I’ll be getting back into action with my own column soon, but for now I wanted to bring you highlights from World of Warcraft’s fantastic new expansion, Mists of Pandaria, which released on September 25th. You might recall that when Blizzard released news about this expansion there were many who thought it was an offensive joke, and I was certainly at the head of that crowd. With ten months of... 

I’ve been absent from my column for a few months due to the winding down of guild activity (and the absolute lack of anything remotely resembling conflict) at the end of the Cataclysm expansion. However, I haven’t left WoW and will be back to my regularly scheduled programming around here when Mists of Pandaria is imminent. In the meantime, Michael and I have been distracting... 

We all need a break from WoW sometimes, whether it’s to focus on work or school or kids or because of boredom; everyone needs to ease off WoW responsibilities occasionally. If you’re a guild leader, however, there’s a lot more to consider when taking a break than just letting your account lie idle for awhile. Last year there was a guild on my server that suffered the total loss of their guild... 

Last night Michael and I finally gave in and went to LFR on alts. One of our guildies, a man I have grown rather fond of in the past few months, convinced me that it was worth the amusement to attend – specifically if we all went together and there was maybe some alcohol involved. “This isn’t serious raiding,” he assured me, “It’s just so ridiculous that you have to experience it.”... 

Most of you have probably already figured this out, but MMOs – especially MMORPGs – are not what the regular, non-gaming public thinks of when you mention video games. I remember my own opinions of WoW before I started playing, when it was just my son and (ex)husband who were the addicts; despite the fact that I very much enjoyed console games, WoW seemed like it had too much attraction –... 

My guild turned 5 in December, but I’m conflicted over whether this is technically a birthday or an anniversary. Whichever it is, it’s gonna be a PARTAY! I’ve watched as other guilds on my server celebrate their anniversaries in grand style – one threw a drunken raid of ICC, and another throws a grand Gala every year. One night of partying isn’t nearly enough for my guild,... 

When Dragon Soul was released I vented about the ease of the current raid tier content and predicted that it would drive hardcore raiders away. And though I haven’t studied world logs and kept up with the actual statistics, anecdotal evidence indicates that I was pretty much on the money: a lot of higher-skilled players have left and progression on our server (and others) slowed to a near-stop. Blizzard... 

I cleaned up my guild roster this past week – “housekeeping”, I call it. We have a guild policy regarding inactivity which states that all toons (including alts) may be kicked if they’re inactive for more than 30 days. This is as much to ensure that we keep an active roster as it is to ease the headache of knowing who is who.  With more than 100 alts running around the guild, many of whom... 

I haven’t left WoW. A number of my friends have, sadly, but I am still here and still looking for ways to keep it fresh and interesting. Although that includes some creative use of time outside of WoW (which has, in turn, made my in-game time far more precious, since I have a ton to do in a lot less time), I have also ventured to other realms to see what the communities are like there. A fun (or... 

It’s been a few weeks since I last posted here, primarily because I’ve been angsting over the current content and how to express what I really feel about it. Though at last report I was exceedingly delighted with patch 4.3, “Hour of Twilight”, let me assure you that the bloom is most depressingly off the bush. Now I am instead both wary of and worried about what the next few months...