Cataclysm Beta

Elemental PvP happens, rotation sims, and T11 is blah

October 18, 2010
tier11x_shaman_female

That headline pretty much says it all. They hotfixed shaman T10 so that the Elemental Mastery cooldown reduction is now 1sec instead of 2sec. This is an expected nerf, and might explain why our dps dipped a little bit overnight, but it wasn’t in the patch notes so you might not have noticed it. It’s also worth watching out for the Lightning Bolt cast time change – they increased it, which is why even if you have more haste than you did before the patch (despite the loss of relic haste) you’ll be casting Lightning Bolts slightly slower than...

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[Cataclysm] Arctic & Black Wolf Makes Me Happy

September 2, 2010
A shaman Ghostwolf form, compared to a whiter ghostwolf form.

Arctic & Black Wolf When I first saw the first ever Shaman cosmetic minor glyph, Arctic Wolf, I was very happy. And then I spotted Glyph of the Black Wolf , and I was even happier. And then MMO Champ posted a picture of the Arctic Glyph, and I was distinctly underwhelmed. Black Wolf aside, the difference is extremely minor when you’re already a ghost, and it sort of highlights how OLD these models look compared to all the shiny spirit beasts. I’m not sure I’d really noticed that I’d glyphed to make my form different. I am sure...

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[Cataclysm] Beta Build 12759 – Pushback protection

August 14, 2010
[Cataclysm] Beta Build 12759 – Pushback protection

Lets have some beta snippets! Build 12759 is out today, and there are a lot of small tweaks and changes for us to look out for. First up is a little table showing you how much hit rating you need per target level. This is a welcome addition to the game if it is a permenant one. There was something similar for spell coefficients earlier in the beta, but it has since been removed. For Elemental Shaman this will be invaluable. And yes, that is my character name on the beta. Next up, we are able to train a new totem!...

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Rip out my heart: Heteronormativity, Goblins & MMORPG storytelling

August 13, 2010

It’s a big word. It is, as per usual, a big subject. It’s long and rambling, and I’m certainly not an expert on the experiences of gay, lesbian or transexual gamers. This is not about calling anyone homophobic, or anything like that. This post is just about looking at these issues and questioning ourselves and our attitudes. I’m hoping I will have a guest poster soon who will be able to hold forth on this better than me. This post contains spoilers for the Goblin starter area. Edit: It’s also been pointed out to me that ‘Heteronormativity’ is a...

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