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[Leatherface]

Why are you guys arguing over whether a patch was free or not? Yes, we are all technically paying for it, because WOW is a pay to play game. However, this content can be experienced without purchasing the new expansion so in essence the changes are free in that it doesn't cost the player any additional fees to experience it. "Free" may be a bad choice of words, but you know damn well what he was getting at. Aren't there other more important battles worth fighting? lol

 

[krypt0nian]

Wrong. I mean, you read my post, right? Do you think I'm lying? I couldn't queue for BRC. I dropped my low-ilevel gear from my bank and bags, and then I could queue.

Besides, you don't need to take my anecdotal evidence. This is a well-known thing:

http://blues.incgamers.com/Posts/6/1/20/489/48932/bug-queue-system-and-average-item-level

If you're holding on to old tier sets for the memories, it is bringing down you average ilvl when determining random dungeon availability.

Shit gotta empty my bank of memories...

 

[webrunner]

That's.. pretty messed up, given that there are some novelty items that would probably count for this.

 

[GDJustin]

Shit gotta empty my bank of memories...

I would advise against it. Blizz's ilvl calculations are VERY generous. If you don't qualify for a dungeon, just play a bit more and get some new gear. I only deleted my old tier set because I'm not nostalgic, and because I wanted to run a random dungeon right that second.

 

[DarkKyo]

Damn, I got killed by Deathwing while deep underground recently. How does that even make sense? There was suddenly a giant lava effect where my body just was.

 

[ultron87]

^

I'm jealous of the achievement you got regardless of the lack of logic!!!!!

 

[notworksafe]

Any item level issues are probably a bug, so don't bother deleting gear yet. The way average item level is determined is that all items you own are scanned. Then the highest ilvl for each slot is taken, added together, and divided by 17 (total number of slots). The result is your average ilvl.

 

[Bregor]

The average item level seems to be calculated adding up the best gear for each spot (equiped, inventory, or bank) and dividing by 17.

However, the system doesn't just look at the item lvl of a piece of gear when deciding that it is your 'best' piece for that spot, even if you have it equiped. It disregards non-pve, and non-class appropriate gear. So if you are wearing PvP bracers, it will ignore them and look for the highest iLvl gear in your inventory or bank. If you are wearing a caster dagger as a rogue, it will ignore it and look for the highest iLvl dagger in your inventory or bank.

This is so:

1. People who wish to wear other gear while waiting for the queue can do so. For example, equiping a fishing rod.

2. People cannot cheese their way into heroics by equiping high iLvl gear that is actually no good for them (i.e. a rogue equiping a high ILvl caster dagger to increase his iLvl).

As long as the equipment you have use appropriate - not PvP and not for another class - the system can only increase your iLvl, not decrease it.

 

[AbortedWalrusFetus]

The average item level seems to be calculated adding up the best gear for each spot (equiped, inventory, or bank) and dividing by 17.

However, the system doesn't just look at the item lvl of a piece of gear when deciding that it is your 'best' piece for that spot, even if you have it equiped. It disregards non-pve, and non-class appropriate gear. So if you are wearing PvP bracers, it will ignore them and look for the highest iLvl gear in your inventory or bank. If you are wearing a caster dagger as a rogue, it will ignore it and look for the highest iLvl dagger in your inventory or bank.

This is so:

1. People who wish to wear other gear while waiting for the queue can do so. For example, equiping a fishing rod.

2. People cannot cheese their way into heroics by equiping high iLvl gear that is actually no good for them (i.e. a rogue equiping a high ILvl caster dagger to increase his iLvl).

As long as the equipment you have use appropriate - not PvP and not for another class - the system can only increase your iLvl, not decrease it.

It doesn't look at PvP gear? That doesn't make a whole ton of sense to me. Once a mage is hitcapped, some PvP gear is just as viable as PvE gear for PvE situations. When you factor in reforging that is especially true.

 

[notworksafe]

Blizz stated a while ago that PvP and PvE gear shall never meet. Resil has no affect on attacks from mobs anymore. Not judging if that is a good call or not, just saying that is why PvP gear isn't counted.

 

[Bregor]

It doesn't look at PvP gear? That doesn't make a whole ton of sense to me. Once a mage is hitcapped, some PvP gear is just as viable as PvE gear for PvE situations. When you factor in reforging that is especially true.

This is just my evaluation based upon some testing I did, so don't take it as Gospel truth.

I can say that it isn't the average of all the gear in my inventory/bank. The system tells me I have an average iLvl of 338. If this included all my Vanilla, BC, and WotLK epics I have saved, it couldn't possibly be anywhere near that high.

As far as PvP gear goes, keep in mind that you cannot reforge resillience. PvP gear may be better than lower iLvl PvE gear in some cases, but they will be rare. And keep in mind, no system calculating a value like this can be perfect. It doesn't have a brain, and cannot make the judgements a smart player can. As it seems to be, it does the best it can to judge what the best gear a player could bring to a PvE environment is.

 

[AbortedWalrusFetus]

This is just my evaluation based upon some testing I did, so don't take it as Gospel truth.

I can say that it isn't the average of all the gear in my inventory/bank. The system tells me I have an average iLvl of 338. If this included all my Vanilla, BC, and WotLK epics I have saved, it couldn't possibly be anywhere near that high.

As far as PvP gear goes, keep in mind that you cannot reforge resillience. PvP gear may be better than lower iLvl PvE gear in some cases, but they will be rare. And keep in mind, no system calculating a value like this can be perfect. It doesn't have a brain, and cannot make the judgements a smart player can. As it seems to be, it does the best it can to judge what the best gear a player could bring to a PvE environment is.

This is probably more applicable to WotLK than Cata, but take this example...

On my mage I could have Valorous Frostfire Gloves, and I could also have Deadly Gladiators Silk Handguards. They have the same item level. If I am hit capped, based on all other gear, I am better served by the PvP gear than I am by the PvE gear as a mage. I am essentially trading only Hit for INT. The resilience is barely a factor. I get close to the same crit, but a lot more INT, and an additional socket. It just seems like ignoring PvP gear could actually sort of not work out to your benefit when calculating item level. I'm not really complaining, it just seems like a slight hole in the process. It seems like it shouldn't be that hard for blizzard to calculate it based on the actual best stat configuration for your build than to just ignore some pieces of gear. Then again, as a programmer I know how much less work the method they took is :lol

Edit: Interestingly enough, to get hit capped you probably would have an item level high enough to qualify for pretty much anything anyway!

 

[GDJustin]

The average item level seems to be calculated adding up the best gear for each spot (equiped, inventory, or bank) and dividing by 17.

However, the system doesn't just look at the item lvl of a piece of gear when deciding that it is your 'best' piece for that spot, even if you have it equiped. It disregards non-pve, and non-class appropriate gear. So if you are wearing PvP bracers, it will ignore them and look for the highest iLvl gear in your inventory or bank. If you are wearing a caster dagger as a rogue, it will ignore it and look for the highest iLvl dagger in your inventory or bank.

This is so:

1. People who wish to wear other gear while waiting for the queue can do so. For example, equiping a fishing rod.

2. People cannot cheese their way into heroics by equiping high iLvl gear that is actually no good for them (i.e. a rogue equiping a high ILvl caster dagger to increase his iLvl).

As long as the equipment you have use appropriate - not PvP and not for another class - the system can only increase your iLvl, not decrease it.

I don't think this is true. I was able to go from ineligible to eligible by deleting my old BC tier gear.

 

[notworksafe]

As we said previously, your issue is most likely a bug as this wasn't the way the system worked when first implemented.

 

[funkmastergeneral]

The average item level seems to be calculated adding up the best gear for each spot (equiped, inventory, or bank) and dividing by 17.

However, the system doesn't just look at the item lvl of a piece of gear when deciding that it is your 'best' piece for that spot, even if you have it equiped. It disregards non-pve, and non-class appropriate gear. So if you are wearing PvP bracers, it will ignore them and look for the highest iLvl gear in your inventory or bank. If you are wearing a caster dagger as a rogue, it will ignore it and look for the highest iLvl dagger in your inventory or bank.

This is so:

1. People who wish to wear other gear while waiting for the queue can do so. For example, equiping a fishing rod.

2. People cannot cheese their way into heroics by equiping high iLvl gear that is actually no good for them (i.e. a rogue equiping a high ILvl caster dagger to increase his iLvl).

As long as the equipment you have use appropriate - not PvP and not for another class - the system can only increase your iLvl, not decrease it.

Definitely not true. I was able to cheese my way into heroics by grabbing blue ilevel 333 quest rewards and drops that were plate, leather, and cloth. Each one bumped my average ilevel up until I could run heroics. (shaman)

 

[Bregor]

I don't think this is true. I was able to go from ineligible to eligible by deleting my old BC tier gear.

Armory link?

Edit: It definetly isn't a straight average of all your gear, however. I would have an average iLvl around 200 if that were the case.

 

[GDJustin]

I think it's a straight average of all your soulbound gear. Probably making some exceptions for things like ilvl 1 fire festival stuff, etc.

Armory: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/character/alleria/bulb/advanced

One extra bit of weirdness (as if this subject wasn't weird enough already) is that my ilvl is listed as 239 on the armory and in-game, but I was able to queue for the 242 dungeons. Maybe enchants and gems are providing and unrecorded bonus.

 

[LaserBuddha]

Now that Cata is out, do you still need to edit the config file to enable DX11, or is there some other way?

 

[Bregor]

Isn't that a PvP trinket you have equiped? I would say that it was disregarding it because it is PvP gear, and looking in your bank for the highest level PvE trinket that you had. Once you got rid of all other trinkets, it finally used the PvP one because there were no other options.

Edit: Come to think of it, I am straying to far into the realm of speculation. Lets just say that it isn't a simple average of the gear you have equiped, nor is it a simple average of all the gear you own. Beyond that who knows.

 

[GDJustin]

Isn't that a PvP trinket you have equiped? I would say that it was disregarding it because it is PvP gear, and looking in your bank for the highest level PvE trinket that you had. Once you got rid of all other trinkets, it finally used the PvP one because there were no other options.

Edit: Come to think of it, I am straying to far into the realm of speculation. Lets just say that it isn't a simple average of the gear you have equiped, nor is it a simple average of all the gear you own. Beyond that who knows.

Yeah I badly needed the hit @ 80.

 

[Twig]

Ebay's usually a better measure of those things. Amazon Marketplace has hilarious prices sometimes.

http://cgi.ebay.com/WoW-Wrath-Lich-...5190?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item1c17c16776

Unless it has a buy it now option or I catch it 5 minutes before the acution ends, I don't count the listed Ebay prices. They always skyrocket at the last minute.

I will agree that Amazon is whacko nuts a lot of the time.

That's the price you would pay to play anyway whether anything new was put in or not. That's the discussion. It's silly to complain that the entire world wasn't redone or that this is paid content, because we've paid for years when nothing was redone at all.

No. I pay that fifteen a month expecting to get new content every now and then. If I didn't, I would feel ripped off and wouldn't pay AND I would get bored and wouldn't play.

EDIT: I agree that complaining about the world update not being "enough" is stupid, though. This "freelol" update was fantastic. U:

 

[TheExodu5]

So I started the Uldum quest to escort the caravan. I'm then in Jail with 2 Horde. They kill me. I resurrect further away , but since I'm in 'prison' I can't actually move. I can't hand in the quest. My character is stuck unless I hearth out. So I hearth back to Stormwind and have to waste another 30 mins getting back here. Great.

 

[etiolate]

It's nice to see that Blizzard is supporting the GearScore mentality.

 

[AceBandage]

Tasty!

 

[Twig]

Hahaha, I missed that when I ran through Azshara (I think that's Azshara) before. That's awesome!

That's the kind of humor I wish WoW would stick to. ;_;

 

[AceBandage]

Hahaha, I missed that when I ran through Azshara (I think that's Azshara) before. That's awesome!

That's the kind of humor I wish WoW would stick to. ;_;

Not sure about the Alliance side, but the Horde quests have been awesome and hilarious so far.

Spoiler

THIS! IS! DRAGONMAW!

 

[hamchan]

How come people say you have to choose between PvP and Raiding for the endgame? Makes sense that the awesome gear from one side would help with the other right? Will I get murdered in battlegrounds with my crappy set of greens?

 

[Twig]

PvP and PvE gear are significantly differently tuned.

The biggest difference is resilience. PvE gear has none, and it also has zero effect when you're fighting mobs. Resilience is the only PvP-exclusive stat, I think. But, yeah, utterly useless in PvE, but completely necessary in PvP. I'm not sure about the specifics, but I believe it reduces overall damage taken by reducing your vulnerability to crits. Or something.

So, using PvE gear, which has no resilience, to fight in battlegrounds is a bad idea.

Similarly, PvP gear is much more stacked toward stamina than is PvE gear. After all, unless you're a tank in PvE, stamina isn't really that important. If you're good, you shouldn't be getting hit that much in the first place.

This early in the expansion, though, you shouldn't be too outmatched if you hop in some battlegrounds for fun.

THIS! IS! DRAGONMAW!

you just made me cry again ;_;

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

The final guy that comes out at the end of Deadmines made me laugh my ass off. Named Horatio, has dark sunglasses, and says "I guess that's the way the...cookie crumbles" when you kill a murloc named cookie.
:lol

 

[Bisnic]

The final guy that comes out at the end of Deadmines made me laugh my ass off. Named Horatio, has dark sunglasses, and says "I guess that's the way the...cookie crumbles" when you kill a murloc named cookie.
:lol

He is all over the place in Westfall. He does that CSI "*put glasses on* YEEEEEAAAAHHHH" joke at least 3 times.

 

[parasight]

Damn you Cataclysm for tempting me to come back. Should have bought WotLK when it was on sale for $10.

 

[GDJustin]

For those following along, I now have 360G on my special auction alt, Accumulation:

http://wowaccumulation.tumblr.com/



I started the toon FIVE DAYS ago. She ran straight into Stormwind, sold the clothes off her back + her weapon, and could use ONLY that money to progress. No mob drops, handouts, etc.

That's 7c in starting money. 7c to 350g+ in five days, with nothing but the auction house. Woot woot.

Spoiler

Most of it is luck, owing to the dude that very stupidly listed tons of huge enchants with cheap bids.

 

[JesseZao]

Resilience was changed to just a flat reduction of damage taken by enemy players. (So doesn't affect enemy crit chance anymore)

And among the rogues, there was much rejoicing.

Hooray.

 

[Chris R]

For those following along, I now have 360G on my special auction alt, Accumulation:

http://wowaccumulation.tumblr.com/



I started the toon FIVE DAYS ago. She ran straight into Stormwind, sold the clothes off her back + her weapon, and could use ONLY that money to progress. No mob drops, handouts, etc.

That's 7c in starting money. 7c to 350g+ in five days, with nothing but the auction house. Woot woot.

Spoiler

Most of it is luck, owing to the dude that very stupidly listed tons of huge enchants with cheap bids.

I'm at almost 600 from my fresh roll. Level 40 with bags and mounts and skills though. Yay for gathering skills

 

[GDJustin]

I'm at almost 600 from my fresh roll. Level 40 with bags and mounts and skills though. Yay for gathering skills

Congrats! That' completely different though. My challenge is to use the AH and *only* the AH. Not easy when you start with just a few copper.

 

[Majine]

Deepholm seems like a snoozefest compared to the amazing Vashj'ir. Does it ever pick up?

 

[Zomba13]

For those following along, I now have 360G on my special auction alt, Accumulation:

http://wowaccumulation.tumblr.com/



I started the toon FIVE DAYS ago. She ran straight into Stormwind, sold the clothes off her back + her weapon, and could use ONLY that money to progress. No mob drops, handouts, etc.

That's 7c in starting money. 7c to 350g+ in five days, with nothing but the auction house. Woot woot.

Spoiler

Most of it is luck, owing to the dude that very stupidly listed tons of huge enchants with cheap bids.

Damn that's awesome. I'm thinking I should give this a shot. If anything it'll be a bit of fun.

 

[Proc]

So are the recent WoW books worth picking up?

I wouldn't mind catching up on where the story is. Maybe I should just read a wiki?

 

[Chrange]

Ugh...I quit playing before Lich King, tired of the grind after being first in a top-end raid and then PVP guild. I mentioned to a friend that I had the itch to play again and he sent me the login info for a second account that he doesn't use.

I'm so tempted to start over...but is it worth it? What's leveling a new character like these days?

 

[AceBandage]

Ugh...I quit playing before Lich King, tired of the grind after being first in a top-end raid and then PVP guild. I mentioned to a friend that I had the itch to play again and he sent me the login info for a second account that he doesn't use.

I'm so tempted to start over...but is it worth it? What's leveling a new character like these days?

Leveling and questing is infinitely more rewarding in Cata than it ever was.
There's actual progression and a sense of accomplishment.

 

[Chrange]

Leveling and questing is infinitely more rewarding in Cata than it ever was.
There's actual progression and a sense of accomplishment.

Well...I'm screwed. I'll be hooked again in a week :lol

 

[ch0mp]

How come people say you have to choose between PvP and Raiding for the endgame? Makes sense that the awesome gear from one side would help with the other right? Will I get murdered in battlegrounds with my crappy set of greens?

Yes. You need resilience in PvP.

 

[Loto]

So are the recent WoW books worth picking up?

I wouldn't mind catching up on where the story is. Maybe I should just read a wiki?

I don't know if it's a recent book, but Arthas was well written. Quick read too.

 

[Twig]

Resilience was changed to just a flat reduction of damage taken by enemy players. (So doesn't affect enemy crit chance anymore)

And among the rogues, there was much rejoicing.

Hooray.

Yeah, I remember hearing that now.

 

[Chris R]

Congrats! That' completely different though. My challenge is to use the AH and *only* the AH. Not easy when you start with just a few copper.

I know it's different I was just comparing to show that new players don't need to beg EVER.

 

[AceBandage]

A Japanese school girl's worst nightmare...

 

[notworksafe]

It's nice to see that Blizzard is supporting the GearScore mentality.

Actually it IS good. It's a good idea to have players get a minimum of gear from normal dungeons before hopping into a heroic version with random players. Only takes about 3-4 dungeon drops, crafted items, or quest rewards from Uldum/Twilight Highlands.

A minimum item score isn't required if you have a group and walk into a dungeon, just if you want to queue up with strangers for one.

 

[Alex]

Deepholm is sooooo crazy good looking.

 

[TheExodu5]

LOOK AT ME!!! I'M A MANATAUR!!!

Shut your stupid face, Budd. SHUT IT!!

:lol

 

[Trojita]

Anyone have any suggestions on what the best professions for a Hunter would be now? I'm thinking about going leatherworking and something else. No gathering profession.

Also is there any recommended build and/or a guide for leveling a hunter from 1-85 post The Shattering? Orc Hunter to be specific.

Thanks