Cameron Sorden strikes again, this time musing about how to Retain Customers. This is something every MMO struggles with, and at this point, it's an interesting topic, There are several shiny new MMO's out there, and anything "new" in WoW is likely a couple of months off (most folks suspect last quarter of '08 for WotLK). 

Amanda Dean takes a look at Arena Rating, and how it effects you and your team...and what can be done about it. 

Matt Low takes a look at the PvP'ing Priest, and offers some suggestions and tips on how to better acclimate yourself that environment. If PvP's not your thing, Eliah Hecht has a nice article on gearing up your PvE Priest to tackle Karazhan and beyond. 

One of the features I'm fast becoming fond of over at WoWInsider is the "Ask a Lore Nerd" questions. There are some really great questions in this installment, and if you are a bit of a lore geek like me, these series of articles are a great read.

Something I've been wondering about lately is a good question that is asked: Is It Too Much? It refers to hybrids, and the synergy they bring, though also wanders along synergy in general. Right now, there are some very hard and fast synergistic groups, and some folks that can't even really compete without some level of synergy (Hello WF to melee...). This can make life as an RL really hard, especially when making up a raid. There are a lot of ramifications of either reducing or increasing synergy to consider, as it's already a weighty subject.

A Tale For Guild Leaders, is a fictional work by Cathode. It's a good story, and brings about some good followup posts as well. 

Oh, and Happy June! Don't forget to head over to Nagrand and have a chat with Gezhe so you can get your green gems for the month... 

As Pantalaimon points out, Kil'Jaeden has been downed by three guilds already. Less than a week after the gate opened allowing access to him. This makes me wonder if KJ's tuned a bit too easy at the time. 

In an amazing bit of effort, Serennia of VANQUISH has soloed Onyxia. Yes, you read that right.  

In topics somewhat related, a discussion of protecting your online identity and  the excuse "It's only a game" are brought up. These are both very pointed reminders that the internet/our favorite games are plagued with folks who have no problem acting like an idiot...and how far that can go. While most of us aren't too worried about our online identity, most of us have also likely experienced someone in the "it's just a game" category, to our detriment. 

You have likely noticed a lack of a link or a mention of the WotLK Alpha notes here on the front page. That is on purpose. Blizzard, if you have missed it, is unhappy with sites that have that info hosted or links to it. It is available in a lot of places, and easily google-able, so I am not providing links to it here. 

On another note, here's something to mull over. Most of us here have had our time spent with turn-based games such as the various Final Fantasy games, Dragon Warrior, etc. But...could a turn-based MMO work? It's an interesting thought. 

The servers are just doing rolling restarts today, so I'll keep this short so you can get right back to playing.

Might want to take a good look at your alts. Bornakk let's those of us who love alts know that we'll need to free up an existing Character Slot for one as there are no current plans to add more slots per account/server to the game right now. 

Danial Whitcomb has a nice article on how Arena Point/Rating Matching is supposed to work. Clears it up nicely, so here's hoping it actually works. 

In a move that I'm not sure would work very well in this country, China's government has asked businesses to shut down for 3 days as a period of mourning for all the tragedy suffered over there of late. The company that provides WoW service that way, along with several others are  honoring this, and shutting down. I can approve of the intent of the gesture, but wonder how well it'd actually go over in North America. 

Back, way back when Blizzard's Warden program was discovered, it set some tongues wagging. Now due to another lawsuit, a lot of details about what Warden does are coming to light. I have to say, this  is some interesting stuff. It must be a pretty complex program, and has a lot of folks wondering just how legal it's use is.

As mentioned earlier, it looks very much like Patch 2.4.2 is going to drop today. Those are the most up to date notes from the PTR

Blizzard has also announced BlizzCon 2008.  There look to be a lot of contests this year, as well as a silent auction.

More Wrath tidbits continue to surface. Things such as mounts that can carry passengers, the Trainers and AH crew staying put and not venturing into the new lands (again), and in another bit sure to stir things up, it seems the devs felt that they didn't reward PvE enough in TBC, (as the focus was heavily on PvP) and will look at adjusting that in WotLK.

Tigole drops a few bombs by announcing that the Zul'Aman Bear Mount will not be available after WotLK hits. They want to maintain the prestige of having done the zone "at an appropriate level". They are also looking at changing some of the titles, such as "Hand of A'Dal" and "Champion of the Naaru".

In a "Rust Storm" style move, Blizzard has taken action against Arena Teams that practiced Win-Trading. Several folks received 72 hour or even permanent bans, while every one caught had their Arena gear stripped off and their Arena Points total reset. Why folks think that they'll get away with cheating is beyond me anyhow, but it's nice to see Blizz crack down on this, as it was making Arena irritating for those not doing it. 

Sorry, folks. I am under the weather and not up to sifting through all the news that's out there. There is a ton of WotLK stuff though, and it's quite interesting. I'll see what I can do get a post up here later in the day. But, this is the first time I've called in to work on a legit sick day in over 10 years...so I'm "calling in" to this job, too. 

An unlinked quickie though...With it being extended maintenance today, it's highly expected that 2.4.2 will launch.  So um...hit up the forums, find one you usually don't go to, and settle in. Or, if you have some free time at work, do a search on WoW comics and see what you find. There are some great gems out there.

There is some amazing news on the next expansion coming out of a Gamespy article with some of the developers. Some of the highlights?

The Death Knight explained.

In a move that is already creating debate and controversy...Raiding will be undergoing some big changes. There will be no attunements to any 10/25 man raid in WotLK, and any 25man raid will have a 10 man version. This is HUGE news, and seen by many as a 'step in the right direction'. Others feel that Blizz is way off base here. Time will tell. 

There are also a few more tidbits that have come out. 

M'uru is down.

The Stormrage Lurkers and Crew have put Vashj to rest. 

Here is an interesting article on the various uses of a Paladin's Seals and Blessings.

A topic of a more personal nature that I've been getting a first hand education in, is that of Game/Time Management. Your boss is breathing down your neck, you are staying late at work. The kids want supper, your wife wants a night with you...and you have a raid in 10 minutes. It can get nuts. We've all heard stories or may even know those who have ruined careers due to this game. Those who have thrown away amazing GPA's or scholarships. How far do you go? How far can you go? Does your family remember you? Still have a girlfriend? Adjusted (or tried to) your work around your raiding/playing?

Bolty's back with a Priest Quiz this time. Maybe he'll work some up for some other classes...

I am often asked "Is being a hunter that hard? It's just ezmode levelling, autoshotlolAFK., right?" Well...yes and no. It's easy to be bad hunter. They are one of the, if not the most maligned class out there.  If you hang around with good hunters, you'll hear them griping about having to weave shots, and how it hurts their dps if they don't/can't/aren't good at it. Here is a nice little article to help explain what it is they are trying to do. It's also a good read for any hunter, as any better grasp of our mechanics is a better thing.  

Cameron Sorden comes up with a very nice article summarizing some of the issues involved with Guild Hopping. Why folks do it, what should be done about it. Should anything be done about it. There are some...unique suggestions (Any items acquired in a raid are removed from your toon on deguilding and putting it (or the gold equivalent, I imagine) in the Guild Bank. It's an interesting read, to be sure. 

Bolty starts things off this time around with a Tanking Quiz for everyone. Think you know everything there is to know about tanking? See how you fare on this brain buster!

Scott Andrews finishes up his 4 article series on Casual Raiding with a good post. Great stuff and suggestions all around.  

In a move that should make a lot of warriors and shaman happy,with Patch 2.4.2, a lot of the Epic BOP Weaponsmithing weapons are losing their 'unique' and/or 'main-hand' designations.

An interesting discussion starts up here, looking for takes on how to handle docking DKP. A lot of guilds often struggle with DKP, and what to do with it. Do you dock those underperform? Reward those who do what they're supposed to? This is a pretty decent read. 

In addition to the casual raiding article, Adam Holinsky pipes up with 5 Tips to Minimize Raid Downtime. This is a pretty good read, though most of these seem kind of like no-brainers to folks who have been at this for a while.

It seems that it was a bug that was showing the epic Phase 4 gems from the Shattered Sun Offensive at a cost of 10 Badges. Proudmore has raced to the finish line, and unlocked the gem vendor, who sells her wares for 15 Badges.

Had a look through the Blizzard Fanart section lately? There are some beautiful works up there. Well worth a browse.