WoW-Pro Addon Version 0.5

I just uploaded a new version of the WoW-Pro Addon alpha build over on it's website, https://sites.google.com/site/wowproaddon.

New Feature Completed: Sticky Steps

New in this version is the |US| unsticky tag, which completes the "sticky steps" feature. Sticky steps are created using the |S| sticky tag, which causes the step to float at the top of the guide window. These steps indicate things the user should do as they go, while completing the other steps in the guide.


The |US| tag causes the step to be removed from the sticky part of the frame and come back down to the main frame, indicating that the user now needs to complete that step. All that is required is for the two steps to have the same name. The |N| can be completely different, and often should be during the |US| step to inform the user that it's their last chance to complete that step.

There are still quite a few missing features and bugs in the addon, but it's coming along nicely all the same and the support from the WoW-Pro community has been phenomenal.

Remember, if you want to get real time updates of what I'm working on in the addon, follow me on Twitter!

I'll be very busy the next week moving and visiting family, so expect the next update the weekend after next!

Updated: WoW-Pro Improvements

Wow has it been a while since I've posted here! I'm still active on my Twitter account and over at WoW-Pro. I've been working hard on an addon to bring WoW-Pro guides into the game, you can check it out over at: https://sites.google.com/site/wowproaddon

Jame has asked me to update my old list of possible improvements for WoW-Pro.com, so here is what I've got:

• Comment Rating - It's been mentioned and I still am looking forward to it. A simple thumbs up or down would be all that's needed for this. Add to this graying out or minimizing badly ranked comments and automatic comment purging.
  
• Improved Categorization - Some of the organization of guides can be improved. There are some issues that Jame has mentioned - atm, guides can't be in two categories at once, so things like class-specific leveling guides make for confusion.
• Featured Guide - it would be cool to have a special "Featured Guide" that changes periodically, that could be based on the guide's ratings. This could appear on the main page or on a sidebar.
• Automation of the Karma System - As a moderator, I've got to say that keeping track of Karma for comments is just not going to happen. Karma for guides is possible, but what about Karma for addon work? Blog posts? And whatnot. Some automation in the Karma system is on the top of my wish list. Pretty much all the ranks below Moderator could be automated as well, but I would definitely recommend NOT automating the Moderator rank.
• View Count - Check out how many unique users/IP views a guide has gotten. I always am curious if people actually ever read my guides.
• General Guides - A silly pet peeve of mine, these guides are not general, they are quite specific - general would be something like "WoW tips" or whatever. Maybe change title to "More Guides" or something.
• Comment Notification - a simple notification, similar to the PM one already in place, for when someone comments on your guide or responds to a comment of yours. I know this is already in place for watched guides, but having an option to turn it on automatically for comment strings you are participating in could be nice.
  
• Karma for Ranking Guides - One point of Karma for ranking guides might be nice, though this might be a bit much too. Some reward to get people out there and rating the guides would be good.
• Clear Policy for Guide "Purges" - By purge I mean simply putting a guide back to Work in Progress. Something like "If a guide has five votes and has a ranking of 2 or less it goes back to work in progress". We want everyone to contribute but we also want to be known for having high quality guides.
• Blogs - I know a few users have, in the past, wanted to come out with mini-guides or weekly tips. Having some category or format more tailored to this type of "guide" might be nice, though the current system (putting them in their own category) works okay.
  

I'll add to this as I think of things.

Patch 3.3.3 Goodies!

MMO Champion put up their summary of the PTR 3.3.3 patch notes today, and there are a lot of interesting things in there.

• [Frozen Orbs] may be less useless in the coming patch, as they will be used as currency, but to buy what, we don't know yet. There are some conjectures that things like [Frost Lotus] or even emblems may be purchasable in this manner. The bottom line is, HANG ON TO YOUR ORBS! I know some people have gotten in the habit of VENDORING these items because they sell so badly on the AH these days. Keep them, they may just be useful!
• Cooldowns will be removed for crafting [Titansteel Bars], [Moonshroud], [Spellweave] and [Ebonweave]. These items will probably be dropping drastically in price, so try to sell the ones you've got now.
• Some fun changes to battlegrounds on the way, including the random battleground feature. Marks will no longer be used to buy stuff, so use em up now! This is good news for me, since I will be farming my battleground mounts in the future!
• Deserter debuff buffed! I really hate this change. This means that, if a tank bails in HHoR and the group doesn't want to find another, everyone but one of you is out of luck for not 15, but now THIRTY minutes!
• Inability to need items clarified. I still call this bullshit, Blizz. If I'm on my tree and a cloth upgrade drops that no one else needs, I should be able to need it. I understand that the rules are in place to protect lower armor type wearers, but it seems ridiculous to force players to shard items that are huge upgrades. This system is clearly broken and needs to be fixed.
• Improvements on the vote to kick system. I like this.
• World event bosses added to dungeon finder! Yay!
• Quest tracking improvements. They seem useful.
• Various class changes, but none involving druids.

Overall I'm looking forward to 3.3.3. What about you folks?

New Toys

If you've been following me on Twitter, you already know of one of my new acquisitions from this weekend. I've added a second as well, and here are the pics for your enjoyment!

[Reins of the Raven Lord]

Spirit Coyote summoned from [Don Carlos' Famous Hat]

I love toys and collectibles, so this was awesome! I'm still going for several of the other rare mounts in the game, I'll post if I ever get one.

For those who don't know:

[Reins of the Raven Lord] is an extremely rare drop from Anzu, an optional boss who can only be summoned by a druid who has completed their epic flight form quest. The boss can be summoned in heroic Sethekk Halls. To access this instance, you must purchase the key, which requires honored with the Lower City. The instance can be solo'd by a bear tank in decent gear.

[Don Carlos' Famous Hat] is a 100% drop item from Don Carlos in heroic Old Hillsbrad Foothills. Though only one hat drops at a time, and it does save you to the instance, the hat can easily be farmed for everyone in your group by leaving the instance and reseting it. Don Carlos will reset. Note that HE WILL DESPAWN if you complete the instance events, so make sure you get your hats first if you plan to complete the instance. You must be honored with the Keepers of Time to purchase the key allowing access to heroic mode. Don Carlos was quite easy for me to solo as a tank in decent gear.

Paladin Power!

I just wanted to share the amazingly awesome event that happened to me and two friends last night. Two "real life" friends and I queued up for normal Forge of Souls. I was playing on Deedlet in her new healing spec, and my two friends were both recently 80 paladins, one a tank and the other ret.

The group we pugged into contained two other ret paladins. It was a group of all paladins! We completed the instance in good order and would have gone on for more if it wasn't so late. The whole time I was cracking up every time I glanced at Grid and saw all pink boxes.

In summary: Paladins rock.

Many Roles

Last time I talked about tanking with different classes. Today I'd like to talk about branching out in a different way: Trying out each possible talent tree for your characters.

On Honani, my main, I've filled every role a druid can fill. I've found that I dislike Boomkin, because I like to be up front and in the action when I DPS. I've healed extensively, and now I tank and kitty DPS as my main two specs. I feel like I have a very solid understanding of all that a druid can do, and I think it has greatly benefited my playstyle.

On Deedlet, my second level 80, I have both tanked and DPSd, and am now building a healing set. I want to try out that last talent tree just to see what it's like. Who knows, what if I really love healing as a paladin? And it seems a shame to have a level 80 character and not try out everything they have available.

On the other hand, during BC, I played a rogue named Jiyambi and never set foot outside of combat daggers spec. She's assassination now, but I've never ever seen the subtlety tree. If she ever gets to level 80, I hope to grab a duel spec and make a PvP spec just to try out that last tree.

Do you find it fun and interesting to try out many different options for your characters? Or do you pick one and stick with it? Have you ever been asked by your guild to change specs only to find that you really like your new one?

In other news, I am hoping to work on a new guide this weekend. We'll see if I manage to finish it!

Tanking: Druid vs Paladin

I've recently begun tanking on my paladin again, to take advantage of the daily frost badge random dungeon in hopes of purchasing some yummy [Primordial Saronite].

The first thing I noticed when switching to her is that her gear really, really sucks.

The second thing is that paladin tanking is a whole heck of a lot different from bear tanking.

Luckily I was with guild mates, so while it was still horribly embarrassing when mobs went running lose among the group, I at least didn't get yelled at and called a noob... well, they called me a noob, but I like to think it was lovingly.

I thought I understood paladin tanking pretty well. 9-6-9-6-9, right? I even had a fancy addon to help me fail less. And my original tanking experience was on my pally. But I've found that transferring from druid AoE tanking (which uses all of one button) to pally AoE tanking (in which you actually have to target different mobs and build threat on them) is a big jump. And pretty much every trash pull is an AoE pull these days.

The main tank in my guild has a level 80 tank of every tanking class, and plays each regularly. How he manages to switch seemlessly from one to another is beyond my comprehension. I will say that, as a main spec healer, playing tanks has brought me some very useful insight into the tools available to those I heal.

What about you folks? Do you play a tank? More than one? If so, do you find it challenging to switch between them?