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Friday morning I sat down at the helm of ©StompRot Studios and dialed in through the interwebs to follow the DirectTV stream of Blizzcon ’09. With twitter at the ready, I eeked with anticipation as the stream aimlessly looped through old cinamatics and commercials trying to sell me the stream that I had obviously already paid for.

Then, at 10am, PST, on cue, right when I was ready to fall out of my seat with eagerness, we are welcomed by some dude who is leading the charge, Kat Hunter, and some Asian chick – who, by some miracle is able to pronounce all of the tournament player’s names. Imagine that.

What’s that? Suddenly the stream breaks… the first of many… And, we then see Dude, Kat and the Asian chick getting their hair and make-up done and talking about how they look.

Then we are taken to the “Field Reporter”. The only reason that this chick earned the title of “Field Reporter” is because she obviously plays the field; Jo “I-had-to-blow-someone-for-this-gig” Garcia. BJ must have been the WORST correspondent I have ever seen. DTV would have been better off giving the mic to the kid in the gruntling costume.

So, we push forward. As we are set to begin the panels MMO-Champion reports the DTV schedule before it is published on the stream. Once again, MMO-Champion gets the jump on news. Alas, they are showing the StarCraft Panel on Friday instead of The Guild panel!

Let me get this straight – they have camera set up and recording ALL of the panels for replay later EXCEPT the The Guild. If DTV is so advance and taking full advantage of high-quality streaming video, why not make it interactive and let me CHOOSE which panel I want to view since ALL of the panels overlap?

Opening Ceremony
Twitter is a fluster with anticipation as Mike Morheime takes the stage and starts dropping Cataclysm innuendo and reliving the previous year’s achievements. And, @Rawrcast takes off out of the gates as Kenny D and I begin Live-Reporting and posting screen shots of the proceedings as they happen.

Preview Panel
Metzen and a few other developers take the stage and drop the bombshell. YES, the next expansion is World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. YES, the new races are Goblins and Worgen. And, YES, this expansion will change the face of Azeroth as we know it. Deathwing will awaken from his slumber and rip Azeroth a new one as he is unleashed from the bowls of the earth.

So, all of those weeks that everyone was calling Inquisitor a crack-pot for his informed speculation were completely unfounded. In a humorous fashion, Metzen jokes that this is new information that no one has ever heard before divulging that the rumors, leaks and informed speculation were all true.

Blizzard is doing something with Cataclysm that no other MMO has ever done. They are completely reworking the existing content for everyone, introducing phased terrain, all while advancing the story of the World of Warcraft.

More to come soon on the story of Deathwing, and all of the other developments surrounding Cataclysm in the coming months.

In a segment between panels, Morheime explained that there are two major releases planned for Blizzard between now and the next Blizzcon, in addition to elaborating on the fact that Blizzcon has outgrown the Anaheim Convention Center. It seems that Blizzard is already making plans to expand the capacity of the convention for next year!

Class Discussion
Ghostcrawler (Greg Street) scrambled up to the stage and dropped a huge bombshell on the flock of fans. No more Mp5, spell power, attack power, defense, armor penetration, haste, or block. Thank God they are realizing that min/maxers have overwhelmed the game, and they have finally decided to take some of the math out of my fun.

It seems that they are taking stats back to the simplified base stats of old and putting more weight into a players ability to actually play the game, as less into their ability to number crunch.

GC also shared the new legendary 2-handed axe slated to arrive in Icecrown, Shadomourne. And, the masses cheered…

Of course there were loads of other updates shared in the Class panel, most of which will simplify the game and are contributing to the overarching theme of Blizzcon – Blizzard wants for all of their games to get back to what made them fun to begin with, and start taking out much of the clutter.

Speaking of clutter, DirectTV did a GREAT job finding the dorkiest idiot in the crowd and cutting to him multiple times during this panel. Way to perpetuate the image that we are all idiots in our parent’s basement who only AFK to go to Taco Bell or buy more Mountain Dew. Eat me, DirectTV.

More to come on the Class Discussion and Itemization changes in the coming weeks.

Who thinks that Jay Mohr is funny anymore?
Friday night closed with one very obviously stoned Jay Mohr onstage hosting the costume, sound alike and dance contest. I find it funny that the only people who find Jay Mohr funny are people with the name Jay who happen to have the last name of Mohr. Granted, Blizzard spared no expense when bringing in Ozzy for the closing concert, but they should have saved the money they spent on Jay Mohr and paid some corny wedding DJ to to the same job that Mr. “High-as-a-kite” Mohr did Friday night.

Regardless, the costume contest entries were amazing, cute, inventive, and rather funny. I was glad to see that the right person won, and it was a costume that peaked my interest into the freaky kinky factor evident in Diablo.

Shared Experiences through Twitter
The best part of the day was getting twitter updates and pictures from LOADS of fans at Blizzcon. Both Thursday and Friday night I wrangled two giveaways via Twitter which prompted to pretty funny responses to various questions. Congratulations to the winners @Osys and @SirDoctor, both of whom picked up a Spectral Sandbox Tiger Loot Card!

Also, we were all sharing our Blizzard experience with Brutaliz at Blizzcon. I couldn’t be happier when I received word that he was able to meet-up with Travis (@CultofRazer) from Razer, and that he was able to test drive some of Razer’s latest products. We are looking forward to having Travis back on soon to chat about his Blizzcon experience as a vendor, and the hot new products that are sure to help us play like a pro.

That’s all for Friday… I will follow up with Saturday’s recap soon!

Make sure to check @Rawrcast for a full recap of all of the screen shots, RTs and up to the minute opinion of the changes announced at this weekend’s Blizzcon.

Malfurion’s back, and he’s pissed! Two weeks ago, wow.com featured the cover to Richard A. Knaak’s Stormrage, the next Warcraft novel. Now, I’m a huge Warcraft lore nerd so this sparked my interest immediately. With Blizzcon only a day away, and an imminent interview with Knaak by WC Radio’s Pride, I figured this would be a good time to discuss some possibilities with the book.

At Blizzcon ’08 Christie Golden was quoted saying that Stormrage was not going to be Illidan centric, but Malfurion centric. Seeing as Malfurion is my favorite Warcraft character, I couldn’t be more excited. I am disappointed that it is going to be written by Knaak as opposed to Golden, because honestly, Golden’s writing is much more captivating than Knaak’s. I guess though, Knaak was the one to originally flesh out Malfurion so who else would be better to continue the Stormrage story.

As anyone who has followed the Warcraft story knows, Malfurion is currently sleeping. He’s sleeping, but his “spirit” is in the Emerald Dream battling the Nightmare. I’m sure it’s pretty safe to say that in Stormrage he wakes up finally. It will be the first time since the battle at Mt. Hyjal against Archimonde.

Aside from the obvious, what else can we expect from Stormrage? There’s no telling for sure until Blizzcon! We can come up with some theories and possibilities ourselves in the mean time though.

The main source we have right now on the novel is the cover art itself.

Let’s review this:

He’s obviously pissed off

This isn’t the Malfurion I know from prior books. Malfurion is usually very calm, and peaceful. You know, druidic. My only assumption about this is that he’s seen/experienced things in the Emerald Dream/Nightmare that has changed him. He won’t be a bad person, I think. He’ll just come out with thicker skin and ready to battle what waits.

His eyes

In the War of the Ancients trilogy he is characterized as having the normal silver eyes of his people. Illidan was always the one expressed as having amber eyes, which were the symbol of greatness to the night elves. What could’ve caused the change in Malfurion’s eye color? My guess is it was a change that happened over time as his power grew, a gift from Elune or Ysera, or it could just be a mishap by the artist. Hell, all the WoW night elves have amber eyes!

There are a few possible reasons why Malfurion is returning in the first place, but I think it will be the most obvious one: Cataclysm. It makes sense, right? Since Malfurion did stand against both in the War of the Ancients, of course he would come back to fight them again. I’m sure he will also have an impact on the world as it tries to heal, and as it changes after the catastrophe. Also, maybe the Nightmare will become more prevalent in Azeroth since an old god’s influence is strong within Azshara and Deathwing.

Like I said, there’s no telling what’s going to be included in the novel until the Lore panel, and interviews with Richard A. Knaak begin. But what do you all think? Let me know what you feel will be included in Stormrage. Have any theories on the future of the druids after the cataclysm? In particular, if Malfurion comes back, what do you think will happen to Staghelm?

-Astrella

Some other awesome sources for lore:

• Scrolls of Lore
• WC Radio: But Wait There’s Lore
• Elitist Jerks: Lore and Storyline Discussion

Well Rawrcast readers, I should have thought about this before now, but at least I’m getting the information out to you some time before Blizzcon. Here is a quick travel guide to the Convention area for those of you that are attending Blizzcon. I have lived in the area for my entire life, so I would like to think that I am a relative expert on the Disney / Convention Center area.

Disneyland and California Adventure

Directly across Katella Avenue from the Convention Center is California Adventure. You will have to enter the parks either off of Harbor Blvd. or S. Walnut Street. The main parking garage is off Walnut. Be advised the parks are still very busy during this time of year. I would expect waits for the top rides to be in the 45 min to 1 hour in length. If this is your first or second visit though, it is still worth the wait. My recommendations for rides at California Adventure: Hollywood Tower of Terror, Soaring over California, the Toy Story Ride. My recommendations for Disneyland: Buzz Lightyear Ride, Space Mountain, Pirates of Carribean, and this weekend is the end of the Summer Fireworks Spectacular so enjoy.

Downtown Disney

This is the area outside the parks between the park entrances and the Disneyland Hotel. This is a really good place to walk around, shop, hit some restaurants, maybe even see a movie or two. Prices for stuff are a little expensive here, but it is within easy walking distance of the convention center so check it out. Most of the stores and restaurants are open until 1 am. My recommendations: Ralph Brennans Jazz Kitchen (little more expensive, worth it. Try the double chocolate soufflé for dessert), Naples for Italian food and La Brea Bakery for sandwich type meals.

Restaurants

There is a number of easy to get to restaurants near the convention center so you do not need to eat bad convention food. If you walk approximately 2 blocks east on Katella Ave. on the north side of the street are a number of restaurants which are part of a shopping district called the Garden Walk. Here you can do some shopping, but eating is the best around the area. You can find restaurants such as Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, Cheesecake Factory (more than just cheesecake, the menu is like a mini phone book), PF Chang’s (some of the best Chinese food around), McCormick and Schmicks (higher end sea food) and many more. Also, if you go north on harbor across from where the Disneyland Harbor Blvd. parking lot exits, there is a Mimi’s café. Good for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Beach

If you want to see or hit the beach before you leave, you will need a car. If you have a car, take Katella going east from the convention center until you get to the I5 Freeway. Take the I5 south to the 55 Freeway south (approx. 5 miles from the I5). The 55 Freeway will end being a freeway and becomes Newport Blvd. Take Newport Blvd. all the way into Balboa Island, or you can turn either direction onto Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). If you go north on PCH you will go through Newport, Huntington Beach and up into Seal Beach. If you go south on PCH you will go through Newport, Newport Coast, Laguna Beach and into Dana Point.

Religious

If you ever wanted to see the Crystal Cathedral where the Reverend Robert Schuler preached for so many years that is close, but you will need a car. Take Harbor Blvd. south from the Convention Center and turn left onto Chapman Avenue. The Cathedral will be on the corner of Chapman and Lewis Street.

Other Amusement Parks

If you want to hit an amusement park, but don’t want to go to Disneyland there is Knott’s Berry Farm only 20-25 minutes away. Take the I5 north to the 91 Freeway and go west. Get off at Beach Blvd. and head south. On Beach Blvd here is Movieland Wax Museum and Knott’s Berry Farm. Knott’s has some really good roller coasters and thrill rides. They also have a water park called Soak City that you can hit if you are hot.

That is all I can think of for now. If you need more detailed information on a specific restaurant recommendation or anything email me at rawrinquisitor@gmail.com. Otherwise be safe and have some good old fashioned geek fun. I will be there in spirit and watching on DirecTV.

Inquisitor

Last week Blizzard released twitter accounts for Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo. These are officially sanctioned twitters and are about as interesting as living in Bland County. Honestly, battle cries? It’s been going on for a week now and I can’t help but imagine this twitter scenario playing out in real life. It would be like thousands upon thousands of nerds clashing in some great chasm of geekitude, screaming at each other so loudly that the gales (smelling pungently of mountain dew, cheetos, and pocky) push their targets back to the edge of infinity. Think of 300 without badasses or abs, no weapons, and no reason for living. Yeah, that’s my #battlecry.

But it’s not all bad. In fact its linking a lot of Blizzard fans together and helping to network, especially for relatively new community sites like our own. Also, it got me thinking: What would twitter look like if our favorite heroes and baddies had accounts?

FTHorde Garrosh took MY beemer out on a joy ride last night and now there’s stains on the back seat. I hate that guy.

FTHorde I was broodin in my throne room today when I thought about the old Night Rider theme song… what were the lyrics? Looking it up on my iPhone later.

HakkarRI Ugh, just woke up. I feel like ass.

FTHorde Beer Basted Boar Ribs again today. They’re good… but three times in a week?

Varian_WINN @FTHorde stop complaining pussay. I wouldn’t know tho, since im a VAGitarian! LOL #hordesux

The1DarkLady Me and some of the boys just found a bitchin new poison. Shit’s boss.

BlueRaisen @The1DarkLady OK ur new poysen thing is getting old. 4 real power talk wif da elemnts n stuff. I no a guy if ur intrestd

FTHorde @Varian_WINN eat a beer basted cock you asshat

AlbertJMimiron LOOK @ MY PROFILE FOR SEXY PICS

Dungeon_for_my_soul Hi twitterfolk. I had an absolutely horrible dream last night, anyone want to know what it was?

BlueRaisen @Dungeon_for_my_soul no.

FTHorde @Dungeon_for_my_soul NO

BABYLJP @Dungeon_for_my_soul is it about how you killed your dad?

Dungeon_for_my_soul @BABYLJP …maybe

BABYLJP @Dungeon_for_my_soul then no.

The1DarkLady @BlueRaisen what was that? You seem to be missing vowels… and consonants… you know what? Nevermind I shouldn’t have said anything

Theprophet4real Dingey in the castle today. Think I’ll get my minions to clean up the place.

Varian_WINN @Theprophet4real haven’t u died like 3 times now… like ‘4real’? jesus, stay dead.

BlueRaisen @The1DarkLady obvisly the scop of my typin r beyond ur pewny intllct

Dungeon_for_my_soul @Theprophet4real hello compatriot, did you get the package I sent you? It was the one filled with mangled organs and children’s tears.

Varian_WINN enough of this, im gonna go bang some hoez. @BABYLPJ you game? Hit me up on my celly if ur wantin to get busy on this

BlueRaisen HAH! I did it. Elmnts typ 4 muh nao. Cnt typ 4 muhslf cuz of teh arthritis n stff.

Dungeon_for_my_soul @Varian_WINN @FTHorde @BlueRaisen @The1DarkLady Do you all really not see why I want to destroy you all? Have you even READ what you posted?

BABYLPJ zomg look at teh cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute ducks!!!!! http://tinyurl.com/5p6afl

It just kind of goes on like this ad infinitum. Turns out that Azeroth twitter isn’t any better than regular, Earth twitter. Oh well.

-Kenny D

Guilds, what are they and why do I need one?
For the first 30 levels I soloed without a guild. There was no need. I was not running instances and for me it was a solitary game, not a true social game that MMORPG’s are meant to be. The fact that this way of thinking was wrong in so many ways was only evident to me after I had found a good, interactive guild in which to be a part.

A Guild is a group of people who are like-minded in their play style, their in-game goals and their attitudes towards the game as well as, many times, their life. You tend to find people in a guild that have similar personalities or similar approaches to the game.

The idea of a guild originates in society from the earliest days of ancient history. Guilds were formed to bind workers in a specific field, such as stone cutting or leather working, to each other and their profession. They were intended to be a source of support in the market and under the political leadership of the day they needed the support. The thought was that an individual could easily be pushed around in the market or by the more powerful politicians of the day, but if they grouped together they might have more power and influence.

As guilds continued through history many developed a means of educating and training future members by creating apprenticeships and different levels within the guild such as artisan, craftsman, master and/or grandmaster. It became a method to pass on the knowledge of their field, while at the same time, keeping certain members in power.

Today, there are associations that act as guilds once did and the idea of a union is a guild of a sort. These groups and associations, even in today’s society, provide some of the same benefits to their own group as they once did. They stabilize power; provide influence in the market and in society. In most cases, they are successful in putting people together for a common goal. (Bored with your history lesson, yet?)

That is the same thing that happens in WOW. Guilds put people together for a mutually accepted goal, whether that is raiding, leveling, or because you’re a guild of teenagers. No matter the raison d’etre of the guild, it really only matters to members or prospective members. Guilds that are made up of people with goals or desires that do not match quickly fall apart and have constant turnover in members.

In comparison a properly managed and led guild is like have a good a combination of a workplace, home life and a group of really good friends. I say that because when you look to a guild as an overall entity you realize that it encompasses all of these factors. If you ask a good guild leader, they will tell you much the same thing.

The first and foremost thing that a guild provides you is support. The members of a guild work together to help every member of the guild accomplish what is good for both the individual character and the guild itself. A raiding guild will support its member in getting geared up so they can attack the hardest instances and raids and then raid, raid, raid. Where as a leveling guild is more focused on helping its entire group of members move up through the levels to get to 80.

This support can take many different forms. For your purposes, being a lower leveled toon, you need a leveling guild or at least a guild that is willing to take time away from raiding to assist its member’s level. A guild such as this will help to organize groups for instances so you can fully experience the game and get better gear. Also, a leveling guild will be there to help you enchant your equipment, provide necessary gear upgrades, provide materials for your professions, as well as many other functions.

Many guilds use some kind of server based means to talk to one another such as Ventrillo (aka vent). This allows the guild to support each other even more. You can use the in-game chat along with vent to ask for members’ advice on any in game issue; organize to run instances, and just chit-chat. In my two guilds, we spend more time talking about in-game and out-of-game stuff then we do for organizing or running instances. The truth of the matter is that during the day vent is filled with chit-chat and some instances, then at night when raiding is scheduled, it is primarily about raiding.

In the end however, vent is just one more tool to make WOW a form of social media, where we can interact with our friends. I have real-world friends in my guilds, I have only in-game friends in my guild and now after having joined Bound, I have some colleagues in the guild. This is probably the way that most people define their guild.

One word of caution however: some guilds do require you to apply. That is not necessarily a bad thing. The guild wants to make sure that it gets like-minded individuals into the guild. A guild needs to make sure it is compatible with its members and that the members will fit together or the guild will never be successful. In fact, most of the high level raiding guilds requires an extensive questionnaire and interview for a person to be accepted. For them, it is like interviewing for a job and you have to earn the right to be a member.

You need to find a guild that first meets your goals in the game. If you play only part-time and are taking your time leveling find a guild that supports that. If you do not like foul, dirty language then find a guild that supports those beliefs. The guild needs to be a tool for you to use and to enjoy or there is no reason for you to join a guild.

So, go find a good guild. Join and if you like it then stay, if not bail and find another. Let me give you a fortune cookie fortune from the Inquisitor: A Guild is only as good as its worst member.

Now, go level!

Inquisitor

I recently went and purchased the live streaming option for Blizzcon and I began to think about the possibilities that this afforded me. Most people don’t opt for internet streaming for forty bucks because, well, most people are smarter than me. (Or they’re going all hippy on us and “fighting the man” because Blizz is charging for the event at all) I came up with the idea that I could keep a running commentary on the ‘con and what exactly was going on in the Anaheim Convention Center. So, with the help of our favorite Tauren shaman, we set up a friendfeed account that is now linked with the new Rawrcast twitter account. I’ll be watching the entire stream and commenting on the news, and breaking down information as soon as the people at BlizzCon are hearing about it. Keep your eyes fixed on twitter, or head straight over to the new Rawrcast friendfeed site here. We’ll be keeping you up-to-date with all the biggest news from the event with entertaining insight and smart coverage in the traditional Rawrcast fashion!

Also, make sure to tune in to the special THREE HOUR RAWRCON: Blizzcon Satruday Show podcast live at 5 p.m. EST (4 p.m. CSTl)!

-Kenny D

EDIT!

BUFF THIS ARTICLE on buff.net

As soon as I posted this, the BlizzCon schedule was revealed here. It looks like I will be ‘on air’ from 10:30 a.m. (PST) to 7:30 p.m. on Friday and 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Saturday. It will be a micro-blogging marathon for the millenia!

Plague does an excellent job of justifying new class combination, but one pressing question remains, and it concerns Tauren paladins. Trolls have shown an aptitude for shifting both in Zul’Aman and Gundrak so druidic arts aren’t far-fetched. Dwarves are descendants of the earthen; why would they not posses the talent to speak with the elements as shaman? Gnomes have already delved into shadow magic as warlocks so why not seek advice on learning the talents of a shadow priest and, subsequently, learn to smite with holy magic?

Each of these class combination can look to another member of their faction for sagely wisdom. The dwarves can travel to the Exodar and study under Nobundo if they wish to become shaman. Moonglade is likely to welcome trolls as potential students if Hamuul Runetotem speaks on their behalf and they vow to forsake some of their more primitive habits like cannibalism. Unlike Thrall who may look the other way if a troll munches on some humanoid meat, Cenarion Circle will not be so forgiving for such a transgression. Druidic trolls are one step closer to the redemption I have hoped they would find.

After you wade through all of the information, only one question remains; who will train the Tauren in holy magic?

If Aponi Brightmane is intended to become the first Tauren paladin, how will she grow into a weapon of righteousness? Will she become lost in Northrend and in her darkest hour, An’she will speak to her and confirm the sun is the Yin to the Mu’sha, or Elune, Yang? Will she travel to the Sunwell and confirm it is now empowered my M’uru’s power of the light instead of the arcane as it once was? Will her pilgrimage “rebirth the soul of nation” as Velen prophesied? Does the true redemption of the Blood Elves lie within the Tauren with whom they will share their knowledge of the light to usher in priests and paladins from a once thought simple race? What purpose will all this serve for the Earthmother, and how will it forever change the Tauren?

-Rhab

In case you hadn’t noticed, if all this Tauren paladin talk turns out to be true, I will be rolling one the instant it becomes an option.

Welcome everyone to the first installment of the dead or alive blog. We will be talking about everything from beginner to advance PvP tactics and news. In this article we will talk about 3.2 and what to expect from this patch and how it effects PvP.

Last week Blizzard let out the most important patch to effect PvP in World of Warcraft since the installment of Arenas. I wanted to take a moment of your time to go over this and point out some points that come with it and how it is effecting you and me. You can check out the patch notes over on the official site for the full report.

Isle of Conquest

The biggest change some may argue is the new battleground: Isle of Conquest. Where the Alliance and Horde are pitted against each other once again to fight over precious resources that will help them inevitably defeat the Lich King himself. Simply put, this battleground is amazing. Wherever you go, there is something to do. The only dull moment I could find in the first 50 games played was running between nodes trying to get the achievements. When you first hop in it all seems a bit overwhelming with the large map. Where do I go? How do I win this? Best idea is to follow everyone else and ask plenty of questions. Once you get used to the battle 3 or 4 times in you should do fine.

Even with all the great things about this battleground there is always a downside. You cant make everyone happy right? The only flaws I can see with this battleground are that both sides immediately go for the hanger. If you control the hanger 100% of the time and have participation from people jumping in, you will most likely win. Also what goes with this strategy is graveyard camping. If the enemy controls your base without capping the keep flag they can possibly control you in the graveyard that is next to your keep thus making you inconsequential to the battle because every 30 seconds you are dying! Even with these 2 small flaws its rare that either happen. You most likely wont control the hanger 100% of the time because the other side is going for it too and if they don’t control the hanger then they wont be camping your graveyard!

Resilience Changes and YOU

That being said, what I believe is the most important change in 3.2 for PvP would be the resilience change. Blizzard has changed resilience from reducing DoT damage, mana drains, critical strike chance, and critical strike damage; to reducing critical strike chance, mana drains, and ALL damage done by players against you. This one change has made resilience THE most important stat in PvP. If you don’t have resilience you are missing out, bottom line. Once again, this change comes with a downside, what is great for most will make someone too great. There are complaints about healers and their ability to survive but it is not an impossible task to take them down. I know as a priest I still die very quickly, and often to melee classes.

BG EXP!

Another major part of this patch for PvP, and I would be silly to not mention it, would be BATTLEGROUND EXPERIENCE! When I first heard this little snippet I was overjoyed. I said to myself “Aellerian, You can finally spend 100% of your time PvPing if you really want to improve your toon.” That is, until I actually put it into effect. If you don’t know, the brackets go from 10-19, 20-29, 30-39, and so on and so forth till you hit 80 when there is a dedicated one end-game level players. The level 10-19 bracket only consists of Warsong Gulch, and it gives hardly any experience for the time spent in the battleground. With games averaging 10-15 minutes and some going to the full 20, I am making only 1 bar per battleground with each level going much slower than questing. On the other hand, once you reach the level that Alterac Valley comes in, you will level quite quickly. The experience that comes from AV is amazing. My rogue is level 77 and going leaps and bounds from Alterac Valley only. My advice, if you want to start PvPing with a new toon, it would be wise to gain experience via questing until level fifty when you can enter Alterac Valley. Between battlegrounds you could do some questing or just kill random mobs to make it go even faster.

Will It Ever End?

Finally I would like to give a little attention to the end of Season 6. There is no official end-date but it has been announced it will be no later than August 25th. At the end of the season your rating, personal rating, and arena points will be reset. Your hidden match making rating will stay the same. There will be a week in between season 6 and 7. So get those games in, get your rating, get your title, and kick ass!

In closing, I will say 3.2 is by far the most important patch to PvP since Burning Crusade. It is a lot to take in and more is still to come. There is another mini-patch coming to fix the little bugs that are out right now with classes and battlegrounds alike. Until then, let us hope that the new movement for PvP improvement will continue and will see great new things in the future!

-Aellerian

This week’s show is busting at the seems with leaks and speculation surrounding the upcoming Cataclysm expansion. Stompalina and Brualiz dissect the latest information shared by MMO-Champion, speculate about how the lore could develop around the changes, and roll through this week’s ENLARGE Huge Sack.

All of this, along with this week’s top buffd news stores, and much, much more is available for your listening pleasure via iTunes, RSS feed, direct download, or you can stream it from our main page.

Links to items discussed this week:

• The Brood Mother Returns: Onyxia to be revamped in 3.2.2
• Ozzy to Perform at Blizzcon’s Closing Concert
• Warcraft on Twitter
• 8/8 Rawrcast Theory on the Cataclysm Event by Inquisitor
• Cataclysm News Leaked on MMO-Champion
• Legendary Onyxia Raid Video: MINUS 50 DKP!

Join us next week for
RAWRCON: Blizzcon Saturday
August 22nd, at 4PM, CST!
for your chance to win one of FOUR
HUGE SWAG SACKS being given away
[LIVE]
leaking with swag from our sponsors…

• $25 J!NX Gift Card
• FIVE TCG Loot Cards from WoW TCG Loot
  Papa Hummel Pet Biscuits / Path of Illidan / Party GRENADE / Sandbox Tiger / Path of Cenarius
• Signed Print from WoW, Eh? Web Comic
• Razer Swag
• One Year Curse Premium Subscription
• One Figure Pet from Figure Prints