** I’ve posted this on MMORPGForums (Tied with WCM, not Boards) as well as YouTube’s Discussion Forum (Of which I got no response at all).

Here’s the basic jist… My most popular WoW movie on WCM (Which is 20mins long, way too big for YouTube in full) was only EVER supplied on WCM. I got a message on YouTube a good few months back from a viewer who was asking for music details from that movie, of which they linked in the PM - However, that PM linked to a cut version of my movie uploaded to YouTube by someone else, not the entire WCM version.

Curious, I clicked the channel of whom had uploaded my movie and it turns out to be “WoWProGameGuides”: http://www.youtube.com/user/wowprogameguides

It turns out this channel has been taking TONNES of movies from various authors on WCM, uploading them to YouTube for subscribers, and uses that channel to advertise their WoWGameGuide website / guides of which I have an AUTOMATIC ALARM BELL go off in my head in the event this has anything to do with Keyloggers or potentially harmful material - I do not trust any site, whatsoever, that tries to advertise game guides, gold selling, arena rating etc

This isn’t just about my movie, but tonnes of authors on WCM fall under prey to this and I really don’t know what to think of it - At first I felt somewhat chuffed but now I’m rightly pissed off as I don’t know the nature of the website being advertised and this channel is getting a plathora of subscribers who seem to think this channel owns those movies - Admittedly I can’t believe so many people fall for it due to the whole “PRO GAME GUIDES” and nature of the channel, but hey.

As said, I posted on WCM’s own MMO Forums and on YouTube Forums but neither is getting any interest at all.

Am I over reacting or is this a pretty serious problem? Even if it didn’t have the whole advertising slant to it, I’m still a bit miffed that the person took my movie, cut the last 5-8mins off of it (of which has all the credits) and thrown it in their little YouTube collection as their own.

Needless to say I don’t know what to think about the whole ordeal but either way, it leaves a very bad taste in my mouth.

On a lighter note, just uploaded another PvLoL YouTube orientated short flick of us prancing around like nabs in WotLK PvP of which you can find here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtGPQEXZQh4

It’s getting increasingly difficult to get anything decent these days, as you can probably tell…

Also, this is the second time I’ve posted this as the first seemed to dissapear.

** First of all, as some may know, I love making movies - Not nessecarily all just WoW movies, but they have been a huge part of my spare time and no doubt a sizeable chunk (if not pretty much the majority) of my channel subscribers are only there because I’m one of the few ShadowPriests who actually stuck with PvP over the years and made some fun movies about it for them to see.

Just made another PvLoL movie showing nothing but arsing around with a friend in todays lolsome PvP having a laugh - Movies in WoW are very hard to make, thesedays, as things are so easy, so I’ve become somewhat proud and nostalgic of the old ones (and the old WoW itself) and so, here’s a problem I’ve encountered recently that was pointed out by one of the viewers, of which I’m not too sure what to think about…

I’ve posted this on MMORPGForums (Tied with WCM, not Boards) as well as YouTube’s Discussion Forum (Of which I got no response at all).

Here’s the basic jist… My most popular WoW movie on WCM (Which is 20mins long, way too big for YouTube in full) was only EVER supplied on WCM. I got a message on YouTube a good few months back from a viewer who was asking for music details from that movie, of which they linked in the PM - However, that PM linked to a cut version of my movie uploaded to YouTube by someone else, not the entire WCM version.

Curious, I clicked the channel of whom had uploaded my movie and it turns out to be “WoWProGameGuides”: http://www.youtube.com/user/wowprogameguides

It turns out this channel has been taking TONNES of movies from various authors on WCM, uploading them to YouTube for subscribers, and uses that channel to advertise their WoWGameGuide website / guides of which I have an AUTOMATIC ALARM BELL go off in my head in the event this has anything to do with Keyloggers or potentially harmful material - I do not trust any site, whatsoever, that tries to advertise game guides, gold selling, arena rating etc

This isn’t just about my movie, but tonnes of authors on WCM fall under prey to this and I really don’t know what to think of it - At first I felt somewhat chuffed but now I’m rightly pissed off as I don’t know the nature of the website being advertised and this channel is getting a plathora of subscribers who seem to think this channel owns those movies - Admittedly I can’t believe so many people fall for it due to the whole “PRO GAME GUIDES” and nature of the channel, but hey.

As said, I posted on WCM’s own MMO Forums and on YouTube Forums but neither is getting any interest at all.

Am I over reacting or is this a pretty serious problem? Even if it didn’t have the whole advertising slant to it, I’m still a bit miffed that the person took my movie, cut the last 5-8mins off of it (of which has all the credits) and thrown it in their little YouTube collection as their own.

Needless to say I don’t know what to think about the whole ordeal but either way, it leaves a very bad taste in my mouth.

On a lighter note, just uploaded another PvLoL YouTube orientated short flick of us prancing around like nabs in WotLK PvP of which you can find here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtGPQEXZQh4

It’s getting increasingly difficult to get anything decent these days, as you can probably tell…

I didn’t even notice it was 3.3 Patch week so I figured I’d log on and, well… I got sucked into a full day worth of Random Heroic grinding - While this is great for people struggling to find groups (and a feature I won’t insult) it still cements the game even further into casually accessible, which I guess was the plan, but after one day of random heroic LFG alongside a friend of mine, I checked my tally and noticed I had generated over 115+ EoTriumph of which I used to buy the odd item here and there.

Good? Yes, it was nice, but it also reminds you how easy it is to gear up and the lowered skill cap - There’s another discussion ongoing on a specific Forum I visit, where certain older players from Vanilla are a bit dissapointed in that while they all greatly accept Blizzards want of accessibility for the more casual minded WoW’er (and how it was definately NEEDED, especially when you look back at Vanilla WoW for reference) but in doing so they’ve made it too accessible AND too easy. There is no challenge for these people and they are upset to hear that the new ICC content has been pretty much PuG cleared on day 1 of release (which is a bad sign straight away).

I won’t get into too long-winded a talk about it considering I’m a PvP’er - I will say, however, that the SPriest changes are bloody delicious and nutritious, yummy in my tummy! That’s probably the first time a SPriest has said anything like that in a long time, too!

Back to the emo wristing.

I want a good solid challenge and to feel I earned what I got, without it requiring days worth of planning and plotting. I guess Blizzard have tried to do this but just flattened out certain issues by making things a bit too easy. It will certainly reel in more casual minded gamers. Maybe I’m thinking too much like a “I’m used to the good old days!” WoW’er.

Either way, I hope people are enjoying it.

As for Cataclysm, it will have to bring something extremely interesting and worthwhile for it to keep me paying my subscription. As it stands, it looks to be another gimmick fest and a batch of more easy content to grind.

Whatever the fate may be, I’ll be sure to try and squeeze some movies out of it!

I guess the same could be said about people who’ve seen my WCM movies - Maybe they’re not aware that I make lots of mini-movies for YouTube specifically?

Either way I’ve been having fun with the new Flight // Wintergrasp change and took to the rooftops to melt-face of Alliance while they where doing their purchases, duelling or just messing around - They may not be skilled or super edited but, as always, you can be sure I’m trying to show the fun-side.

WoW 3.2 PvP UI - BitterSweet ShadowPriest vs WinterGrasp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faJu0Pj1QiA

WoW 3.2 PvP UI - Come Up And See Me In WinterGrasp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmWI7IGQzUk

So, what can I say?

After watching an inexperienced Ret Paladin blow their own head off with a 10k+ VT Dispel, no more PHorror travel time, reducing Dispersion down to 1min 15seconds, no more CD on Devouring Plague allowing for more target-swapping focus and Resilience having NO EFFECT on our DoT’s whatsoever… It’s safe to say that, so far, it’s been a fun ride.

On that note I’ll add that my S6 Arena partner is transferring his Shaman to Khadgar and, considering the refreshed appeal in ShadowPlay thanks to 3.2, it’d seem that we’re going to coax Kuarbaulle (Warlock whom I’ve played SPriest/Warlock with in S1, S2, S3, S4 and S6) into forming a SPriest / Shaman / Warlock 3v3 team this Season to give it a try.

If things go well then it looks like I’ll finally have reason to re-make the old-style Arena movies like the good old days…

If it doesn’t go well then, well, my Sub runs out this month meaning it may be an interesting time to call it a day as there’s very little else maintaining my interest in WoW other than PvP - But then again, quitting is something I considered every year and it never happened, so who know (or cares).

Let’s see what happens!

Until then it’s good to have a little power back!

First of all, this post may refer to certain events shown in the mini-movie uploaded on WCM: http://www.warcraftmovies.com/movieview.php?id=108131

It seems that previous to every single patch/expansion in WoW, I grow tired enough of my Priest to almost quit - However, I usually manage to hang on by levelling another character in the process for the sake of having something to do - This time it was no different, with the bulk of my time spent making 3 x Battleground movies highlighting Shadow’s struggle in PvP as well as levelling a Mage for fun, waiting for 3.1 to come around so I could sink my teeth into the new changes promised by Blizzard.

I avoided PTR like the plague, and held off on reading updates and notes, purely because of my past experiences of classes always end up as “We will give you X, Y, Z” but by the time the changes comes through, they’ve been changed to “A, B, C”.

So, it’s nearly the 6th day of 3.1 and what else is there to say? Loving it!

• Shadow now allows for our DoT’s to Crit.
• The range of ‘Silence’ has been increased.
• Spirit is now a Base spell for all Priests, regardless of spec.
• Dispersion now removes all Snares and renders you immune to further Snares for the full duration.
• Improved Devouring Plague - Now inflicts a percentage of it’s total DoT damage as soon as you cast it, as well as having increased Damage Over Time.
• ShadowForm now reduces damage from ALL sources by 15% - Not just Physical Damage.
• Divine Hymn has been revamped from it’s old AoE Stun + HoT into a ‘Smart’ channel heal. Hymn of Hope also revamped, increasing mana gained and adding +20% Maximum mana for a short period of time.
• ShadowFiend - No longer has high resistance to attacks, though it’s HP has been upped to about 15k, hits harder and can phase/teleport to a target on demand - Attacks restore mana ‘regardless’ of the state of the target, so even if you use it against a bubbled opponent, you will still regen mana per ShadowFiend ‘Hit’.
• Vampiric Touch now inflicts damage if dispelled, similar to Unstable Affliction though considerably weaker and without a silencing effect.
• Shadow Word: Pain restores 5% base mana to the caster if it’s dispelled.
• Psychic Horror - On Demand 3 second Stun//10 Second Disarm on 2min CD — (LoS Required)

Naturally, Psychic Horror is the most anticipated change of the lot, seeing as SPriests suffered the major problem of horrible mobility against Melee. The forums had been awash with complaints about PH being upped from 1min CD (Old PTR) to 2min (Official), though any ShadowPriest worth their weight in salt would have regarded this is an expected change and won’t be put off by it in the slightest.

Also please remember that the large majority of the changes are greatly dependant on talent choice - We don’t get this bundle of changes rolled into one as most are granted by uses of talent points, such as Shadow Affinity (Mana restored on SW:P Dispel) etc

As soon as I had the patch installed, I charged headfirst into the Battlegrounds to try out the changes… It took a short while to settle on a spec that suits my playstyle but I chose to convert back to my old Imp.Mana Burn spec and made sure I had enough room for most of the new changed talents to try them out, and boy was I happy.

Apart from the occasional bug or ’strange occurance’ things are pretty solid so far, though regarding PH, I’m not sure if it’s a bug or just lag in general, but there seems to be a 1-second delay between casting PH and the effect itself - For example, if I cant PH on a target, they wont enter the 3sec stun for anything up to 1sec after I’ve cast it… Initially I was put off by this, though after some testing I realised how this could infact be quite a nice opportunity for manufacturing life-savers and escapes… For example, in the movie linked above, during a kiting session vs Rogue & DeathKnight, the Rogue was without Clos and sprinting after me… I knew the next move would be a Gouge or Kidneyshot so a second before they reach me I cast PH. During that 1sec delay they Gouged me, then entered PHorror 3sec Stun, which easily allowed me 3seconds to wait out the duration and gain more distance, thus saving Trinket for Blind or further stuns… Sadly I didn’t predict it would happen that way and hastily trinketted anyway, but with some practice it could definately turn up with some uses and adds a bit of flexibility seeing as it’d require pin-point accurate timing to do it without the delay… This is most likely a bug, so I won’t be suprised if it’s fixed sometime in the future.

There’s been a lot of debate about the Disarm effect, also, with 90% of Priests on the forums casually claiming that it’d encourage every melee to ’simply wear a weapon chain’ to reduce the effect by half (5seconds) however they seem to forget that Weapon Chains not only remove any Enchants on the weapons, so I strongly doubt that anyone is going to be rushing to the AH for Weapon Chains that remove their favourite enchant so that they suffer half the duration of something only Warriors/Rogues/ShadowPriests can do.

PH also has no effect on Feral Druids bar the 3second Stun, seeing as Ferals do not attack using a weapon in Feral forms, so keep that in mind when a kitty-cat comes nibbling on your heels.

The damage reduction in Shadowform is noticeable to anyone wearing decent gear, though a lot of people laughed at the change initially as they where used to being one/two shot by casters thanks to wearing toilet paper… People are quick to forget that this change also effects certain nieussances such as Ret Paladins / DeathKnights considering they inflict partial magical damage as well as hit you with sharp objects, so branding this change as useless is staple of inexperienced Priests who take everything at face value. It’s a big plus in overall damage mitigation in long fights from all damage sources and a welcome change indeed.

I could rant on all day about situational / static benefits of the changes, but let’s just say I’m 100% happy so far with testing - The one constant problem that remains is, as always, our Mana. No amount of talents are going to save ShadowPriests from being heavily mana inefficient on their own in any scenario where they are attempting to nuke - At the same time, we have the most mana restoring abilities in comparison to others, thanks to Dispersion on top of ShadowFiend (Me being a Blood Elf with Arcane Torrent is also a hugely noticeable benefit thanks to it’s mana restore, as well)… Going from what Arena Priests have been saying, it’s pretty hard not to go oom in a long fight assuming you rotate these abilities well, excluding outside sources (totems / innervate etc) so this only really applies in typical fights where you’re chewing on cooldowns like a bag of skittles. The changes to Hymn of Hope also help here, seeing as the mana regen has been increased and also increases your maximum mana by 20% for a small period of time, allowing for a nice boost if used well, for either you or your party, if you’re willing to leave ShadowForm to perform it.

Critting DoT’s allow for ShadowPriests, such as myself, who do not focus on Spellpower to still inflict moderate damage… This also helps with Devouring Plague (Improved). My Priest has around 1770 Spellpower so with or without Shadow Weaving they crit very often, with some of them ticking for up to 1500-2200 at a time (crit)… Improved Devouring Plague (when cast) hits the target for the equivelant of a DoT tick the moment you use it, and there have been many fights (With 5xShadow Weaving) where it hit for up to 2.2k the moment it’s cast it on a target, which may not seem like a lot but considering SPriests have very very few ‘Impact’ moves (MindBlast/SW:D), this can be a big help in keeping pressure up and gaining a little healing out of it in the process… Also, Critting DoT’s will, obviously, be a huge benefit on any target with Vampiric Embrace, so it’s a huge plus.

Dispersion Snare removal / immunity is very nice in general, but far sexier for any ShadowPriest with Engineering rocket boots to really add an edge to it as an escape / preventative / defensive tool rather than a plain mana restore, especially in Arena where we are still likely to be the Number 1 target on the HitList.

It’s not all roses, though, as we suffered a big hit thanks to the new changes to Fear… The damage threshold for a target under the effect of Fears / Hex etc have been greatly decreased and on a number of occasions I had people instantly break out of fear thanks to a DoT critting at the exact moment I cast it - It’s a noticeable hinderence but something we can adapt to and work around, though it’s a needed change seeing as Warlocks/SPriests would be formiddable with increased Fear Threshold and any form of critting DoT’s.

Im considering swapping my SW:P Glyph for that of Fade or Dispersion (Most likely Dispersion) and I’m struggling to choose wether I want to swap out Shield/Dispel Glyph for the other… 15 second CD on Fade would be amazing for melee fights, though I’ve managed well enough without it for now… However, reducing Dispersion CD to in arounds 2min (3min without it) would ensure that there’s always a nice rotation between Disp / Fade / PH / PS for overall defense and, of course, mana regen… Here’s hoping I make the right choice as I fully intend to get stuck into arena as soon as possible, assuming those interesting ideas that where pitched to me recently actually transpire.

Whatever happens, all I can really say is, I’m loving the changes to Shadow and I sure hope all the other Priests out there feel the same ^^

Decided to add a mini post to the blog since it’s been a while - Not that I feel I have much to say or anything worthwhile to mention - Nope, just the general rumblings of someone having a cup of tea and a smoke at the early hour of the morning pondering over little details.

In terms of myself and my chosen character (Mhuldoon, Priest) I keep a very close eye on the WoW Priest forums to keep relatively up to date with the changes incoming to the class, as well as PvP in general. We’re all very aware of the fact that PvP, as it stands, is in a really funky state at the moment for all the wrong reasons which have kicked up quite a noticeable fuss for certain classes, namely anything that isn’t Arcane Mage / Ret Paladin / Rogue or Deathknight.

The above was the main reason for my latest two movies, related to ShadowPriests in PvP, one of the many specs that have not recieved as much love as some of the other possible class specs have since the inclusion of Wrath. I must admit it’s pretty depressing to have been told over the years (ever since our powerful era in Vanilla WoW) that the reason Shadow never got as much PvP love as others was because it was deemed a ‘PvE’ spec, and yet with Blizzards latest attempt at making the game ‘One Size Fits All’ via easy PvE content, ‘fixing’ Arena ratings to compensate for non-competative casuals and, the big issue, making PvE specs more ‘viable’ in PvP, they have still left ShadowPriests eating the dust of anything else that’s been given a good service this time around.

Don’t get me wrong - They’ve done a decent job in regards to Shadow in PvE, though they’ve decided to ‘fix’ that, too, by removing our role as a Mana Battery by giving mana ‘Replenishment’ to so many other classes, but that aside our DPS has increased and we’ve been given some moderately handy PvE tools that make us far from unviable in raids… And yet, as usual, in PvP terms we’ve been given nothing ‘useful’.

So, while Arcane mages can spam Slow without any cooldown, inbetween spamming Barrage for 3-5k non-crit, or while Prot wars can throw out more stuns and silence/interrupts than your local Rogue on steroids, Blizzards answer to buffing ShadowPriest survivability is… Wait for it… Allowing Shadowform to soak magic damage as well as physical damage… Huzzah! A fantastic way to help us overcome the main thing that is absolutely destroying us right now, which happens to be melee & physical damage dealers…

Without ranting too heavy against how pathetic our so called ‘buffs’ are, it’s not all doom and gloom seeing as they’ve finally realised certain classes are throwing out pathetically huge damage with absolutely no effort and started downscaling them (finally).

The changes are noticeable but PvP still remains a really bad joke at the moment.

While I don’t deny I still enjoy PvP even in it’s current state with a so called ‘broken’ spec, I do see there being a very very very slight chance that things will soon become quite tolerable in the near future, though a lot will weigh on just how badly Blizzard will change some classes in their war against RNG.

We already know that Shadow will lose Blackout, just like other classes will lose their RNG stuns, so I honestly hope they don’t balls this change up considering they will have to ‘compensate’ for these losses somehow and a lot of classes will sink or swim depending on how this is treated.

If Priests aren’t given a castable target stun to compensate for the loss of Blackout, for example, than Shadow really will have lost so much viability and credibility in PvP considering they have no intention of downscaling melee, thus melee will continue to trample all over us while non-melee will always throw out more damage with less effort and still have far more means of outlasting or surviving threat, unlike Spriests.

Looking pretty grim, indeed ^^

Once again the Priest forums are littered with multiple threads regarding their dismay at (Healers) CoH nerf and general PvP issues, while SPriests (bar the ability to Abolish/Cure Disease in Shadowform) are still as underwhelming as ever in PvP.

Due to the unexpected success of “Sympathy for Lady ShadowPriest” I’m not in the least bit suprised to find my folders once again brimming with many gigs of recordings.

Thanks to everyone and their support of the movie and it’s theme / message, I immediately wen’t right back into PvP with a vengeance, hunting for fights and all sorts of footage for a new movie. I’m quite happy to say that this week has been quite fruitful, with some fun battles looming out of nowhere and smacking me in the face, such as accidentally teleporting to Thunder Bluff after a trip to the Lunar Festival only to find (and fight) six or seven Alliance there who had hoped to get the Ancestors of the Horde achievement… My first bit of 1vX in World PvP for quite some time, and damn was it refreshing… Even if I had to get a mate to help me out of being camped at the end…

One of those clips in particular will be fully used for the ending of this new upcoming movie (a somewhat emotional one, I might add).

While my love for Arena is still balanced on the ‘Meh’ side, there’s some random 2v2 / 3v3 captured but to be honest, as much as I appreciate that people pointed out the ‘message’ in my previous movie can’t really be left up to BG footage alone, I’d still rather not use Arena clips considering most of the matches are so fast and zergish that, to me, it just reeks of unskilled button mashing in an attempt to nuke someone down before the other team… There’s no tact, no finesse, though there’s one or two I might slot in to show what it’s like having to ‘tank’ all the sick burst as a poor, lonely, underpowered ShadowPriest in the 1700 > 1800 bracket.

Also managed to capture quite a few fun clips for the humour side of things, as well as having pilfered some lovely stuff to once again emphasise that any movie I make is all about the fun, nothing else, so I’m pretty hopeful that those who watch the new one will get a smile - Maybe even a giggle.

Currently got Photoshop open and am working on the artwork for this little movie - I’ll be going a little deeper with the editing this time round as I have the feeling this movie will entertain quite a lot more than the previous, despite the skill and opponent level still remaining squarely in casual territory - Let’s just say that if you’re reading this, and you happened to see (and even like) my last movie, then you’re in for a big treat this week.

Otherwise pay no heed to this post - it’s just the excited ramblings of some nub ShadowPriest who’d like to think they just might be able to make a half-decent movie this time around.

Made a new movie highlighting the frustration that is SPriest PvP.

http://www.warcraftmovies.com/movieview.php?id=99247

Personally I think everyone will hate it, but I don’t mind really as it only took one day to make (from one day of recordings).

If ever there was a time for skilled SPriests to show their ability with PvP movies, now is the time while everything is clearly not in our favour. Until then, you’ll have to make do with n00bs like me failing hard in todays lolsome excuse that is PvP.

Shadow Priest ~ Retribution Paladin ~ Subtlety Rogue

It seems like I’ve finally found a squad to group with in arena, blending the fun and frollick of my pre-Wrath 2v2 Spriest/Ret setup with that of a Sub Rogue.

Put it to the test early this morning and would have gone on for the whole day only for the limited selection of opposition decided to call it quits after being farmed for an hour. Squeezed in twenty games pretty quick, conceding a mere two losses thanks to lack of ventrillo resulting in a botch up with me using Dispersion at the same time our Paladin decides to throw on Blessing of Protection, resulting in lack of lifelines and eventually being ground down to death at the hands of a Muti Rogue and BM Hunter respectively. Oh well, mistakes happen.

Only reason I mention the team is the simple fact the the fast-paced nature of the setup and matches, alongside the very individual playstyle (ie. No comms, thus we rely on eachothers PvP experience and judgement alone to gel together) will more than likely be the brunt focus of a possible upcoming Click Boom movie. It’s been a while since I made a proper one thanks to Wrath breaking WoWModelviewer and lack of an arena team up to now.

Now that both issues are sorted, it’s only a matter of time before I’ve enough footage to throw together another scrublicious movie to add to the collection (9th Arena Movie - Funny how I always used to say I’d never make Arena Movies). I’ll be putting my photoshopping to good use, too - I’ve already got plenty ideas for editing trickery, with the above image of my Priest being the chosen style for the stills (such as Scrub Fighter character selection menu’s and commentary) which will add a very ‘drawn’ comic style view to the proceedings inbetween the fast matches and carnage.

Here’s hoping we get some good games and gel in time for tommorow when we take on 1700+ and the predictable swarm of DK’s and Arcane Mages!

Fun inc, so watch this space and wish us luck!