Site Name

Sorry for the delay in getting this out!

This week we are joined by Alex Zibert, editor for WoW.com, to discuss the changes made this week to WoW Insider, and our Rawr Crew is representing this week with an at-length discussion with Emeny. We cover a myriad of topics ranging from Warrior DPS to various loot systems and how it changes morale of new recruits.

Additionally, Emeny introduces “The Big Picture” segment where we discuss general MMO industry news outside of World of Warcraft. Lending perspective on how other games function and map development definitely widens opinions.

All of this, and much, much more is available for your listening pleasure via iTunes, RSS feed, download, or you can stream it from our main page.

Links to topics discussed this week:

• Patch 3.2 Details Released
• Curse Network Blizzcon Contest
• Armor Penetration Blue Posts
• Blizzard 5-man heroic instance philosophy in WotLK
• EVE Online’s Council of Stellar Managemen
• Free Realms
• Fury Warrior Q&A

Win Blizzcon Tickets!
Official Blizzard Fansites

• BlizzPlanet – http://www.blizzplanet.com/
• Diablo-Source – http://www.diablo-source.com/
• WoW Interface – http://wowinterface.com/community.php
• inStarCraft.de – http://starcraft2.ingame.de/
• StarCraft Wire.net – http://starcraft.incgamers.com/blog/comments/blizzcon-2009-ticket-giveaway/
• StarCraft II Australia – http://www.starcraft2.com.au
• Starfeeder – http://starfeeder.gameriot.com/blogs/The-Starfeed/2009-BlizzCon-Ticket-Contest-on-Starfeeder
• StarCraft-Source – http://www.gamer-source.com/index.php?cmd=article&sec=news&act=view&id=136#comments
• StarCraft 2 Source – http://starcraft2.4players.de/news,508,StarCraft_2_Source_bei_der_BlizzCon_2009.html
• TankSpot – http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f64/50260-tankspot-s-blizzcon-2009-giveaway.html
• World of Raids – http://www.worldofraids.com/news/635-design-a-wow-license-plate-win-a-blizzcon-pass.html

Sign-up as a member on our Discussion Forums
and you are entered to
WIN a FREE year of Curse Premium Service!
And, while you are there, pick up
your I heart Stompalina T-Shirt and Support the Rawr!

Don’t forget to tune in for the
LIVE show next week on
Ustream – Saturday, May 30th @ 4 PM, CST

Things have been tough lately. A few essential guild members, people who were at the core of what made our guild fun, have left to persue other interests. Such is the flow of a raiding guild. Summer and the winter holidays basically through a monkey wrench in the works on raiding in most MMOs . Spring fever hits, things get tough. Summer arrives and all of the pasty white dudes crawl out of their parents basement and explore the outterwebz.

We have been coping well thus far. A fresh batch of recruits entered our domain about 4 weeks ago and we pushed on. However, we had to take a few steps back from our 8/14 Ulduar raiding to reel in the new peeps. We spent a couple of weeks farming Naxx to aid a few in being better prepared for Ulduar. These farm runs were a good indication of where the new folks stood as far as capabilities and reactiveness. Chatters, smack talkers, complainers and naggers became apparent from the start. I even had a mini-rant about all of the bullshit on vent in my post, “Do’s and Don’ts: Being a New Member in a Raiding Guild“.

After a few runs, the verbal diarrhea ceased. We pushed on relearning content through the eyes of these new few. We often forgot to take the time to step back and explain the fights that our core had learned together. And, we had a few needless wipes when these new people didn’t ask for clarification. It happens.

Slowing Down
What I did miss in all of this is the fact that our guild leadership was drowning. Our leadership consisted of a lovely group, a few of which are real life friends, and a couple of others. Most of which have played together for years. And, two of the core that had left us recently were officers. The remaining few picked up, dusted off and did what any good guild could do… Recruit. And, thus… The batch of eager few appeared on our website with happy applications filled with optimism.

When all of the vent bullshit stopped, it appears that the officer suffocation began. All of the nub-tastic questions, comments, unsolicited feedback, etc. that had once flooded our air waves was now filling our raid/guild leader’s screen. Having to field bullshit handled in tells in between pulls seemed to have an adverse effect on our progression raiding.

The last few weeks, we have taken a step backwards in Ulduar. We are doing what we can with the people that are consistently showing up – our core. Beyond that, slowly but surely, the dead weight will trim off and we will have a group again. But, in the meantime, we are tightening down and working to fix the challenges that appear to be contributing to the issue.

I sat and had a long conversation with our guild leader. He knows what he is up against, he has been doing this a long time. But, this time, we are championing our guild along side him.

Heading into Summer
As we prepare to head into the heated months of summer, I am hitting the streets to find the right people for the right spots in our guild. We are helping with recruitment for our guild, and hopefully as a result will also get some of the strain off of our guild leader. We are doing everything we can to make raiding a fun, intense, determined, focused, mature, sexy, awesome time that we all enjoy when we spend our evenings playing this game that we all love – together.

So, if you have a moment, visit one of our many recruitment posts around the interwebs. Give your take on how we can find the right people for our group of raiders, and visit our guild website if you are the right person, cause we have the right spot for you!

• mmo-champion.com
• WoW Raid.com
• World of Raids.com
• World of Warcraft Forums
• Looking for Guild
• WoW Headhunter.com

On previous podcasts, Haf and I had mentioned the fact that a guild’s raid times have a huge impact on our membership. We have vehemently stood by the idea that the game wouldn’t detract from our time with our son. So, we typically don’t raid until 8:30 in the evening, after our son has gone to bed.

Well, the kid is getting older, he is 9 now, and I am starting to feel guilty for sending him to bed when it is still light outside. Equally as important, he usually gets up, without an alarm, at 6:30 AM. You see, our little night-night arrangement worked well when he was 6, when we had just started getting into raiding. But, now we are having to reevaluate our situation.

We are weighing some ideas… raiding more often with shortened hours per night is the strong leader at this point. But, I am hoping to work out some details before we decide to make a change.

In our guild, we currently raid 2 nights a week for upwards of 4 hours on progression nights. And, let me tell you how much I enjoy waiting around 20 minutes for buffs and AFKers. My time playing in the evening is limited, and to be delayed because of avoidable issues is super-stressful. It is annoying, but what options do we have? Push on short handed, or deal with it. And, since our bench isn’t nearly as deep as it once was, we deal…

Anyhow… we need to assess our raid time commitments. We still play nearly every night, and we probably will continue to do so until another MMO grabs our interest. But, in handling the struggle to keep our son first and foremost in our interests, we work to avoid straying into the great suck of obsessiveness that is World of Warcraft. It is work to keep things in perspective.

A parental challenge reared its head the other day. It was Haf’s week to get up with the kid in the morning, fix his lunch, instruct him on his morning chores (our son is super-responsible), and send him along to school. It appears that Haf got up, passed along instructions to the spawn, and proceeded to pass out on the couch.

Our son proceeded to do as instructed, eat his breakfast, and leave this note. Clearly, our responsible child did his best to avoid waking the sleeping giant on the couch. And, it goes as proof that we are doing a good job with our little window licker. But, it was an avoidable absence on our part. I have had the same thing happen to me on my week with the kid. I am not exactly super mom on mornings after a 2AM progression night push.

Finding a balance between our passionate hobby and our parental and life commitments is almost like a meta game. There is no right or wrong way to find a balance. But, as long as we continue to put out max LPS (love per situation), we will continue to increase our parental xp.

As you have probably figured out, Episode 20 hasn’t been released this week. You may be asking your self,

“Wow, Stomp is usually anal about getting the show out on Sunday. Is she dead in a ditch somewhere?”

Calm down… it’s okay. Kinda.

It seems that the cheap-ass hosting service we use is maxed out at the moment. I am at a loss as to how to handle this challenge, as it is the first time I have run into this issue, and we are planning to move the hosting soon anyhow.

So, sorry for the delay in getting this week’s show out. We will have it along as soon as possible!

Oh, and… Please buy a t-shirt so we can have less sucky hosting!

This week has been filled with news in our little corner of the world! And, we have it all covered on this week’s edition of Rawrcast!

Plans for a RAWRCON: Blizzcon Saturday extended edition of the show are coming together nicely. Mark your calender now for this don’t miss event, Saturday, August 22nd! We have loads of giveaways, and some amazing guests lined up. It is going to be groundbreaking!

This week, we kick-off the show by addressing the changes that are unfolding over at WoW Insider, and welcome Editor – Alex Ziebart. If you haven’t checked WoW Insider in a couple of days, make sure to head over there and sign up for their new social networking functions. We have mixed opinions about the new changes, and we are looking forward to getting down to the core of the change with Alex!

Beyond that, our resident backpacker, Emeny, will join us for this week’s show to discuss this week’s topics in and around WoW. As if this show wasn’t exciting enough, Emeny will be debuting a new segment called “The Big Picture” where we open the door to MMO industry news beyond World of Warcraft.

Special Thanks to Gopala
on our discussion forms for your generous donation this week!

This week we welcome ckknight from Curse Network, as we tackle the negative consumer feedback regarding the WoW Matrix controversy, and the lack of information surrounding the new Curse Premium Client. Ck shares how the Curse Premium Subscription helps to aid and support the add-on development community, and how you can get involved in creating your own add-on and become a part of this group of players who are responsible for enhancing your in-game experience.

Ckknight also shares his opinion on the current Blizzard litigation regarding Shakes and Fidget. And his plans for this summer’s Blizzcon, and his opinion on the Peggle debate and whether or not Pop Cap is in violation of the new Blizzard Add-on Policy.

All of this, and much, much more is available for your listening pleasure via iTunes, RSS feed, download, or you can stream it from our main page.

There were also a number of announcements in this week’s show, links to full details are on our site and discussion forums. Get involved and let us know who you would like to hear from and what topics you would like discussed!

Link to items discussed on this week…

• Stomp’s Post – Do’s and Don’t: Being a new guild member
• Blizzard Doesn’t Think the Funnies are Funny
• The Blizzard eSports Channel by ESL TV
• The discussion forums over at WC Radio regarding the article “WoWMatrix responds to Curse and WoW Interface” on WoW Insider
• Stomp helped ckknight promote a Curse Network giveaway that he knew nothing about! The Gaming Weapon of Choice Sweepstakes!
• And, I failed to link to this last week… our guildie, Kinderfeld put together this awesome desktop wallpaper that has all of the Ulduar bosses. Sweet!
  

Sign-up as a member on our Discussion Forums
and you are entered to
WIN a FREE year of Curse Premium Service!
And, while you are there, pick up
your I heart Stompalina T-Shirt and Support the Rawr!

Don’t forget to tune in for the
LIVE show next week on
Ustream – Saturday, May 23th @ 4 PM, CST

Check out the Rawrcast Calendar
for a complete list of upcoming guests and show topics,
including TotalBiscut on May 30th!

Music Provided by: The Whiskey Sournotes / Poopy Butt Dog

~! DIGG THIS EPISODE !~

Greetings Rawrcast fans,

It’s that time again, pull up your socks, strap on those boots and join me in a trek across Azeroth.

This week I visit Ironforge:

Population: Dwarves & Gnomes
Notable Characters: Magni Bronzebeard, Gelbin Mekkatorque, Muninn Magellas

Faction: Alliance Capital City

Home of the dwarves and sanctuary to the gnomes that fled the capital city of Gnomeregan, standing resolute in the snowy mountains of Dun Morogh Ironforge is considered the toughest city to assault.

Once ruled by the mighty Modimus Anvilmar, whose statue adorns the main entrance to the city; Ironforge is now under the rule of the Bronzebeard clan and its leader Magni Bronzebeard. Be sure to pay your respects to this most mighty of dwarves as the story I shall unravel demonstrates the importance of this leader.

The current ruler of Ironforge has a history of strife, losing his brother Muradin in the events that led to the fall of Lordaeron. Adventurers in Northrend should pay attention to their quests in Storm Peaks for further developments in this plot… When Mograine and Fairbanks travelled to Ironforge it was Magni Bronzebeard who vowed vengeance for his brother and forged the legendary sword Ashbringer.

Bronzebeard took control of Ironforge following the War of the Three Hammers which saw the Dark Iron and Wildhammer clans banished. These events were to lead to the summoning of Ragnaros (the cataclysmic event which saw Black Rock Mountain and the surrounding zones formed) and the settlement of the Wildhammer clan in Aerie’s Peak. Significant events no doubt; I could yap about Bronzebeard until even the stoutest of dwarf slipped into a drunken coma but alas I promised you a trip around Ironforge so let us forge on. Read more…

This week Haf is free balling without Stomp, along with his partners in crime Brigwyn, of The Hunting Lodge, and our resident Head Hunter, Taffybag. Brigwyn shares the final results of the Child’s Play Charity Auction, Taffybag shares his disdain with the bad reputation that most hunters are labeled with, and Haf tackles the theory that Blizzard keeps trying to sell us stuff.

Additionally, Taffy and Brig dive into quite a few hunter-centric topics, discussion recent changes made to the class, and discuss Brig’s wacky in-game philanthropy.

All of this, and much, much more is available for your listening pleasure via iTunes, RSS feed, download, or you can stream it from our main page.

Links to topics discussed on this week’s show:

• Blizzcon tickets go on sale May 16th
• Val’anyr Proc Clarified by Ghostcrawler and Bornakk
• Mana Regeneration Overhaul Not Quite Complete
• Blizzard says, “Come Test our PTR… SIKE!”
• WoW Insider interviews lead developer Tom Chilton
• Two More WoW iPhone Applications bite the dust
• Ride a Huge Cawk In-Game! Thanks Blizzard!
• French Spin with Patrick Beja

Our line-up of scheduled guests keeps growing!

In addition to having TotalBiscuit scheduled for May 30th, along with the gracious winner of the Child’s Play Charity Auction… Another guest is being announced today!

Join us
Saturday, May 16th – Episode 19
as we welcome..

ckknight
Software Developer and Community Manager
Curse Network

Developer of hugely popular add-ons like:

• FuBar
• Cartographer
• PitBull
• Parrot
• CowTip
• Chinchilla
• and many more

• Learn what you can expect from Curse in the coming months.
• Find out why Curse now offers a Premium pay-based Subscription
• Are you interested in developing add-ons? Learn what you need to know!

In the meantime…
Catch this week’s show
LIVE on Ustream
Saturday, May 9th @ 4 PM, CST
with charitable philanthropist
Brigwyn from The Hunting Lodge!

[Participate in this week's show, even if you can't make it LIVE
leave us a message , send an e-mail or leave your mark
on our discussion forums . Either way, let's hear your RAWR !]

Hey Rawrcast fans,

I’m sure a number of you are eager to get your hands on Blizzcon tickets so I thought I’d share with you the announcement that tickets will go on sale May16th!!

Booking will set you back $125 with a second block of tickets going on sale May 30th for those that miss out on the initial batch. If you want to get in on the action here’s some advice from the announcement:

“To streamline the ticket-purchase process this year, the company has made upgrades to the Blizzard Store, including a first-come, first-served queue system and a fixed time limit for completing purchases. Also, those interested in attending BlizzCon can simplify the purchase process by registering a Battle.net account at http://www.battle.net/ before ticket sales begin.“

Blizzcon will again be available as a DirectTV pay-per-view event and for the first time as a live internet stream. International fans of Blizz will be pleased to read that,

“…in the weeks ahead DIRECTV will offer a BlizzCon promotion for those interested in signing up for the DIRECTV television service. New subscribers through this promotion will receive the DIRECTV BlizzCon Pay Per View event, the Internet stream, and the BlizzCon 2009 World of Warcraft in-game item for the price of becoming a new DIRECTV customer.”

Perhaps not as exclusive as the Blizzcon bag of swag but a commendable gesture to the international audience which should be appreciated by all.

If you happen to grab some tickets then be sure to shout out on the discussion boards!!

Emeny.