Kaivax

This week, our War College topic is based on [url="www.arenajunkies.com/news/465-communication-and-dealing-with-losses/"]this article from Arena Junkies[/url]. Give it a read.

The topic of discussion is:

Communication - It's the key to winning on the field of battle. What hardware, software, and conversational strategies do you employ? What tricks of the team-talk trade make the difference between standing victorious and going down in silence?

Are you a veteran Gladiator with countless victories tallied? Are you new to World of Warcraft and striving to improve your PvP skills? In this weekly feature, we invite players of all skill levels to ask questions, share tips and tactics, and join a conversation dedicated to surviving and thriving in World of Warcraft PvP.
Don’t forget to up-vote forum posts that are on-topic and helpful!

War College Rules:

• Stick to the rules. All posts should abide by the forum code of conduct and these War College forum thread guidelines. Feel free to disagree with each other, but please do so respectfully. When you express opposing opinions, focus on the idea, not its author, their rating, or perceived skill level.
• Be constructive. The purpose of this thread is to share effective tactics and strategies; to adapt, overcome and become a better player based on current conditions. Claiming that a class, comp or strategy is overpowered isn’t conducive to learning better play and tends to just derail the discussion.
• No soapboxes, please. This thread is for the community to discuss strategies and tactics amongst themselves, not to push individual opinions about game balance or design.
• Please limit conjecture. Theorycrafting definitely has its place, but it’s best to keep the discussion focused, on-topic and practical.
• Important: Please provide explanations and be prepared to provide evidence. These threads exist to elevate the level of strategic discussion on the forums. When appropriate, please provide examples illustrating tactics or techniques you believe to be effective. When using videos please post time stamps to help direct people to the specific points in the action to which you’re referring.
• Ask questions! These threads aren’t just for experienced players, but also players who are learning the ropes or want to improve their skills. On the same token, don’t attack other players for asking questions.

Let’s consider Loremaster of Kalimdor.

• Character A completes Ashenvale Quests for a toast and 10 points.
• If Character B then completes Ashenvale Quests, they will get the toast, but not 10 more points. (It is NOT a new achievement for the account.)
• If Character B then completes Felwood Quests, he gets a toast and 10 points. (It is a new achievement for the account.)
• If Character A never completes Felwood Quests, he will not get a toast, but the achievement will show that the account has the achievement. (It is NOT a new achievement for the account.)
• Loremaster of Kalimdor is a meta achievement, so it is account only. If we assume that Character A complete half of the Kalimdor quest achievements and Character B completes the other half, then Loremaster of Kalimdor will give a toast for whichever character is logged on at the time. The account will get 10 points.
• Any new characters will continue to get toasts (but not points) for doing Felwood Quests or whatever, but . No character on that account will ever see a toast for Loremaster of Kalimdor again.

This sounds more confusing than it is. In the Achiement UI, you will see normal achievements (which are now shared) and account-only achievements, which use a different color and symbol to indicate that you can only get them once.

The World of Warcraft Annual Pass promotion ended May 1, and we recently sent out the remaining Mists of Pandaria beta invitations. Check your games list in Battle.net Account Management for the Mists of Pandaria beta. You can download and install it from there.

Again, thank you for your enthusiasm and feedback. To provide feedback for the Mists of Pandaria beta, we invite you to please post in the Beta Feedback forum.

We want to confirm that, at this time, all World of Warcraft Annual Pass subscribers have been invited to the Mists of Pandaria beta test, with two groups of exceptions. One exception group are those who purchased an Annual Pass on or after April 18, and will receive their invite in a future wave. The second exception is a small list of remaining accounts from previous waves that encountered an error, and will be properly flagged for beta access as soon as we can resolve the issue.

If you haven't yet purchased an Annual Pass, you still have time to guarantee your spot in the beta by signing up for a year agreement (link) before the offer expires on April 30. Those taking advantage of the Annual Pass receive Diablo III for free, access to the Mists of Pandaria beta, and the exclusive Tyrael's Charger flying mount for your World of Warcraft characters.

Inactive Guild Leader Replacement was added to World of Warcraft in patch 4.3, and allows an active member to take over the guild leadership position from an inactive guild leader, encouraging guild activity by giving players a way to promote a new leader if theirs has been absent for an extended period of time.

Based on your feedback, we recently modified the Inactive Guild Leader Replacement process. From our most recent hotfixes for World of Warcraft:

• Inactive guild leader replacement now requires 90 days of absence, up from 30 days.
• Ascent to the rank of guild leader is now only available to guild members at Rank 2, 3, or 4, where the guild leader is considered Rank 1.

The option to dethrone the guild leader is only visible to the highest-ranked player logged in at any given time.

Since we made this change in a hotfix, it is still possible for the in-game process to present itself to guild members who are at Rank 4 or lower. However, if a guild member at Rank 4 or lower attempts to replace the absent guild leader, they will see an error in-game. This will only be the case until we apply a change to a future patch.

Please feel free to discuss guild dethroning in this thread.

This wave of invites to the Mists of Pandaria beta has just completed. All accounts included in this wave now have the beta available for download from your Battle.net account management page.

The e-mail notifications for invites are still underway, and look like they will be for quite some time.

Thanks again!

I love you!

I love....rug. I love....lamp.

I love lamp! D:

Do you really love the lamp, or are you just saying it because you saw it?

I love you.

I hope I get in this wave!

I love you!

A few moments ago, we initialized a new wave of 250,000 invitations to the Mists of Pandaria beta test. These are all invitations for World of Warcraft Annual Pass subscribers, and it should be a few hours before the e-mail notifications for all recipients have been sent.

If you want to make absolutely sure that you got an invite, just check your games list in Battle.net Account Services.

As always, thank you very much for your enthusiasm in helping test Mists of Pandaria. We really appreciate your feedback.

As you can see, the community managers ‘round these parts have decided to change our avatars into spectral gryphons and spectral wind riders. We’re celebrating the (roughly) half-way point for our World of Warcraft Scroll of Resurrection campaign by showing off the special mounts you can earn when you bring a friend back to World of Warcraft.

We’ve enjoyed talking with you about all of the aspects of the Scroll of Resurrection since it was buffed up five weeks ago. In case you missed them, here are some handy links to useful forum threads we’ve been working on:

Scroll of Resurrection Requests -- where current players and returning players are finding each other and arranging the exchange of Scrolls:
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/4139868835

Scroll of Resurrection Information Center -- all your questions about the new Scroll or Resurrection, answered in one place: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/4366247466

Our original announcement in our World of Warcraft blog: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/4539329/

The Scroll of Resurrection FAQ: http://us.battle.net/support/en/article/scroll-of-resurrection-faq

Again, thank you for all the fun on these forums (and everywhere else the World of Warcraft community is found). We appreciate your participation and feedback very much!

The new World of Warcraft Scroll of Resurrection is now live! Read all about it, and take a look at the new Spectral Gryphon and Spectral Wind Rider mounts that you can earn, right here: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/4539329/

Our updated Scroll of Resurrection guide is here: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/services/scroll-of-resurrection/

Here's the FAQ: http://us.battle.net/support/en/article/scroll-of-resurrection-faq

And you can click here to begin sending Scrolls of Resurrection to friends who qualify: https://us.battle.net/account/management/wow/services/sor-invite.html?locale=en-us

Furthermore, here's a quick Q&A featuring the most common questions that we've seen from the community.

General Information

The Scroll of Resurrection program sounds awesome, but I'm not totally clear on how everything works. Is there someplace where I could learn more about the program's benefits, eligibility, and restrictions?
For more information on the new Scroll of Resurrection program, be sure to check out the official Scroll of Resurrection FAQ: http://us.battle.net/support/en/article/scroll-of-resurrection-faq and the Scroll of Resurrection Walkthrough: http://us.battle.net/support/en/article/sor-walkthrough. We also encourage you to review the Scroll of Resurrection Known Issues sticky for details and updates on commonly-reported issues: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/4138437705.

I have more than one World of Warcraft license on my Battle.net account. If one of those licenses is inactive, can I send myself a Scroll of Resurrection invitation?
Absolutely! So long as one of your World of Warcraft licenses is still active, you can send any inactive licenses on your Battle.net account a Scroll of Resurrection invitation.

I just recently reactivated my account with the Scroll of Resurrection. Can I send out Scroll of Resurrection invitations now, too?
Yes! Once your account is reactivated, you can immediately begin sending out Scroll of Resurrection invitations to eligible accounts. This applies even if you've resurrected your account (and are playing on the 7 free days of game time), but have not yet added a new subscription.

Please note that if your 7 free days end, you will need to reactivate the account before you can send a Scroll of resurrection invitation.

Someone sent me a Scroll of Resurrection invitation, but I haven't received the email yet. What's up?
First, verify that your account is actually eligible for the Scroll of Resurrection program. To qualify, your World of Warcraft license must be a) merged with a Battle.net account, b) in good standing (not banned or locked), and c) inactive as of or before March 4, 2012.

Second, you'll want to make sure that your friend or family member sent the Scroll of Resurrection invitation to the correct Battle.net email address. If the invitation was accidentally sent to the wrong address, simply have your friend/family member resend the invitation at their next earliest convenience.

If you've verified that your World of Warcraft license is eligible for resurrection and that the invitation is being sent to the correct address, be sure to check your Spam and Junk email folders. The invitation may have been accidentally filtered to one of these locations.

Alternatively, you can check for outstanding Scroll of Resurrection invitations on your Received Invitations page on Battle.net: https://www.battle.net/account/management/wow/services/sor-received-invitations.html.

When does the Scroll of Resurrection promotion end?
We do not have a date for when the new Scroll of Resurrection promotion will end, but will provide notice before it concludes. Stay tuned to http://us.battle.net/wow for related updates.

Eligibility

I have an inactive account and want to come back to World of Warcraft. I haven’t received a Scroll of Resurrection invitation yet. If I reactivate my account on my own, can I still receive the benefits of the Scroll of Resurrection program?
Not at this time. Currently, in order to receive the benefits of the Scroll of Resurrection program, your account must be reactivated using a Scroll of Resurrection invitation.

If I reactivate my account and then a friend sends me a Scroll of Resurrection invitation later, will I be eligible for the program benefits at that point?
No. Scroll of Resurrection benefits cannot currently be applied retroactively.

I reactivated my account just before the new Scroll of Resurrection program launched. Is there any way that I can receive the benefits retroactively?
Unfortunately, no. The Scroll of Resurrection program is only available to accounts which were inactive on or before March 4, 2012.

Account Retrieval

I have an inactive account and someone wants to send me a Scroll of Resurrection invitation. Unfortunately, I don’t remember what email address I used to register my Battle.net account with. What should I do?
If you're unsure which email address your World of Warcraft license is attached to, don't panic! Our Billing and Account Services representatives will be happy to help you recover your account information: http://us.battle.net/support/en/article/contactbilling.

I recently received a Scroll of Resurrection invitation, but am unable to log into my Battle.net account to claim it because:

• My Authenticator is lost or broken. If you've lost your Authenticator or unable to log in because your Authenticator is not working properly, please contact Billing and Account Services. You can also submit an online request to have your Authenticator removed: https://us.battle.net/account/support/remove-authenticator.html.
• I don't remember my password. If you've forgotten your Battle.net password, you can quickly recover it on your own (after verifying account ownership) using our online password reset option: https://us.battle.net/account/support/password-reset.html. If you are unable to recover your password through this feature, please contact Billing and Account Services.
• My account was compromised. Help! If you believe your account may have been compromised, please contact Blizzard Support as soon as possible. The quickest way to report an account compromise is by completing our automated recovery form: https://us.battle.net/account/support/account-recovery.html.

Rewards

If I send someone a Scroll of Resurrection invitation, do they have to claim their rewards right away?
The recipient of your Scroll of Resurrection will have 30 days to accept the invitation before it expires. After the invitation is accepted, the resurrected World of Warcraft license will immediately receive 7 free days of game time.

While the game time will apply immediately, the recipient can choose to boost one character on their World of Warcraft license to level 80 at any point while the promotion is active. The same applies for the free Faction Change and/or Character Transfer (if the character is eligible).

I accidentally applied the level boost to the wrong character. Is there anything I can do?
In some situations where a level boost is applied to the wrong character, Blizzard Support may be able to assist: https://us.battle.net/support/en/ticket/submit. These situations are extremely rare, however, so we encourage all players to use caution when claiming any rewards provided through the Scroll of Resurrection program.

I boosted a character to 80 and now I want to use the free Faction Change/Character Transfer on another character, but I don't see the option in Account Management. What do I do?
The Faction Change and Character Transfer can only be accepted on the same character that is accepting the boost to level 80.

Resources

FAQ -- http://us.battle.net/support/en/article/scroll-of-resurrection-faq

Walkthrough -- http://us.battle.net/support/en/article/sor-walkthrough

Known Issues -- http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/4138437705

@Yadzy: Yes. These are the final winners for this contest.

@Babyeva: Thanks!

Well...it's been a week since the SoR went live.

Earlier, I had noted that my only real issue with SoR was that the caster didn't get a lvl boost to 80 in order to actually play through the content with my returning buddy.

Long story short: My buddy did not return to the the game for this very reason. He likes to quest with a friend and Phasing made that impossible.

Thank you very much for explaining this. No program can anticipate every eventuality, but an accounting of people who resurrected friends who then disliked playing somewhat solo at level 80 is valuable feedback for us.

Now I'm very curious: How far did your friend level from 80 before the week was over?

That said, despite my mild annoyance with this aspect of the SoR, I have had 5 other Guildies return. The active Guild roster page hasn't been this full in a long time.

I think that it is about time we all take a deep breath and accept the possitives in spite of the negatives.

Just my take on this. Best of luck out there!

I've been gratified to learn that some old friends are planning to return in a week or two. It's as though there was this initial push, but the fun of getting together in-game with old friends isn't at all over.

We've always wanted players to PvP as tank specs, and that can be a lot of fun, but tank spec PvP should be effective via an array of defensive and control abilities, not because of damage-dealing potential. It is our design intent that, overall, tanks have to sacrifice some DPS in order to make use of all their other strengths.

For comparison, many players would cry foul if healing specs did as much or more damage than DPS specs in PvP, and we want the same situation for tanks. In Battlegrounds, tanks often carve out a very interesting role, such as running the flag, or teaming up with a healer and capturing a node, or tanking an NPC. In Arenas, it is much harder to provide tanks with a compelling role, since the typical arena match often boils down to which team better executes a strategy of focusing fire on enemies. A tank is ultimately a target that nobody wants to focus down, who also can’t contribute as much to focusing down others.

03/07/2012 12:03 PMPosted by Liberi

Wait I'm confused. Any accounts canceled before March 5 and have been inactive for 3 months will get the promotion. If you canceled on Feb 5 and haven't re-subbed the inactive accounts, you can send a SoR under this promotion once they've been inactive for 3 months.

I just want to make sure this is corrected.

To be eligible to receive a Scroll of Resurrection, your friend must have previously subscribed to World of Warcraft for at least 30 days and their account must have become inactive on or before March 4th, 2012.

That's it. There is no 3-month (or any duration of) inactivity requirement.

The new World of Warcraft Scroll of Resurrection is now live! Read all about it, and take a look at the new Spectral Gryphon and Spectral Wind Rider mounts that you can earn, right here: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/4539329/

Our updated Scroll of Resurrection guide is here: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/services/scroll-of-resurrection/

Here's the FAQ: http://us.battle.net/support/en/article/scroll-of-resurrection-faq

And you can click here to begin sending Scrolls of Resurrection to friends who qualify: https://us.battle.net/account/management/wow/services/sor-invite.html?locale=en-us

03/06/2012 03:24 PMPosted by Flaire

This is a complicated position you're putting us in here. We can't test the content because it's not in beta yet, but we can't offer ANY feedback because it's not as useful as beta feedback?

He was disagreeing about the as early as possible part.

Saying that they are just as likely to change things in Beta as in Alpha.

Atleast that is what I took from it.

Correct.

03/06/2012 01:52 PMPosted by Anarri

This, friends, is why we need to be vocal about things as early as we possibly can.

I respectfully disagree.

As I said above, there is a difference between feedback that comes from pure imagination ("I've not played this yet, but I can guess how it might feel") and feedback that comes from hours and hours of actual gameplay. The latter is much more preferable and helpful, and can only be gotten during beta testing.

We recognize that change is always scary. It’s probably impossible for us to make a change that is universally acclaimed by all players (or even just one group of players, such as priests). We try to make the best decisions for the class, and that includes seeking feedback from interested players, but these things are perpetually a work in progress, and not everyone can be pleased.

03/06/2012 11:58 AMPosted by Ångel

So does that leave Holy Nova on the cutting-room floor, or is it just going to remain like it is now, useable by both specs, but never really used?

At this time, we don't have an update on Holy Nova for Mists of Pandaria.

03/06/2012 12:18 PMPosted by Kriv

Will Prayer of Healing still be restricted to affecting one group per cast or will it be a "smart" heal that prioritizes on health of those around you similar to Wild Growth?

It looks like Prayer of Healing is going to continue to work as it does today.

also give binding heal back to disc as well...

There is certainly a chance. At the moment, Discipline doesn't have Binding Heal because we want the specs to play differently (not just vary by Circle of Healing vs. Penance and similar spec spells).

This is excellent feedback, and will be even more valuable in the beta. Thank you.