elizabeth harper

All posts tagged elizabeth harper

Blizzard Watch rises from WoW Insider’s ashes

Posted by Peter (Devee) on February 4, 2015
Posted in: Blog. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

blizzard watch

WoW Insider might be finished, but not all of its staff members are. From its ashes, Blizzard Watch rises. As the name implies, it’ll cover all Blizzard titles, although it’ll focus primarily on World of Warcraft. It seems that Alex Ziebart, Editor-in-Chief of WoW Insider at the time of its closure, is in charge, but that wasn’t explicitly stated. Adam Holisky, Anne Stickney, Matthew Rossi, and Elizabeth Harper are joining him, and they hope to reach out to more people later.

Blizzard Watch is using Patreon to support the site. It’s a crowd-funding site that works a little differently than sites like Kickstarter. With Patreon, you pledge a certain amount per month. Their milestone goals were $8,000/month for full operations, $9,000/month for class columns, $10,000/month for expanded class columns, and $12,000/month for expanded coverage. They quickly reached their first goal and are currently, just a day after opening, hovering near $11,000/month. That’s pretty cool!

One of the first posts (if not the first) was one calling for Queue questions. No post could have made me happier. I love the Queue, and I’m very glad to learn that it’s going to continue to be part of my morning ritual.

Thank you, Blizzard Watch and team, for continuing your great reporting and writing!

Suggested Reading: Warlords of Draenor, BlizzCon, the Titans, the Old Gods, and time.

Posted by Peter (Devee) on November 14, 2013
Posted in: BlizzCon, Suggested Reading, Warlords of Draenor, World of Warcraft. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Warlords of Draenor: The Story So Far, Matthew Rossi, WoW Insider, 11/10/13.

If you missed what the expansion is all about, this will tell you!

Warlords of Draenor Systems Panel: What We Learned, Booka, BlizzPro, 11/9/13.

Booka provides a quick overview of the features and changes coming in Warlords.

Warlords of Draenor Open Q&A: What We Learned, Booka, BlizzPro, 11/9/13.

More quick bulletpoints.

Know Your Lore, TFH: The Aspects of the Titans, Matthew Rossi, WoW Insider, 11/6/13.

Rossi has some very interesting theories about the Titans and time. He speculates that they’re from the future, and that they want to preserve the “true” timeline to ensure their own creation.

Know Your Lore TFH: The Big Lie, Matthew Rossi, WoW Insider, 11/13/13.

Just how do the timelines work, and what has Nozdormu been up to? Rossi speculates.

Know Your Lore: The warlords of Draenor, Anne Stickney, WoW Insider, 11/9/13.

Who are the Warlords of Draenor?

Know Your Lore: The History of Draenor, Anne Stickney, WoW Insider, 11/8/13.

A look at Draenor’s current history.

Bashiok on flying mount delay in World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor, Sarah Pine, WoW Insider, 11/14/13.

No flying until 6.1? In my opinion, it’s a great idea.

The cosplay of BlizzCon2013, Elizabeth Harper, WoW Insider, 11/9/13.

There’s some very cool cosplay in the gallery!

How does a 25 player guild handle Mythic raiding?, Matticus, World of Matticus, 11/13/13.

The leader of a 25-player heroic guild talks about what’s going to happen come Warlords of Draenor.

BlizzCon 2013: Updates on the level 90-100 questing experience, Adam Koebel, WoW Insider, 11/9/13.

Take a look at what’s changing.

Know Your Lore, TFH Edition: What are the Old Gods?, Anne Stickney, WoW Insider, 11/3/13.

What if the Old Gods aren’t what we think?

What We’ll Miss About Mists… And What We Won’t, Booka, BlizzPro, 11/7/13.

The best and worst aspects of Mists of Pandaria.

Suggested Reading: Of lore speculation, Garrosh Hellscream, faction identity, and much more

Posted by Peter (Devee) on August 23, 2013
Posted in: Diablo III, Game Mechanics, Lore, Mists of Pandaria, Reaper of Souls, Role-Playing, Story, World of Warcraft. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

What If Paladins Had Stayed Alliance-Only?, Rohan, Blessing of Kings, 8/19/13.

I love this. The Alliance story was the story of their paladins. What if paladins had stayed Alliance-only and shaman had stayed Horde-only? What if Death Knights had been given to the Horde, and monks to the Alliance? It’s an interesting article.

Thoughts on Garrosh Hellscream, Rohan, Blessing of Kings, 8/14/13.

Why do the orcs want to kill Garrosh? Why do players hate Garrosh but like Sylvanas? Rohan thinks that in lore, the orcs in general aren’t turning on Garrosh. As players, we like Sylvanas because she’s “all cool and calculating” while Garrosh “is a thug.” Players are more likely to identify with Sylvanas.

Window Shopper, Prinnie Powah, That Was an Accident!, 8/14/13.

Be careful with whom you /flirt.

Patch 5.4, flexible raids, dailies and more with Tom Chilton, Anne Stickney, WoW Insider, 8/16/13.

Chilton’s discussion of the Timeless Isle and Blizzard’s pull away from dailies are particularly interesting.

Patch 5.4 confirmed for release on September 10th, Adam Holisky, WoW Insider, 8/21/13.

I’m glad we have a little more time to Ahead of the Curve: Lei Shen for raid team members who missed our kill.

Know Your Lore, Tinfoil Hat Edition: The Dark Below, Anne Stickney, WoW Insider, 8/18/13.

Speculation on what The Dark Below could bring.

Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls Lore Speculation, Neinball, BlizzPro, 8/14/13.
Reaper of Souls Lore Speculation Part 2: The Usual Suspects, Neinball, BlizzPro, 8/16/13.
Reaper of Soul [sic] Lore Speculation Part Three: Eternities of Conflict, Neinball, BlizzPro, 8/19/13.
Reaper of Souls Lore Speculation Part Four: Oh, The Places We’ll Go, Neinball, BlizzPro, 8/20/13.

Reaper of Souls might have been unveiled, but I still think these speculation articles are great.

Diablo III Expansion Speculation, Rohan, Blessing of Kings, 8/15/13.

Rohan’s wish list includes paladins, necromancers (or maybe druids), a no-trade, no-AH mode, and the ability for hardcore characters to become normal characters upon death. I think the no-trade, no-AH mode would be nice, although Blizzard would never do it, and the hardcore change would be great.

What If: Cult of the Mechanical, Matthew Rossi, WoW Insider, 8/15/13.

Rossi explains how awesome it would be if we had an expansion focused on Gelbin Mekkatorque embracing technology and shunning the divine.

Old Enemies: OOC Epilogue, Anna, Too Many Annas, 8/15/13.

Even if you haven’t been reading this story, this is an interesting article about “assumed RP.” I didn’t really know anything about this, but it was a fascinating read.

Will we see an ability purge?, Matthew Rossi, WoW Insider, 8/14/13.

If we’re going to continue to get new abilities every expansion, an ability purge seems important to me.

This epic crafted Frostsaber has ridden off with our hearts, Elizabeth Harper, WoW Insider, 8/15/13.

This is so cute!

Diablo 3 to get new features, fore free, in pre-expansion patch, Adam Holisky, WoW Insider, 8/22/13.

No surprise here. Changes to the core mechanics will happen even if you don’t purchase Reaper of Souls.

WoW Archivist: WoW’s first legendary quest line, Scott Andrews, WoW Insider, 8/16/13.

A retrospective on the first legendary quest line, the series to obtain Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker.

Know Your Lore: A Precarious Position Part 1 – Horde, Matthew Rossi, WoW Insider, 8/14/13.

What will happen to the Horde after the Siege of Orgimmar?

Suggested Reading: Healing, nice guys, mounts, and lore

Posted by Peter (Devee) on July 25, 2013
Posted in: Suggested Reading, World of Warcraft. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

The State of Healing, Rohan, Blessing of Kings, 7/21/13.

Rohan considers healing in Mists of Pandaria.

Nice Guy Award: Player gives away two 50,000g mounts, Adam Holisky, WoW Insider, 7/11/13.

Sadly, they weren’t given to me.

Patch 5.4 PTR: New mounts from the Siege of Orgrimmar, Elizabeth Harper, WoW Insider, 7/24/13.

These look very cool.

What if: Rage of the Kaldorei, Matthew Rossi, WoW Insider, 7/19/13.

An examination of a hypothetical expansion involving a Night Elf internal conflict with Shandris Feathermoon as the antagonist.

What If: Purge of the Aspects, Anne Stickney, WoW Insider, 7/18/13.

What if Alexstrasza declared war on mortals?

What If: Velen the villain, Matthew Rossi, WoW Insider, 7/16/13.

Here’s another. What if Velen manipulates the Horde and Alliance, causing deaths on both sides, for what he considers the greater good?

Know Your Lore: A hostile universe, Matthew Rossi, WoW Insider, 7/16/13.

What else is in the universe?

Suggested Reading: Of the mogu, the Shado-Pan, changes, and more

Posted by Peter (Devee) on July 4, 2013
Posted in: Suggested Reading, World of Warcraft. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Know Your Lore: The Contradictions of the Mogu, Matthew Rossi, WoW Insider, 7/3/13.

What were the mogu doing for all the years since their fall? Why were we told they could no longer use magic? How was Lei Shen the son of a mogu if they couldn’t reproduce?

Know Your Lore: Taran Zhu and the Shado-Pan, Anne Stickney, WoW Insider, 6/30/13.

Why is Taran Zhu so angry? Maybe he needs to be.

The Time Bomb Every Guild Leader Holds, Matticus, World of Matticus, 6/27/13.

How long until the guild collapses?

Patch 5.4 PTR patch notes updated with arena changes, class changes, Elizabeth Harper, WoW Insider, 7/1/13.

No more arena teams. Arenas work like rated battlegrounds now. In addition, Hymn of Hope now prioritizes healers!

Young Welsh player achieves Stood in the Fire every night, Lisa Poisso, WoW Insider, 7/3/13.

Why don’t I have Deathwing on my wall?

A legendary for all, courtesy of Wrathion, Anne Stickney, WoW Insider, 6/30/13.

It’s confirmed. We’re getting legendaries.

Suggestion Reading: Of the Lich King, Anduin, gear alternatives, and dying

Posted by Peter (Devee) on May 2, 2013
Posted in: Suggested Reading, World of Warcraft. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Know Your Lore: The Lessons of the Lich King, Matthew Rossi, WoW Insider, 4/30/13.

What did the Lich King teach us? What did he teach Garrosh?

Know Your Lore, Tinfoil Hat Edition: The curious neutrality of Anduin Wrynn, Anne Stickney, WoW Insider, 4/28/13.

Just why is Anduin so neutral? Could Onyxia have something to do with it?

Developer Q&A transcript, Alex Ziebart, WoW Insider, 4/25/13.

Lots of great answers here.

Editorial: Gear… GONE!, Adam Holisky, WoW Insider, 4/30/13.

Adam thinks gear should be removed. Most players would 100% reject this. I think it’s an interesting idea, but it wouldn’t fully work. While I don’t want to stress over pieces of gear (yet I do) and I just want to raid, obtaining gear feels satisfying.

Gearing & Guilds .. A New Alternative, Jods, Jods’ Blog, 1/5/13.

Some interesting ideas to gearing. That date seems wrong to me though!

Our favorite ways to die in World of Warcraft, Elizabeth Harper, WoW Insider, 4/30/13.

There are a lot of great ways to die in WoW.

Suggested Reading: Of patch 5.3, player events, and BlizzCon

Posted by Peter (Devee) on April 11, 2013
Posted in: Suggested Reading, World of Warcraft. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Patch 5.3 PTR: Valley of Spirits closed down by Garrosh’s goons, Olivia Grace, WoW Insider, 4/5/13.

I wrote about this previously. Too cool!

Massive cross-realm gathering successfully unites players from 11 realms, Lisa Poisso, WoW Insider, 4/4/13.

This sounds really fun. I wish I could have been there. Player run events are very fascinating to me. I love that we have the ability to create our own stories in the game.

Patch 5.3: Transmog to be available from bank and void storage, Elizabeth Harper, WoW Insider, 4/8/13.

This is a welcome change.

BlizzCon tickets go on sale April 24 and 27, Adam Holisky, WoW Insider, 4/4/13.

Should I go this year? It’s pretty far. It’s about 20 minutes from home.

Suggested Reading: Of going AFK, dungeons and scenarios, WoW being easy, and more

Posted by Peter (Devee) on March 20, 2013
Posted in: Suggested Reading, World of Warcraft. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

How 5 minutes AFK cost one WoW player 476,000 gold, Elizabeth Harper, WoW Insider, 3/19/13

After leaving his computer for five minutes, a man returns to find that his son spent 476,000 gold on pets on the AH.

Dungeons versus Scenarios, Rohan, Blessing of Kings, 3/17/13.

In this articles, Rohan compares dungeons and scenarios. He considers loot rewards and design time among other aspects. He makes some great commentary.

Dungeons versus Scenarios, Part II, Rohan, Blessing of Kings, 3/18/13

The follow-up to his previous post.

Draztal ends the “WoW is too easy now” argument in a long and beautiful post, Adam Holisky, WoW Insider, 3/18/13.

Draztal basically explains that the game is completely different now. His post is worth reading. However, I do want to point out that Holisky repeatedly says the read the whole article even though it’s long. It’s not long, but this tells you something about our attention spans.

A guide to looting the Troves of the Thunder King, Anne Stickney, WoW Insider, 3/16/13.

If you’re struggling in the scenario, give this guide a read.

WoW Archivist: 11 moments from WoW’s history that should become scenarios, Scott Andrews, WoW Insider, 3/15/13.

Scott has some interesting ideas, but I can’t say I agree with all of them. I should write my own post on the subject.

Feathermoon Horde players organize massive cross-realm RP event, Lisa Poisso, WoW Insider, 3/15/13.

This sounds like a really cool RP event. It’s happening today, so if you can make it, go check it out!

What if all raids were end game raids?, Matthew Rossi, WoW Insider, 3/15/13.

Rossi considers what the game would be like if all raids were for the current max level. It’s an interesting idea, but I doubt it’ll happen.

War is All Hell: The use of moral ambiguity in Warcraft, Matthew Rossi, WoW Insider, 3/14/13.

War is full of moral ambiguity. Do you allow many to die to save a larger number? WoW seems to lack this in its leaders.

Advanced Video Settings: From Grayscale WoW to Vulcan Blood, Adam Holisky, WoW Insider, 3/18/13.

If you’d like to play around with your graphics, this could be interesting information.

Suggested Reading: Of patch 5.2, game concepts, DDO, D3, and more

Posted by Peter (Devee) on March 7, 2013
Posted in: Diablo III, Other MMOs or Related Games, Suggested Reading, World of Warcraft. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Five reasons patch 5.2 will pull you back into WoW, Elizabeth Harper, WoW Insider, 3/6/13.

Harper provides a nice summary of 5.2 content.

Patch 5.2 official patch notes, Adam Holisky, WoW Insider, 3/5/13.

If Harper’s article isn’t enough information for you, this might be for you.

On the Broken Battleground Scaling of 5.2, Cynwise, Cynwise’s Warcraft Manual, 3/7/13.

Cynwise looks at how battleground scaling has only made balance worse in the lower-level brackets.

Diablo 3, the Auction House, and Efficiency, Rohan, Blessing of Kings, 3/2/13.

Rohan discusses the dangers of increasing efficiency too much. He also claims that there shouldn’t be shortcuts a game’s “central fun.” It’s a great idea. It also reminds me of some tweets I saw by Bennett (@bfod) who said “well, until they charged me money to skip over it, I wasn’t thinking of playing the game as being ‘grind’” and “since they’re charging money to skip it, I know it is grind. Even the developers think of it as grind. Playing it is a penalty.” He goes on to say “here’s how it works-if you pay to play more, you’re seeing play as being valuable. If you pay to play less, you’re thinking of it as a grind” (2/27/13).

Know Your Lore: Jaina Proudmoore and the Kirin Tor, Anne Stickney, WoW Insider, 3/3/13.

Wondering what’s up with Jaina lately? Then pay attention to the game you pay to play! Or read this.

Know Your Lore: Aethas Sunreaver and the founding of the Sunreaver Onslaught, Matthew Rossi, WoW Insider, 3/6/13.

This guy got totally sweet this expansion. Yup.

The Decline of Rogues, Rohan, Blessing of Kings, 3/3/13.

Rohan has some ideas on why rogues are on the decline.

Secret Areas of Warcraft: Where developers go to play, Sarah Pine, WoW Insider, 2/28/13.

Secrets always fascinate me.

What does legendary really mean?, Anne Stickney, WoW Insider, 2/28/13.

What legendary means has been changing.

Eberron and beyond: Seven years of Dungeon and Dragons Online, Justin Olivetti, Massively, 2/28/13.

Olivetti looks back at DDO.

Suggested Reading: Of patch 5.2 and more

Posted by Peter (Devee) on February 28, 2013
Posted in: Suggested Reading, World of Warcraft. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Patch 5.2: The Thunder King official trailer, Anne Stickney, WoW Insider, 2/27/13.

Oh boy, I love patch trailers!

Patch 5.2 and beyond with Dave Kosak, Anne Stickney, WoW Insider, 2/27/13.

An excellent interview with Dave Kosak. We get to hear more about the 5.2 patch trailer’s poem and the development of the patch. It was also interesting to find out that we can do the 5.1 scenarios of the opposite faction (and that there’s a lore reason).

A farewell to yaks, Dawn Moore, WoW Insider, 2/25/13.

Did you know that Ruthers wasn’t tied to the GCD, so you could summon a ton of him? Unfortunately it’s been patched now. I love you, Ruthers.

Popcorn Anyone?, Cymre, Bubbles of Mischief, 2/26/13.

Popcorn and peanuts exist in Wow! I love peanuts! And exclamations!

Seeing Azeroth from a bird’s eye view, Elizabeth Harper, WoW Insider, 2/22/13.

Masserah has made awesome images of major WoW locations using high resolution screenshots and some nifty photo-editing. Check them out!

Is Sylvanas your love match?, Michelles, bravetank, 2/21/13.

She just wants to be loved.

#187 Best and Worst boss fights of 5.0, Spencer Nozell, Be MOP, 2/25/13.

Spencer is absolutely crazy. I mean, Spencer likes Yan-Zhu the Uncasked. I should talk about my favorites and least favorites too.

Know Your Lore: The lore so far — leading into patch 5.2, Anne Stickney, WoW Insider, 2/24/13.

If you need to catch up or just want a reminder, Anne has you covered.

Suggested Reading: Of moms, 5.2, dailies, babies, Varian, Garrosh, Linken, and more

Posted by Peter (Devee) on February 7, 2013
Posted in: Other MMOs or Related Games, Suggested Reading, World of Warcraft. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

A Gift of a Fish, Arioch, clearcasting, 2/6/13.

Arioch tries his hardest to give his mom a new pet.

Patch 5.2 Prep: Get ahead of the game, Kristin Marshall, WoW Insider, 1/28/13.

Ensure you’re ready for the patch!

How to get green fire for your Warlock in Patch 5.2, Megan O’Neill, WoW Insider, 2/7/13.

Spoilers abound, but Megan gives us a look at what warlocks will do to get their fel fire.

We don’t need daily quests anymore, Anne Stickney, WoW Insider, 1/25/13.

I’m all for unlockable content, but I’m not sure I like the daily system tied to reputation. Maybe I should post about this later…

Patch 5.2 honors El’s Anglin’, adds sea monster and new battle pets to fishing, Alex Ziebart, WoW Insider, 1/24/13.

It looks like a new NPC, El, joins the Anglers. Great!

Around Labor and Delivery: Pride and joy, Elizabeth Wachowski, WoW Insider, 1/31/13.

They named their kid Jaina. Seriously.

Around Azeroth: Sweet dreams?, Elizabeth Wachowski, WoW Insider, 1/24/13.

I wish I knew who lived there.

Know Your Lore: The evolution of Varian Wrynn, Anne Stickney, WoW Insider, 2/3/13.

If you’ve noticed that Varian has changed quite a bit and want to know more about why, give this a read.

Know Your Lore: The genesis of Garrosh Hellscream, Anne Stickney, WoW Insider, 1/27/13.

If you’re interested in the history of Varian, you’re probably interested in the history of Garrosh as well.

WoW Archivist: It’s a secret to everybody — the Linken quest line, Scott Andrews, WoW Insider, 2/1/13.

This was a fun quest line, and I enjoyed reading about it even though I completed it.

Roleplaying the mundane side of the Alliance, Anne Stickney, WoW Insider, 1/26/13.

Even if you don’t roleplay, Anne gives a nice summary of how the Alliance races are feeling.

Funcom wants to feature your music in The Secret World, MJ Guthrie, Massively, 1/29/13.

If only I had musical talent.

Will Patch 5.2 kill PvP twinking?, Olivia Grace, WoW Insider, 1/24/13.

I’m not sure how it would kill twinking, but I think scaling players levels to the highest level of their PvP bracket is pretty cool! (And scaling in PvP works well in TOR.)

Patch 5.2: Valor and Conquest Points will be reset, Olivia Grace, WoW Insider, 2/6/13.

Valor converts to Justice, and Conquest converts to Honor. That’s normal. What’s different is that current Valor gear will still cost Valor. Rewards from 5.0 factions will be at a 75% discount and rewards from 5.1 factions will be at a 50% discount. That’s great, but then why take all of our Valor away? I understand the predicament in wanting to ensure people don’t get ahead, but that sucks a little.

Direhorn mounts coming to patch 5.2 as reputation rewards, Elizabeth Harper, WoW Insider, 2/5/13.

Yes, yes, yes!