Blizzard USA - France

Not sure how legitimate this mail is, as it's not been sent in the usual 3-4 languages, but here ya go. Blizzard is changing their "main" operation from Blizzard inc USA to Blizzard entertainment S.A.S. in France. No noticeable difference to your gaming experience other than those 3 letters. If it's not legit, then it's certainly a HUGE difference from the usual scam mail. Greetings, We have a short but important announcement that we wanted to share with our players. World of Warcraft is currently an operation of Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (USA), but starting April 14, 2009, the game operator will be Blizzard Entertainment's central European entity, Blizzard Entertainment S.A.S. (France), and will be referred to as such in the game's Terms of Use going forward. Our European office has been an essential part of our global operations since before the launch of World of Warcraft, and this update better reflects its role within our organization, as well as our continued commitment to our European players. This is an administrative change -- your World of Warcraft game experience will not be impacted. If for any reason you do not agree to this change you may terminate your account with effect from March 31, 2009 by accessing the cancellation feature in the account management page at https://www.wow-europe.com/account/. Note that your continued use of the World of Warcraft service indicates that you agree to the change. We're looking forward to continuing to enhance your World of Warcraft gaming experience in the year ahead, and as always, we wish you happy continued adventures in Azeroth! The World of Warcraft Team

Chat with a goldseller

I got contacted a few days ago about posting an advert on "this site", looking at the link it turned out to be a goldseller. Those of you who know me, know that I love a good discussion, so that's what I set out to do. It's interesting to note, he doesn't actually play the game and the site was set up by an American. I'll not link to the "actual" site here for obvious reasons. This log is posted with his permission, though slightly edited so as not to get him into trouble. Well, I thought it was an interesting conversation at least. You don't get to talk to a goldseller every day ^_^ Especially not one that's at least 99% understandable. Chat Log: [9:45:21] gseller: hi [9:45:46] bbr: Greetings. [9:46:11] gseller: how many sites do you own atm [9:46:14] gseller: if i may ask [9:46:56] bbr: 3-4, well 5 actually, but not all are running particulary popular. [9:47:17] gseller: which one is the most popular :) [9:47:25] bbr: http://rrvs.blogspot.com/ [9:48:01] gseller: if i buy the ads banner there, what is the rate? [9:48:35] bbr: That depends what location you're looking to advertise on. [9:48:43] gseller: oh it is a blog.. [9:49:02] bbr: So it is. [9:49:11] gseller: um, is it related to world of warcraft? [9:49:39] bbr: One that attracts ~800 visitors a day even. And yes, world of warcraft related, news, guides, etc. [9:50:17] gseller: do you have an Analysis date? [9:50:41] bbr: If you look at any of the Project wonderful banner locations you can see the running analysis over the past 30 or so days. - Snip - He couldn't find it initially, linked to PW etc. [9:52:53] gseller: yep, that is where i find your site [9:53:43] gseller: um, if i advertie via them, part of the fee will be theirs? [9:53:55] bbr: Aye, they keep 25% i believe. [9:54:09] gseller: how about i pay the 100% to you [9:54:57] bbr: If you're looking for a fixed location, you'd be paying a bit more than 100% of the current PW advert. Since you wouldn't have to worry about being overbid. [9:55:15] bbr: What site would you be looking to advertise for? [9:55:33] gseller: haven't you check my site? i sent it in my first email to you [9:55:44] bbr: The one you linked in hotmail? [9:55:49] gseller: ya [9:56:14] bbr: Yeh,,, [9:56:20] gseller: www.somelink.com [9:56:49] bbr: There are a few links to guides, with very little content [9:57:06] gseller: yes, we are developing it [9:57:58] gseller: but the most function of the site is not guides [9:58:11] bbr: And, gold selling, which, if you look at the sidebar on the blog I'm not supporting. So, if you wish to advertise on (pretty much any wow blog) you'd have to pick what area you wish to devote your site to. As you may or may not know, goldselling is against blizzard's Terms of Service, and shunned by the majority of the playerbase. [9:59:49] gseller: I know, Blizzard don't want others earn their money, while they selling tings in WoW.( you might dont want to hear this) [10:00:05] gseller: but them payers just dont have time to farm gold [10:00:24] gseller: then they exchange to the gold [10:00:35] gseller: I think it is their right [10:01:01] bbr: I'm quite aware of the mechanics, but it is still a game after all. Games are played to have fun, spend time doing stuff. Buying gold allows some of those players to basically skip the content, it's a form of cheating over other players, and inflates the economy. [10:02:16] gseller: since one pay a game, he want to enjoy the game complietly. But lets say, he works most of the time of the day [10:02:27] gseller: how should he do? [10:02:52] gseller: just like soeme children, pay the game all the day? [10:03:01] gseller: game is not all in his life [10:03:32] gseller: and soem people like buying gold, some people dont, they spend money in the game [10:03:39] bbr: Play the game at the speed that's available to him, I'd say. If you have 3 hours a day to spend on a game, you're still playing the game. Basically, those that buy gold want to play a different game, not world of warcraft. [10:04:18] gseller: Yeah buddy i understand totally [10:04:48] gseller: but, when he want to buy gold he will go no matter there si NO GOLD or not [10:05:09] gseller: if he dont want to buy gold, he will not go [10:05:21] bbr: It's not like there's not a dozen other games "out there" that are like world of warcraft where gold buying and selling is supported, even encouraged. Blizzard wants all it's players to have a fair and equal field. [10:05:21] gseller: all are up the players [10:06:33] gseller: existence in possible [10:07:07] gseller: I don't play WoW though [10:07:49] bbr: Indeed, the player's choice. But, those same players accepted the terms of service / user agreement when they started playing the game. Other games, like some from gpotato have a build in item and gold buying / selling system that allows them to compete with other players through real money. It's what the company that set up the game intended. [10:08:13] gseller: hehe, yep [10:08:42] gseller: but how many players will notice the agrement when the start to play the game [10:08:54] bbr: Less than 1% i bet :P [10:09:07] bbr: Same for most windows installers. [10:09:27] bbr: Still, even if they don't read it, they are legally bound to it. [10:09:34] gseller: I don't want to oppose Blizzard [10:09:53] gseller: after all, the game WoW is awesome indeed [10:09:58] bbr: But others are, and are making money off it. Right? [10:10:26] gseller: yes, there are many company in the world doing so [10:10:48] bbr: If you can't beat them join them? Surely there are more "legal" ways to get money though? [10:11:06] bbr: Take for example this site: http://www.mmo-champion.com/ [10:11:10] bbr: Or: http://www.worldofraids.com/ [10:11:20] bbr: I'm sure you know them? [10:11:23] gseller: i know that site [10:11:30] bbr: Exactly, many do. And many many players visit those sites. [10:11:54] bbr: They don't sell gold, but they "do" attract a lot of players. [10:12:19] gseller: more than the official site? [10:12:20] bbr: Sites like that can sell advertisements to other companies for a good price. [10:12:38] bbr: Possibly equally, if not more. [10:12:38] gseller: exactly, ok, and when did you started the game? [10:13:24] gseller: I mean WoW [10:13:33] bbr: Around beta, so, 3-4 years ago i guess. [10:13:54] gseller: never bought gold I guess :P [10:14:08] bbr: Nope, I have sold it though. But that wasn't in WoW. [10:14:16] bbr: Before WoW I've played Ultima Online. [10:14:19] gseller: hah, okay - Snip - uninteresting Ultima Online market mechanics. [10:15:59] bbr: What made you decide to try and start a gold selling site then ? [10:16:13] gseller: hmm, actually, im just incharge of the ads stuff, out of the game [10:16:43] bbr: So the actual goldseller is another company? [10:16:50] gseller: no, the same company [10:17:13] bbr: Ah, so you work " for " them? [10:17:18] gseller: yes [10:17:39] bbr: Easy job then, public relations. [10:17:56] gseller: hah, anyway, if we cant advertise on your site, there will be sites allowed the advetiement [10:18:32] gseller: just as i said, one thing exsit, it musht has its reasons [10:19:18] bbr: Likely, but some of us will have to stand by our principles. Not all of us accept it. If we do, there'll be no end in sight. [10:19:58] bbr: If we were to start supporting goldselling as an accepted thing, more will do, and that'll mean we're violating the ToS as much as those buying or selling the gold. [10:20:48] gseller: you have your principles [10:21:07] bbr: You should try playing wow though ;) [10:22:21] gseller: i dont like game, even it is an awesome one [10:22:45] bbr: It's large, for one. [10:22:51] gseller: what i really love is the real world [10:23:43] bbr: Outdoor sports 'n all? China is a very beautiful country. [10:23:54] gseller: world of warcraft even has its own world [10:24:07] bbr: Well it is caled " world" of warcraft after all. [10:24:40] gseller: it is a world after all [10:24:58] gseller: and owns millions fans all around the world [10:25:08] gseller: a game can be this is really somthing [10:25:18] bbr: ~12 million players now i think. [10:25:26] gseller: i guess - Snip - Some random statistics. [10:26:58] bbr: Hm, not updated for 2009, but decently accurate : http://www.mmogchart.com/Chart1.html - Snip some random chit chat about the country. [10:33:34] gseller: ok,I will express reservations to the gold selling [10:34:03] gseller: i will neither say it is good nor say it is bad [10:34:38] gseller: It is just a game( no matter how amazing it will be) [10:35:20] gseller: and guess what [10:35:33] gseller: i dont sell gold [10:35:36] bbr: Everyone has a right to earn a living and get money for food and living sure. But there's always alternatives. What "did" you study for in school? [10:35:51] gseller: um [10:36:02] gseller: English is my major [10:36:46] bbr: Should send a mail to whoever put together that text on the front page then, as it's quite full of grammar errors. [10:37:14] gseller: on the site? [10:37:25] bbr: Affirmative. [10:37:45] gseller: that is written by an American, LoL [10:37:52] bbr: o_O [10:38:14] bbr: It's pretty bad. [10:38:33] gseller: i cant see there is a problem [10:38:56] bbr: I see 3 right off, probably easy to find more if I read it a few more times. [10:39:15] gseller: impossible [10:39:21] bbr: on 5 now. [10:39:51] gseller: how can an article written by English speaker not be a correct one? LoL [10:40:40] bbr: Well it must have been an import american, certainly not a native. Or if it is, then it's some lowtown uneducated fool. [10:41:13] gseller: English is your first language? [10:41:38] bbr: My second actually. But I use it daily for work. - Snip - Random stuff about work. [10:42:26] gseller: English is his first language, means even he dream he will speak that LoL [10:42:58] bbr: I find that highly doubtful. I suspect (and hope for his sake) that someone edited the text afterwards. [10:43:26] bbr: Either that, or he purposefully made it like this. Hope he didn't get paid much. [10:43:46] gseller: he did that all for free [10:43:51] bbr: Figures, may not be a bad idea to hire a professional for it instead. If you are selling stuff, it's always a good idea to look professional at the least. [10:45:15] gseller: um you are right, I will tell him your words [10:46:28] bbr: At any rate, i really need to start on making some breakfast. [10:49:05] bbr: I'll keep ya around on skype if you're up for some more chat at a later time. You mind If I cut some parts of this conversation onto the blog? [10:50:45] gseller: up to you, it is your site anyway, just please respect privacy [10:51:27] bbr: Don't worry, name will be edited out, personal details not shown, fully anonymous. [11:02:35] gseller: okay, when my English level reach a higher leveling, make my words on your site as the second time [11:03:46] gseller: see you

New Blizzard Game Incoming

A recent personnel advert from Blizzard brought to light something interesting. They're working on a fifth game currently. Five, what? Up till now it was already known that blizzard is "currently" working on four projects. Namely: * Diablo 3 * Starcraft II * The next World of Warcraft expansion. (Maelstrom probably) * Project Hydra, some next gen MMO. And now, a fifth, yet undisclosed project has been announced. More details will undoubtedly come from their PR guys soonish. The new project is likely another MMO of sorts, as Blizzard is currently using the World of Warcraft engine to test it. Who knows, World of Starcraft? Mind, they ARE working on a new engine specifically for the new game, but still interesting that they're using the WoW engine for testing purposes. In short, Blizzard is currently working on no less than two MMOs. Source: Tweakers.net. Related: DiabloII.net.

Wow Raid - PvE Resource

Three updates in only a few days, no I'm not sick and working at home, tempting as the thought may be with the number of hours of sleep I had yesterday.

But anyway, some of you who followed the whole MMOC vs WoR thing that's been going on for a few years "may" have noticed the person known as Teza, who has been working for/with World of Raids for a good time has no longer been updating any news on the WoR front page. Instead, some dude named Kody has taken over that torch. Maxime "Teza" Perignon quit posting on WoR early november and has been working on a new project since.

A new project?! Dear BBR, please tell us what may this project be?

Well, I received a notification from Teza this weekend informing me of his new site called.... /drumroll

WoW Raid

It's a clean, fast loading site with no baggage and a good deal of features to start off with. One of the early posts stating WTF is wowraid? pretty much sums up all the main features. For example there is a blue-post tracker that'll show all the interesting bits of blue text snatched right from the official forums while filtering all the random ascii art and spam that normally occurs there.

As well as a Guild recruitment tool where you can, well, lets just say it won't make you coffee and croissants. Obviously it's a tool you can use to look for new recruits for your guild.

More tools (especially for raiders) are promised to arrive on the site in the near future. Add the site to your bookmarks and keep a close eye on them.

Addon rules change

Whoa, it seems blizzard has taken notice of people making money off addons and has taken offence. They've announced a change in the addon policy / rules. Quote World of Warcraft User Interface Add-On Development Policy With the continuing popularity of World of Warcraft user interface add-ons (referred to hereafter as "add-ons") created by the community of players, Blizzard Entertainment has formalized design and distribution guidelines for add-ons. These guidelines have been put in place to ensure the integrity of World of Warcraft and to help promote an enjoyable gaming environment for all of our players - failure to abide by them may result in measures up to and including taking formal legal action. 1) Add-ons must be free of charge. All add-ons must be distributed free of charge. Developers may not create "premium" versions of add-ons with additional for-pay features, charge money to download an add-on, charge for services related to the add-on, or otherwise require some form of monetary compensation to download or access an add-on. 2) Add-on code must be completely visible. The programming code of an add-on must in no way be hidden or obfuscated, and must be freely accessible to and viewable by the general public. 3) Add-ons must not negatively impact World of Warcraft realms or other players. Add-ons will perform no function which, in Blizzard Entertainment's sole discretion, negatively impacts the performance of the World of Warcraft realms or otherwise negatively affects the game for other players. For example, this includes but is not limited to excessive use of the chat system, unnecessary loading from the hard disk, and slow frame rates. 4) Add-ons may not include advertisements. Add-ons may not be used to advertise any goods or services. 5) Add-ons may not solicit donations. Add-ons may not include requests for donations. We recognize the immense amount of effort and resources that go into developing an add-on; however, such requests should be limited to the add-on website or distribution site and should not appear in the game. 6) Add-ons must not contain offensive or objectionable material. World of Warcraft has been given a "T" by the ESRB, and similar ratings from other ratings boards around the world. Blizzard Entertainment requires that add-ons not include any material that would not be allowed under these ratings. 7) Add-ons must abide by World of Warcraft ToU and EULA. All add-ons must follow the World of Warcraft Terms of Use and the World of Warcraft End User License Agreement. 8) Blizzard Entertainment has the right to disable add-on functionality as it sees fit. To maintain the integrity World of Warcraft and ensure the best possible gaming experience for our players, Blizzard Entertainment reserves the right to disable any add-on functionality within World of Warcraft at its sole discretion. For more information... What does that mean? 1: Carbonite will no longer be allowed to sell itself as a "premium" version. All functionality must be available to all users. Similarly WoW Matrix should not be affected, but the dreaded Curse Client will no longer be allowed to charge you any money to unlock the full feature downloader. Which is, quite simply good news! 2: All addons must be fully open source, which allows blizzard to steal your code and claim it as their own. I guess... Mind, that's not a bad thing, as they'd have to end up supporting the feature trough all updates of the game, instead of having us worry whether the addon will still work after a new patch, or get abandoned by a bored mod developer. 3: This is a bit more difficult to "rate", as most addons will in some way negatively affect your game play. Even in small numbers. There are some that stand out though, like DotTimer or excessive recount syncing addons. There's also some weird addon that's showing up in my AddonSpamFu registered as: "Crb". I have no idea what Crb is, but it's causing some people who have it installed to send messages across the entire server... Some outside the guild, in a whole different instance. It'd definitely need looking into. 4: Addon's may not advertise, this is obviously aimed at addons like Questhelper and others which were spamming the user with donation requests and other spam. 5: See 4. Obviously I don't see whether blizzard would have a problem with an addon having a "donate" button in the addon menu, but popups or chat messages are a big no-no. 6: Nudity patch or other stuff likely. Though I don't believe that was an actual "addon" so much as a game alteration of the player models. Either way, it's been disallowed and marked as illegal to use from the first day it was released. 7: Obviously everyone has to follow the EULA and Terms of Use. 8: If an addon has a heavy impact on the game, then it's creator needs to learn2program. No more taking shortcuts for the sake of convenience with bad programming as a result. Addons should be efficient, and disabled if not.

Blizzard Watches You!

Blizzard doesn't sit still, and has introduced a New Feature, which is basically a preparation for Diablo 3 and an account wide achievement system that they've been working on. Quote: We’re pleased to introduce the Battle.net account -- a brand-new way for players to manage their Blizzard Entertainment games, make online Blizzard store purchases, log in to World of Warcraft, and more using just one set of login information. World of Warcraft players now have the option to create a Battle.net account, merge a World of Warcraft account (or multiple accounts) with it, and begin logging in to the game, the Armory, and the forums using their new Battle.net account login information. Merge your World of Warcraft account now - http://us.battle.net/account/creation/landing.xml Some of the benefits of the Battle.net account include:

Fewer passwords to remember. One single login lets you access World of Warcraft, the online Blizzard store, and more -- including upcoming games such as StarCraft II and Diablo III.

Opt in to upcoming Blizzard Entertainment beta tests. Put yourself in the running to be invited to test upcoming games.

Easy access to your classic games. Store your CD keys for classic Blizzard Entertainment titles, and then download the games whenever you wish.

And more to come… We’re planning to add more features in the future, including tools to help friends communicate between games and bring players closer together. At this time, signing up is completely optional -- but if you’re interested in taking advantage of the benefits of the Battle.net account today, check out the FAQ for more information, or create an account now. FAQ- http://us.battle.net/faq/index.html Create an account- http://us.battle.net/account/creation/landing.xml So, there you have it. Not so hothot news, but there's more! The same news can be found on StarcraftWire. However, they note that the authenticator keys you currently have for your WoW accounts will all be useable for all your battle.net games! Isn't that sweet? Also, if you currently have 4-5 of the things (1 for each wow account), you'll only need a single one from this point on. Sadly though, WoW can't be merged into your battle.net account yet if you're living in the EU.... Like myself.. /sigh Achieve this! As for those battle.net account wide achievements, those are definitely in the works and have been announced quite some time ago already. I figure posting it here again should serve as a nice reminder. Basically, you'll be able to inspect each other's battle.net account (or look it up on a website) and see another player's world of warcraft achievements. As well, you'll be able to see the number of Starcraft games he won, and the highest level diablo 2 hardcore character / ladder position he has ever achieved. These are just examples, but no doubt there will be plenty other options coming!

Captain's Log

Captain's log, stardate 140320091257. The Romulans are getting restless. Peace has always been a fickle thing in this sector, but since the discovery of a new power source on the beta plane they've found new strength to.... Oh wait,,.. The PTR has gotten an update! Arena Nobody cares. Wintergrasp * Siege Engines now have Steam Pressure as a resource type (replaces energy). * Siege Engines now have the Steam Rush ability from Ulduar. * The southern Siege Factories can be captured. Rogue stuffs * Instant Poison: Redesigned to have its chance to be applied based on the speed of the weapon (ppm). * Wound Poison: Redesigned to have its chance to be applied based on the speed of the weapon (ppm). Talents * Master Poisoner: Now also increases the bonus to apply Deadly Poison when Envenom is used by an additional 15/30/45%. Glyphs * Glyph of Adrenaline Rush: Now increases duration by 5 seconds. * Glyph of Crippling Poison: Poison chance bonus increased to 20%. * Glyph of Deadly Throw: Increases the movement reduction by 10%. * Glyph of Pick Lock: Now reduces cast time by 100%. * Glyph of Sap: Increases duration by 20 seconds. User Interface and World * A new feature has been added allowing players to allocate talent points before confirming they’d like to spend them. This feature must be turned on in the Interface Options. * The mini-map has been optimized for better performance. Displays for vehicles, class colors, and off-map pings have been added as well. * Players first entering any dungeon that will result in a lock-out timer will be warned if they are going to be saved to the instance. This warning will include an option to port to the nearest graveyard before being saved. For a more complete list, see MMOC or WoR about this update. Poll end Did you receive goldspam recently? * Yes, in general/trade - 60 (73%) * Yes, by whisper. - 22 (26%) * Yes, by mail. - 11 (13%) * I use an addon to block it - 8 (9%) * Not anytime recently. - 7 (8%) Seems goldspam is very active in general/trade, second place in whisper. /w someone Hi /w spammer what? /w someone Yoo buy our golds nau? Yeah, it's crazily annoying. I'm surprised so few are using an addon for it currently though.

Been There, Done That

I'm sure more and more guilds are facing this issue now. Lack of content. Sure, 3.1 is right around the corner, but what will you do until then? Achievements, obviously.

Wednesday, naxx-25 started and fully cleared the same evening.

Thursday, Malygos-25, VoA-25 and Obsidian Sanctum-25 with 3 Drakes up. All done! That's pretty much all the raid content WotLK offers currently. Sure there's 10 mans as well, but other than for achievements there's really no point doing those if you're already farming 25 man content. So, how does one keep busy until 3.1 hits the live servers? Make an alt The most obvious thing to do, as well as probably one of the most useful ones. Having multiple characters allows you to readily have access to different crafting professions, or simply a main with crafting professions and an alt with gathering. With the release of WotLK the obvious first pick is Death Knights since they start at level 55. Money should by no means be an issue. Daily quests give you plenty of cash, and simply cleaning up raids will pay you anywhere between 60-120g a night as well. If that doesn't warm up your pants then there's always the crazy farming spree for metals or herbs which can net you around 1000g in no more than a few hours or two. You'll spend more time putting stuff on the AH then actual farming... heh. If you already have a Death Knight, then I can highly recommend making a Druid for their improved ability to farm herbs without shifting from flightform. Alternatively a hybrid of sorts due to the dual-spec feature coming up. Having a handy alt available is always useful, regardless of what some think. As for myself, though I only got two level 80's, some of the 70's I raised during TBC have worked hard to get their professions up to the new levels. Getting all the glyphs and jewelcrafting patterns certainly is a p.i.t.a. that takes a lot of weeks to complete. Farm achievement points The ultimate of fake content to some, an extra accomplishment to others. Obviously being sent around all of azeroth to '/love' some squirrels and other critters is plain and obvious fake content to keep us busy playing and paying for the game. On the other hand, achievements like these can be challenging:

Make Quick Werk Of Him

And They Would All Go Down Together

You Don't Have An Eternity

The Twilight Zone

The Immortal They test your DPS, coordination and ability to push your raid to it's limit. And in some cases luck with disconnects and poorly timed lag.... Still, most should be doable if you're farming all the current content. Also, The Twilight Zone awards you a title, and killing Sartharion with 2-3 drakes also awards bonus loot. (imo they should have made more bosses using this mechanic) In Ulduar (Released in 3.1) 11 out of the 14 bosses in that instance follow this same mechanic, so get used to it. While doing a boss the "easy way" will get you some gear and allow you to visit the last boss in the instance, going the extra mile will allow you to get both better gear and enable you to do the other bosses faster. Farm loads of cash If you don't have at least 1000g to your name, or slack even more and don't even have an epic flying mount yet.. you should definitely work on your cash. If you're a herbalist, skinner, engineer or miner it shouldn't take much imagination on how to get yourself some spare change by selling farmed materials on your local Auction House. The best way to make money, is to "not" spend it. Don't buy crazy shit like the Traveler's Tundra Mammoth or any other 1600g mounts for that matter. You can buy a simple flyer for 200g and it'll be just as fast to fly as any other epic flyer, and land mounts are only 100g as well. There's even some free rare drop mounts if you're "really" cheap and only buy the skill. But the droprate is fairly low on most of those. The flying mount from culling of time is probably the only exception to this. (As it's doable daily, you can have it in 5 days tops) If you're a tailor, enchanter, leatherworker, alchemist or blacksmith then I haven't got much better advice for you at the moment. Other than: Go do yer damn dailies. It's silly how people manage to buy empty the AH for 500-2000g worth of stuff every few weeks and then have the gall to complain that they're "broke" all the time and don't have cash to buy an epic flyer... Seriously, If you need cash don't spend it. Play 3.1 on the PTR! It's on the PTR, so it's available already for your enjoyment. You won't be able to really get anything permanent out of it though. It does help you discover / learn tactics for the bosses in Ulduar though. But, you'll also be bored with 3.1 sooner this way, and thus end up in the same situation waiting for 3.2 to arrive... Probably not a situation you're eager to be in, unless you're one of those no-lifes in the top-10 guilds world wide. I doubt any of them read this blog anyway. Cap some reputations While not immediately "useful", capping reputations in factions you use a lot will potentially save you a lot of gold in the long run. When you're friendly you get a 5% discount, 10% for honored, 15% at revered, and 20% at exalted. If you later with to buy the Kirin Tor ring and it's upgrade in 3.1 at a price of 1000g, you'd be saving yourself a portion of that price at least. Do keep in mind that your regular HearthStone's cooldown will be reduced to 30 minutes though, so you'll probably find less of a use for such rings. Not to mention that Ulduar drops ilvl 226 gear, while those vendor rings are ilvl 213. And then, there's repair cost. If you're not already exalted with wherever you usually repair at, keep in mind that you will have to repair your gear a lot, every single day. Those 20% add up in the long run. (Don't repair with bots if you can help it) If you're really crazy you can even go all the way and get 40 Exalted Reputations to get a fluffy title for your efforts. Farm 10-mans with alts To kill boredom if anything, and keep people interested in the game. The use of alts in relation to raiding is marginal at best, and with 3.1 even less so since your main raiders will be able to switch specs on the fly between bosses. Having your favorite healer or ranged dps disconnect mid-raid would be a lot less critical than it might be for you now. Still, if for example your healers have a decently geared alt for grinding money/herbs that would indirectly benefit your raid force. Or in combination with some alts and casuals you manage to do an "extra" naxx clear each week to help gear up raiders who missed the regular clear, or new trialists, then the effect is slightly more noticeable. Everyone benefits, in some obscure way or the other. It's always useful to see all perspectives of the game as well. If you're always just healing, then it's hard to imagine what the melee dps has to go trough, and vice versa. You'll become a better player in the end. Gear up potential recruits Recruit extras, you never know when you'll find some unpolished gem that may turn into an amazing raider. Also, plenty of people will be "retiring" or quit playing altogether during long months of no content, they'll need to be replaced somehow. If you don't have any actual recruits waiting in line, then you can always "sell" raid spots for your farm runs. You'd be amazed how many people are willing to pay 1-2K per item for those regular 25-man naxx drops that you're always cursing at and disenchanting because every regular player in the raid has already got them for 3 different specs. Put those purples to good use and gear up your faction while beefing up your guild bank for repairs in the near future. Not only can you get easy repair money this way, you could also find interesting players you may consider recruiting without having them go trough the whole apply and trial thing. Some players are actually quite intimidated by the thought of raiding, even though they may be exellent players. The best way to get them to apply is to ask them. Quit Quit the game, no no no, not permanently, just for a few hours or a day or two to alternate and expand your interest a little. Diablo 3 is in progress, which should make for a very interesting diversion indeed. However, in Valve Time it'll probably be done "When it's done". Blizzard has a hand in that as well, but they DO make good products. Armorgames tends to have some quick and easy (fun even) games to spend your time with. Same goes for Miniclip.com and whirled obviously. Ever tried eyezmaze yet? Also BvS, Dragon Tavern, Mr Tiki, Molehill empire or Urban Rivals if you like simple browser games. I also heard Magewar is back in a cloned form called reincarnation. I haven't gotten around to testing it yet, but magewar was pretty good for a text browser game. And, not least of all igf is doing a 2009 Independent Games Festival awards thing. There's a few interesting ones on the list there. Be sure to try out Cortex Command, it's pure liquid win. In short, there's plenty of ways to distract yourself until 3.1, and until 3.2 if 3.1 starts to bore you... I've made a new poll on the right, how much have you done so far? ps: Tagback to holy warrior's blog.