Excellent review, thank you. I have one question: With Inscription and specifically glyphs, what would a paladin in my situation do?

- I am the class leader for my guild (about 10 pallys) and am also probably one of the 5 best players in my guild. What this has meant for me in TBC is about 3-5 respec’s per week for the last 18 months or so. Reasons being A: now that all three specs were raid viable, I would not make a very good CL if I did not have a strong understanding of all three spec’s, and B: (this being the far stonger of the two reasons) I had to fill a different role in nearly every raid, and often (Mt. Hyjal, TK, SSC) 2-3 roles in one night, a paladin not being an optimal tank against Archimonde, and not an optimal dps or tank option against Vashj or Kael.

So right now there does not seem to be a way to switch back and forth as far as glyphs are concenered with two different specs, unless you are constantly buying new glyphs. There were rumors circulating that Blizzard would implement some form of Spec saver, allowing a player to save two different specs and be able to switch between the two at will. But there is no secondary glyph page in my spec book. So, in your opinion, was blizzard’s idea of two spec’s more along the lines of PvE ret and PvP ret? And much the same for other classes?

- See I had no problem tanking all the trash waves in Mount Hyjal and then hearthing and respec’ing to Ret for Archimonde – Because it meant that I got to keep playing as opposed to the guild taking a rogue that was waiting outside. Or even to a greater degree: DPS’ing for all of SSC, then hearthing to respec to Prot for Morogrim, then immeadiately hearthing and respec’ing holy for vashj (similar in TK). But now with the glyphs it would seem that even my willingness to respec from ret to holy and my skill as a player may not be enough to persuade the RL to take me to a boss fight if there is another strong healer waiting outside the instance with all of his/her healing glyphs in order.

I hope I have not made my questions too vague.

Thank you

This said, I have often asked others to respec, when they didnt I found that I only had need of them as back ups. I explained to them what my expectations were, I also explained that I knew atleast 3 other guild leaders, of almost the same progression that would gladly take them and use them.

You may think it is unfair, but there are more opinions then yours, in a raid I have 25 people, and on the forums I see them speak there minds, tell me there expectations, and I only pander to the expectations that fit the whole, and the #1 is that we kill stuff get loot, and do so with as little drama and slow down (Waiting to look for fill ins, or afks’s) as possible. If it is your job to keep people happy or lose them, the greater good is your responsability. Plus its YOUR guild, and your opertunity, your hard work reading and getting people ready, first to every raid, always on time. You as a leader have to out work everyone to be an example.

Correct. Though, for measure, I guess it would depend on the individual’s inclinations. Their tabards will not give reputation, so they are the only way to obtain reputation. But I believe they will be worth less post-release. Because anyone can go out and AoE farm the hell out of them should they wish to maximize their reputation and work on the exalted rep achievement.

I’ve viewed it on IE and there’s nothing wrong that I can see. You may need to update to the latest version, as there could be some stylesheet issues.

There will certainly be some renewed world PvP in Wintergrasp. But I am not sure how it will compare with WAR. That is something you have to decide for yourself. I was an avid player of DAoC before WoW came out, so I am fairly familiar with Mythic’s approach to siege warfare and destructible buildings and I know their system is generally more expansive than is even WotLK’s. However, for all I know, the controls for WoW could be easier and the general gameplay more enjoyable. I know I enjoy it on pre-made beta realm, though it has some issues to be worked out still. But once the issues have been combed over, I think it could be exciting.

However, you will likely need to make sure you roll on a generally balanced server. Playing on a realm with a 3:1 faction ratio, especially if that’s on a PvE server, could render Wintergrasp rather moot. And, right now, Strand doesn’t quite live up to the excitement of Wintergrasp.

But do not take this as a review. Their potential is huge and Blizzard is still working on tweaks: what siege engines to make accessible are various levels, how long Strand lasts, etc.

1) Your “+healing” isn’t getting nerfed. The amount of spell power you get is equivalent to the amount of +healing you had before the change. Some individual spells are going to have their coefficients buffed or nerfed that gives an impression that the spell power change has negatively affected their stats, but it’s just changes to the spells themselves.

2) The main reason for selling your primals is simply because they aren’t going to have a place in the level 80 end-game. There are level 80 versions of primals called “eternals” (eternal air, etc.) that will take the place of primals in crafted gear and enchants. The alternative to motes are crystallized air, fire, etc.

3) I don’t recall saying that druids will be losing effectiveness explicitly. I did express my fear that shadow priests, in their current state, would likely lose quite a lot.

I apologize for missing your post originally.

I just found your little blog and think that it’s very informative and sweet. But I can’t read any of the articles…
There’s a bug in the html that makes all of the text frame clip into the lower part of the menu (on the left) and then just disappear into the lower side of the website without a scroll or a way of selecting the “hidden” text. Is there anyway you could solve this? Or should I torture the IT guy at our workplace to install the latest IE version.

Thanks.