Wow patch 4.1 - Heirloom items, Battlenet and Arcane Mage changes O my!

I took a look at Wow Insiders notes for patch 4.1 that is on the PTR and there are a number of changes that interest me.

#1 on the list is most definitely the changes to Heirloom Items.:

Heirloom items are now properly "account bound" - tied to your Battlenet account, so that you can send them to any character that you have. Yey! I have been waiting for this change for years! I don't want to move any characters about but I have been wanting to play with friends on other servers and have wanted the new characters to have access to the heirlooms. This bodes well for my return *plots*

It looks like Zul'Gurub will be making a return, along with some snazzy new mounts :) mayhaps if I find time to do some raiding, I will return - I quite liked the experience I had with the original version.

Lastly: one that I like that is tempting me to make an up to date Arcane Mage Guide is the changes to Arcane that are going through.

• Arcane Blast:
• Damage increased by 13% and cast time reduced to 2s from 2.35
• Arcane explosion damage increased by 30% 13%. (Umm... what?)
• A Frost tree change: Fingers of Frost bonus damage applied to ice-lance is up from 15% to 25%

If you have not seen the patch changes, checkout this >Link< to wow insiders breakdown and enjoy! :)

-V

Work in progress: Instance "catalogue"

So here is a little preview of something that I'm hoping to put out in the near future that may be of interest to any fans of Scott Johnson and The Instance podcast/community.

I have been slowly putting together a list of all of the instance episodes - and have been attempting to make some notes on interesting topics etc that have been brought up during the show. The list is basically going to be an episode guide with links to the live feed - and the actual blog post tied to the episode in Scott's archive. I have already received consent from the big man himself to do this, and I am quite keen to do so. I have only managed to get 20-or so episodes into this in the last month thanks to a huge list of university assignments that have been due - but as a taster I will include the first 5-episodes as I have them catalogued. Feel free to give me any feedback, or leave comments on what you think can be improved upon - or even if you just happen to have any comments that you wish to be added to the list. I will get something more complete through the year.

(a summer internship that may result in 4+ hours driving per day will likely allow me to get through a good chunk of the earlier episodes! :) )

Note: The table below is excluding the post date, time and hosts sections as it wouldn't fit in this blog post... I will have it hosted on a site with a bit more real estate once I have finished the list - or fill it as I go - it all depends on how fast I go. I have already heard these episodes through at LEAST once at my old job. I estimate there must be at least 14 days (>330 hours) of quality podcast to treat my ears to, so it will take some time. Reader submissions are welcome, just throw up a comment.

Ep#	Title	Main Points	Comments	Links
1	More Deadly than the Deadmines!	1. Introduction 2. Discussion of upcoming expansion: The Burning Crusade.	Introductory episode. Scott and Andrew discuss their origins and their hopes for the future, aswell as podcast layout.	http://theinstance.net/2006/01/the-instance-1-more-deadly-than-the-deadmines/
2	Go Go Dancing at the Gurubashi Arena!	1. Ahn'Qiraj discussions 2. Upperdeck card game rumours	Following up on feedback, and discussing the Ahn'Quiraj war effort.	http://theinstance.net/2006/01/the-instance-2-go-go-dancing-at-the-gurubashi-arena/
3	Casual / Hardcore peace talks begin on Mount Hyjal!	1. Upperdeck card game confirmed. 2. "leaked" Dranei information.	Check Time-Stamp 23:55 - Could that be Randy Deluxe's first contribution? ^.^	http://theinstance.net/2006/01/the-instance-3-casual-hardcore-peace-talks-begin-on-mount-hyjal/
4	Is the Scarab Gate gonna be a bughunt, or a stand up fight?!?	1. Ahn'Qiraj war effort - first gates opened.	The guys discuss the Ahn'Quiraj war effort, realm lockdowns.	http://theinstance.net/2006/01/is-the-scarab-gate-gonna-be-a-bughunt-or-a-stand-up-fight/
5		1. Dialled a mage! 2. Discussed controversial ban by Blizzard on GLBT guild	Mage special. Scott and Andrew call up the player of a lvl 60 mage to talk "Mageing", and discussed Blizzards latest bans.	http://theinstance.net/2006/02/the-instance-5-glass-cannons-the-players-who-love-them/

Update:

Shall hopefully be back in action over the summer in WOW. I have many many musings to post about - and I didnt realise just how many hits this blog recieved so... expect some content to be added in the near future :)

-V

New Blog!

This blog is kind of dead and past it - but I have recently started a new one up - on general Geekery and the things I participate in... It can be found at http://landogeekery.blogspot.com/ - I dont promise any attempts at maintaining your sanity should you go browsing ^.^

7 days free, to see what is what!

So I stepped into game last saturday night, and have spent a week exploring the "new wow" (or at least wow as we know it since I had to give up my sub 10 months ago for RL)

What can I say! Soooooooooo many changes.

Ive had more fun than I have in ages in game, simply through pugging heroics. The gear level has changed drastically, and the ease of badge/epic grinding in heroics is insane. 45k hP tanks, people doign double my DPS... It takes the challenge out of it, but somehow I like the lack of responsibility, and am enjoying the fact that previous guild members that were so undermining and manipulative cannot really have an effect on my gameplay. Bliss.

What happens in the future I cannot say... but to quote a certain Edinburgadian shaman/mage/hunter/pally: What the F#8* have they done to WOW? (But I like it!)

Efficiency is the name of the game... challenge I guess comes from ICC/RS... but thats not for me any more... At least not on a hard-core level, maybe on a periodic occasion once I have good enough gear :p