Forget what I just wrote, Go with what Mekhazzio said.
That’s why I use coordinates to figure out where it is on the world map, then head to that spot. Trying to move yourself based on the coordinates displayed under your portrait is, IME, an exercise in futility. 
Yup, that was my exact plan! At this point, it’s not even about taking in-game time to read… it’s about running my ass around to all the books. 
The western desire for bright line good and evil is kinda wasted in WOW. I like the stories behind the horde (orcs trying to redeem themselves from the demonic possession, the blood elves living in constant pain because of their racial addiction to magic, the forsaken grimly determined to survive in a world turned upside down, the tauren loyal to the horde for saving them from the centaurs, the trolls just seem to think Alliance (especially gnomes) taste better than the Horde (gnomes are tasty).
[[You absolutely need to gear your tanks and healers first. (Potential conflict of interest: I am a tank.) You can lose a couple of DPS without too much worry. Even healers can often pick up the slack for each other. But if a tank goes down, you’re generally fucked. Tanks also tend to have more hard caps below which they’re dead. If you’re a DPS who doesn’t make the hit cap… you do less damage. If you’re a tank who doesn’t make the crit cap for Defense… you die, and then everyone else dies. Or, for raids that require some kind of magic resistance, if you don’t have enough resistance that your healers can keep you up… you die, and then everyone else dies.]]
Most raids have back-up tanks. You can’t really get very far these days with a kick-ass tank and a half gimped DPS squad. You need your entire raid at the proper gear score to handle progression content.
The best progression guilds use some discretion (e.g. healers don’t get to bid on anything with +hit on it unless everyone else passes) but I don’t know of a lot of guilds that stack the tanks anymore.
If anyone got caught selling raid loot on AH, they would probably get booted (I saw this happen once with a BOE epic that dropped Naxx (we do Naxx once a month to gear up undergeared new guildies (about half of them leave right after they get their Naxx run) that we want to start bringing to our regular raids but people can roll on stuff for their off specs and alts. He didn’t get booted because his grandfather is also in the guild but we docked him 150 DKP (Ony and TOC 25 chests go for about that much).
OK, hold on a sec about the racial lines thing.
The original Elf bloodlines are often called Night Elves. This is probably at least somewhat misleading. They were just Elves. They might have been a bit closer to modern Nelfs in appearance, but their abilities were not so oriented towards nature and stealth. There’s also good evidence they had a dualistic religion of both Sun and Moon (the High Elves focused on the sun, but their own statuary implies they still retained some moon-affinity). The Night Elves, by contrast, evidently dropped the Sun from their cosmology entirely. This may be because the Light is strongly related to power (including arcane magical power).
Second, the Highbourne was a lot more than just Azshara’s peeps - it included basically a whole subrace. Queen Azshara’s favorites were the real magic users, who were almost all were either killed off by her cruel whims (and those of Xavius), died in the battles against the Legion, became part of Xavius’ mutated Satyrs (some unwillingly) or if very fanatical became part of Azshara’s new Naga servants of the Old Ones. The few who were left did not reject arcane magic entirely as Malfurion did or at least claimed to, and were indeed exiled. It was only at this time that Elves divided into the High and Night Elves, and both seem to have changed ethnically. Night elf males seem to have become hairier, practically growing manes. High elf males seem to have gone the opposite way. Since even in WoW parental heritage affects things, this may have partly been practical evolution as much as magic.
The High Elves, of course, would then go on to create the Sunwell, and then be divided into the true High Elves and the Blood Elves. Contrary to statements to the effect that the “loss” of the Sunwell changed them into the Sin’dorei, it makes a lot mroe sense if Kel’Thuzad’s desceration polluted them somehow. After all, High Elves away from Quel’Thalas did not become Sin’Dorei.
Of course, the Night Elves may have been undergoing their own changes, probably because Illidan created a new Well of Eternity. Given their newfound use of purely natural powers as well and the proximity of the World Tree, this may have been part of the Nelfs change into a somewhat more woodsy race. They previously built huge cities, but now had few open settlements.
Finally, it’s not at all clear where Harpies came from. They claim to be transformed elves, but some say they somehow come from Elune’s personal divine messenger. There’s some dispute one this, as well as whether or not Elves came from troll stock. Heck, I don’t think anyone even knows where the trolls came from! (Mecha-trolls, anyone?)
Agreed on this. There ARE some similarities (ears, skin colors, some of the hair colors, height, and teeth (the male night elves seem to have FANGS)). But I don’t think any Blues or official documentation have confirmed OR denied.
(The speculation, for those who aren’t familiar, is that a tribe of primeval trolls happened to set up a settlement near the Well of Eternity, which gradually changed them into Elves)
It’s also possible they descended from the Vrykul like humans. Sure, the build is different, but there are several distinct clans (Vrykul, Frost Vrykul, Kvaldir, etc) so they might come from some who were left in the Kalimdor area and not Eastern Kingdoms.
Agreed. But the point was made about Alliance having more bastards than Horde, and I disagreed with the assessment. Doesn’t mean I think either side is “good” or “bad.”
I said tanks, plural. And gearing tanks/healers over DPS doesn’t come up as much these days, since we’re not worrying as much about mountains of crafted resist gear. With tanks, pretty much the only time it comes up is with Leather gear that could go to a Feral tank or to a Leather-wearing DPS or with a ranged weapon that is clearly designed for a Prot Warrior but might have better DPS than what your Hunter is currently wearing. The line is a little more blurred with healers, where there are less clearly defined Cloth and Leather healing pieces.
The only resist gear people are using these days is Frost, and it doesn’t require any mats that only drop out of raids. If your gbank is supplying the Frozen Orbs, you had damn well better be giving them to your Hodir Frozen Blows tank first, unless you want a very dead raid.
You have to gear up your DPS (and as a loot council member and officer, I did, and never saw a single complaint about pieces that were looted to tanks or healers), but the reality of the situation is that, all else being equal, the raid as a whole will benefit most when the upgrade goes to a tank or a healer over a DPSer. That doesn’t mean that I believe that every tiny upgrade should go straight to a tank. I’m just recognizing the reality of the situation: tanks and healers keep everyone else alive. If you’re dying before you hit the enrage, it doesn’t matter how much damage your DPS can crank out.
See above. It’s because most tanking gear is **explicitly **tanking gear, and we don’t have required high-level BOE combines that require mats that only drop in-raid. The high-level combines are nice, but they’re not necessary for progression, so there can be much more equatable access to the Runed Orbs the guild picks up.
Thanks for the information, SFG. I may have to do some looking around, then.
Regarding coordinates, what i do is find the spot on the map and then put a waypoint there. Cartographer then gives me a little GPS type arrow that I follow to find the spot. That way, I don’t have to try to follow the numbers as they go up and down.
But you know which side has the most douchebags?
Trade.
God. The stereotype that the Horde has more mature players is shattered in an instant whenever I’m in a town on Cairne. Freaking people screaming about how potheads made WoW and you can’t be Horde if you’re not a pothead.
Having spent a decent amount of time playing both sides, I can safely say that **both **are filled with assholes, immature kids, and douchebarges. People who thinks otherwise are fooling themselves.
There is some ingame literature where this theory is mentioned, so Blizzard would appear to be the source of this speculation, but I haven’t seen any Word of God on the matter either.
Is there a book somewhere with the main storyline of the Warcraft world? I’ve played all the games so I’m passing familiar with what’s what, but I really don’t pay attention when I play video games, so all the nuance is lost on me, like I don’t have any idea why I’m on another planet now. It’s all to do with demons, I hear.
Anyway, I prefer a book in the hand to reading online, so does such a thing exist, or is it all so widespread and many-threaded that it’s a little here, a little there?
Unfortunately, there’s not a physical book that has that information. It’s scattered…there’s a lot of it online at certain sites, and the novels flesh things out a bit, but there’s more than a couple of those and they skip around. The RPG has more, and the ingame books. The majority of the pre-WoW lore comes from Warcraft III and The Frozen Throne. And, of course, in the evolution of WoW, Blizzard has superceded some of the lore with new content (the new history of the Draenei is particularly considered a lorelol by hardcore Loremasters).
I can offer online collections of the lore books in-game:
It’s all official and everything, ordering the lore books chronologically…skip the timeline, though. It’s confusing and just says which games and novels happened where in the history. Start at Chapter I.
Out of curiosity, what is the ‘old’ history of the Draenei, and how does it differ?
I didn’t start WoW until this past summer so WotLK was already out. My first toon was a human paladin but since all my friends play Horde I ended up with a Forsaken warlock I eventually leveled to 45. After getting a little bored with the warlock I made an Orc Warrior and gave him the Protection spec. A tank was born.
Honestly, I didn’t really learn how to tank until I was level 80. I rarely had complaints about my tanking but it wasn’t until I started doing heroics that I came to understand the nuances associated with tanking. It was also then that I first started running into people who were seriously concerned with my gear. If it wasn’t for other players I would have had no idea that I needed a Defense of 540. Honestly, I have tank armor, PvP armor, and I’m building a set of DPS PvE armor, and, aside from the tank armor, I can’t always figure out why one is better than the other. It’s really confusing.
I have been on a total of three raids. One was the lvl 60 Onyxia, the second one I forget, and the third was was the instance at Wintergrasp but we only killed one boss before I had to go. (more on that later) When I’m in a PUG the general loot rules are that you get to need for items better than what you have that are good for the spec you’re using at that time. So if I’m tank an tank gear that’s better than mine drops then I’m the one who gets to need. I’ve found that most groups are also ok with me getting DPS stuff but I always ask first. One time a wicked 2H axe dropped that I wanted but capitulated when the DPS wanted it as well.
I’ve got about 30,100 or so hit points and my Defense is hovering just north of 540. During the last raid I participated in (my third) this past weekend I was told that my tank gear really wasn’t up to snuff but they let me off tank. Honestly, I have no idea how to get better tank gear any time soon other than getting exalted rep status so I can buy boots, enchantments, or hoping that good stuff drops in heroics.
Somehow I accidentally become somewhat decent at DPS. My have a 33% crit rate and my armor is a mix of PvE/PvP gear. I’m trying to make it all PvE gear but that’s going to take some time. My hit points in DPS mode are 23,000 and although I don’t need as many as the tank does I’d like to have a little more.
In some ways I think there is a lot more pressure on tanks and healers than there is on other classes. In DPS mode people don’t ever bother me about my gear and if I make a mistake then odds are nobody is going to die. However, when it tank mode, there’s a little more pressure not to make a mistake and even when things are beyond my control I still might take some abuse from other players. No, if the bad guy teleports right next to the healer and kills him in two shots there isn’t a whole lot I can do about it.
I don’t go on a lot of raids for three reasons. #1. I don’t have a raiding guild. We’re all friends who know one another in real life and I think we’re just now to the point where we could do a 10 man raid. #2. I hate sitting around and twiddling my thumbs while a raid is being organized. #3. Even if I go through the motions the odds of me getting some gear seem fairly low. It’s just too much of a hassle for the most part.
I am trying to build my reputation with non-guildies. I’m a friendly player and most of my PUGs end with either success and fun.
So if you’re on Farstrider look for Toothsome, the lovable Orc Warrior whose mother wishes he was a baker instead.
Odesio
Well, there wasn’t much of a history at all. The old history was more “This is what the Alliance vaguely heard about them.” Basically, they were semi-feral nomads desperately battling the fel orcs in Outland. That was it.
The new concept has much less feral-looking draenei (the ugly ones are “Broken”, mutated but uncorrupted by exposure to fel energies). They fled the Burning Legion and settled in Outland, calling it Draenor. The ogres and orcs are closely related and draenor natives, along with Arrakoa.
The thing with the Draenei is that, with the release of Burning Crusade, they became eredar, which have, since at least Warcraft II, ALWAYS been a demon species. The eredar were supposed to have originally corrupted Sargeras, the Titan Defender, to become the master of the Burning Legion.
With BC, Blizzard turned it around and had Sargeras corrupt the eredar. Now, one eredar leader, Velen, refused to join Sargeras and took his remnant (renamed the Draenei (Exiles)) and fled, chased by the other eredar and other demons of the legion. They found the world of the orcs, named it Draenor (Place of Exile), and hid there. The Broken and the original draenei (as found in places like Swamp of Sorrows) are debased offshoots of the new Draenei. When the Burning Legion found them (and, conveniently, the orcs to use as an army), they escaped on the Exodar and crashlanded on Azeroth.
I took a look at my options, after I checked to make sure my nodes stay in the same place. I wasn’t able to figure out why mine stay, though, and yours move about. Do you use Gatherer, too? I do, and there’s a way to make the Gatherer data be used by Carbonite, which I think is what we’re looking for, but I’m not sure. Sorry I wasn’t more help.
Has anybody else noticed that that blood elf and draenei who were always bickering at the Cantrips & Crows bar in Dalaran’s Underbelly are gone?
Oh, Deah!
It is 2:25 Eastern Standard Time, and none of my tutors are…ahem on-line!
Whatevah must I do? (straightens his pantaloons because the armor is chafing!)
Oh, Mumsy?
Would you please cue the gramophone? 
Let’s dahnce!
Y’all are gonna miss me and my stoopid questions!
But I ain’t gone yet, so let’s FTW, KK?
Q