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This week on The Rawrcast Show we will be joined by Tim from El’s Extreme Anglin’! Together we run through the ins and outs of the upcoming fishing changes planned for 3.1, revisit a few changes made in previous patches, and discuss the development of the fishing profession community within World of Warcraft.

So, crack open a Captain Rumsy Lager, whip out your huge rod, and plan to join us for the live show this Saturday at 4 PM, CST on Ustream!~

My name is Taffybag on the Horde side and JebusChristo on the Alliance side, and I am a hunter. Yes I have 2 hunters at 80, so you probably hate me even more now. I started playing WOW 3 or 4 months after BC was released. Why did I venture into the World of Warcraft? Well I liked to play a few PC games, but I had just bought a MacBook Pro, and WOW was the only game the store had that ran on a Mac. So as you read the rest of this post please keep in mind that I had no knowledgeable friends to point me in the right direction when it came to general or hunter specific game mechanics.

What made me decide to play a hunter?

The cashier at CompUSA, where I bought the game, asked if I had ever played, I replied with “No young man, I know nothing of this game” his response was play a warrior or a hunter, little did I know how much more the WOW community would have loved me if I rolled a warrior. But back to why you probably hate me.

You hate me because I killed that mob you were running towards.

Hunter hate starts early, so when you were level 17 in the Barrens killing manbearpig people and running towards that one last mob you needed to complete your quest I shot him from 30 yards away and tagged him, and you got really mad. See we were both new to the game and I just didn’t get the concept of being polite and that I didn’t need to tag every mob in my range. I’ll admit, it’s my bad, but I know better now, so let’s just bury the hatchet.

You hate me because I have a pet.

Listen, I am a hunter, no one else likes me, blizzard knew this would happen, so I have my trusty pet who always loves me, as long as I keep feeding him. Maybe my crab pinned you in in Wintergrasp while I shot you with my exploding bullet of death. Maybe my Devilsaur went all big and red during a raid and obscured your entire UI and you didn’t notice that a void zone had formed under you. Whatever the case just remember that my pet also ate 30% of the damage you were going to get a few times through Roar of Sacrifice and the little bugger has died so many times as a speed bump for stray mobs that were heading for healers in the hope that he could delay them long enough for a tank to pick them up.

You hate me because whenever things go wrong I find some out of the way spot to lie down and play dead.

Yes I can feign death, and yes I will do so when all is lost. I mean, just because you have to pay a repair bill doesn’t mean that I have to. And 50% of the time I have jumper cables, so if you get lucky I might save you some time running. All right it can be frustrating during a wipe fest, but it’s not just me, that rogue in the party is vanishing and saving his own narrow behind.

You hate me because there are a lot of me.

Back in BC, hunters on the realms I played on were always the most heavily represented class. And with lots of players you end up with lots of bad players. I am not saying there are more bad hunters then there are other classes, it’s just that there were so many more hunters that you were more likely to run into a bad hunter. I always got miffed when I would read LF DPS NO HUNTERS. If you just started playing in WOTLK then you probably aren’t as familiar with the glut of hunters, just think of it this way, Death Knights are the new Hunters.

You hate me because I cleared Kara at least 3 times without ever casting a single steady shot.

I don’t blame you though, I even hate myself for that. I had no idea what a shot rotation was, I would open up with an aimed shot then string together my instant casts, something like serpent sting, silencing shot and yes, even scatter shot. How could I be so bad? Hunters are easy to level, even if played badly. That’s how I got to 70 without knowing that steady shot should be used. But it’s not all my fault, see even hunters hate other hunters. On my first server good hunters kept their knowledge to themselves and didn’t like to share it. It ensured that there was less competition for the few coveted guild spots out there and that way even less competition for raid spots and loot. I learned to play from visiting Elitist Jerks and TKASomething, because while hunters on my realm didn’t share there knowledge the cats on message boards just couldn’t shut up about how to play, and I am eternally grateful to them for that.

You hate me because I destroyed the damage meters when we first started WOTLK raiding together.

Hey, don’t get made at me, I didn’t design the game. Hunters are the worst scaling class. We start off really hot when we get our first few shiny epics, but we just don’t keep gaining that steam throughout the current content. There are plenty of non hunters that out dps me on several fights. So don’t be mad, as you get more gear you will get closer and one day may even beat that hunter.

Time for the big finale, I wish I could say there was one last thing that made you really hate me, but unfortunately in the current build of wow there are two things.

If you PVP, you hate me because I killed you in arena.

Now let me say that my arena team, Catalina Wine Mixer, has yet to play a single match, but based on what I have read on the Blizzard Damage Dealing forums, I single handedly annihilated your 2v2 team, while I ate a slice of cake and played online poker. Supposedly every shot I release in arena crits, my explosive shot hits for 7k per tick, my kill shot hits for anywhere between 12k and 16k depending on who you talk to, and deterrence, disengage and frost trap make it totally and completely impossible to deal even 1 point of damage to me. I am a god in arena even though I haven’t played more than 50 matches in my entire life. In all seriousness folks, those damage numbers were posted by non hunters on the forums. We all know that’s not what’s happening most of the time, in fact I have never seen a 7k Explosive Shot tick while fully 25 man raid buffed. I am not getting into the whole hunters are or aren’t OP in arena, I am just saying don’t believe the crazy numbers people are posting all over the place in regards to hunter arena damage. I think if we all come together, we can be reasonable and come to the understanding that it’s actually Death Knights and Retribution Paladins that are entirely to OP for not just arena, but all PVP, teeheehee.

If you PVE, you hate me because I got your Betrayer of Humanity, Journey’s End, Sinister Revenge, or just about any other melee weapon you wanted.

Get over it, it’s time to learn that every piece of loot is hunter loot. Nah that’s not it. It’s just that blizzard is sort of crazy. See we don’t actually use the melee weapon, but in WOTLK they provide us with loads of sexy and valuable stats. I am not saying that I deserve any weapon as much or more than a druid, death knight, titan grip warrior, or rogue, just that melee weapon upgrades do provide a nice DPS upgrade for us too, it’s not just all about the gun. But I will wait for my Journey’s End until all the Bears and Kitties have theirs if it will make you love me.

Well anyway, I am new here, and I am around to answer your questions and provide insight on any topics you might be curious about. So if you want to know anything about being or dealing with hunters level 1-80, send an email my way.

~Taffybag, member of rawrbitchrawr

This week I take a closer look at the mechanics of mounted combat at the Argent Tournament. The current available mounts are limited, so I am not entirely sure if there are tiered mounts with varied abilities (which would be cool), or anything else beyond this week’s exposure on the PTR.

As more information about the mounted combat becomes available, I will be checking, testing, and sharing it with all of you. This part of 3.1 really excites me! I can’t wait!

Over the course of the last few weeks, our guild has been trying Heroic Sartharion with all three drakes still alive and we’ve been met with some… challenges. Stomp and I have mentioned several times on the podcast that it’s a very difficult event under the best circumstances, but when anything goes wrong for us, it leads to a wipe. Up to this point, I have been raiding with an Unholy spec because, for me, it was far superior damage to Frost or Blood with my gear. That all changed this week, when I was asked to spec Blood for the Abomination’s Might and Blood Aura. With the gut-wrenching changes to Unholy (overstating, hehe) and the challenges with Obsidian Sanctum’s Flying Foursome, it seemed as good a time as any to try something new. So… with a heavy heart (Goodbye, Glacierslobber or whatever your name was. /sniffle) and a respec bill to boot, I took the plunge.

Things to consider when changing a Spec
1) What are you doing in your current spec that you like or don’t want to change?
Well… the things I loved most about unholy, changed. The gargoyle got nerfed to only 30 seconds (not that I enjoyed managing my runic power while he was up) so I wouldn’t miss him too much. My ghoul was always a good source of dps but it’s a bit too deep into the unholy tree for me to be able to get two points in Blood Aura and still be able to reach Master of Ghouls so that was out as well. I still can summon him every once in awhile, but I don’t get to giggle at his name. /shrug

2) What do you want out of your new spec?
ZOMG FACE PWNAGE! Sorry… lost it there for a second. The first thing I wanted out of the Blood tree was, of course, Blood Aura. The additional healing is a boon to our healers who have a lot going on in Obsidian Sanctum and in that fight, every little bit helps. I also wanted to pick up Abom’s Might in case we don’t have an enhance shaman handy (aside from the constant 2% strength it gives me). Also, since Gargoyle and Dancing Rune Weapon were arguably similar dps prior the the patch and Gargoyle got nerfed a bit, then it made sense to dive all the way down to the 51 pt talent in blood.

3) Do I have the gear for the change?
I know there are alot of folks that don’t really care about this and change specs whenever the mood strikes, but let’s be honest. If I only have 250 hit, do I really want to try out the hot new Dual Wield spec du jour? Probably not, since your misses will more than negate any possible increase to your damage that you might enjoy if you had the gear to carry the spec. In my case, the gear I had for Unholy works quite well for Blood. I have passed on items with armor penetration in the past since most Unholy damage is magic and not physical, so that’s something I might change a little bit, but for the most part, I’m set for Blood. I’m hit capped for two handers (or at least very close), have gobs of attack power and plenty of crit… GOOD TO GO! I was also really fortunate to get the Sigil of Awareness from Heigan in Heroic Naxxramas and decided to pick up the Glyph of Obliterate to help out with my Obliterate damage.

4) Lastly, what is going to change in my rotation?
One of the great things about Blood is that it’s strike, Heart Strike, only uses 1 Blood Rune! That makes managing a rotation a little simpler and gives more options. And now it hit’s two targets to help with AoE which has always been a bit of a downfall to blood in raiding.

Results of the Blood Experiment
I love it!! I won’t say that it is better dps than Unholy or that I’m never going back… but I will say that I find it easy to play and it does a fair amount of dps with a couple of really good raid buffs. If you like big shiny yellow numbers then I highly recommend it. During the Thaddius event in Naxxramas, there is a damage buff that you get from being near raid members with the same polarity that you have and I hit for 24K obliterates. I also was hitting Malygos (with 2 sparks stacked) for 26K dmg. You can’t help but giggle when you see numbers like that!

I have PvP’d with it as well and the burst damage is formidable. I also like that I don’t have to manage the pets or runic power as much. Once I pop the ghoul, that’s that. He does what he wants and I don’t have to worry about him (although I’m still responsible ). It’s possible to cut off your own gargoyle well before the 30 second duration is reached if you happen to time an Unholy Blight or a Death Coil improperly.

So, I won’t say that I am a convert or Unholy is a thing of the past or everyone switch to Blood because it’s the bestest thing since the Javachip Frappaccino… but I will say that I’ve had alot of fun and don’t mind staying this spec to raid as long as we need. Try it out if you get a chance!

Too often random questions are asked in general chat – simple, easily answered questions. And it makes me wonder; am I the only one that occasionally does and alt+tab and actually looks stuff up?

Moreover, when patch notes come out, much like the upcoming patch... we all talk about the changes well in advanced within the blogging community. We listen to each others input, discuss how it will effect the various classes, give opinions on changing our view point on things, etc. It baffles me when patches come out and for a full day people in /g are saying, “OMG! Now does this!”

*facepalm*

“Do you spend any time outside of the game learning how to better yourself as a player, planning ahead for next-steps within the game?”

The evident answer is, “No.”

I feel that within the blogging community we take the time to read and expand our knowledge of game mechanics. It also appears to me that bloggers communicate more effectively inside and outside of the game, know what is going on the WoW-related sites, have great sources and experience locating new sources of information….. Does this make us better players?

What are your thoughts?
Reply with your opinion, or e-mail the head bitch at MissRawr1337@gmail.com.

World of Warcraft was the first, and currently the only, MMO I have ever played. My previous gaming experience was limited to various console games. So, when my boyfriend at the time came home with a 10-day pass that a co-worker had given him, he tried very hard to share the delight with me in this game. Alas, I wanted to have nothing to do with it at the time.

But, by watching over his shoulder, learning about the basic game mechanics, and seeing in-game PVP for the first time – I was hooked. PVP really sold me on the game. The idea of being able to attack and kill another player, and general make them have a bad day, thourally tickled me.

We sat down together at the character creation screen and pieced together the things that the bits and pieces of lore that we had learned in our short exposure to the game. I first decided that I wanted to be a fairy. It made total sense to me since there were fairies in every type of fictional lore I have ever seen. But, much to my chagrin, the only fairies in WoW are males *giggle*.

So, the next best, and cutest option, was a gnome. And, the warlock seemed somewhat of a dark and creepy option. The choice was made.

Stumpy was my boyfriend’s nickname, and Thumbelina was a fairy tale that I always enjoyed as a child. So, I combined the two to create Stumpalina. I set off in my adventures on my first Alliance toon in December of 2004, shortly after the game’s release.

The game now known as “Vanilla WoW” was challenging from the get-go. The daily grind from level 1 to 60 really taught me the nuts and bolts of the game (with a few exceptions). I was a fear-bomb, dot and run machine – in both PVE leveling, and PVP face-melting. Around level 20 I finally realized that the pet bar was there for some reason. Around level 40 I realized that I could put the pet on aggressive. And, the pivotal moment for me was at level 58 while running Blackrock Depths with some guild members and my boyfriend the party leader asked me to off tank a mob with my voidwalker. I responded with, “I can turn him onto aggressive, but I don’t know what he is going to do.” You could feel the /facepalm over ventrillio.

From that ubar-embarassing moment on, I have learned that there is much more than clicking buttons and smashing keys when it comes to playing this game well.

Once Stumpalina finally landed on the then magic number of 60, I became more knowledgabe at my class and a proud officer in my guild. At the time we raided Zul’Gurub with great frequency, moving onward towards Molten Core and beginning Blackwing Lair shortly before the release of The Burning Crusade.

Also in that span of 2-years I gradually earned the Alliance rank of Knight-Captain. At the time, the feat was a huge accomplishment due in no small part to the hour+ battleground cue times.

The Burning Crusade expansion brought with it changes, not only in our visual surroundings, but also in our class builds and broaded our raiding experience. Stumpalina ended up being a DPS machine by the end of my time with her. Loredrin (my husband), and I raided through a majority of the T6 content before deciding to hang up the ol’ toons for a wider variety of in-game experiences. We officially made the switch to our current mains in March of 2008.

I am still somewhat sentimental about Stumpalina, and I occasionally still log her in to redo her hair, or sell some random crap she still has sitting in her bags. But, for now, she is in retirement until a time TBD.

Q: Is it possible to have multiple mains and give each the required time needed to fully develop the character?