• MLG Orlando PvP Fallout
• WoW.com Reports Cataclysm Friends and Family Alpha Begins This Week
• WoW.com Reports Rumor that Blizzard May "Require" Authenticators
• WoW.com Reports Blizzard May Require Authenticators
• WoW! Cops track drug suspect to Ottawa via online game

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• WoW: A Look at the Chen Stormstout Deluxe Figure
• WoW Warrior Guide Update - Basics and Combat
• Big Guide to WoW Tanking
• WoW: Creating the Perfect U.I.
• WoW: Enchanting Leveling Guide 1-450
• Looking at World of Warcraft in 2010

Blues Clues

• Rogue Balance Adjustments - As many of you have suspected, we think rogue damage is too high. We will be making hotfixes to lower the maximum damage output of Assassination and Combat rogues. The Combat nerf will be slight. Both specs should still do just fine on damage meters (assuming skill, gear etc.) but shouldn't be beating out other specs to such a large degree.

Welcome to The Fabulous Overpull of Awesomesauce. Errr, yes that is quite silly but The Overpull has been looking at a way to throw “awesomesauce” into its title for awhile now. This week we’ll talk about the rash of account security issues, about the social factors of an “MMOG”, some talk about dragons and lore, and of course the weekly question.

Keep reading on below for The Fabulous Overpull of Awe—whatever, get to scrolling! 

Here’s the lineup this week

• What’s the Buzz
• TTH WoW Forum Spotlight
• The Weekly Musing
• Loremaster's Corner
• This Week's Forum Post
  Come join us for discussion this week on the forums!

The big news this week is apparently account security. Several sites have been going off the hinges lately about account security and it seems that the gold sellers are getting desperate. Keyloggers, phishing emails, scams, mystery hacks, etc. are in full force around the Internet. Queues for character restoration have reached the “weeks” point. WoW.com reports that it has “inside sources” that say Blizzard may soon require authenticators!

I’m fired up this week and my soul is burning with excitement because there is finally something to talk about. The account security issues are apparently SO BAD that people are given the option of forgoing their restoration for a care package with 2,500 gold, 10 Emblems of Frost, and 10 Emblems of Triumph for each day they’ve waited. Woah! Wait a second, that’s kind of lame eh? I’d need over 200 Emblems of Triumph to fix my character’s gear to where it’s at now and almost 100 Emblems of Frost! I have over 30,000 gold too. I better not get hacked any time soon huh?

Well, knock on wood, I won’t. Because I’m web savvy enough to know basic Internet protocols. Let’s review them real quick dear readers of The Fabulous Overpull of Awesomesauce.

1. Antivirus software is a must, no matter if it ruins your FPS, uses popups or even schedules downloads for itself. You need some kind of security software running. You can pick these up at your local mega-mart or electronics store. There are free versions out there such as AVG, but you sometimes get what you pay for. Make sure it’s scheduled to scan often and that it can cover spyware too.
2. Windows Update is a good thing, so turn it on and make sure it’s updating. Information on this is in Windows’ help files OR in the Mac help files (and the options are in both of their control panels).
3. Never give your password to anyone, use a good strong password, and use different passwords for each and every website. Adding a “1” or “a” or anything to the end on a new site isn’t good enough, the bad people know those tricks.
4. Do not share accounts.
5. Do not use any third party services.

There are more, but really be smart and you’ll be fine. I’ve yet to know a single person who was smart about ‘net security that has ever been hacked. Some people have made arguments that it “happened out of nowhere”, but I imagine that fat stack of gold they mysteriously had “happened out of nowhere” too.

Lastly I want all of my readers to know something. This isn’t new. The care bags are, the rumors of people exploiting Blizzard customer service are kinda new, and the paranoia launched by a bunch of sites is new but this problem isn’t. Don’t fall into some kind of mass paranoia and buy into a ton of extra security software and pay certain electronic stores to “secure” your computer for several hundred bucks. Just be smart about it.

If you’re really paranoid get the authenticator. It’ll help keep your account safe. If you somehow do get hacked, which I find unlikely still, do not take their care package unless it is somehow better than what your level 80 had before which is unlikely. Sure you can farm up all your stuff again, but come on!

There is discussion now on the 'net about the authenticator being a REQUIREMENT. I find that as a logical way to deal with RMT, but not something the playerbase would easily swallow.

In other news we reported in last week’s Overpull that the Oculus has been nerfed. It’s pretty cool.

Talk about this weeks news on our forums.

I'm currently tethered to my cellphone and unable to browse 99% of the web, but this thread looked awesome so I'm going with it:

The Battle of the Gear Score

I still like this thread.

Ninja Raiders

Here is a new thread if you demand something new.

Let’s talk about dragons real quick to finish that series up and move on to something a bit more relevant. My main point about Malygos has been made and it’s time now to do a quick one over of the other flights before we move into talking about the highborne and wrap up something that’s been overlooked by the overpull:

Dragons

They’re silly and we’ve talked about the blues previously. Let’s talk briefly about the only other two flights that matter (outside of the blacks, but that’s a story in itself). We’ll start with the green flight which is led by Ysera. They’re in control of nature and this ties directly into Druids and the Emerald Dream. The entire lore around this is confusing even though there is one quest that lets you go into the Emerald Dream currently.  Ysera is currently battling some kind of mystery darkness in the Emerald Dream which is why she’s asleep. She can enter your dreams, which sounds really creepy, but meh. The entire thing isn’t fleshed out enough currently to talk about much other than it’s an area that resembles Azeroth but is not Azeroth.

Bronze Dragons control time and are led by Nozdormu who has a very crazy curse. He’s cursed with knowing when his death is. The bronze dragons are currently battling the “infinite flight” which is a group of dragons that are going back into time to stop the main events and prevent things like the creation of the Horde, the Culling of Stratholme, etc. A lot of this isn’t “canon” in the sense that the entire memories of these events are wiped out and each portal is a “time pocket” that is a mysterious way of saying “this is for fun” according to Blizzard.

That leaves the reds and the blacks. The reds don’t have much going for them that weren’t related in the blues story and the blacks are for when we cover Deathwing. For now though, to keep you entertained, here is a lesson on the Highborne and some things that slipped in patch 3.2.

Highborne

With Cataclysm fast approaching we have a conundrum to figure out. Night Elves will be able to become Mages which is something that should never happen. Well, Orcs can become Warlocks, but there is a lot more lore with this one other than Thrall’s distaste for the sect that almost brought his people to ruin. Let’s first separate the word “Highborne” from “High Elves” which are the elves you see with an Alliance tag attached to them.

During the First War, like we spoke about before, the High Elves helped Queen Azshara summon The Burning Legion to Azeroth. They were then cast into the sea with her and became the Naga. Another group followed Xavius and became Satyrs. Then there were the main group of the survivors who were exiled from the Night Elven society and followed Dath’Remar Sunstrider across the sea to become the High Elves.

The remaining few were left as the true heirs of the name “Highborne”. There are many scattered about Azeroth, but there is one large group of them known as the Shen’dralar in Dire Maul. They contain a large library of long forgotten knowledge and are extremely powerful immortal beings. Of course immortality always comes at a price. The price they accept is the reason that Night Elf Mages are a bad idea.

Magic is naturally addictive. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade was a lesson in that. All of the Blood Elves were pretty much magic addicts gone mad. The Highborne in Dire Maul lusted for power and found it within the demon known as Immo’thar. Of course, the power didn’t stay strong forever, so their leader Prince Tortheldrin begins killing other Highborne to sap their powers for his own.

In Dire Maul you go in and destroy the pylons locking Immo’thar down (killing many Highborne ghosts) and then take down Prince Tortheldrin yourself. The rest of the elves there only exist for the repeatable quests for the old world librams (one of the old enchant methods) and some old Ashbringer lore.

The main point there is that a small group of Highborne in the ruins of a broken city killed many of their fellow elves and siphoned power from a demon to stay powerful. Night Elf Mages are a bad idea. The Blood Elves are bad enough in their lust for magic. We don’t necessarily need Night Elf Mages and a resurgence of the Highborne who started the first Cataclysm.

In 3.2 a short quest was added for the Horde and the Alliance that involved some of the changes coming in Cataclysm. The Alliance version has you meet a Highborne ambassador who seeks a council with High Priestess Tyrande Whisperwind. I’m sure that there will be more lore expanded on this, but I want to make a quick comment.

If the Scourge was not enough for the Night Elves to backpeddle on 10,000 years of hate then I don’t see how Deathwing can make them do it. After all, what else do you need? Deathwing and ANOTHER Burning Legion invasion to help things along?

Well, I guess if it gives Alliance a pretty magical elf class then it’s A OK. I think the lore should be upheld and if there are Night Elf Mages then they shouldn’t have a single thing to do with the Night Elves proper.

This week’s question is: Have you ever got hacked?

I’ve never got hacked nor have I known anyone who has been hacked. Those that I’ve kind of known that were hacked almost certainly were very bad at account security.

What are your thoughts? Share your hacked stories on the forums.

Xerin's Soap Box

The opinions expressed below are solely that of the author and not of Ten Ton Hammer or the squirrel outside of your window.

Welcome to my Soap Box. I figure that in times of no news, boredom, or whatever I would take some time to rant about what bothers me in WoW. This way we can keep our weekly question shorter and save you time if you don’t want to hear about what I’m thinking.

This week I’m thinking about the MO in MMOG. Let’s talk about the MO. It stands for multiplayer online. That means it’s a group of players online. Before the big shortening, it would be “MMORPG” for Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game, but some people somewhere got “Roleplaying” confused with people who LARP and the fact that you play a game and take on a “role” of a character. That’s another rant for another day, but anyway moving on about the “MO” in “MMOG”.

A lot of people want to solo to eighty. Which to me seems reasonable, after all it’s easier that way for a lot of us and flexible with our schedules. Some people want to do it without talking to another soul. That’s kind of ok; because I’m sure some of them would be intolerable to talk to. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m ok with some of the neglect players have with their “social” stat.

If you’re playing an MMOG you should be social. You should group up and raid, group up and do PvP, or group up and do some kind of other content. The point of the game is to group up and do something. People on RP servers often don’t even fight. They’ll group up to roleplay! If you’re playing WoW or any other MMOG then you shouldn’t be trying to solo the entire game. You should be enjoying it with others.

Now, before you say it’s my $15 or that it’s a good value, let me stop you. GameFly, a popular online game rental service, is only $15 a month and provides multiple plans that allow you to have a near constant stream of console games. Consoles cost considerably less than gaming rigs, so you save money there. Single player console games provide hours of entertainment and even the same type of gameplay you can find in WoW. Any console RPG will involve you questing, farming, and have the added benefit of cutscenes and voice acting. Just look at Final Fantasy or Star Ocean. You can even “pwn” other noobs in PvP silently while playing Halo 3 or many of the other “online” games that have mute buttons. That’s a lot of value for the equivalent cash that WoW provides.

If you’re not playing WoW to be social then you’re playing the wrong game, in my opinion. For those of you who tell me “DON’T TELL ME TO UNINSTALL U JERK” or “THAT IS RUDE BEHAVIOR”, wait a moment. I believe that it’s a rare talent to enjoy grinding, farming, and playing MMOs all by yourself. I legitimately think there are other avenues for you to seek if you just want to play a single player game that would be a lot more satisfying. If you’re happy then by all means, do what makes you happy, but in my opinion it is silly for you to do it when there are other ways for you to be happier. I could be wrong, not everyone is the same, but for the most part that is how I personally feel.

I also would like to take a moment of my time to talk about how many avenues there are to turn “solo”  into “group”. PuGing with your chat turned off is like playing Guild Wars with henchmen (and about as frustrating sometimes). PuGing with your guildmates is a fun and enjoyable experience and lets you chat while gaming. You can farm achievements together or queue in the battlegrounds with some friends. There are many social guilds out there that have oodles of people looking to play with other people.

If you play WoW solo or mostly solo then think of all the content that is locked off to you. You can’t raid unless you group up and that’s really what the true endgame of WoW is in WotLK. People who hate raiding because it is “difficult” to group with other people are silly to me. Sure, it’s difficult to coordinate a raid, but you can go through and stomp instances like Naxxramas or Ulduar in an hour with uncoordinated players with how gear works out these days. So that even removes the time restraint excuse.

So next time you login ask yourself if you’re being social enough. Instead of PuGing it up solo try grouping up with others from your guild. Instead of farming achievements by yourself seek out others to join you. Try out raiding if you’ve never done it, even if you’re going to fail. Do things with others! Don’t just wallow in the loneliness that is yourself. It helps make the game A LOT more enjoyable, even if it’s awkward at first.

One last thing, if you really do have fun playing solo and you honestly are having a blast, then by all means continue. I just don’t see a lot of people being capable of keeping to themselves all the time in an online game that’s made for being social.

That’s the Overpull this week. Stay tuned next week for more awesome news, funny stories, lore, and questions rolled together in your ultimate WoW newsletter.

-David "Xerin" Piner