Christmas may be over but the holiday events are still going on. New years is a big celebration in World of Warcraft. Here is the description of the holiday from Blizzard;

Another year is ending in the rich world of Azeroth. Countless battles have been fought, and numerous accolades achieved. It is time to laud victories and give remembrance to those lost. In celebration of the old year’s passing and anticipation of the new, skilled brewers and talented pyrotechnicians have brought ..read the full article

Winter Veil is almost over in Azeroth. If you have not done so, head over to Orgrimmar and Ironforge. Grab your gifts from under the tree. Each of your characters can receive gifts. Hurry though, it all ends on January 2. 2010.

Here are some of the activities athat you can accomplish before its all over.

Greatfather Winter Greatfather Winter is visiting the great cities of Ironforge and Orgrimmar – courtesy of the fine folks of Smokywood Pastures and ..read the full article

The new dungeon Finder tool, promotes the joining of random pugs to receive gold and emblems. There is also an achievement tied directly to the dungeon finder.

When your character completes the “Looking For Multitudes” achievement you will receive this cute little pug as a companion in Azeroth. To complete this achievement, your character must have used the Dungeon tool to group with a total of 100 random players to successfully complete random heroic dungeons. After completing the achievement, you will ..read the full article

The Site

I actually got a few links from sites outside of the norm.

WoW.com pointed my way for the first time, which is saying something given how many WoW blogs there are, when they posted the Lich King Casino Royale Style video.

Then Binge Gamer’s The Bender Podcast mentioned and linked to me two times running with regards to Star Trek Online pre-order items.  I should probably go listen to what they actually said.  I just haven’t had the time.

I also got ..read the full article

Happy New Years from Lissanna of Restokin!

I hope you have a good New Years’ Eve (& new years’ day for some readers!).

Free drinks in Stormwind for Alliance druids are on me (if you are over level 21 in the US)! May your mugs always be full!

This is one of those posts that would be a lot more effective if I had gotten around to doing a post early in the year about what those goals were.

I started on that post, but never quite got around to putting it up.  I have the draft still sitting around, so I’ll work from that.

Cap Out In WoW – Completed

I wanted to hit the level cap of 80 and, with the instance group, finish out all the base five ..read the full article

One of my favorite things to do in any game (when it’s an option at least) is to sit back and relax crafting. There are two games I’ve played that allow me to do this fairly constantly without many interruptions (ie: running out of supplies) one is EQ2 and the other is Vanguard. In most games I have to craft in short spurts, going back for supplies, or it’s so expensive that sitting down for a few hours of crafting ..read the full article

Early happy new year! Don't do anything stupid tonight and see you in 2010!

Cataclysm - ArchaeologyToday is a small recap of Cataclysm professions features! Quote from: Wryxian (Source) Archaeology is the new secondary profession that will be joining the ranks of cooking, fishing, and first aid in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. Archaeology allows the player to unlock new abilities and rewards by discovering ancient treasures throughout the world. Each archaeologist uses the profession to uncover clues hidden in the world ..read the full article

The Star Trek Online area of the UK MMO Hub Star Trek Online site has a listing of all the Star Trek Online pre-order bonuses that are being offered both in Europe and North America.

It currently looks like the only in-game item that European players will get that we in North America won’t is a Starfleet Shuttle, which is available if you order via GameStation.

On the flip side, it looks like Europeans won’t face quite the myriad of conflicting choices ..read the full article

So, for New Years, I wanted to try and reflect more on the positives that have happened for druids in 2009. I’m keeping this short, so I won’t have long explanations.

Best Game Change:

Dual Spec feature! Now, we can be 2 druid specs instead of just one. I think the changes to the grouping system with random cross-server 5-mans comes in a close 2nd.

Best general druid change:

Bear & Cat form graphics! Now, we have more variety in colors!

Best Resto change:

Buffs for nourish! ..read the full article

You didn’t think I was going to close out the year without the traditional “Best of 2009” post, did you? Here’s the top posts of 2009 based on your energy from views, comments, and tweets.

On healing 5 Archetypes of the Healer – First time guest poster Lodur takes a look at the different healing archetypes and the signs to watch for. 4 Reasons Healing Meter Sucks – Ulkesshern guest posts with his thoughts on the flaws of healing meters. The ..read the full article

Hi there mates! According to official news, we are close (damn finally!) to the Fall of the Lich King content update – patch 3.3, the sturdy doors of Icecrown Citadel will be crushed open by us! The most powerful warriors of the Alliance and Horde will finally beat the …. out of evil Arthas, the Lich King. Of course its not for justice, or anything like that – everyone want to take his powerful weapon and take ultimate loot =). ..read the full article

Blizzard Store Image of the Pandaren Monk

Maybe.

Or it is at least close to the last day to buy the Pandaren Monk in-game pet and justify it to yourself that it was a donation to charity.

Half of the purchase price of every Pandaren Monk sold through December 31, 2009 will be donated to the Make-a-Wish Foundation, further demonstrating his benevolent nature (though, in idle moments, he may still practice his Kung Fu moves).  Once activated, this World of Warcraft in-game ..read the full article

 

This is a guest post by Epiphanize, a Resto Druid, and co-host of Raid Warning.

So you’ve just shaken the frost off of your branches and are staring down the entrance to Icecrown Citadel, the final raid of the Wrath of the Lich King expansion.  You and nine of your closest guildies (or 9 random pugs if your unlucky) are ready to face the challenges that await you in your quest to take down Arthas. The first of these will be ..read the full article

While grinding out the quests in S. Mirkwood (how similar in pattern they are to those in Eregion) I’ve taken a break to try out two new-for-me classes: Captain and Rune-keeper. On the whole, I am enjoying both classes and the contrast they make to my main.

Hitherto I’ve only played tank roles. Captain’s support and jack-of-all-trades role is rewarding, and Rune-keeper’s instant death strikes are, well, more satisfying than I realized.

This post’s title refers to the huge change ..read the full article

I’ve been trying to not play my new Death Knight that much, because I don’t want to fall away from my 56 priest ‘main’ – but there’s been one very appealing aspect to this character that I just can’t pull myself away from. One thing I like to do on ‘quiet days’ is farm. Going through old instances and just gathering all the greens I can, silks, craft supplies. Well, as it turns out, Death Knights are amazing at this. ..read the full article

Cataclysm - Path of the TitansThe Path of the Titans is a new form of character leveling introduced in the next expansion. The system is an expansion of the existing Glyphs and will ultimately add 10 Ancient Glyphs slots to your character.

Ancient Glyphs are new items discovered through the new Archaeology profession, at this point we don't really have many details on it and I will probably write a mini-post later.

Unlike conventional Glyphs, the Ancient Glyphs won't be ..read the full article

If you are mining in EVE Online you had best keep an eye on who is coming and going in your system and make sure you have a your shield booster ready to activate, because it looks like Hulkageddon will return.

Yes, from January 7th through the 14th of 2010 the swarthy pirate set will be vying for billions of ISK in prize money plus special achievement awards, all for killing the most mining ships in Empire space.  You can even ..read the full article