and a pane listing the quest reward for that quest as well. I think this is an improvement but there will be players who won't like this change and will scream for WoW 'dumbing down' the content. However, it's very similar to what other games already do; in this case, WoW is actually a bit behind the times.

And for those who don't like these changes, there's always the option to turn them off in the map interface.

The new quest/map user interface will also have objectives tracking and quest difficulty tracking, both of which can be turned on or off depending on your preference.

User Interface: Dungeon Finder

And Blizzard is making PUGs easier (and it's debatable if this is a good thing or not). The Dungeon Finder replaces the old LFG tool which nobody used. Whether Dungeon Finder will be used any more -- only time will tell. This allows you to join as an individual, a group, or partial group and teleport directly to a selected instance. When you leave, you go back to wherever you started. This is a nice extension of the meeting stone system (and actually makes me wonder why we even have meeting stones anymore). Also, if you're the one who forgets to bring food/water, pack reagents, or repair your armor, you can leave temporarily and then teleport back.

You can choose the Random Dungeon option, which is pretty self explanatory. Completing a random WOTLK heroic will award two Emblems of Frost daily, and repeated random heroics will award two additional Emblems of Triumph. Doing regular randoms will give you two Emblems of Triumph the first time in the day, and no additional emblems for the rest of the day.

"Level appropriate rewards" will be awarded for players who use the Random Dungeon option for pre-WOTLK dungeons (This will be interesting to experiment with. I wonder what I get for an 80 doing Deadmines?)

When you complete a random dungeon, the dungeon's rewards will automatically appear in your inventory. No having to kick yourself for failing to rifle through the final boss's pockets yourself.

If you want to do a specific dungeon instead of a random one, you can choose a specific dungeon "appropriate to your level range". You can also queue up for several dungeons at once, although you can only queue up for dungeons OR battlegrounds OR arenas -- not any two or three types.

In addition, there is a new cross-realm system where you can get PUGs from servers across your battlegroup. There will be a matching system similar to the battlegrounds matching to put people with roughly the same gear levels together, so you don't end up with someone with fantastic gear having to schlep around with a group of people who just hit 80 last week. Some dungeons will even have minimum gear requirements.

I was initially very concerned about this, since this meant that it would be much harder to track down ninjas. However, there are some things in place that will help deal with this. The group can vote a member off the island if they're being a slacker. Players will not be placed in groups with people on his or her ignore list (better make sure your ignore lists are all coordinated between your alts. Also, the ignore list has been increased to 50 and can include cross-realm people now).

Best of all, there is a permanent and unchangeable Need Before Greed system in place -- which I think is the part that makes me feel a lot better about this system. It's described this way in the patch notes:

"Need Before Greed will now recognize gear appropriate for a class in three ways: the class must be able to equip the item, pure melee will be unable to roll on spell power items, and classes are limited to their dominant armor type (ex. paladins for plate). All items will still be available via Greed rolls as well as the new Disenchant option* should no member be able to use the item."

*Yes, you do need to have a disenchanter in the group of the appropriate level to use this option.

Although I know some people are going to be annoyed about this, but I am not. As a cloth wearer, I do get a little tired of spellcasting paladins and shaman rolling on tasty healing or DPS cloth items. I am limited to one and only one armor type -- cloth -- and get a bit annoyed at classes who can wear up to four different armor types rolling on anything and everything they can possibly wear.

People who leave a dungeon early get a Deserter debuff similar to that in Battlegrounds, which should help out with people "group hopping" too much. If the group loses a member, the leader can choose to continue, placing the group back in the Dungeon Finder queue to find a new member.

Doing a "more random" dungeon will also give some extra rewards. The more dungeons you do with entirely random groups, the better your changes of getting these rewards, like a non-combat pet.

A new Looking For Raid function has also been added. I don't anticipate using this much myself. I don't even really love raiding with people I know.

User Interface: Miscellaneous

You can now report high lag or latency through the Help interface. I can hear the GMs groaning from here.

Unit nameplates have gone through a significant change. I always run with unit nameplates on because it's easier other players or mobs in this fashion, a habit I picked up playing on PvP servers. The range you can see the nameplates has increased to 40 yards, which folks on PvP servers will not love. However, you can toggle it so you don't see nameplates of friendlies, only of enemies (including enemy totems), something PvP players may like as it will clutter the screen a lot less. Nameplates are also more subject to line of sight issues, which may make it a bit easier for enemies to hide (although the notes did say this would not apply to certain situations, such as arena pillars or bridges).

They've fixed it so any player in a group (not a raid) can mark targets. I'm sure this will be abused, but hopefully it also means I can remove an annoying raid mark on my head. But I'm glad because it means that allowing another group member to mark on the fly can be useful.

In the "about frikkin time" department: Players will be warned if their talents were reset due to a patch. I always seem to discover this "fact" when I realize I can't seem to hit anything.

Professions

There's a new fishing derby coming to Northrend. Thankfully it doesn't seem to involve fishing in specific pools; it involves catching a shark, but the text in the patch notes says "these sharks' favorite meal are the bite-sized Pygmy Suckerfish. Perhaps a hook in their waters will do the trick". I would guess this means that fishing in regular pools will be the most effective, since that is where I catch the most pygmy suckerfish. The tournament starts at 8 PM server time on Wednesdays and the first person to return a shark will get a good reward. Anyone returning a shark before 9 PM server time will get some kind of reward even if they are not first. Should be fun. The start mob is Elder Clearwater in Dalaran, who is only present from 8 PM to 9 PM. Not sure whether you need to click him to get a quest or if you can just start fishing at 8. If it's like the Stranglethorn derby, you'll just start fishing at 8.

And best yet: this tournament has been added to the "Salty" achievement such that you can win either this tournament or the Stranglethorn derby to get the title.

Quests

As stated, the daily heroic and regular dungeon dailies have been removed in favor of random dungeons.

Weekly raid quests will be available each Tuesday at 3 AM for one of six raid instances: OS, Naxx, the Eye, Ulduar, ToC or IC.

Achievements

They've removed the necessity to become Exalted with WST, AB and AV have been removed from the Master meta achievements. This will be a great relief to people doing the painful, slow, awful march through Exalted with WSG. Instead, you'll get titles for individual exalted factions. Hopefully this means Christy will get the Defiler title she's been dreaming about.

Reputation

People grinding Sons of Hodir rejoice. Hodir quests now give more reputation (about 30% more), and top-level arcanum/shoulder enchants can be purchased by any character on your account who is exalted with that faction and sent to any other character on your account. Of course, if you're an inscriptionist, you can care less about the shoulder enchants.

Argent Crusade, Argent Vanguard, Horde Expedition, Kirin Tor, Ebon Blade, and Wyrmrest have also had their faction gains sped up by 30%. This is great news for all those poor death knights who are struggling to get Argent Crusade faction to buy their squires their very own ponies.

Bug fixes

They've finally fixed it so that item/quest/holiday costumes aren't removed when you mount. It will just give you an error message when you try to mount instead, giving you the option of keeping your costume on. You still can't mount as a Gordok ogre. Sorry.

There are a ton of other bug fixes I'm just not going into. And I mean a TON. The bug fixes alone take up 1/3 of the pages.

Enjoy 3.3. Download early. And fix your mods before you log on.

Citizen Azeroth: Pilgrim's Progress - The good, the bad, the ... not so great

I like holidays, and I like holiday achievements, but I have never universally loved or hated any part of any holiday. Pilgrim's Progress gave me nothing I truly hated, which is good, but that's not to say I universally loved it either.

The good:

Good cooking: I liked the cooking quests, particularly since my level 51 druid was permastuck at 277 cooking. The cooking quests let her get past this hurdle with ease. Friends with DKs who had never leveled cooking got 1-300 on these alone. Very cool. It does make me wish for the chef's hat though.

Reputation gains through tables: Yay to Blizzard for this one -- the 10% rep buff for eating at the table is great for dailies. There are tables in Northrend too; I use the one in Sholazar at River's Basin because it's convenient for Frenzyheart. I just do all my dailies, ending with Frenzyheart, go eat at the table, and then go turn them all in. This is especially nice for Frenzyheart (or Oracles) because when you get 500-700 rep for quests, the 10% is a huge boost.

Reputation gains for cities with cooking quests: This didn't matter so much for my rogue, who is already exalted, but for my priest who still has a way to go yet with Thunder Bluff, every little bit counts. And you do get sympathetic rep.

The turkey caller/turkey pet: OK, some people don't like that the turkey caller is a temporary pet. But he's really cute. And I love that the permanent Plump Turkey Pet "senses his destiny" and jumps in a cooking fire. Priceless.

The not-so-good:

The running around: Having to shuffle constantly among the three major cities was simply a pain if you aren't a mage. Several enterprising mages set up portal services, mostly for ruinous sums, some for just tips. By the second day, if you were good about cooking up extra, you could easily manage it by visiting them, one in a row, and never repeating. Here is what I have done for toons who want to do the cooking dailies every day:

On the first day, make sure you pick up 40 of each city's special item, and cook them all up - 20 for today, 20 for tomorrow. You'll have some back and forth to do.

On the second day, turn in the ones you made the day before, but remember to pick up and cook 20 of each of that city's special item for day 3. Rinse and repeat.

The bad:

The life of an orc rogue: I can't take two steps in Dalaran without being turned into a turkey when I'm on my orc rogue. Yes, I'll just stand around and let people turkey me on the bank steps over and over -- that's fine.

But it's made doing The Turkinator hell. I get whispers galore from people wanting me to stop so they can turkey me. They not only follow me around and turkey me, but they also start killing the turkeys around me so I can't finish Turkinator. Plus, there seems to be a small stutter where I stop when I'm turkeyed, which when I'm running close to the buzzer on getting a turkey has thrown me off my rhythm more than once.

The turkey costume buff cooldown: There's no reason for this to be an hour long buff, and it's intensely frustrating for people trying to track down less populated rogue races. Christy told me that there were a bunch of gnome rogues in turkey form who weren't popping out to let other people turkey them -- just running around laughing and taunting people. You can't do what you could with the bunny ears and just go /afk on the bank steps; the bunny ears disappeared in two minutes, but if you don't manually remove the costume, you'll be disconnected from the server for being afk before someone else gets a chance to turkey you again.

Bad table manners: There were upwards of 50 people in the courtyard in Undercity just waiting for poor Alliance to run into the UC gates to try to sit down at a table. I realize the City Defender achievement is at stake, but c'mon people. Let the poor fools sit down first. Don't make it impossible for them to complete their achievements just because you want to complete yours.

And I heard that many of the Alliance tables were just as bad. It wasn't just Horde behaving badly.

Bad mount manners: I spent a certain amount of time on the bank steps in rogue form, dancing so people can get their achievements. The number of people who felt compelled to park their giant-ass mammoth mounts on top of us ... ridiculous. Of course, we just moved (at one point we had all eight race rogues on the steps), but I really wish I'd remembered to send my little troll rogue some Baby Spice to shrink them down to toy size.

When I look back on this list, most of the bad things didn't have to do with the mechanics of the holiday as it did with this: holidays bring out the worst in some people. Or maybe it just goes back to the John Gabriel's Greater Internet F**kwad Theory. Either way.

Citizen Azeroth: Microtransactions

The appearance of purchasable pets in Blizzard has, shall we say, stirred up a bit of controversy. It made one of my friends very happy (she's wanted the original panda pet forever, and still wants it, but the pandarin monk goes a long way toward fulfilling this dream). I have to admit to eying Lil' KT -- how on earth did they make this lich monster so darned CUTE?

Will I buy them? Possibly. Do I object? No.

Microtransactions have been in various video games for quite awhile -- it's an alternate way of generating revenue that can add something to the game. In other games, however, microtransactions have done things I don't care for, such as making commercial sponsors happy or giving people the ability to buy real game upgrades for money.

Fundamentally I don't think that purchasing vanity pets from Blizzard for $10 is that big a deal. These guys are hardly game-changers, unless you've been harrassed by too many fjord turkeys and need Lil' KT to deal with them for you (in case you didn't know, Lil' KT will sometimes freeze passing critters). Items you can get in-game by spending money are not new to Blizzard -- they aren't even new to World of Warcraft.

I'm not talking about gold sellers here, but Blizzard-promoted and Blizzard-created items you get for spending more money than other people do by buying the game and paying a monthly subscription. Every Collectors' Edition contains a code to claim a special vanity pet, among other spiffs, for which you end up paying an extra $50 or so over a normal boxed expansion (you do get a bit more than the pet; there are usually art books and sometimes a nifty item like a mouse pad. I still use my Burning Crusade mouse pad). World of Warcraft: The Card Game contains loot cards; if you're lucky enough you can spend as little as $2.99 for a booster pack and get some in-game item, from a vanity pet to a mount to a toy item -- none of which add anything to game play experience beyond some fun and a different skin. Single unclaimed loot cards can sell anywhere from a few dollars to several hundred dollars on eBay, though Blizzard doesn't see anything beyond whatever cut they get from Upperdeck on licensing fees.

I have much less problem with buying a pet directly from Blizzard for $10 than I did for the whole Mountain Dew robots and "game fuel" business. The modern pop culture in-jokes endemic to WoW (particularly in names of quests and achievements, such as "To All The Squirrels I've Loved Before") are fine and cause a chuckle here and there, but the day I see the golden arches over Orgrimmar is the day I cancel my subscription. I didn't like where the whole game fuel thing was heading. Plus, Mountain Dew just plain sucks.

So while I haven't whipped out my debit card and purchased either of the pets myself, I think Blizzard's pet store is a good use of microtransactions. It doesn't change the game play. The Pandarin Monk isn't displaying a tabard advertising Wasabi's. You can't resell it on eBay for usurious prices. If someone wants to spend their hard-earned money on something to give themselves a smile, let 'em. And fjord turkeys beware -- Lil' KT is kind of tempting.

Citizen Azeroth: Day of the Dead miniguide

This is a very small (VERY small) event, so it won't take long to cover the bases. It runs from today (November 1) through November 2.

All of these happen in nine graveyards, located outside the four major cities of each race. You can also do this in Dalaran if you have access. The cities and races follow:

• Dalaran (all races): Between Simply Enchanting and the Violet Citadel
  
• Orgrimmar (orc, troll): East side of the road -- the usual location for events such as Thanksgiving and Honor the Ancestors
• Silvermoon (Blood Elf): Eversong Woods - between the Dead Scar and the arch to Falconwing Square
• Thunder Bluff (Tauren): near the North Great Lift to Thunder Bluff
• Undercity (undead): Courtyard outside the city
• Darnassus (night elf): left of the road between Warriors' Terrace and the gates to Teldrassil
  
• Exodar (Draenei): near Azure Watch
• Ironforge (dwarf and gnome): Along the road down the side of the mountain
• Stormwind (human): between Stormwind and Goldshire

Full completion requires going to the graveyard associated with your race, or going to the graveyard in Dalaran. If you just want to complete the achievement and nothing more, any of those of your faction will do.

Before you go to the graveyard, stop in the city and buy [Ice Cold Milk] and [Simple Flour]. You need both. (Note: you can buy Simple Flour from the cooking vendor in Dalaran, but there is nowhere in Dalaran to buy Ice Cold Milk. In fact, you can't buy it anywhere in Northrend).

There is one achievement associated with this: Dead Man's Party. There is an NPC in each of these graveyards named Catrina. Simply target and /dance, and you'll get the achievement and a 12-hour costume. Usual issues with these costumes; they disappear when you shapeshift or die. Also, this costume follows server time, not real time, so it will erode while you are offline.

There is also a vendor that sells a number of things; the only two things you may care about are the Bread of the Dead recipe and the Orange Marigolds. Buy and memorize the Bread of the Dead recipe, and then find the Ghostly Cooking Fire. The Bread of the Dead needs the milk and flour, and you can only cook it over the ghostly fire. Make one bread, then equip and right click the Marigolds. This will allow you to see a bunch of ghosts, including one racial "Cheerful" celebrant who will give you a quest to bring Bread of the Dead. Give him/her the bread you just made, and you will get a very cool, yet very lame, temporary pet.

(You can also use a warlock's Detect Invisibility to see the ghosts, if you're too cheap to buy the marigolds -- or if you happen to be a warlock).

It's a cool pet, but it's seriously and deeply flawed. First, it's designed only as a temporary pet that only works for these two days. But it gets worse. Right now, the pet is bugged and disappears permanently from your bag when you zone or hearth.

However, you will get experience (if you're under 80; you get 13g 23s if you're 80), and you'll also get two completed quests toward your Seeker title (it doesn't count toward Loremaster).

Citizen Azeroth: Haiku from the EQ past

Analog Hole Gaming's recent episode (144) got into a discussion about turning raid instructions into haiku, which has in turn led to AHG host (and best friend) Christy posting submitted WoW haiku verses on Twitter. I only thought of one off the top of my head, but I am sure more will appear:

Up on Scryer ledge
Sixty-five yard achievement
Splat goes the tauren

Years ago, when playing Everquest, Cryler and I wrote several EQ related haiku. So, for those of you who are old Everquestarians, here are some of those oldies. Maybe they'll bring back some memories.

Keep in mind as you read these, particularly in reference to Jimble Woodentoe and Sergeant Slate, that I played a dark elf.

sitting on the docks
hey, who let the spectres out?
Damn ... PLEASE WAIT, LOADING...

Spirit of wolf please?
have long run -- corpse in Dalnir,
bound in Neriak

Jimble Woodentoe
Your Rokyl's Crystal shimmers.
I feel much better

entering the zone
frantic chaos, shouts of "TRAIN!"
Anyone rezzing?

Sergeant Slate killed me
twenty-five levels ago
ah, revenge is sweet

shop in the Bazaar
everybody face the wall
the lag is deadly