Patch 4.0.6 Preview

The latest patch goes live with tonight's maintenance. Disregard that, I have a tendency to completely make things up. The new patch should be going live in the near future; here are a few of the highlights so far:

Guild -  The reputation cap is now shown in the interface.
Racials - The tauren racial trait War Stomp can now be cast while shapeshifted.
Classes - Loads of changes for every class, including:

• Druids - Bear damage nerfed, armor buffed. Boomkin and Trees buffed and Cats got a bit of both.
• Paladins - Retribution talent mechanics altered.
• Priests - Buffs for all specs, huge buffs for Holy priests (lots of lower mana costs).
• Shamans - Resto buffs and slight mechanic changes.
• Warriors - The arms talent Juggernaut has been reworked to make charge much more usable. Fury mastery buffed slightly.

PvP - Strand of the Ancients mechanics completely reworked.

Click here for the full patch notes (Shaman notes are here)

-Ahzae, Lord of the Trifling Gnome

It's like Vash'jir, only in Brisbane.

The floods in Queensland have picked up and judging by the looks of the pictures below there's gonna be one helluva cleanup. Our very own Niennae risked life and limb (probably) to get these photos (click to enlarge):

As dangerous as these floods are, there are still those who laugh in the face of such danger. Kickamoocow, one of our priests who lives in the area, told us about his ordeal this morning.

Kicka boldly ignored the warnings and evacuation notices, even an SMS from the government telling him it was time to find higher ground. He ignored these potential life-saving messages in order to complete his cooking daily... yeah.

I think he may be putting a little too much faith into his Levitate spell.

For any other guild members in the area, please take care and seek safety and shelter if you're in any possible danger. Stay safe.

If you have any concerns regarding the safety of friends and family in the area affected by flooding, please call the flood hotline: 1300 993 191

Double Sun POWER!

Hooray, first raid today! I log in at 11:55am, planning to say something to the effect of "Heh, you guys thought I forgot, didn't ya?" and then the band would play... but no. The login servers have different plans for me (possibly others, I have no way of knowing right now).

So while I try to figure out what's going on I shall distract you with this:

-Ahzae, Lord of the Trifling Gnome

Harms Way vs Freestate, a la West Side Story

As far as guilds go, I'm of the opinion that we're one of the more musical types. Aside from the near constant Rocky Horror jokes, we tend to talk quite a lot about the music we listen to.

In a (possibly vain) attempt to share our wonderful musical tastes, I'm going to put up a few of the tracks I listen to regularly while WoWing, and give everyone a chance to show off theirs:

General music:

• Home by Freestate
• Almost anything by Mr Voletron (has one NSFW track, you'll see it :P)
• Schubert's Ellens dritter Gesang (Opera)
• The Gregory Brothers (Auto-tuning goodness)
• Sweeney Todd soundtrack
• Effington's dulcet tones (if I can find a link for these I'll put them up)
  
  

PvP tracks:

• Witchcraft/Propane Nightmares by Pendulum
• Love Love Nightmare (Vocaloid insanity)
• Switchback by Celldweller (Electro-metal, one-man-band from hell)

Of course this is just a small sample of what I listen to and yes, I realise my taste in music borders on insanity. Personally I find it interesting to know what other people listen to, and it's a great way to discover new things you wouldn't have normally heard of (Celldweller was a good example of that for me).

Recently we were serenaded over vent by the incredible Effington and his magical guitar. We may have to shackle him to one of the channels and get him to play into it 24/7.

Now, it's your turn. Share your musical preferences in the comments below so we can all get a taste of what you're into!

Oh, one last thing (I was once a huge Columbo fan): I've been toying with the idea of a Harms Way theme, a track that we can call "our" song/anthem - purely for the giggles of course. If anyone wants to put some ideas out there I'm sure we'd be quite keen to see them. There may even be some sort of prize or other niceties should someone find something really good...


Although, if Freestate releases a song called Harms Way then they win instantly *not-so-subtle nudge*


-Ahzae, Lord of the Trifling Gnome

Heroics too hard, eh?

Long post warning!

As I mentioned previously, our first raid is coming up on Saturday the 8th. There seemed to be some uncertainty as to where we should start; Some people say Blackwing Descent is the best place to begin, others say Bastion of Twilight or Throne of the Four Winds and so on.

So I did some research and was immediately overwhelmed by the amount of mechanics in each encounter. Every raid boss is much more complex than you expect - thought Putricide was complicated? You haven't seen anything yet...

Video contains NSFW language.

Click through to read on.

"You no take credit!" + Raid Reminder

The talented Sporran recently contributed a terrific guest post for us and it appears that his post was mistaken for one of mine (not sure if that's flattering for me or insulting  to him, but anywho...)

From now on I'll do more to introduce any special guests we may have, instead of sneakily trying to take the credit for their work. While we're on the subject, if anyone wants to contribute a post, article or guide (or anything really) to the blog then either contact me in-game or via email at tobiasmasters@gmail.com.

Finally, a quick reminder for the raid scheduled for Saturday at midday: There are quite a few people vying for a spot and, while we normally work on a first-come/first-served basis, those who have done their homework on the encounters or have spent some time getting their gear in order will likely be favoured over those who haven't.


Being the inclusive people we are, we'll do everything in our power to make sure that those who miss out get a chance, but that doesn't mean we're going to carry you either. Of course, if you need help with getting prepared then please feel free to ask us :P


-Ahzae, Lord of the Trifling Gnome

MTC Monday: Katinalus

Like a brick through the delicate window that is your New Year's hangover, it's Meet The Crew Monday! This week we have Katinalus, one of the best paladin tanks I've ever seen:

Katinalus of Silvermoon

Blood Elf Paladin

(Protection)
 
Location:

Perth, Australia

Age:

29
 
Likes:

Helping others, seeing new content and exploring. Kat enjoys tanking for guildies a lot and leading a group to victory, especially for encounters they are still learning. She also likes coming up with some very wacky jokes that no one bar her (probably) understands.
 
Dislikes:

PVP!... No not dislikes.... Detests PVP. Oh and the usual assortment of gnomes, elitists and other basement dwelling organisms who inhabit the game in large numbers.
 

Katinalus has always been a protector, though not so much for her horde allies as she is for anyone in need. She is staunchly against the ongoing conflict between the horde and the alliance, and had assisted Tirion Fordring in setting up the Argent Tournament, hoping that by turning the warring factions against a common enemy that they might find peace.

The tournament did nothing to quell the rising tensions and Katinalus, dismayed but not defeated, joined Harms Way as counsel, working with Ahzae in an attempt to steer the horde away from the path of war.

Now, with the emergence of Deathwing, Katinalus is on a campaign to get the two factions to recognise that the real threat to Azeroth is not each other. Should they fail to realise this soon, then all might be lost.

Of course, such a task will not be easy for her to accomplish. There are many who would stand in her way, not the least of which being the horde’s new warchief, Garrosh Hellscream; Effectively her warchief. If this war is to end then he would need to be dealt with – and if she has to sacrifice her life to save the lives of many, then she will gladly do so...

In the small moments where Kat is not carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders, she finds peace in her home city of Silvermoon relaxing with her Siamese cat, Avalon, or getting Camberon and Razia to help cover up her battle scars - Even after a battle, a girl has to look good, you know?


I should probably go now - apparently I'm in trouble for smashing some windows. Watch this space next week for more MTC!