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src="http://images.tentonhammer.com/newsletters/wow/farmwipe.gif"
alt="Now on Farm or That's a Wipe">

In this section we'll look at the hits and misses taking place in the
game. 

From both the good and bad category, there is href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/65751">no
Patch yet. I'm
all for letting that patch ferment a little longer so it will pack more
of a punch.



Blizzard is going an extra step to keep modders from farming our
wallets which is nice. The latest publishing of href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/65645">the UI
policy states
that modders can't require payment or solicit in-game donations.
Carbonite can consider my payment an unsolicited donation because I
love that mod.



Plenty of guild drama farming going on, which can mean only one thing,
people are bored. I wonder if Blizzard monitors how many times "/gquit"
is entered so they can tell when a groundswell of malcontents will be
heading to the forums to post their "I'm leaving" messages. I can
picture the report that shows "GQuit quotient up 50 points this week."



As an obvious hat's off to our own Boomjack, Vin Diesel href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/65701">spent a
few minutes with
the BBC to discuss MMOs,
D&D and how Arthas' Tears grow best
with ferns in slightly sandy soil. In reality we all know that "When
Chuck Norris goes to bed he checks under it for Vin Deisel."
(thanks Rallius)

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src="http://images.tentonhammer.com/newsletters/wow/cavernsoftime.gif"
alt="Caverns of Time">

Ah the good old
days. Some we miss, but most we just
appreciate (for the fact that they're gone!).

Quest chains of old had some very fun twists and turns when they broke
away from the gather 4 beads of sweat off "Old Blanchy" or whatever.
Cases in point:



The Alliance quest that starts in Ironforge and ends up on an island
off of Azshara where you fire a flare gun and a dwarf comes to pick you
up in a rickety flying contraption.



The quest that nobody knew about until exclamation points started
getting used called "Everyone knows it's a secret" in Un'Goro Crater
and starts the epic quest for Linken's Boomerang (yes a play on the
Nintedo game icon Link of the Zelda series). The boomerang was highly
sought after as the ONLY (other than engineering grenades and toys)
ranged pulling device available to Paladins. Ask me why I know...

 
 

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src="http://images.tentonhammer.com/newsletters/wow/mishapsmayhem.gif"
alt="Medeor's Mishaps and Mayhem">

Oh boy, one week closer to the patch, I can feel it. I'd say I could
smell it, but that might be something the baby left under the couch.
All eyes seem to be following this patch with an unusual vigor, maybe
we're all just stalkers at heart.



This week we look at a great debate that rages in my guild: why do
hybrid classes do the best healing (Druids and Shaman), best damage per
second  (Ret Paladins) and tank like madmen (Druids and
Paladins)?
Ghostcrawler tried to href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/65759">illuminate
us  but in reality the
feel of the game has brought all
classes closer together in terms of DPS (damage per second).



Yep, they all look similar, until you look at the people really pouring
it on. A quick peek at a website (that supports gold farmers so I won't
mention it here) that posts damage reports shows that in fact the
hybrids are not doing dps like the pure dps classes. Warlocks, Mages,
Rogues and Hunters are showing up at the top of the lists a lot. And
Death Knights are up there too, wait is a DK a hybrid? What the heck is
a Death Knight, a tank? A dps class? Animal, vegetable or mineral?



So while a Mage in your group may be grumpy about a Ret Paladin staying
with him on the damage meter, remind him (yes it will be a him) that
it's not the size of the dps that matters, it's how you use it.



I enjoy fishing in the game. Seriously. I got my fishing up to 15 last
week and now I'm wondering what all the complaining is about. Why am I
leveling fishing? Two words, "Turtle Mount." Yes, we will be able fish
up a turtle mount in the bodies of water in Northrend and (as should be
the case) it walks slowly on land yet swims at 133% speed! Finally a
way to beat those pesky Druids in platypus form.



So is a DK a hybrid? Is fishing worth it for a turtle mount? href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=41777">What
do you think?



Until next week, have fun and thanks for reading,

Medeor