Download the patch now to save time and fustration on Patch day. Looks like a big file.

Seem like Warcraft players are realy enjoying the Midsummer Festival and its challenging quests. I am no exception. And in my long day travels I have stumbled upon a great idea to cash in later on all the fun being had today.

You will notice the Midsummer quest Juggling Torch is a fun a unique attribute to any player. You may also notice that the Juggling Torches are Unique and stack to 10. However, they are not BOE so they can be used, traded and SOLD.

My suggestion is to gather up as many as possible and mail them to alts or bank toons for storage. Remember, that even if you never log into these characters, the mail will be returned to you in 30 days.

I predict these Juggling Torches to be a hot WoW item once the Midsummer Festival has ended and the gear becomes less accessible. A smart character should easily make flying mount money with these idea alone.

Blizzard has patched World of Warcraft 3.1.1, a bug fix patch for the MMORPG game. The patch largely addresses issues introduced with the 3.1 content patch released earlier in April, but gamers should note that talents have once again been reset.

The patch can be downloaded by simply logging into the World of Warcraft client. The update is free, and the full version of the latest expansion pack can be purchased at Amazon.com for US$31.49.

The patch notes in full:

General

• In order to address issues with the dual talent specialization system, all players will have their talents points refunded. Players who have purchased dual talent specializations will have both specializations reset. Glyphs will not be affected by this reset.

Bug Fixes

• Characters who are not of the same race or class are once again able to view each others' professions when linked in the chat.
• Fixed an issue in which player and pet nameplates were appearing larger than normal.
• Thrall's throne has been adjusted back to its proper size and the base replaced. He will no longer need to defy gravity.
• Druid leather helms will once again sit properly on their heads.
• Corrected an issue for GeForce2/ATI 7 series card users that would result in critical errors for select actions in game. As a result certain projected textures, like spell effects and targeting circles, will no longer render on some terrain objects.
• Achievements
  • Corrected an issue preventing players from earning the achievement, Storming Stormwind. Players who were not properly awarded this achievement for completing the objective should retroactively be granted completion.
• Warlock: Demonology
  • Fel Synergy (Rank 1): Corrected the tooltip to now display the proper healing amount.
• Dungeons and Raids
  • Caverns of Time: Culling of Stratholme
    • Fixed an issue with the outside map not appearing correctly.
    • Fixed an issue where an incorrect skin was being applied to certain classes/races when the Human Illusion buff is cast upon them.
  • Ulduar
    • The mob packs in the XT-002 Deconstructor encounter can now be engaged separately and are no longer linked.

WoW for IPhones

Alot of buzz has been created over a recent youtube video which showcased a gamer running a World of Warcraft application on his iPhone using 'Vollee', the service known for running computer-intensive applications on iphones (it can run Second Life on iPhones).

After watching the video you notice that actions and framerate is dramaticly limited. With only the most basic functions available. I couldn't see doing anything more than the simplest quest or leveling up professions. However, it is something and gives hope to what may come it the future of mobile gaming.

This is not good for my day job...

Yesterday Blizzard pushed their controversial World of Warcraft 3.1 patch, causing the typical ‘Authentication’ and ‘World’ server cashes players see when major patches go live. I spent about 20 minutes downloading the patch and about 1.5 hours logging in and out as the ‘World Server’ continued to crash all evening.

With the little amount time I could actually stay logged in, the only bug I noticed was with the new Warrior Talents and Juggernaut in particular.

I was looking forward to paying for the dual talent tree option, but was unable to accomplish this due to crashes. Hopefully, tonight I will be able to test this feature out. I do believe this will make things much more enjoyable for us who like to both raid and PVP as we will not have to waste piles of gold every time we switch talent trees.

I look forward to hearing how you liked it. Also did any one else notice any bugs?

Today ‘The9’ has lost 22% of their value as news that the Chinese based online game distributor and host has lost its contract with Activision /Blizzard and the World of Warcraft.

Reports have the CEO of ‘The9’ telling employees by letter that there is a strong likelihood of the company losing its interest in WoW to competitors ‘NetEase’ due to the The9’s failure to update the latest patches. An offer for all hardware, software and employee’s related to The9’s, World of Warcraft division is on the table.

NetEase is due to make an official announcement related to the new licensing as early as today.

Get ready, tomorrow Blizzard will role out the 3.1 patch. Included is the highly anticipated dual talent feature, a paid for option to specialize in two completely different talent trees and switch on demand in anticipation of gameplay. Action bars, maps and glyphs have been updated or revised. A new end game instance with 14 new bosses has been added. All classes have had talent and spell changes and therefore have all talent point refunded.

You may want to go ahead and make sure you are logged in ASAP after maintenance, so that you can get a fighting chance of playing tomorrow. We all know how horrible the download delays, and servers will be tomorrow. The smarter players will wait at least till Wed. to play and avoid the mess all together.

As I promised, here are just a couple of tips on making serious amounts of gold in World of Warcraft.

Keep in mind, there are over 200 pages of gold tips available at: My Guide

Here are just a couple that hopefully won't get the gold-sellers too angry at me...

Tip 1:

Defias Windmill- This is a great place to farm that can be done at almost any level. This spot was revealed on the official forums right after release and to this day it hasn't changed and is still great.

If you head out to the Gold Coast area in Westfall you will find a windmill on a hill overlooking the beach (there is a murloc camp right below it on the beach). Surrounding this windmill are a ton of Defias mobs that you can kill and get a ton of linen and other good humanoid loot. They are only around level 12 so it easy to do.

What makes this area so great is that their respawn rate is almost immediate. Even at level 60 I can come here and farm linen cloth and they have started respawning before the first of them are even dead.

I'm serious when I say it is almost IMPOSSIBLE to kill them all before new ones respawn.

You can take them on one at a time or AOE if you have the ability and farm non-stop.

You can easily make a lot of money off the linen and low level greens that drop here. In fact, like I said above, this spot is so good that I still grind it at 60 when I need cash fast. You will get numerous stacks of linen and a ton lower level green rank items. This will work at even low levels.

For even more intense gold tips: My Guide

Tip 2:

Dark Iron Mining- This is the gathering technique I routinely use to make 30-60 gold in an hour. Yes, you really can make that much gold using this system.

Dark iron is a very valuable material that is used to craft high-end items and also for reputation gains with the Thorium Brotherhood. Put simply, it is worth a lot of gold. It is only found in two places in the entire game, Blackrock Depths and Molten Core. Obviously, Molten Core is a 40 main raid instance so you can’t sneak in there to get ore. That leaves us with BRD.

Upon entering the BRD instance there is a door to your left. You will need to be able to lockpick it or you will need to have the Shadowforge key to open it (obtained by completing a quest inside BRD).

Once through there you can either walk straight ahead or turn right through another door. You want to walk straight ahead to the area called the Dark Iron Highway. In this area is where you are going to make tons of gold mining ore.

There are numerous dark iron spawn points in this area and on each run you should be able to get to one or two of them. Simply mine the ore, leave and reset the instance to do it all over again. You will need a couple of people at least for this or if you are a rogue or druid you can stealth in. Also, hunters can run in and feign death to escape the mobs around the ore.

Some times you will need to clear some mobs around the ore to mine it. Sometimes it will all be clear for you. Other times it will be behind so many mobs you won’t be able to reach it and will have to reset the instance right away.

A word of warning about the mobs in that area-there are bloodhounds in this area that can see through stealth from very far away for their level. Also, they hit very hard but fortunately don’t have much health. You may have to fight a few of these to get to the ore, but they can easily be soloed if you are careful.

I average about 20-40 dark iron ore per hour using this technique. Considering that dark iron ore sells for anywhere from 1 gold to 4 gold a piece it is easy to see that this is insanely profitable. I had the money for my epic mount using this technique for just two days. It’s that good!

As an added bonus, the dark iron ore points also have a chance to drop the Blood of the Mountain, a component for rare recipes. This sells for around 30-100g. Sometimes I get two of these per day and other times none. If you see one just consider it an extra bonus.

There is a full color map of all the mining points and the exact route you need at: Full Map

Remember, you can get over 100 pages of gold tips including tips for the Burning Crusade and LOTLK at: My Guide