New around here? WoW Rookie points WoW's newest players to the resources they need to get acclimated. Send us a note to suggest a WoW Rookie topic.

Today's WoW Rookie will not help you improve your game or your character's performance. The advice here won't help you become a "better" player; in fact, we'd encourage you to guard against the urge. As a new player in an older game (and make no mistake, with an established game world that's turned away from leveling and original content, the World of Warcraft definitely qualifies), you are quite assuredly behind the curve. You're a noob -- and that's ok. Don't let anyone try to convince you otherwise.

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As you might have heard previously, the Underground Kosmonavts of EU-Ravencrest scored the World 2nd kill on the 10-man version of Algalon. Shortly after their kill they released a video of it, which has burning across the net. Algalon has been incredibly hyped, so it doesn't surprise me!

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The Hunter's Mark's Atkallen takes a good look at one of my new favorite Hunter abilities: Lock and Load. I'm pretty late to the party on this one (BigRedKitty showed us all how awesome it was a while back), but ever since I went dual spec and started raiding Survivalist, most of my time is just spent waiting for a Lock and Load proc. And oh boy, when it hits twice in a row and I can throw off Explosive Shots for free on just a global cooldown, look out.

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Updated Druid Forms Coming Soon
The night elf version of the form is now available for preview!
Quote from: Blizzard (Source)In our next major content patch, druids will find a host of new textures for two major forms, cat and bear. There will be five different designs for each of these forms for the Horde and Alliance. Night elves can choose to change their cat and bear look at any time by visiting the barber shop and changing their character's hair color, while tauren will be able to change which look they use by switching skin tones in the barber shop -- a new feature for tauren in the next major content patch. Given that there are more hair colors and skin tones than unique form looks, some colors and tones will overlap with these new textures. The hair and skin colors chosen will, in most cases, correspond with the color seen in the look of each form. Some similar colors that may share a particular cat texture will not necessarily share the same bear texture.

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Remember the Blizzard creative writing contest that happened during March and April? I'm pretty sure many of our readers entered, but for those who missed it the idea was to write a story up to 10,000 words in length and set in the Warcraft, StarCraft or Diablo universes.

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Thank heavens for Twitter. Twitterer @kreeoni tweeted a scoop detailing the Night Elf Druid bear forms following the exciting revelation of Tauren Druid bear forms yesterday. And oh boy... do they look spiffy. I particularly like the fellow on the lower right, with the Spike-like white stripe and matching sideburns. Our girl Allison is already jumping up and down from excitement (or is it envy? I can't tell with Tauren females...), probably impatient that we don't have the cat forms yet. But here you go, savor the first look at these new Druid bear forms with nastier growls and face paint. Man, Druids get excited over the tiniest things...

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This is only slightly WoW-related, but it's worth a mention, I think, considering that when it happens, you'll be able to tell all your friends just what these things are. Our good friend Relmstein reports that Visa is planning to put an authenticator, of all things, in their credit cards. We of course all know how the Blizzard Authenticator works: you punch a button on the Authenticator, it gives you a code, and then that code can be used to synch up with the server. The Emue Card that Visa is testing right now works the same way: you punch in a PIN, it'll give you another code to enter on an online shopping site, and thus no one who just gets your card information can actually use your card (much like right now with a Blizzard Authenticator, no one who just gets your password can actually sign in). But it's all built in to the normal credit card.

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Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Adam Holisky will be your host today.

Dear Alex,

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In an interesting twist to the dramatic saga of World of Warcraft in China, The9, the former distributor of the game until they lost the license last April, is suing Blizzard in two cases involving property loss compensation and commercial defamation. A company representative confirmed the news to sources at the same time stating that The9 will no longer comment on the matter. The Shanghai Pudong District People's Court will hear the assets damage case and the Shanghai No.1 Intermediate People's Court will hear the commercial defamation case on June 18 and July 8, respectively, according to 178.com.

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Now you can yell at people for not fighting at the flag in all kinds of different languages: Blizzard's EU staff have announced that they're breaking out the first cross-language battlegroups. Actually, that's not quite true -- players who speak different languages will only be playing as opponents (so the Horde you're fighting may speak a different language, but your allies will still understand you). But it is good news for some EU players who've been suffering long queue times. The English language battlegroup Nightfall will be combining with the Spanish language Crueldad (to form Cruelty/Crueldad), and the French battlegroup Némésis will be battling Germans in Hinterhalt to make up Embuscade/Hinterhalt.

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Although Free Comic Book Day is supposed to be on the first Saturday of May each year, our local book store chain Fully Booked held it last May 23 with a 20% discount off graphic novels and select manga. I thought it was a good opportunity to pick up Tokyopop's Warcraft Legends series, a manga-style take on the Warcraft universe. I'd had my eye on these books for a while, so last weekend was a good opportunity to get them.

Each book contains three self-contained stories and one ongoing tale featuring the Tauren Trag Highmountain from the Sunwell Trilogy manga written by Richard Knaak and drawn by Kim Jae-Hwan. Trag's story in Warcraft Legends picks up where the Sunwell Trilogy left off, and although the story is rather interesting, the best thing about the manga are the short stories which breathe a little more life into the Warcraft world. These stories are what make the books truly shine. My take on the first three books in the series after the jump.

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For a while now I've been mulling over points raised by Daniel in his much-discussed article, "Why Varian Wrynn Is Right," and we've received a number of requests to address the issue from the Horde's point of view. Well...this article isn't going to do that. It started off that way, and then I realized that Varian's personal issues and the Horde's approach to the problem are really two entirely separate matters. At some point in the future, I'd like to examine the Horde's take on the newly-resurgent antagonism between the factions, because it's not something I can adequately address here without turning this into a 10,000-word tract.

Today, we're going to deal almost exclusively with Varian and his share of responsibility for the current mess. I'm a little ambivalent over Blizzard's decision to include most of the backstory and explanations for Varian's behavior in a comic series, because I think it's one of the factors that's resulted the character's being poorly received by most players. Choosing to include so much of his characterization out of the game in a product most players will never read necessarily impacts how Varian's motives are going to be evaluated. If all you've got to go on is what you see of the king from ingame events...he doesn't look so great. This isn't a defense of Varian so much as a commentary on the somewhat inconsistent approach to his character that's resulted. I haven't read each of the comics, but I'm familiar with the storyline, and this article doesn't assume that you need to have read the out-of-game books or comics in order to follow the argument.

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The gates are about to open and mayhem is about to ensue as the second week of the ESL TV Invitational Arena Tournament kicks off today. This special invitational event will feature four top teams from all over Europe -- x6tence from Spain, Rest in Many Pieces from Germany, aAa Nawak from France, and newcomers Sickology from... some mysterious place in Europe, probably. The whole event will be streamed live on the Blizzard eSports channel at 22:00 CEST (4pm EST).

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Tipster "Snark" sent me a note about the Trev and Eroth Episode I Trailer by Fudgewartz. The full movie is due out very soon, so we'll know pretty quick whether this trailer will turn into the promised series, or just fizzle out.

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The Opportunist: Willing to adjust strategy based on perceived market needs and predicted trends. Runs around looting bodies while teammates are dying in PVP because, “they just despawn so damned fast.” Known to reprice items in the AH to “more realistic” levels. Will go to the most remote regions in the land to get that one “ultra rare item”… and then sell it. Sells white items on the AH because “people are lazy, man.” His best ‘friends’ are his best customers. Has the Auctioneer add-on installed, but thinks of it more as a religion than a mod. Loathes AH fees and deposits. Can become emotionally unstable when undercut.

The Farmer: Dual gathering specs. Mastered the art of flying in circles. Has routes planned out in advance and is willing to fervently debate the efficiency of these routes with anyone foolish enough to do so. Does very little actual ‘playing’ of the game. Despises other farmers and immediately assumes they are from China. Is known to say things like, “That’s my node,” or “stay out of my zone” and mean it.

The Master Craftsman: Crafting specced, sometimes even dual crafting specced. Can answer questions like, “What mats do I need to craft X?” without even opening her tradeskill window. Bank is filled with crafting materials, even stuff that’s been obsolete for years because “you never know when you’ll need it.”

The Daily Grinder: Money making efforts focus almost exclusively on daily quests. Has extensive opinions on which quests to group together in order to maximize profits from rewards. Thinks it is ridiculous that they can’t be friendly with both the Oracles and the Frenzyheart. Willing to help you with a dungeon, raid or quest after he finishes “just one last daily”. Is partial towards (is partial towards…is partial towards…is partial towards…is partial towards) repetitive game play elements. Thinks the Isle of Quel’Danas was the best content Blizzard ever created.

The Deadbeat: Always broke and always ‘needs’ a new BoE item or enchantment. Willing to pay you next month (with interest) for 1,000 gold today. Says things like “I never borrow money, I really hate to do this…” while hitting you up for another 1,000 gold. Never, ever repays loans and has maccro’d the phrase, “Oh man, I’m so sorry. I forgot all about that. How about I pay you next week?” Thinks that borrowing from Peter to pay Paul is a legitimate, and often overlooked, system of wealth generation. Wonders why there is not an in-game credit card system.

The Ninja: Ninjas the most profitable loot from runs. Only question he asks on guild applications is how soon he can make withdrawals from the guild bank. Scams other players on his level 1 soon-to-be-deleted alt. Switches servers and/or toon names regularly to protect identity. Believes that if he ninjas something of high value it is the group member’s faults for letting him be the Loot Master. Wonders why everyone is “crying over pixels”. Thinks running an in-game casino is entirely within the ToS…or at least should be.

The Dungeon Master: Solos old school dungeons at least once a day. Knows the strats for most heroic runs. Mumbles things like “Sheep the X” in his sleep. Sells valor bracers whenever possible. Regularly runs both regular and heroic daily instances- jumps with glee when they are the same instance. Thinks the guy that famously lost it [Strong language and NSFW] in the Onyxia raid was acting pretty reasonably. Loathes repair bills, noobs and PUGs. Could run Scarlet Monastary in his sleep, sometimes does.

The Stripper: A female toon willing to dance for tips or gifts. Uses Outfitter or Blizzard’s equipment manager only to switch between clothed and naked modes. Will often say that you look “handsome and strong,” and that she thinks you “have a big sword.” Almost always a lower level to enhance the “please help me, I can’t afford to buy my skills” effect. Begs for run-throughs and boosts, but prefers you just pay for a dance. Is willing to go with you to the tram tunnel for additional fees. Thinks the implementation of Blood Elves was solely so that the Horde could have hotties as well. Uses terms like ‘MUAH’, ‘Rawr’, ‘<3 U’ and is prone to frequent /hugs. Does very little actual playing of the game and has a large fan base of pubescent teen boys. Is almost always a G.I.R.L (Guy in Real Life).

The Mercenary: Provides services such as portals, enchantments, lock boxes opened… for a tip. Known to add those that don’t tip to friends list so that they can forever keep an eye on them and harass them about their cheapness whenever possible. Provides runs for lower levels and alts for gold. Knows the Stockades, Zul’Farrak and Deadmines like the back of his plated fist. Is almost always a melee DPS class. Has the term “Don’t die nub” maccro’d and key bound. Gets paid up front.

The Barterer: Will trade his Titansteel cooldown for a stack of buff food, for an enchanted vellum, for an orb, for a few eternals, for an Abyss Crystal, for a stack of flasks, for an epic BoE item, for a rare non-combat pet, for… Rarely, if ever, actually cashes in. Often too broke for consumables or food, but is willing to pay you Tuesday, for a hamburger today.

So… which one are you?

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Every Wednesday, Chase Christian of Encrypted Text invites you to enter the world of shadows, as we explore the secrets and mechanics of the Rogue class. This week, we continue our discussion of tips and tricks for Ulduar.

Last week, we covered the first few tiers of Ulduar bosses, and what Rogues can do to maximize their performance on these fights. I was happy to see some great tips in the comments as well, such as using Cloak of Shadows when you are afflicted by XT-002's Light Bomb. If you have any advice to add to the conversation, please use the comments to give us your thoughts.

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Our submitter James isn't sure what caused this cross-faction druid party in the Dalaran fountain, but I suspect it might have something to do with yesterday's news about the new druid cat and bear forms. "There were mages for lighting and a priest casting mass dispel around the druid in the middle of the fountain," he writes. "It was a glorious sight, throwing old racial prejudice out the window and dancing!" Silly priest. Don't you know you can't Mass Dispel pure happiness?

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Here in Europe, we've been waiting patiently, watching as the Americans frolic with their shiny new Battle.net merged WoW accounts. Blizzard have just updated the news section of the European site with a welcome announcement. European players will now be able to finally merge their Battle.net and World of Warcraft accounts into one shiny new entity.

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We get lots of email from our readers trying to find their way though WoW. I'd like to take a moment to answer a question about membership retention. This also builds on a previous response regarding the trials and tribulations of starting a guild.

Hi I been reading your posts and listening to the podcast and you recently made a new guild. I have a guild with around 140 members and we do some raiding weekly but every time I log off, it seems that people start arguing, and drama just starts building up. I went away for a couple days and when I come back from my vacation, Alot of people have left the guild. Maybe 10-15 people. Now they are stealing my members and have made a new guild. Do you have tips on member retaining and stuff like that, would be cool if you can do a post on that kind of stuff and how you work that out, thanks

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Account-bound, or heirloom items have a curious place in the game. They're gear intended to get players through the leveling process as quickly as possible, so we don't have to worry about gearing up. They remind me of my mother-in-law, actually, who has the uncanny ability to preserve items from her children's childhood. I mean, it's eerie how almost all of my daughter's clothes today used to belong to my wife when she was a baby. Considering how she's the spitting image of her mother, you can imagine the amusement we get from perusing old albums.

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Notice: MMO-Champion will be down for a few hours today between approximately 10:30AM EST and 01:30PM EST to upgrade to new servers.

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Lots of great guild news in this week's column -- many guilds, like OpEx above, from Scilla, are making their way through Ulduar and dropping lots of bosses as they go by. And many more guilds are recruiting: way more, unfortunately, than we have space for in this column. Business is booming if you're a raiding guild, apparently, and we have a feeling that's exactly what Blizzard planned.

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Good morning Europe. May is almost over and summer seems to be officially here -- at least in the UK. This week we have something different. For most of us, it's the usual bout of maintenance but some lucky souls are getting extended downtime for a very special reason.

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