All-Star Blogging: October 26 – November 1

With the NBA season tipping off this week, why not the time-honored Converse All Star to lead off this week’s digest? (Pause for pre-teen nostalgia moment…)

• Matticus gets the ball rolling (bouncing?) this week with his essay on properly PUGging raids. At this moment in time, the idea of answering "LF Priest for Kara then we’re GTG" gives me the heebie-jeebies. But if I ever get the courage (or am nuts enough) to answer that call, Matt’s article will be one I’m glad I’ve read.

• Over at Altitis, Gwaendar has a spirited rant against those who demand that "such-and-such overpowered class" be nerfed down to the whiners’ level. She makes an especially good point that Blizzard’s general policy has been anti-nerf, instead preferring to buff weaker classes. Hear hear!

• The EgoTank grabbed Tuesday’s spotlight from The Egotistical Priest to let us in on some Tanking Tidbits. Must-read for tanks, and a good read for other raiders, just to give some additional perspective on what your tank can, or should be able to do.

• Ego grabbed a share of the spotlight herself, however, with her Thursday essay on WoW Web Stats. Read this article. Now.  Go…shoo! We’ll be here when you get back. …

Okay…now you’re ready for…

• In one of his more extreme Priestly Endeavors, Kirk is opening the window on WowWebStats, the preeminent combat logging and analysis tool for raiders. This is the first of a series of "how-to" articles on WWS. The linked article is the first in the series. Read ‘em all!

• Lassirra over at The Hunter’s Mark is at it again with a how-to on enchants for Hunters. I have this article triple-tagged in Google Reader for a detailed examination.

• PUGs are the topic of the week, I think. Both Ess at Outland Bound (great blog title!) and Gib at Hunter’s Prowl addressed the topic from different points of view. Ess is concerned by the lack of social skills among a lot of players (although her example was a Horde…go figure ). Gibbiex had some insightful additions to my 10 Commandments for Casual Groups. Good stuff all around!

• Shifttusk has a pretty good analysis of the proposed 2.3 changes for Hunters, especially with regard to PvP.

• The Gun-Lovin’ Dwarf Chick has an outstanding guest article on accidental learning that takes place in WoW. Highly recommended!

• Proving once again why hers is such a great blog, Phaelia at Resto4Life gave a great answer to a question on how to choose a (Druid) healing spec. But the wisdom can be applied to any spec choice.

Blogroll Additions

• Liquid Silver –  Kat is a warlock with a sense of humor. I stumbled on her blog because she linked to me in two successive articles–and I thoroughly enjoyed my time perusing her posts. I almost spit my coffee, though, while reading her happy birthday post to her hubby.

• World of Freejack — YAHB (Yet Another Hunter Blog), but that’s just fine and dandy. Freejack’s blog chronicles his level 70’s adventures in Outland with his faithful companion, Blackjack. His articles are fast-moving, and definitely kept me engaged.

• One Among Many — I’ll let her tell it: "As a girl gamer, I have many faces…you haven’t even scratched the surface. I like to play each class to 60 to better understand the game mechanicsand what is possible within their class/role when in a bind."

• Hunter’s Prowl — Gibbiex has a fresh, open perspective on Hunterdom. Thanks to Gib for the props on my 10 Commandments article.

• Outland Bound — Ess chronicles the adventures of her several characters as well as her husband’s as relative newcomers to WoW. A nice, easy read, and a comfortable break from tales of raids, guild drama, and theorycraft. Welcome, Ess!

• The Bronze Kettle — Husband-and-wife team Jon and Shelbi combine my two favorite pastimes (WoW and eating) into a very enjoyable blog that intersperses the occasional recipe with their WoW travels. The "Huntley-Brinkley" style (OMG…many of you probably don’t have a clue what that means, do you?) is quite refreshing.

• Balance of Power — Okay…why didn’t I know this Balance Druid blog existed before today? (On second thought…don’t answer that; I’m pretty sure there’s no excuse.) Fio is the GL (or co-GL; I’m not sure of the politics here) of the guild which boasts BRK, Doom, TJ, Cayleigh (the Squeeky Priesty) and others. But besides that, he writes an outstanding blog for his class. Excellent, excellent stuff there.