Filed under: WoW.com Business

This week's guest post assignment is inspired by an email from reader Dawnseven:

I've really been enjoying Derek's articles on choosing a video card and what to consider when building a new system. They prompted me to take a good, hard look at my system, and I discovered that my video card was capable of much more than I thought. Consequently, I purchased a new 24" high-def monitor and now I understand the meaning of the term "eye candy." I had no idea my older monitor was so dim and dingy.

Consequently, this caused me to actually look at the video settings for the game which I honestly probably haven't looked at since Wrath came out. With my new monitor, I thought I could "tweak" a few things; however, to my horror, I discovered that I don't even know what more than half of the video settings mean. Multisampling? Wassat? Specular lighting? Is that good? Vertical synch and ground clutter density? Do I need those?

Obviously, people have different computers with difference components and different monitors, and there is no right answer for what your video settings could or should be set at ... but perhaps someone can explain what the video settings mean? (And I don't mean the cryptic little explanation Blizz gives, but what they mean to tech ignorant players.) Also, is there some kind of prioritizing? Which video settings are important to the eye candy factor, and which can be safely scaled back if the hit to the frame rate is too high?

When I fire up Cata on release day, I want to be mesmerized and see all of Deathwing's handiwork in its full glory!

Details on this article assignment, after the cut.

I'll spare you all the tortured cataclysm analogies this time and just get straight to the obvious: WoW.com is now officially WoW Insider again, this time at our new address, wow.joystiq.com. What does this mean to you, loyal reader? It means updating your bookmarks, RSS feeds and enjoying our address changeover contest.

There may be some broken links here and there or something that won't load while the changeover completes. If you find something broken, send us a tip. Thanks for being patient during the transfer.

From Hollywood celebrities to the guy next door, millions of people have made World of Warcraft a part of their lives. How do you play WoW? We're giving each approach its own 15 Minutes of Fame.

What's it like when World of Warcraft becomes your job? This week, 15 Minutes of Fame zooms in for the second half of a behind-the-scenes interview with a handful of WoW Insider staffers. We'll muse over what it's like to write about WoW for work, what it's like to play WoW for work, the rewards and frustrations of writing for a living -- and the No. 1 question we get asked by readers: How can someone get started writing professionally about gaming?

• Zach Yonzon pens The Art of War(craft) every week and creates many of the graphic images you see on our home page, guides and posts.
• Matthew Rossi, one of the most seasoned hands on the WoW Insider crew, is our resident warrior expert who also writes about game lore and general news.
• Michael Sacco, a senior editor, started writing at WoW Insider after working at Blizzard itself.
• Alex Ziebart started out as a weekend blogger and is now a senior editor.
• Fox Van Allen joined WoW Insider early this year and writes the shadow priest portion of our priest column.
• Lisa Poisso (that's me) started out writing the professions column three years ago and now works behind the scenes as an editor and turning out several weekly columns.

Azeroth is facing cataclysmic changes and WoW.com is no exception. Long-time readers will remember that our site lived at www.WoWInsider.com since we spun off from our mother site, Joystiq, lo those many years ago. Our corporate parent, AOL, owned the WoW.com domain, and about 15 months ago, we migrated our site to that address.

Now we are moving forward once again and we will be rejoining with our flagship site at the new address wow.joystiq.com. And we will again be known as WoW Insider. The move hasn't happened yet, so don't be alarmed if you go to that address and see other video game news. It will be happening very soon.

We're still the same team working for the same people writing the same great content for you every day. We have not been bought, sold or otherwise mangled by the Twisting Nether. This is simply a website address change. Adam, Alex and Sacco will still answer your questions in The Queue every day, class columnists will still post weekly updates on how to be a better player and Michael Gray will still be posting pictures of the canine incarnation of Sylvanas, Queen of the Forsaken.

When we change over, please update your bookmarks and excuse the mess while we fix any broken code or links on our side. If you read our site through an RSS reader, you will need to update to the new feed when it becomes available, if you subscribed to the WoW.com feed. The older WoW Insider RSS feeds will redirect to the new site.

Thanks for bearing with us through this transition. We have a lot of great content planned for you in the coming months including our infamous and extensive BlizzCon coverage, our Cataclysm beta news and analysis and more!

Dan O'Halloran
Editor-in-Chief, WoW Insider
Part of the Joystiq network

Every week, just at the start of the weekend, we catch up with the WoW.com staff and ask them, "What are you playing this week?" (Otherwise known as: WRUP!) Join us to see what we're up to in and out of game -- and catch us in the comments to let us know what you're playing, too

[The following may or may not be a dramatization of actual events.]

On a sunny autumn day, in an exceptionally metropolitan (yet fictitious) city, on the 38th floor of an exceptionally corporate-looking (yet fictitious) building, the ever fashionable Alex Ziebart pushed open the carved, mahogany doors of his office and sauntered out into the slightly less attractive general office of the WoW.com non-senior staff. Alex smiled as several eager (yet fictitious) interns immediately stopped in their tracks and focused their eyes on him with full admiration.

The WoW.com staff, who had previously been working at various levels of productivity, now sat up attentively and looked to Alex, who had stopped his stride in the center of their desks. "My friends" he said, his voice deep like the honey-rich call of a bassoon. Mat McCurley swore he saw Anne Stickney shiver at the words of their senior editor.

"In addition to your usual W.R.U.P. assignment, I have a task for you all." Alex punctuated his words by tossing back the lengths of red gabardine that cloaked his Spartan form. "Bring me the oldest WoW screenshot you still have saved."

And so it was done.

That inspired idea you have tucked away on your hard drive or in a dusty drawer someplace? Yeah, that one -- now's the time to write it up and send it in to WoW.com. We're taking submissions for one-off feature articles on any WoW-related topic. Current game mechanics, advanced strategies, arts and crafts projects, how-to articles, you name it ... If your article is entertaining and informative, you could see it right here on WoW.com.

Your article should run between 750 and 1,000 words. Multiple submissions are welcome; only the very best articles will be accepted for publication. We will not accept proposals submitted under player names or pen names; please use your full, real name and email. Please include your email address again at the bottom of your synopsis in the body of your submission. Links should be included as full URLs in the body of the copy; no active links, please.

Artwork is not mandatory, but any you choose to include must be your own work or from Creative Commons. Images should be exactly 580 pixels wide and no more than 350 pixels tall. Please include a description of the content and attribution details at the bottom of your article (along with your email address).

We're having a great time sharing the voices of our readers on the site -- and readers seem to be thoroughly enjoying both writing and reading our regular guest posts, from articles such as Long exposure WoWtography and Northrend truckers: A tale of WoW OTR to the countless Breakfast Topics that help us blink our way through bleary mornings over a cup of steaming coffee.

This week, we're continuing the tradition with a new call for submissions about alts. Have you recently rerolled on a new-to-you class? Show us the other side of life as part of our "Confessions of a Noob: Class X" series, written especially by experienced players who are leveling a new class for the first time. Show us what you're learning about your new class. What has surprised you? Is there something about your class that you're having one dickens of a time remembering? How is your role in groups different? Have you gained a new appreciation for your new class -- or others?

We're not looking for narratives telling the story of what your character did while leveling. Instead, we're looking for opinions, comparisons and observations about the process of playing a class that may be very different from the one you're most used to. What are the facets of your new class that make playing this new character a compelling, enjoyable experience? Your title should clearly reflect the class of your new alt (for example, "Confessions of a Noob: Paladin"). Don't forget to provide perspective by explaining what class and spec you're most used to playing.

Help fill the WoW.com Breakfast Topic cup with hot, fresh topics! What's on your mind (and what do you think is on other players' minds) when it comes to the World of Warcraft? Write it up as Breakfast Topic and submit your article for a chance to be published right here on WoW.com.

We're looking for Breakfast Topics in our usual conversational style, asking the community for their thoughts on a WoW-related topic. Submissions should be between 200 and 400 words. (Watch that top end!) We're looking for strong writing in combination with topics that will spark an interesting conversation. Only the best submissions will be accepted.

WoW.com does not accept articles submitted under player names or pen names; please use your full, real name and an actual email address. Please include your email address again at the bottom of your submission. Artwork is not mandatory, but any you choose to include must be your own work or via creative commons.

And you thought we'd never ask! If you've been dying to propose what you think would be the perfect article for WoW.com, your golden opportunity has arrived. We're taking proposals for one-off feature articles on any WoW-related topic. Current game mechanics, what's ahead in Cataclysm, how-to articles, you name it -- if you can sell us on the idea, we just might give you the green light to write it up.

Your proposal synopsis should clearly outline the topic of your article and its major highlights. The synopsis should consist of three to four paragraphs about your idea -- enough to give us a taste of the tone and content you plan to bring to your article. Tell us what your article will be about, give us a basic run-down of the points you will discuss, and let your writing show us the general tone and approach we expect your piece to take. Should we accept your proposal, we'll open an assignment for the article, which will be evaluated separately and may or may not be accepted. Final articles should run between 750 and 1,000 words. We are likely to accept more proposals and make more assignments than we will accept and publish finished articles; only the very best articles will make it through to publication.

We're more than a little surprised that there's so little talk around these parts about the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game. After all, players who've been around the gaming scene for very many years tend to have dabbled in card games like Magic: The Gathering. WoW itself would be a very different creation without the influence of games like MTG and the games that inspired it -- so let's talk about WoW's own collectible card game!

WoW.com is accepting article submissions from experienced WoW TCG players. What does it take to get started? What's the gameplay like? How do the loot cards tie in, and what's been available so far? Is the game part of the tournament scene? Your article will give readers who've never played WoW TCG a peek into the game and the world of card games.

The world of MMOs would be a very different place without the monumental presence of World of Warcraft. At this point, WoW has shaped an entire world full of gamers, setting expectations, conventions and precedents that other games will be struggling to meet (or dodge, or surpass) for years to come. What is WoW's legacy to you? Once you've logged out for the last time and are eagerly preparing to dive into the next big thing, what will you be looking for?

WoW.com is accepting article submissions on what you crave from your next big MMO experience. From playstyle to game features, community and social features to casual/hardcore balance, what do you want out of the next MMO you'll play? What has WoW whetted your appetite for that you'd like more of? What would you like to explore in areas WoW never ventured? Your article will clearly relate how Blizzard and World of Warcraft's legacy has shaped your ideas on what you'd like to play in the years to come.

Every week, just at the start of the weekend, we catch up with the WoW.com staff and ask them, "What are you playing this week?" (Otherwise known as: WRUP!) Join us to see what we're up to in and out of game -- and catch us in the comments to let us know what you're playing, too!

This weekend, we're trying to log in to the Cataclysm beta. Trying. We're also doing some other stuff, mostly out of necessity, since we can't log in to the beta.

• Allison Robert (@AllisonRobert): As much beta-testing as my connection and the servers will allow; I'd like to get a decent sense of how the bear, cat, and resto druid specs are playing right now, even though all three are still in flux. Otherwise, going to play catch-up on correspondence and a few projects.
• Anne Stickney (@Shadesogrey): Guild's officially 11/12 HM ICC25 now! This weekend will be weird. I'm not sure what's going to be going on - but I will be writing as always for sure. Beta client ... first impression? Kind of annoying. It's still telling me there's 4GB of something to download but whatever it is, it isn't downloading it. However, I can still play -- but zone loading is taking forever.
  
• Christian Belt (@ihatewarlocks): I'll be finishing up DeathSpank, with my daughter playing the role of Sparkles the Wizard, my trusty spellcasting sidekick. Hmmm. Maybe I should switch with her, let her do the spanking of death while I assume the familiar mantle of back-row clothie. Oh, and the beta launcher is ok by me. I ran the thing, waited until it got into the green (only 6 hours left!) and then hopped in. Aside from a few minor glitches (missing sound effects, music starting then stopping suddenly, the occasional weird graphical pop-in) the game was completely playable. I approve, for now.
  

So your guild members are sighing with pre-expansion ennui. You've squished the Lich King like a bug. Raid groups are no longer filling. Members are drifting off to other games -- "Back in a few for Cata, guys ..." What you need right now is some good, old-fashioned guild fun: a scavenger hunt!

WoW.com is accepting article submissions on in-game scavenger hunts for all types of guilds, groups and players. We're looking for lists (and details) of fresh ideas with events designed for lowbies, mixed levels, endgame raiders, crafters, PvPers, roleplayers, old-world instance runners ... Give us your most creative, engaging ideas. Be specific with instructions and goals, and include plenty of Wowhead links on items, quests, zones and NPCs.

Sweet -- WoW.com's open for Breakfast Topic submissions again! What's on your mind (and what do you think is on other players' minds) when it comes to the World of Warcraft? Write it up as Breakfast Topic and submit your article for a chance to be published right here on WoW.com.

We're looking for Breakfast Topics in our usual conversational style, asking the community for their thoughts on a WoW-related topic. Submissions should be between 200 and 400 words. (Watch that top end!) We're looking for strong writing in combination with topics that will spark an interesting conversation. Only the best submissions will be accepted.

WoW.com does not accept articles submitted under player names or pen names; please use your full, real name and an actual email address. Please include your email address again at the bottom of your submission. Artwork is not mandatory, but any you choose to include must be your own work or from creative commons.

Every week, just at the start of the weekend, we catch up with the WoW.com staff and ask them, "What are you playing this week?" (Otherwise known as WRUP!) Join us to see what we're up to in and out of game -- and catch us in the comments to let us know what you're playing, too!

I have to admit it: I'm just not into all of the StarCraft 2 hype. It's a bit awkward since practically everyone I know -- and a lot of the WoW.com staff -- seems to be excited about SC2 above all else. So I'm attempting to turn things around, at least for the duration of this post, with this week's WRUP. In addition to asking what everyone's playing this weekend, I've asked for everyone's thoughts on the ongoing Cataclysm beta test. Well, it might have taken their minds off SC2 for a minute, at least ...

Everyone's answers -- and your chance to add your own -- after the break.