Before I freak out in this blog, I will copy and paste the news off of wowhead.

New Feature: Virtual Realms

• Virtual Realms are sets of realms that are fused together, and will behave exactly as if they were one cohesive realm.
• Players on the same Virtual Realm will be able to join guilds, access a single Auction House, join arena teams and raids, as well run dungeons or group up to complete quests.
• Players belonging to the same Virtual Realm will have a (#) symbol next to their name.

Thanks to your hard work! and dedication! We did it! we Survived Gorgonnash dying!

This is what I called earlier as the solution I figured they would impliment, Cross Realm Everything. We will have new bodies to recruit, Our AH will live again! and you will be able to PUG in trade chat to your hearts content!

As a guild leader on a dead realm this is the best news I could have asked for. I'm so freaking excited! Get ready for new blood and new bodies everywhere!

I wont say much more on this here, But HELL YES WE WIN!

• Man Hug is 11/12
• PMS is 2/13 heroics
• Galaga 4/12
• and now Our Server will LIVE!

Congratulations to all of you!

This will be a semi-regular blog in which I explain what has been causing me to rage lately and explain why in as coherant as fashion as possible. THIS MAY PROVE TO OFFEND SOME! So that is your warning. I will not offend or talk shit about religions, sexes, sexuality, or politics. Those are too hot button of issues. What you will see/read from me are rages about the gamming community, The computing community, Peoples health POVs (such as anti-fluoridation or anti-vacination nuts) and some other topics. Feel free to reply, but I promise I wont be nice here. One of the downsides of being GM is you don't get to be angry enough, You have to try and keep people happy at all times... This can lead to an over abundance of stress and anger. I need to vent

Todays Topic

Next Gen Console Jumpers!

Allow me to explain the title before I contine with my rant/vent. These are people who at the mere sight of a demo of ONE aspect of a console, Jump Ship without seeing a second more of content. (you do not qualify for this if you jumped away from consoles all together because of some of this. If there's something about a console or product that royaly pisses you off. AND all of the other companies are doing the same thing. It's a smart move to stop buying completely)

Let's go in order here (Nintendo Lovers are free from this as the WiiU continues to try and serve a demographic that is a minority, but does it well)

Playstation 4!

Announced/Revealed Feb/20/2013

What you see here (and all of what we've seen of the hardware thus far) is the new controller. It has a screen of sorts on it and we will get to see how that can affect our game-play..... But that's all we got from Sony, This and a demo of games.... So let's be honest. This wasn't a Hardware reveal, This was a announcement with some games. Not a bad thing mind you.... yet people jumped ship for the, then un-announced, Xbox BECAUSE OF THIS REASON ALONE! 

WHY ARE YOU SO DUMB?!?! E3 is just around the corner and if Sony is 35% as smart as they have been in the past THEY WILL SHOW YOU THE DAMN CONSOLE! For the love of shit! No one whos got 1/10th of a brain buys a console because of it's looks...... Why in the Fuck would you think that them not showing it means they think it's a weak end of their product?!?! WHY?!

So the world continues and here comes along May/21/2013 

a.k.a. Xbox One

now, regardless of how many jokes you try and make about how Microsoft (MS) can't count. They announced the REVEAL of their new Console! Guess the fuck what they did?! THEY SHOWED YOU A GOD DAMNED CONSOLE AND WHAT THE HARDWARE CAN DO! Along with a nice demo of how the opperating system works with every aspect (not just gaming) of the console. We got to see "cut aways" of the hardware as they announced it. They were also nice enough to have a few games ready to show to demonstrate the graphically fidelity of the console....

Yet, here we go again "BUT TOM! WHERE THE FUCK ARE ALL OF THE GAME ANNOUNCEMENTS?!?! I DONT WATCH NETFLIX OR TV?!?! THEY MUST NOT HAVE GOOD GAMES THEN!"

I will not cap this, I will not yell this even.... This was a Hardware Reveal. A demonstration of the console's power, and amazing use of the OS and the new and VERY improved Kinect.

now I will yell a bit

"YOU CAN WAIT UNTIL E FUCKING 3 TO SEE SOME GAMES! IT'S LESS THAN 3 WEEKS AWAY! CALM THE FUCK DOWN"

and again we see people jumping ship (Like the new Blue, Lore, formerly of TankSpot) for Sony. Why? because they didn't get to see the game they wanted at a hardware reveal!

You people (as described in the previous sentance) are grade A MORONS!

Since Neither console is offering compatability with their previous games for their previous systems I'm not even coming close to addressing this. If this fast bothers you, Just jump Ship from consoles entierly please and shut the hell up.

EDIT #2

 added link that says exactly what we thought as far as being able to play the old games would involve. Looks like Sony wants to try and Stream titles later (not sure how this would work with previously owned ones) I presume we may see something similar from MS in the future as well since they're offering distributed servers for game devs to make enhanced worlds.

If you aren't a fan of the whole "no more used games" bit, you have a very genuine complaint with the game devs (or possibly GameStop) 

This is something they've (devs) been wanting for years with consoles. To kill Used games. Why? you may ask. Well they get no money from the resale of that game, and places like GameStop make upwards of 2000% profit from each used sale. This is a problem, for the devs only, that makes piracy look like a small fly. While I don't like this practice, were stuck in this world unless you boycott the next gen of consoles. (I promise if Sony wants to keep the devs around for them, they will announce this soon, otherwise you'll see MANY more exclusives for MS)

Also the consoles are going to be tiny, if you're going to a friends house and want to play a game with them that you own.... PICK UP THE GOD DAMNED CONSOLE YOU LAZY FUCK AND BRING IT OVER! It's not like the 360 or PS3 were all that big/heavy either.

EDIT ADDITION TO ABOVE

Seems MajorNelson was good enough to clear up some facts regarding used games and going over to a friends house on his blog (Thanks to Saedo on posting it)

Xbox One and Used Games

We know there is some confusion around used games on Xbox One and wanted to provide a bit of clarification on exactly what we’ve confirmed today. While there have been many potential scenarios discussed, today we have only confirmed that we designed Xbox One to enable our customers to trade in and resell games at retail.

Beyond that, we have not confirmed any specific scenarios.

Another piece of clarification around playing games at a friend’s house – should you choose to play your game at your friend’s house, there is no fee to play that game while you are signed in to your profile. 

This is great news and clears up a lot of the confusion and complaints I heard on the day of the REVEAL

So let's try a TL:DR here. If you're thinking about getting a next gen console. WAIT until you see everything about it for launch. From the exclusives and launch titles and even getting to see the machine. Make an informed descion please!

If you don't want to because of the used game shit, Stay on PC and install Steam, I cannot recommend this service more.

Personally I'm leaning twoards the XboxOne atm (if it wasn't obvious) because in our home the PS3 is used as a media machine more than to play games (because of work and wow) So all of the O/S and Kinect stuff apeals to me. But I'm waiting to make a call on it until this fall once I see more from each.

So let's see how this new blog works, I'm feeling better just typing out my rage (arguing with Lore on twitter didn't help this much) 

Woo my first Holy Pally update Blog! I'm going to discuss the changes that hit us in 5.3 and what that means to how we play.

First just the notes

• Mastery: Illuminated Healing now places an absorb shield for 10% of the amount healed, down from 12%.
• Daybreak is now a stackable effect with a duration of 10 seconds, stacks up to 2 times, and causes the next Holy Shock to also heal other allies within 10 yards of the target for an amount equal to 75%/150% of the original healing done.
• Item Sets
  
  • Tier-14 Holy Paladin 4-piece set bonus now reduces the cooldown of Holy Shock by 1 second, down from 2 seconds.

So Mastery!

Sadly they decided (inc flame from Atar, Kauu, Sassyßrat and Luna) that Holy Pallies were just too OP with their bubbles. They brought the ammount of healing from our mastery down by 2% /whopty doo. I'm still in forums now (as this just went up) to see the real numbers from this change and the difference. But I'm guessing as long as you're getting gear and upgrades this wont effect you much. 

Numbers I'm seeing so far is putting haste out in front of stat priority only slightly as it "scales" better than mastery. As to say it takes less haste for each 1%.

The numbers are as follows so far

*OLD*

• 400 Mastery = 1% Illuminated Healing

*New*

• 480 Mastery = 1% Illuminated Healing

• Haste 425 = 1% Haste Rating

BUT DONT GIVE UP ON MASTERY! It will still be our top heal and Illuminated heailng effectively costs no mana. Where as more haste will still continue to drain your mana bar quicker.

Daybreak!

Let's talk Daybreak, It's a buff we get after a cast of Holy Radiance that turns our Holy Shock into an AOE spreading it over 10 people. Makes for some great AOE healing and keeps your finger off Holy Radiance as much

My 5.2 AOE healing rotation (when stacked) is

HR > LoD > HS > LoD --repeat that until it's over

So how they have it now is a bit of a nerf to that style. The first stack of Daybreak after a Holy Radiance is only 75% of the holy shock over 10 people (used to be a flat 100%) But at two stacks you get 150%! of your heal over 10 targets.

HR > LoD > HR > LoD > HS > LoD > HR > LoD > HR > LoD > HS > LoD  -- Repeat (please note you can save your LoD for 3 holy power in more control scenarios)

With our two piece T15 This will make Daybreak up to 225% (I believe) Making it one of our most POWERFUL AOE heals possibly (will have to see real numbers before I make that call)

R.I.P. T14 4P

We hardly knew you. To be fair we were going to hold onto you until heroic T15 4P. They could have simply buffed T15 bonuses a bit... but know they had to hurt you instead. You're my favorite set bonus of the whole game thus far. I can't think of another bonus that made such a huge impact on our healing, or my heart. You took my favorite heal in the game, and you made it oh so much better.

In seriousness now, Be ready to have T15 pieces laying around ready to swap out your T14 at any given time. In AOE centric fights (i.e. Megaera's Rampage) 2 pieces of both tiers will provide maximum healing. Where on tank centric fights (i.e. Ji Kun Main Platform) T15 4 piece will sadly be king.

Well that's my first installment of Holy Pally PTR changes.

Several years ago during Wrath of The Lich King <Downfall> ran two 25 man raids and countless 10 mans. Back then we had the joy (imo) of having separate raid lockouts. You could take your holy pally and run your elite 10 man and then join up with the others for a 25 man of the same content later that week (or the same days). At the end of WoTLK Blizzard decided it was their job to say how we wanted to raid/play (as they do with every game) and limit us to a shared lockout. This meant if you ran with your elite squad on Tuesday through Icecrown Citadel then when 25 man came around Wednesday that you either were completely screwed or needed an alt that could fill your role. During this time 25 man and 10 man had different loot tables, there was mass benefit to run both if you were a min/maxer. Then Cataclysm came around and they made it so 10s and 25s dropped identical loot. This has all but killed 25 man raiding. <Downfall> attempted a 25 man raid then, they lasted for about a month before breaking into 10 mans due to attendance issues. Cata kept rolling and people had their 10s. We didn't interact much with people outside of our groups. I'll be the first to admit I didn't know ANYONE in a couple of the raids. I would see new names in guild and have no clue who they are or why they were here.

Mists of Pandaria rolled out and two 10 mans had survived the chaos that Cata left us in, Raid PMS and Redd Foxx. We didn't really interact at all but we saw a ton of old guildies return. What we saw most of all though was a plan, a plan that could bring back <Downfall> from a couple of segregated groups, and back to a community of people, friends, and family.

Now that you understand why and how <Downfall> is where it is today, I want you to understand why I believe the 25 man is key to the success of the guild as a whole.

The last couple of weeks Raid Man Hug has had attendance issues to say the very least. When we do all come together (with our brains in and ready to play) we accomplish some pretty damned amazing things. But that's not what we've been getting.

So I'm here for a couple of reasons, one is to do this. When you're looking at planning things in life, if and when you can plan around raid please do, we count on each and every one of you. No I'm by no means saying put all life on hold, that’s a stupid proposition and I would never purpose it. Also come to raid ready to be 110% of what you can be. When we need someone to do a job on a door or something STAND UP! And shout I can do that! And then execute that job as perfectly as you can. Also come educated, come with strats in mind for fights we haven't done. Come with new ideas to purpose! Atar and the rest of us can't be left holding the baton for telling everyone how each should play. You need to know your class! You need to know what addons you have and whether or not they were updated recently, and you need to know how to play.

Raid Man Hug has accomplished a great many things in the past months. Now comes the trials that <Downfall> must face together. We must recruit, we must come to every raid we can, and we must be 110% of who we can be. Only then will we continue to succeed!

As the title says, This post will be regarding the start of minimum EP requirements for raid Man Hug to recieve loot! If you don't know how our loot system works, please go over to The EPGP article I wrote up and read before continuing here.

As of right now (5.1) we have no minimum EP in place to earn loot. That means that the guy who's been raiding since Man Hug formed up a couple of months ago and the guy who just joined us today have very equall chances on an item (presuming the person who's been raiding for 2 months has a low PR)

As of 5.2 (Throne Of Thunder Patch) We will institute the Minimum EP Threshold of 10,000EP. What that means is for a person to be eligible for loot rolls in the 25 man must have 10k EP at least. That equates to 10 farm boss kills, or 5 first time boss kills (not that much really) What this does for the established raiders is reward us! We don't have to worry about the new guy coming to raid and taking the loot we desire. It also let's us know who's been really putting in the time to raid with us.

Now in a previous post I made (New Guild Ranks and You!) I very intentionally didn't mention something I have in the works. A new Elite Raider rank, or Core Raider rank. This rank is coming soon and stay tuned as I will be launching this with 5.2 as well once all the pre-reqs are worked out.

Since Cata we have had bosses that engage an extra mechanic to fights. Whether it be a bar we don't want to fill, or some button that we need to press to save ourselves. If you haven't Encountered this button yet there are 2 scenarios. You're doing the mechanic wrong, Or you never set up the button with Bartender4.

This tutorial will show you how to position your Extra Action Bar so that you can see the button you NEED to press

1) Opening Bartender4 -- Type /bt and hit enter

2) Click "Extra Action Bar" in the left menu

3) Either Check, or Confirm that Enabled is Checked

4) Click the tab titled "Positioning"

5) Click the button "Reset Position"

6) Drag Bartender to the side by click and holing where it reads Bartender4 at the top of the addon and uncheck the Lock in the top left corner of the addon

7) See that green box in the center of the screen that reads "Extra Action Bar"? Click and drag that to a place that you will see it in combat and be able to click it quickly

8) Click the Lock Button once more and close the addon. Congratulations! You've setup your Extra Action Bar and now you will be ready to click it when you need to.