Revenge of the Jiyas: Coldridge Valley

Revenge of the Jiyas  returns today with an article on Coldridge Valley, the dwarf starting zone. As usual, I'm documenting my speed testing of the WoW-Pro Leveling addon.This time our intrepid adventurer was Jiyadwarf, a dwarf warrior.

Note: The 1-5 starter zones are very quick, with levels flying by so quickly it's hard to get an accurate measurement. Additionally,  the pacing of some starting zones is vastly different than others. It will be nice to have a comparison of how long each takes, but not too much should be read into these tests. The higher level tests will be much more accurate and indicative of zone and guide quality.

Total /played at level 5.5: 33min 
Coldridge Valley (1-5.5): 33min

7.3 min/lvl

Previous Chapters:

• Project Overview
• 1-5: Valley of Trials | Echo Isles | Red Cloud Mesa | Kezan | Deathknell | Sunstrider Isle
          Northshire Valley

I rather like dwarves, and there were a lot of charming things about this zone that worked well. However, there were lots of things that did NOT work, as well. You'll notice right away that the time for this zone is very long compared to other speed throughs. Yes, I ended at a slightly higher level, but I felt like this zone simply didn't want to let you leave.

But first, the good things. I enjoyed that it looked like an actual battle was taking place. There were NPCs helping you fight the troggs. You were gathering supplies the civilians needed (though this had us killing boars and wolves forever to get less than 100% drop items. I guess that's just a thing with dwarves). Your quests had purpose and seemed natural, and at first, weren't ridiculously long. Then, all of a sudden, you are sent by yourself to the caves swarming with trolls and told to kill 10 of them, then 10 more. Bleck. The troll quests seemed to take forever. Finally, when it's time to leave, you find your way blocked. But do you immediately hop onto the gyrocopter offered to help you continue on? No, you have to go back inside and gather a bunch of your stuff (why didn't we have it with us to begin with?). It felt very arbitrary. That said, the gyrocopter ride was awesome, and a good way to introduce the rest of the zone.

The guide for this zone was very good, aside from a couple auto-complete issues. I liked the use of single objective steps as well as a hearthstone use to get you back to town quickly.

I've updated the guide page for this section on WoW-Pro.com, and the changes will be included in the next addon update. I wouldn't recommend trying to update the file on your own unless you are experienced working with addons. If you do decide to update early:

1. Go to the Coldridge Valley page and copy the contents of the guide. 
2. Open up your WoW folder and go to Interface > Addons > WoWPro_Leveling > Horde 
3. Open up 01_05_Gylin_Dwarf_Starter.lua
4. Copy the guide contents there.

Next Up: ALLIANCE - Shadowglen!

Revenge of the Jiyas: Northshire Valley

 We're back to speed testing today with a new Revenge of the Jiyas article! In this series, I document my speed testing of the WoW-Pro Leveling addon. This time through I was in Northshire Valley, on Humanhiya, the human warrior! Sadly I forgot to take screenshots. Oh well, there's always next time!

Note: The 1-5 starter zones are very quick, with levels flying by so quickly it's hard to get an accurate measurement. Additionally,  the pacing of some starting zones is vastly different than others. It will be nice to have a comparison of how long each takes, but not too much should be read into these tests. The higher level tests will be much more accurate and indicative of zone and guide quality.

Total /played at level 5: 18min 
Northshire Valley (1-5): 18min

4.5 min/lvl

Previous Chapters:

• Project Overview
• 1-5: Valley of Trials | Echo Isles | Red Cloud Mesa | Kezan | Deathknell | Sunstrider Isle

This zone was FAST. I have to confess I stopped paying attention occasionally and killed too many creatures for the kills quests, and I still got through it faster than any starter zone so far. That said, it was also incredibly boring. The kill quests were only a small step above the originals for this zone, and they seemed longer for some reason. It also felt like there was a lot of pointless running back and forth, that had nothing to do with the guide and everything to do with bad quest design.

One thing I noticed for this zone, that makes a LOT of sense to me, is that quests are class specific and so are rewards. This makes it impossible for a newbie to accidentally chose the wrong type of gear.

The guide itself was pretty good, but there were definitely some occasions that it needed to say a little more. In particular, it was difficult to know what quest givers where inside the abbey and which were outside, so I'll be adding notes to that effect. I did appreciate the use of hearthstone to return from the final quest objective!

I've updated the guide page for this section on WoW-Pro.com, and the changes will be included in the next addon update. I wouldn't recommend trying to update the file on your own unless you are experienced working with addons. If you do decide to update early:

1. Go to the Northsire Valley page and copy the contents of the guide. 
2. Open up your WoW folder and go to Interface > Addons > WoWPro_Leveling > Horde 
3. Open up 01_11_Kurich_Elwynn_Forest.lua
4. Copy the guide contents there.

Next Up: ALLIANCE - Coldridge Valley!

Revenge of the Jiyas: Sunstrider Isle

 Welcome to another Revenge of the Jiyas article! In this series, I document my speed testing of the WoW-Pro Leveling addon. This time I was testing Sunstrider Isle, the starting zone for blood elves. Join me as I share the beginning of the journey of Jiyelf, the blood elf warrior!

Look at that mocking salute.
She looks like she's going to kick somebody's butt.

Note: The 1-5 starter zones are very quick, with levels flying by so quickly it's hard to get an accurate measurement. Additionally,  the pacing of some starting zones is vastly different than others. It will be nice to have a comparison of how long each takes, but not too much should be read into these tests. The higher level tests will be much more accurate and indicative of zone and guide quality.

Total /played at level 5: 29min 
Sunstrider Isle (1-5): 29min

7.4 min/lvl

Previous Chapters:

• Project Overview
• 1-5: Valley of Trials | Echo Isles | Red Cloud Mesa | Kezan | Deathknell

Overall, I was pretty disappointed with this zone. It's not a bad zone, and it's still better than Valley of Trials, but they simply didn't bother updating it at all with Cataclysm. You still do the same old quests, with very little story involved, killing creatures and looting them. And, as the time above shows, it's not particularly fast.

Despite their datedness, the Eversong Woods are still pretty nice looking.

The guide for this zone was in good shape. There was one note that was a bit out of date, describing  a method for pulling mobs that used to be hostile. One step could also be moved forward. Overall the guide was really good, though, and incorporated use of the hearthstone, which I approve of.

I've updated the guide page for this section on WoW-Pro.com, and the changes will be included in the next addon update. I wouldn't recommend trying to update the file on your own unless you are experienced working with addons. If you do decide to update early:

1. Go to the Sunstrider Isle page and copy the contents of the guide. 
2. Open up your WoW folder and go to Interface > Addons > WoWPro_Leveling > Horde 
3. Open up 01_12_Snowflake_Eversong_Woods.lua
4. Copy the guide contents there.

Next Up: ALLIANCE - Northshire Valley!

Revenge of the Jiyas: Deathknell

Revenge of the Jiyas is back again, and this time in Deathknell, starting area for the Undead. In case you've forgotten, this is a series of articles in which I speed test the  WoW-Pro Leveling addon.Today I'll be sharing the adventures of Deadjiya, the undead warrior.

Deadjiya embraces her new
life as one of the Forsaken.

Note: The 1-5 starter zones are very quick, with levels flying by so quickly it's hard to get an accurate measurement. Additionally,  the pacing of some starting zones is vastly different than others. It will be nice to have a comparison of how long each takes, but not too much should be read into these tests. The higher level tests will be much more accurate and indicative of zone and guide quality.

Total /played at level 5: 22min 
Deathknell (1-5): 22min

5.5 min/lvl

Previous Chapters:

• Project Overview
• 1-5: Valley of Trials | Echo Isles | Red Cloud Mesa | Kezan

I love what they've done with Deathknell and the rest of the undead starting area in Cataclysm. I had the privilege of recording this area's guide the night before the Cataclysm release, and despite the rush, I really enjoyed it, and that definitely hasn't changed. I was also pleasantly surprised by the speed at which I went through the zone. It was the second fastest time so far, losing out to Red Cloud Mesa by only 2 minutes.

Ah, the cheery Tirisfal Glades...

The guide for this zone didn't seem to have any issues that I could see - but as I recorded it, it's unlikely I'll find anything I dislike. Testing your own work is always a bit dangerous, as you don't always see the bugs that may be obvious to others. That said, I mindlessly followed the arrows and did what the guide said, and completed everything with ease.

I do have to say that one of the quests was extremely difficult, and could probably use some tips in the guide. The final quest in which you are sent to kill Marshall Redpath nearly did me in, and I seem to recall dying to it during my first run through of the zone. Not only is Marshall himself pretty tough, but the other mobs are also quite deadly. I could easily see a newbie having trouble with the quest. So, my only change to the guide file was to add a cautionary note for this quest.

Bye for now!

I've updated the guide page for this section on WoW-Pro.com, and the changes will be included in the next addon update. I wouldn't recommend trying to update the file on your own unless you are experienced working with addons. If you do decide to update early:

1. Go to the Deathknell page and copy the contents of the guide. 
2. Open up your WoW folder and go to Interface > Addons > WoWPro_Leveling > Horde 
3. Open up 01_12_Jiyambi_Tirisfal_Glades.lua
4. Copy the guide contents there.

Next Up: Sunstrider Isle!

Revenge of the Jiyas: Kezan

 After a long wait, chapter four of the Revenge of the Jiyas series is here! In case you've forgotten, this is a series of articles in which I speed test the  WoW-Pro Leveling addon. This time, I was testing the goblin starting area, the island of Kezan. I forgot to take screenies this time through, so you're sadly left without that entertainment. 

Note: The 1-5 starter zones are very quick, with levels flying by so quickly it's hard to get an accurate measurement. Additionally,  the pacing of some starting zones is vastly different than others. It will be nice to have a comparison of how long each takes, but not too much should be read into these tests. The higher level tests will be much more accurate and indicative of zone and guide quality.

Total /played at level 5: 35min 
Kezan (1-5): 35min

8.75 min/lvl

Previous Chapters:

• Project Overview
• 1-5: Valley of Trials | Echo Isles | Red Cloud Mesa

Sadly, this was the longest run so far. While a small part of this is because I was out of practice, I feel it's mostly due to the zone design. Kezan is a lot of fun, but it's very spread out and not particularly fast.

The guide played through wonderfully, aside from one coordinate issue, but there were definitely some stylistic problems that I'll be fixing for the next release. Level benchmarks were also unrealistic for a character with no heirlooms, and that will be fixed in the next release.

I've run through Kezan several times before, as I wrote the original paper guide for the zone, but I still love it. Despite it's slightly longer play time, it's one of my favorite starting zones!

I've updated the guide page for this section on WoW-Pro.com, and the changes will be included in the next addon update. I wouldn't recommend trying to update the file on your own unless you are experienced working with addons. If you do decide to update early:

1. Go to the Kezan page and copy the contents of the guide. 
2. Open up your WoW folder and go to Interface > Addons > WoWPro_Leveling > Horde 
3. Open up 01_05_Malorajan_Kezan.lua
4. Copy the guide contents there.

Next Up: Deathknell!

WoW Insider Recommends the WoW-Pro Addon

WoW Insider just threw another recommendation our way in their most recent Addon Spotlight column. A user wrote in seeking a questing replacement for the over-bloated Carbonite, and the addon columnist Matthew McCurley gave us a solid referral. Thanks WoW Insider, we really appreciate the shout out!

Revenge of the Jiyas: Red Cloud Mesa

Chapter three has arrived for the Revenge of the Jiyas series of articles, in which I speed test the  WoW-Pro Leveling addon! Today we begin our journey in the tauren starting zone, Red Cloud Mesa, located in Mulgore. We follow Jiyacow, the mighty tauren warrior, as she sets out to make a name for herself.

Is that supposed to be a salute?

Note: The 1-5 starter zones are very quick, with levels flying by so quickly it's hard to get an accurate measurement. Additionally,  the pacing of some starting zones is vastly different than others. It will be nice to have a comparison of how long each takes, but not too much should be read into these tests. The higher level tests will be much more accurate and indicative of zone and guide quality.

Total /played at level 5: 20min 
Red Cloud Mesa (1-5): 20min

4.8 min/lvl

Previous Chapters:

• Project Overview
• 1-5: Valley of Trials | Echo Isles

The run time for this zone was definitely shorter than the last two starters. Whether I'm just getting faster at setting up my UI or this zone is simply better designed, I'm not certain. It did seem pretty efficient, especially compared to the drugery of Valley of Trials. The quests weren't as fun as those in the Echo Isles, but they weren't awful, and setting pigs on fire was kinda cool. The flow was very nice, sending you in a circular pattern around the mesa rather than having you return to the central hub every time.

They added a very stylin' and fast way to get to the next town, too!

For the most part, the guide was very well done for this zone. However I did find a couple issues. First, one of the quests didn't show the quest tracking due to a spelling error. Second, the step where you hearth to Camp Narache and get your skills was both incorrectly coded so it did not auto-complete, and also should have been moved one step later to minimize running around. These issues are now fixed and will appear in the next update for the addon.

Overall I really enjoyed this starter. They kept a lot of the flavor of the original zone, but revamped it to improve flow and make quests more interesting. If only they had done the same for the Valley of Trials!

Bye now, brown cow!

I've updated the guide page for this section on WoW-Pro.com, and the changes will be included in the next addon update. I wouldn't recommend trying to update the file on your own unless you are experienced working with addons. If you do decide to update early:

1. Go to the Red Cloud Mesa page and copy the contents of the guide. 
2. Open up your WoW folder and go to Interface > Addons > WoWPro_Leveling > Horde 
3. Open up 01_12_Gylin_Mulgore.lua. 
4. Copy the guide contents there.

Next Up: Kezan!

Revenge of the Jiyas: Echo Isles

Chapter two is here for my new series of articles in which I speed test the  WoW-Pro Leveling addon! Today we're testing the troll starting zone, the Echo Isles. Jiyatroll, the wise and powerful warrior, is just starting her days as an adventurer.

She doesn't look too excited...

Note: The 1-5 starter zones are very quick, with levels flying by so quickly it's hard to get an accurate measurement. Additionally,  the pacing of some starting zones is vastly different than others. It will be nice to have a comparison of how long each takes, but not too much should be read into these tests. The higher level tests will be much more accurate and indicative of zone and guide quality.

Total /played at level 5.5: 28min 
Echo Isles (1-5): 28min

6 min/lvl

Previous Chapters:

• Project Overview
• 1-5: Valley of Trials

I love trolls. And the new starting area is just awesome. But I need to disclose something - it actually took me almost 45 minutes to do this. FORTY FIVE MINUTES. You know why? Because there is a nasty bugged quest. Sometimes, during the quest Young and Vicious, the raptor Swiftclaw will simply not spawn. I spent almost 20 minutes sitting around, assuming other people were just getting to him before I did, waiting for him to appear. Finally I went and looked it up - apparently he just doesn't show up sometimes, and you have to abandon and re-acquire the quest. Soooo.... that's something I'm adding as a note, so no one else has to waste 20 minutes on it! Because of this, I didn't include those 20 minutes in the guide time.

Chillin with my homie Vol'jin.

Aside from that little hiccup, I felt like this zone breezed by. It has so many fun and endearing quests, it simply destroys Valley of Trials in the fun factor. I felt like it went a lot faster than Valley of Trials, too, but the /played seems to think otherwise - they came out the same. Well, at least time will seem to go faster!

Stepping onto the mainland, and to more adventures!

I've updated the guide page for this section on WoW-Pro.com, and the changes will be included in the next addon update. I wouldn't recommend trying to update the file on your own unless you are experienced working with addons. If you do decide to update early:

1. Go to the Echo Isles page and copy the contents of the guide. 
2. Open up your WoW folder and go to Interface > Addons > WoWPro_Leveling > Horde 
3. Open up 01_05_Bitsem_Echo_Isles.lua. 
4. Copy the guide contents there.

Next Up: Red Cloud Mesa!

Revenge of the Jiyas: Valley of Trials

Here it is: The first installment of my new series of articles in which I speed test the  WoW-Pro Leveling addon! Today we take a look at the orc starting zone, the Valley of Trials. Our intrepid orc warrior, Jiya, is ready to begin her journey!

She sure thinks she's special.

Note: The 1-5 starter zones are very quick, with levels flying by so quickly it's hard to get an accurate measurement. Additionally,  the pacing of some starting zones is vastly different than others. It will be nice to have a comparison of how long each takes, but not too much should be read into these tests. The higher level tests will be much more accurate and indicative of zone and guide quality.

Total /played at level 5.5: 28min 
Valley of Trials (1-5): 28min

6 min/lvl

Previous Chapters:

• Project Overview

 The time for this might be a little deceiving, because I spent roughly 5 minutes setting up my UI at the beginning of the test. However, I'll need to do that for every new character I start, so I decided not to try to correct for that time - it would simply make the /played calculations more complicated. Additionally, the starter zones measurements and calculations are extremely rough at best, since the levels go by so quickly, that I doubt it's worth it.

I wouldn't recommend much changed in this guide. This makes sense considering I created it in the first place - I should hope I would be satisfied with it! However, I would recommend having the user use their hearthstone to get back to The Den quickly at the end of the cave quest circuit. That cooldown is not being utilized and it can definitely save some time. It's nice that I have timing information now so I can tell easily exactly how often the hearthstone can be used in a guide!

Now let's talk about the zone. Bleh. With all the awesome work Blizz did to improve other starting zones, it's really disappointing that they  didn't bother improving this one. It's sad that this will be the first thing some players see of the game, because the game play is extremely dated (as in, not changed since the beginning of WoW). Oh well, at least they kept the peon-smacking quest in there!

I've updated the guide page for this section on WoW-Pro.com, and the changes will be included in the next addon update. I wouldn't recommend trying to update the file on your own unless you are experienced working with addons. If you do decide to update early:

1. Go to the Valley of Trials page and copy the contents of the guide. 
2. Open up your WoW folder and go to Interface > Addons > WoWPro_Leveling > Horde 
3. Open up 01_05_Jiyambi_Valley_of_Trials.lua. 
4. Copy the guide contents there.

Next Up: The Echo Isles!

Revenge of the Jiyas: WoW-Pro Speed Testing

I was reading through some of my old posts and I cam across my Adventures of Mokrana series from back in 2009. In case you weren't reading the blog back then, this was a series of articles where I documented speed and efficiency testing runs for the WoW-Pro Leveling addon. I remembered how fun that was, and how interesting it was to see how the different chapters of the guide matched up.

So I've decided to start a new series: The Revenge of the Jiyas. In this series I'll be running a small army of alts (all with various versions of "Jiya" as their names) through every guide in the WoW-Pro addon. I've decided to do this test using all warriors, since it will be the best way to compare between guides - every race can be a warrior, after all! Warriors aren't ridiculously good at soloing, like hunters are, but they aren't too shabby at it either, having a lot of health, good defenses, and the ability to move quickly via charging. Overall I think it will be a good average experience.


The Rules

• NO rested XP! I'll be logging out OUTSIDE of inns and major cities.
• NO heirlooms! I'll only wear what gear I find, get from questing, or can legitimately afford on the auction house.
• NO help from high level characters, in money or runs! I'm starting on a brand new server where I don't know anyone, and since I'm speed leveling, I won't be socializing. So I'm on my own!
• NO dungeons, PvP, etc. This is a test of the questing guides, specifically.

Caveats

• NO professions. I'm already handicapping myself enough, and I'm also documenting my progress via notes and screenshots as I go, which will slow me a small amount. I won't be taking extra time out for professions, even gathering ones.
• YES - I have an auctioneer. I'll be mailing all my marketable items to her, and she'll sell them. I won't be playing the auction house in any other way, though.

The Process

I will be recording how long each quest circuit takes and measuring that in hr/lvl. That means, how many hours it would take to gain one level at that experience rate. I think measuring this way will make more sense than levels/hr, as most people want to know how long it takes to get to the next level, NOT how much of a level an hour's play will get them.

I'll be covering one zone at a time, starting with ALL of the starter zones. Doing it in this way will allow us to get a clear idea of how similar zones compare in speed.

Along the way I'll be making notes of things that worked well and things that didn't, both in terms of the actual quests from Blizzard, as well as the guide. In my write up, I'll include these notes, as well as an updated version of the guide with these issues fixed. These updates will be available in the next version of the WoW-Pro addon, but you can get them early from my blog!

My final write up will have a spreadsheet showing the quest circuits, start and end times and levels, and the hr/lvl rate for each. I'll  have a write up in prose accompanying this, as well as screenshots. I'll compare the guide and zone to the others in that bracket which I've completed so far. Finally, I'll include a download link for the updated guide.

When I complete a "bracket" of zones (all zones of a particular level range), I'll write up a summary comparing all the zones and recommending the best for leveling.

I've already completed the Durotar guide, and you should expect to see it posted here sometime tomorrow!

Addon Update and Guide Recorder!

The addon has been updated to v1.6.1! You can download it here, or from the addon site of your choice. Changes this time through include:

New Features

• Several guide files have been updated
• Tooltip added to the minimap
• Sound added when you complete a step (optional, customizable)

Bug Fixes:

• General cleanup of quest loop up process
• Fix issue

---

Also: The WoW-Pro Guide Recorder has arrived! You can download it here or from your addon website of choice. It's still a bit buggy and the scroll feature doesn't seem to be fully functional with it yet, but it definitely works!

 ANYONE IN THE BETA - it would be a HUGE help if you wanted to run the recorder while you play, pretty much in any zone. If it's a zone which already has a "paper" guide, it would be best if you followed the guide - but even if it doesn't have one or you don't follow it, it's still a really big help to get those guide files started.

When you are ready to quit or reload your UI, make sure you hit the save icon. This will pop up a window with an edit box. Select all, copy, and post the result here on the website. It will then also save the guide in your WTF folder, so you can open it up and work on it again. If copy/pasting the stuff from the edit box doesn't work for you, you can also send the WTF file in.

Thanks in advance, it would be awesome to have an army of WoW-Pro folks recording guides for pretty much every zone in the beta. Looking forward to it!

---

Coming Soon: I'll be working on a major site organizational update, along with WoW-Pro user Skumball. We're focusing on moving old or outdated guides into work-in-progress mode and getting guides up to date and in places where they will be easy to find. Additionally, I'll be improving addon documentation, the how to contribute page, and the needed guides page.

Look forward to it!

Addon Update - v1.4.0

It's that time again! I just uploaded another update to the WoW-Pro leveling addon. Click here to download it!

This update is mostly bug fixes, with one nice new feature added by Silvann - coordinate based completion! This means we can have a run step which directs the user to an exact location, rather than just a general area. Thanks for the awesome contribution, Silvann!

Full version notes incoming...

New Features

• Coordinate based completion. GUIDE CODERS: Use |CC| to enable coordinate completion, and |CS| for a specific coordinate sequence, both with R type steps.
• Several guide files have been updated

Bug Fixes:

• Minor bugs with mapping coordinates fixed
• Error causing Hellfire Peninsula guide to be unplayable has been fixed
• Issues in several guides caused by a lack of a QID have been fixed
• Faction neutral guides should now correctly show up in the guide list
• Accept steps with |PRE| tags will no longer be incorrectly skipped

Tour Guide Recorder

Pretzl recently discovered that Tekkub is still updating his Tour Guide Recorder over on WoW Interface. The Tour Guide Recorder can be used to create guide files for our addon as well, though some editing will be needed to change the coordinate style from TourGuide's version to our own. Obviously these guides will be very bare bones, with no notes and none of the awesome features we've added (such as sticky steps, ranking, and step skipping). But it can be a great way to start, especially when writing guides from scratch. Until I can put together our own in game recorder and editor, this is a great option. Thanks Pretzl, for finding this!

The World of Jiya

An update on what's going on with me - I've been even busier than expected. I'm still unpacking in my new home, and school starts at 8am tomorrow morning (ewww). Still, I expect that things will shortly settle down and I will be back to my old active self.

ADDON UPDATE - v1.3.0

The WoW-Pro addon has been updated! You can download it here.

Target Button

One of the coolest new features in the addon is the addition of a target button. If the guide author includes the new |T| target tag and the name of a mob or NPC, a button will appear next to the step. If you click the button, the game will attempt to target the mob, and if found, will place a skull above their head. This will be great for hard to find quest mobs, especially those who can spawn in one of several places.

Scrolling

Scrolling is now possible in the main guide window! This is awesome for guide authors in particular, since it allows you to see all steps in a guide much more easily. Our typical user will probably never use this feature (indeed I would recommend you not to!) but for authors who need to move around in the guide and see completed steps, it's great!

Step Ranking

This is probably going to be one of the most important features in the addon, but it will need to be coded into guides before it will do anything. The idea is that you now have a sliding scale from 1-5 where you can choose the level of "completeness" you want - 5 being the most complete, 1 being the least. People with tons of heirlooms, recruit a friend bonus, rested XP, or who like to run dungeons can choose a lower rating, since they tend to level faster. People who don't have any bonuses or who are going for questing achievements can choose 5. Guide authors will rank steps based on how important they are and how easy they are to do. Quests with great rewards (XP and/or gear), which aren't too difficult, and which aren't out of the way, will be ranked 1 (most important). Quests which aren't too far out of the way but which only have mediocre awards will be ranked around 3. Quests with little reward and which take you out of your way will be ranked 5 (least important). Any inranked steps will be considered a 1.

As you can see, this will revolutionize our guide and make it much more useful to a wider variety of people. Unfortunately, we won't really be able to see the full awesomeness of this feature until it is implemented throughout a guide. Our goal is to have all of these features fully implemented in our Cataclysm guides, so you should be able to see all of them in action when the expansion is released.

Change Log

Here is a full list of the changes in this version.

New Features

• Several new tags added to help make our guides even more clear! See the "guide writers" section below for details
• Scrolling in the normal guide frame! You can now enable scrolling in the display options, which will also display ALL quests, including optional and skipped ones.
• Target button - if the guide coder provides the name of a target mob or NPC, the guide will now show a target button next to the step which will target that mob or NPC if they are in range and place a skull above their head, so you can easily locate patrolling or otherwise hard to find mobs.
• New step ranking system ranks the importance of steps! This allows you to choose how complete you would like your experience of a zone to be. If you just want to level and get out of there, and if you have heirloom gear or recruit a friend bonuses or run instances, you can set the addon to a lower level of completeness to skip unnecessary quests. NOTE: While this has been implemented in the addon, it has not yet been added to guides. This will happen gradually, but should be implemented in Cataclysm guides by the expansion's release.

Guide Writers

Several new tags and steps have been implemented:

• LVL - use this tag to denote a step that completes once the user reaches that level. There is also a new step type, L, to denote a step that completes once the user levels up.
• LEAD - use for lead in or breadcrumb type quests, followed by the QID for the quest it leads to. This step will be checked off if the user has already completed the quest it leads up to.
• T - target tag. Follow by the name of the mob or NPC you want the user to be able to target.
• r - Repair/restock step. Behaves exactly like a N step in that it must be checked off, but has a nice repair/restock icon.
• P - profession tag. Follow by the name of the profession, and optionally the level of the profession required for the step. The step will only be displayed if the character has that professions at that level.
• RANK - this tag should be used as much as possible from now on, and denotes how important a quest is. 1 is the most important and will NEVER be skipped. 5 is the least important. Vital quest chains with great XP and item rewards should be marked 1. Things that are neutral in rewards but which are convenient to do should be around a 3. Things that take you out of your way and aren't particularly rewarding should be marked a 5. Anything unmarked will be considered a 1. In general, a character with heirlooms and RAF should be able to get through the guide on a setting of 1, while a character with none of these bonuses and who doesn't do instances or have rested would need a setting of 5.

Bug Fixes:

• Conflict with BlizzBugsSuck resolved
• The |NC| noncombat tag will now only apply to C complete steps.
• Several bugs due to lack of a check to make sure the QID was provided
• Addon should now correctly count skipped quests toward guide completion in the progress count
• General restructuring and streamlining of quest skipping and display functions should improve performance and reduce bugs

Moving Time

I will be moving this weekend, so this is it for me until next week. I hope everyone enjoys the update, and I'll be back battling bugs and working on Cataclysm guides after the weekend!

Secret New Project

I've started work on a new project, inspired by Pretzl of WoW-Pro. I'll be working on it in my off time when I need a break from addon work. It's pretty small, but a fun little guide that I hope people will find amusing and useful, or at least an interesting peak into the beta for those who don't have access.

I won't tell you all exactly what it is yet, though! It will be a surprise!

Beta Buzz

I've been exploring the beta, and I have to say I can amuse myself for hours just flying around looking at the changed scenery. It's gorgeous. I've also peeked into some of the low level dungeons, and I definitely like the changes I see. Beautiful dungeon maps, quest givers at the beginning of the instance - oh to level at such a time!

My biggest disappointment this week was learning that the year's work I put into What a Long Strange Trip It's Been is essentially worthless. The Violet Proto-Drake has been downgraded to a 280% mount, and you have to buy the next level of flying just like everyone else if you want to fly at 310% speed. I think this was a bad call on Blizzard's part, basically taking away a fun toy that people worked hard to earn. I understand not applying that 310% to all our other mounts, but they should have let us keep the fast speed on the ugly purple drake, at least. Oh well.

The World of Jiya

I will be moving this Saturday, and plan to get a new version of the addon up before then. I'm also working hard on the guide recorder, but it's slow going. Hats off to Shakazahn, who found an abandoned project similar to ours which uses a guide recorder - we'll be reverse engineering it to get ideas on how to implement ours.

Future Plans

Once the craze of getting leveling guides ready to go dies down, I'd really like to purchase FRAPS and get some video editing software so I can make some video guides. I'd like to think I'd do a decent job of it. Subjects I could cover include boss fights, achievements, class advice, and who knows what else!

That's all I have for today, just wanted to give you folks an update on the goings-on for WoW-Pro and myself.

ADDON UPDATE - v1.2.0

Hi everyone!

I just released the next update for the WoW-Pro addon! You can download it here.

Step Skipping

My favorite feature in this update is the step skipping logic. It's really going to make this addon amazing once it's incorporated into the guide files. Basically, when you skip a step, it's added to your skipped step list. Any step that's dependent on that QID will also be skipped, including complete and turn in steps. Also, any step that lists your skipped step in the |PRE| (prerequisites) tag will ALSO be added to the skip list, and skipped.

It works backwards too - if you un-skip that early quest, it will un-skip your later quests too.

Unfortunately we'll need the guide editing community to do a lot of updating to get this feature to be the best it can be, but I think ultimately it will take our guides one level above where they are now. Eventually you'll also be able to mouse over a step and see all of it's prerequisites. Pretty awesome!

For users - the default (left click) behavior of check boxes is to skip steps. Since that's what people were mostly using the manual check off for anyway, you shouldn't notice any change. If you want to manually complete a step (as opposed to skipping it), just right click instead.

Resetting the guide resets any steps that were skipped in that guide.

Smooth Resize

I want to give a shout out and thanks to silvann over on WoW-Pro.com, who solved our strange resize issue. The guide can now be manually resized smoothly and beautifully. Silvann is also working on a method for auto-completing steps when a coordinate has been reached, as well as the dungeon module for the addon. Thanks silvann, you rock!

Change Log

Here's the full list of changes and fixes in this version of the guide

New Features:

• Coordinates now pull from Lightheaded if it’s installed and the coordinates aren’t provided in the guide (for interim use ONLY – all coordinates will be provided in the future)
• Manual resizing is now smooth and pretty. Thanks a ton, Silvann!
• When a step is completed in combat, it is checked off so that it’s clear it is completed. Update will happen when exiting combat.
• When a quest objective is completed, a © is placed next to it in the quest tracking text.
• Logic is now in place for step skipping and dependencies! Guide coders: Please use |PRE| followed by the prerequisite’s quest ID for any and all quests with prerequisites! Users: you can left click a step’s checkbox to skip it – right clicking marks it complete manually.
• New tag for C (complete) type steps – add |NC| on the end for non-combat quests, this turns the icon from the crossed swords into a gear to represent the lack of combat in the step.
• Multiple quest objectives can be added to a single step using the |QO| tag, just use a ; semicolon in between them.
• Many guides have been updated. You may want to reset the guide you are on to avoid version conflicts.

Bug Fixes:

• Guide window will no longer move off the screen when minimized.
• Night Elf starter guide will no longer cause weird issues on initial load up
• Errors should no longer be thrown when dealing with partial quest completion steps.

Future Posts

I will be gone for most of this week - I'm preparing for a big move, and will be meeting my new house mates and going through my stuff that's in storage, so I'll be unable to play, post, or respond to comments until sometime next weekend.

However, once that's done, I am going to be posting here more often with updates, musings, and cataclysm sneak peaks. Look forward to it!

Addon Release Version

I'm very pleased to announce the official release of the WoW-Pro addon!

 It's still may have a few hidden bugs, but it's been working great and we have over 1000 downloads combined from WoW Interface and Curse, not to mention those who have gotten it directly from WoW-Pro.

It's the hope of Jame and I that hosting this addon on the major addon websites will bring more people to WoW-Pro.We're going to be continuing to improve the addon from here on out, as well, so keep checking back in!

In other news, Jame and I may have gotten some beta keys. Lets hope it works out, we'll be in the beta soon writing some awesome guides for you all to enjoy!

Addon Alpha - Version 0.12.1 - BETA CANDIDATE

Another round of bug fixes later, and it's that time again folks!

http://wiki.github.com/Jiyambi/WoW-Pro-Guides/

This time through, we had mostly bug fixes. The only new feature added is support for multiple profiles for your display settings, courtesy of Ace3

Our addon alpha files have moved to github. Everything is still available in zip format for the many folks who aren't familiar with git, but we now to have a git repository available for the programmers out there!

Feel free to make an account over on github (it's free) and leave feedback there via the awesome issue tracker. However, I'll still respond to any feedback sent via WoW-Pro, email, blog, or twitter, just as I have been

Thanks for the hard work everyone, we are almost there!

WoW-Pro Addon Version 0.12 - BETA Candidate

Alright folks, this could be it. I've uploaded the most recent version of the addon, and I've crossed every bug and needed feature off my list. So if this goes well in testing, I'll release it on the main WoW-Pro site next week.

Bug Fixes:

•  Double-clicking the titlebar to hide the guide no long makes the guide display an empty window on reopen when resize is enabled
• Tooltips no longer appear off the screen if the guide is placed on the left side of the screen. NOTE: Itembuttons will always appear on the left side. It was producing a lot of lag to try and move them, and I think they still look better over there even with the guide is on that side of the screen.
• The guide no longer jumps in position when being hidden or when automatically resizing itself when using the manual step number setting.
• The lag due to changing the guide's size or the row spacing or size is now gone.
• Quest tracking now works when you first load up your character - it was not working until guide update or reload in the past.

New Features:

• Cooldown on Item Buttons
• Confirmation Message - when the addon tries to load the next guide after you've completed one. You have the option to choose a guide from the menu instead.
• Optional |O| and Prerequisite |PRE| tags - Full functionality added. |O| tags must be accompanied by a |PRE| tag or a |L| tag to work. The |O| step will display only if the |PRE| quest is complete, or if the required |L| items are in the player's inventory
• Minimap Button can be hidden
• Version Number - now displayed in the config panel

Still To Come:

• |LVL| tag, displayed if you are below that level
• |T| tag, targets specified mob and marks it
• |LEAD| tag, for optional lead-in quests that don't show up if you've already completed their follow-up
• Z step type. Because Horde have zeppelins not boats dammit!
• Quest dependencies
• Quest skipping
• Right click step to share quests
• Numbered ranking for steps, and a difficulty slider that allows users to skip unimportant / lower XP quests. Intended for RaF, heirlooms, or heavy instancers. (conversely also good for completists, who can use the lowest setting).

 Test away, and let me know if you notice any issues!

WoW-Pro Addon Version 0.11

This is just a quick patch which fixes some bugs and adds a couple features.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I included the guides which were modified by Shakazam as well as the most up to date guides that others have uploaded here. So if you are working on a guide right now, PLEASE make a back up of it and be careful that your working version doesn't get overwritten when you download this new update!


Bug Fixes:

• New Character Load: Fixed the issue that was causing multiple errors on load for any new characters other than orcs, trolls, or draenei. Sorry, I thought I fixed this long ago but apparently I didn't!
  
• Nil Guide Infinite Loop: Nil guide was set to load itself upon completion, causing an infinite loop. I fixed this and also coded for the case where a "next guide" was not listed, so the user should not see any errors due to this anymore.

New features:

• Enable/Disable: The addon as a whole and also individual modules can now be enabled or disabled from their config panels. Disabling hides the frames and unregisters events, but leaves the config panels and minimap button in place.
  
• Load Default Settings: The main config panel now has an option to reload the default settings.
  
  
• Panda: Thanks to Gylin, who located the in game icon, we now have an actual panda icon which matches WoW-Pro's logo. Yay!
  

More features are hopefully on the way tomorrow, but I wanted to get this quick patch out to help with those nasty bugs!

WoW-Pro Addon Version 0.10

A new version of the addon is available for download, and boy is it a big one! This newest version is packed FULL of new features.

Bug Fixes:

• Item buttons work! The code cleanup to prepare for the customization features magically fixed our weird issue with the item button. Yay! We still need to add the cooldown but it's looking good!
• Code cleanup - anyone working on the code please take note that I've cleaned up a LOT involving the code frames. They have changed significantly so please check them if you are working on something. In particular, I've completely revamped the way sticky frames are handled. Ask me if you need help with this. NOTE: This is all internal code, people writing guide files shouldn't notice anything!

New features:

• Customization! You can now customize:
• Background texture and color, both for the main guide window and for sticky steps. Can use alpha to make frame transparent.
• Border type, and whether it's present at all.
• Titlebar color, and whether it's present at all.
• Text - size, color, and font.
• Notes - hover over or always displayed
• Enable/disable drag and resize
• Padding and spacing
• Manually set the number of steps displayed - guide window will resize to the number specified if this option is enabled.
• Menu buttons - I added new buttons to the right-click dropdown menu! You can reset the current guide and open up the new display customization from here
• Quest Tracker - optional. Tracks quest just like the normal quest tracker. Shows under all "complete" steps, or "note"/"kill" steps that complete based on partial quest objectives. Not yet thoroughly tested so please provide feedback!
• Click to open quest - Just click a step to open it's corresponding quest if the quest is in your log!
• Progress - displayed on Title Bar. In the future may add an option to display a percentage instead of a straight # / #. Did some corrections to how these numbers are calculated so they will be more accurate.
• Guide Load On Complete - When an old guide is completed, a new one loads! There isn't a confirmation message for this yet, but it will be added.
• Minimap Button / LDB Object - For now this only opens and closes the addon's frame on left click and opens options on right click. It might have more functionality in the future.

Known Issues / Needed Additions:

• Enable/Disable of the addon as a whole or the leveling module aren't set up yet, so don't be alarmed!
• Frame is generally set up to be situated on the right side of the screen only (in terms of where tooltips appear). No this is not how it will always be, but that's how it is for the time being.
• When using manual step number, when the guide resizes itself, it anchors to it's center so it's resize acts a little weird. I need to investigate how to go about fixing this - help greatly appreciated. Note that this also happens when the guide is resized to hide it when double clicking the title bar.
• On guide update and any time the height of the rows is changed, there is a decent amount of lag. I don't like this but I'm not sure if we'll be able to easily change it. The source of the lag is definitely the WoWPro.RowSizeSet() function, which seems kind of strange because it only has 15 repetitions and other functions have much more and don't cause the lag issue. Go go gadget programmers, figure it out! :)
• There is still no cooldown on the item buttons, I've been meaning to add it back in but haven't got around to it yet.
• When auto-loading the next guide, there needs to be a confirmation message.
• Need an option to reload the default display settings.
• On initial guide load, quest tracking doesn't seem to work. As soon as the addon is updated, however, it works as intended. Can't figure out why this is >_<
  

Once all the known issues are fixed and the needed additions are added, this version should be ready for beta release. It's still kind of a long list, but I'm confident we'll be able to get them done fairly quickly.

Programmers: I need help most with finding out whats going on with the resize (actually it's a :SetHeight() function) and why there is so much lag when we call WoWPro.RowSizeSet(). Anyone who can shed some light on one of those two issues wins tons of karma, both the intangible kind and the kind that means points and privileges on WoW-Pro!