Blizzard recently announced that they would revamp the talent trees for World of Warcraft: Cataclysm by reducing each tree to having 7 tiers instead of 11 which we have today. This means that you have to spend only 31 talent points to get the top talent of the tree, down from 51. You will also have only 41 talents in total to spend at level 85, down from 76.

Personally, I think this can remove many boring and tedious spells which we are currently enforced to take in order to be allowed to further down in the tree. I will in this post try to sum up which talents I hope will disappear in this cleanup.

As I am a Protection Paladin, I will only consider talents available to me (all 11 tiers in the Protection tree and the top 4 tiers of the other trees), however most of these would never be considered in a Protection build, and others are just boring and passive, such as Deflection or Anticipation. Effect descriptions are the max rank of the talents.

Holy Tree

• Spiritual Focus (-70% pushback on Flash of Light and Holy Light)
• Seals of the Pure (+15% damage on Seal of Righteousness, Seal of Vengeance, Seal of Corruption and their Judgement effects)
• Healing Light (+12% increased healing from Holy Light, Flash of Light and Holy Shock)
• Divine Intellect (+10% intellect)
• Unyielding Faith (-30% fear and disorient duration)
• Improved Lay on Hands (-4 min cool down, gives target -20% physical damage for 15 seconds)

Protection Tree

• Divinity (+5% healing done by you and to you)
• Divine Strength (+15% strength)
• Stoicism (-30% stun duration, -30% chance helpful spells and damage over time spells will be dispelled)
• Guardian’s Favor (-120 sec Hand of Protection cool down, +4 sec Hand of Freedom duration)
• Anticipation (+5% dodge chance)
• Improved Righteous Fury (-6% damage taken)
• Improved Hammer of Justice (-20 sec Hammer of Justice cool down)
• Improved Devotion Aura (+50% armour bonus, targets affected by your Auras receive +6% incoming heals)
• Blessing of Sanctuary (Blessing that reduces damage taken by 3% from all sources, increases Strength and Stamina by 10% and gives 2% mana back when the player blocks, parries or dodges a melee attack.
• One-Handed Weapon Specialization (+10% damage when a one-handed weapon is equipped)
• Spiritual Attunement (When the Paladin is healed by others, the Paladin gains mana equal to 10% of the amount healed)
• Ardent Defender (Damage that takes you below 35% is reduced by 20% and attacks that would have otherwise killed you cause you to be healed up to 30% of maximum health. 2 min cool down)
• Redoubt (30% block value, damaging melee and ranged attacks have a 10% chance to increase chance to block by 30% for 10 sec or 5 blocks)
• Combat Expertise (+6 expertise, +6% stamina, +6% critical chance)
• Touched by the Light (Increases spell power by 60% of the Paladin’s strength, increases amount healed by critical heals by 30%)
• Guarded by the Light (-6% spell damage taken, 100% chance to refresh Divine Plea when hitting an enemy, -100% chance to dispel Divine Plea)
• Shield of the Templar (-3% damage taken, +100% chance of Avenger’s Shield silencing affected targets for 3 sec)

Retribution Tree

• Deflection (+5% parry chance)
• Benediction (-10% mana cost of all instant cast spells)
• Heart of the Crusader (Judgements will also increase critical chance by 3% against the target judged)
• Improved Blessing of Might (Effect increased by +25%)
• Conviction (+5% critical chance)
• Eye for an Eye (Critical attacks against you causes 10% of the damage taken to the attacker as well)
• Sanctity of Battle (+3% critical chance, +10% Exorcism and Crusader Strike damage)
• Crusade (+3% damage, +3% additional damage to Humanoids, Demons, Undead and Elementals)

Wow, that’s a good share of Protection talents. If I were to take all talents I just “removed”, I’d spend 51 talent points. What does this tell us?

One of the main problems with the Protection tree for Paladins and possibly the tanking trees for Warriors, Death Knight and Druids, is that there are too many passive talents like “+X% chance to Y”, or “-Z% W damage taken”. This is generally bad and it’s not very likely. There are of course talents that shine, such as Hammer of the Righteous, which is a great addition to Paladins’ tanking rotation and especially when tanking several targets.

All in all, I hope that we will get some fun talents, and although my list might be cynical, I wouldn’t miss many of the talents if they were exchanged for more “fun” talents. There will always be talents like “-Z% W damage taken”, but if mixed with other things they could be more fun and less cookie-cutting.

This Fall, Blizzard will release World of Warcraft: Cataclysm as the third expansion to World of Warcraft. As usual, we don’t know the exact release date, but let’s try to speculate and theorize about when it will be release.

First off, let’s see how it’s been done before:

• World of Warcraft was released in the US on Tuesday November 23rd 2004, and on Friday February 11th 2005 in Europe. 
• World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade was released in the US and Europe on Tuesday January 16th 2007. The closed beta started Thursday October 12th 2006.
• World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King was released in the US and Europe on Thursday November 13th 2008. The closed beta started Thursday July 17th.

From what we’ve seen on screenshots and such from the Cataclysm Alpha, we can assume the closed beta will begin within the interval of mid-June to mid-July. Since many are, assumingly, going to pre-install the expansion from Battle.net, we can assume that the DVD production will take significantly less time than for Wrath of the Lich King. Furthermore, we can assume that the beta period lasts for about two months, given the data trend from The Burning Crusade, where it lasted about two months, and Wrath of the Lich King, where it lasted about 2.5 months.

We can predict the beta period to last for 2 months and the DVD production to take 3 weeks, assuming all the extra stuff is pre-made so that the only thing left to do is to produce tons upon tons of DVDs. Given these predictions, by having the closed beta start in the middle of June, Cataclysm would ship around the second week of September.

Then we add Blizzard’s “When It’s Ready” factor, rub our magic eight ball and read that Cataclysm should ship in the end of September. My guess is September 30th or October 1st.

Edit June 13: Blizzard just lifted the NDA of Cataclysm, meaning that the Beta will surely commence very soon™!

Just to keep you updated; I'm working on bringing life into ipwn again. This is the changelog this far:

General

• Done many optimizations to the code and SQL queries
• Implemented SEO friendly URLs (for instance 2010/05/working-on-a-new-version-of-ipwn)
• Created a tag system in addition to the categories, as the categories could easily be overcrowded. Having simpler categories and a tag system would make it much easier to maintain.

Administration

• Implemented a WYSIWYG editor for easier writing of blog posts
• Make it possible to change SEO friendly URLs.
• Fix delete post function.

Integration

• It is now possible to share entries on Twitter and Facebook.
• Integrated with Twitter to share whenever blog entries are posted.

Layout

• The design has been and is constantly being revised.
• Increased the width as it was too narrow for my likings.
• Comments has been enhanced. 
• Implemented support for gravatar.

Lately there has been few updates to this blog. It's mainly due to lack of time to update it, but throughout the autumn, we'll try to update it more! :) We recently became parents to little Elea and all of our time is devoted to her. :D

Have you watched Big Blue Dress? If so, you'll probably enjoy this one aswell! I'll write down the chords asap. :)

Legend:
. = palm mute
r = release
b = bend
~ = let ring/hold tone
s = slide

  Riff 1
e|-----------0---1----|---------1-0--------|
B|-----3---3---3---3--|-----3-------3-1--2-|
G|-------2------------|-------2----------2-|
D|-0-0----------------|-0-0--------------2-|
A|--------------------|--------------------|
E|--------------------|--------------------|

  Riff 2
e|-----------0---1----|-1-1-1-1-3-3-5~-----|
B|-----3---3---3---3--|-1-1-1-1-3-3-5~-----|
G|-------2------------|-2-2-2-2-4-4-6~-----|
D|-0-0----------------|-3-3-3-3-5-5-7~-----|
A|--------------------|-3-3-3-3-5-5-7~-----|
E|--------------------|-1-1-1-1-3-3-5~-----|
                         .   .   .

Intro: Riff 1 and Riff 2.

I've [Dm]seen a great many [F]things that [G]cause a man to [Dm]wonder
I've seen a great many [F]things that can [G]tear a man's [A]heart asunder
But the [Dm]day that will not [F]let me go, it [G]haunts me to my [Dm]burning soul
Is the day I found [F]Pamela wander[E]ing [A]in Darrowshire[Dm]

Riff 1 + Riff 2

Can you [Dm]help me find my [F]dolly? I [G]left her by the [Dm]window sill
Have you seen my [F]daddy? I [G]think he went off to [A]war
And [Dm]can you tell my [F]family I've been [G]missing them for [Dm]oh so very long
Ask them why'd they [F]leave me here [E]alone [A]in [Dm]Darrowshire

Riff 1 + Riff 2, with the end of Riff 2 using heavy overdriven power chords.

e|-------------------------------------------------------------|
B|------------------------------------------------10-----------|
G|-----------------9-10-10-10-9-10-12-12-12-10-12----12-10-----|
D|-7s10--12-12-12------------------------------------------12--|
A|-------------------------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------------------------|

e|-------------------------------------------------------------|
B|----------------------------------------------10~------------|
G|---------------9-10-10-10-9-10-12-12-12-10-12----------------|
D|-10--12-12-12------------------------------------------------|
A|-------------------------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------------------------|

e|-------10-10-10----10----------------------------------------|
B|-10-13----------13----13-10----------------------10----------|
G|----------------------------12-10-12-12-12-10-12----12-10----|
D|----------------------------------------------------------12-|
A|-------------------------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------------------------|

e|-10-10-10----10----------------------------------------------|
B|----------13----13-10----------------------------------------|
G|----------------------12-10-12~b-14---14r12r10---------------|
D|-----------------------------------------------12------------|
A|-------------------------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------------------------|

During the fight scene:
Dm - Bb - A
Dm - Bb - A
Dm - Bb - A
Dm - F - G - A

Then end with:

e|------------------|
B|------------------|
G|---2r0------------|
D|------3-0---------|
A|------------------|
E|------------------|

I [Dm]bring words from your [F]sister, she's [G]alive and well in [Dm]Winterspring
Here I found your [F]dolly, it's up to [G]you to keep her [A]safe
And your [Dm]father's coming [F]home again. The [G]war for him is [Dm]over
And your spirits once [F]again may be at [E]rest [A]in [Dm]Darrowshire

Riff 1 x 4

It's been a while since I have found something new regarding Aion, but in Liv, Aion's new US Community Manager, has in a letter to Aion's fans said that Aion is planned to be released the fall of 2009. I am a bit disappointed, as I had hoped it'd be released this summer, but the fall is better than 2010. I also recently found a play guide video to Aion, and I recommend watching it:

Yesterday I downloaded Megaman 9 for my Wii, and it seems it is 1000 Wii Points I will never get back. Misunderstand me correctly, I do like Megaman, and especially the great Megaman X, which in my opinion is the greatest version of the game.

What troubles me is its difficulty. Most games have an easier level which has a learning curve to master the character and its abilities. Well, most older Megaman games are no introduction levels, but still, one of the levels are substantially easier than the rest. But in Megaman 9, you are faced with all kinds of monsters trying to kill you at the same time. Which wouldn't be a big problem, if most monsters hadn't needed about 5 to 20 shots to kill!

Another annoying aspect of the game is the that the jumps have to be so precisioned. Some of the jumps require almost pixel perfection. I was about 1/8 of Megaman's foot away from the edge, and jumped as far as I could, but it wasn't enough. You have to be more or less outside the edge to be able to hit that ledge in the middle of nowhere. And then... Start all over again.

I have tried all 8 levels, and I have only been able to reach one boss. And he seemed fair enough, if it hadn't been for his concrete spew being Megaman seeking and removing about 5% of my health, stunning me for ever and then let Concrete Man jump onto me to take about 30% more of my health. Do this a couple of times and I am obliterated.

From earlier Megaman games you are allowed to charge your weapon in order to toss greater balls of... energy, or whatever you are shooting. This is abscent in Megaman 9, along with other things I miss, such as wall climbing and charging. Why remove the good stuff that made the game fun and replace them by close to immortal enemies?

If Megaman X had been available for the SNES Virtual Console, I'd urge you to download it right away, but Megaman 9... Stay clear unless you have an amazing temper management and have your Wii controller and TV insured. You'll be very tempted to destroy them.

It's been a while since this blog has gotten some useful posted, but there has not been particularly much that has happened since last time.

I have mainly been playing World of Warcraft, whereas my Death Knight has been respecialized to tank. I felt that I missed the aspect of tanking, and has also registered and become fairly active at Tankspot. I hit a new record in tonight's raid, when I reached a maximum health of 38400. Yeah, that's right. Also, when I pop a cooldown I reach 50000 armor. That's 75% damage mitigation from physical attacks.

On a side note, I am getting quite tired of World of Warcrafts easiness now. We have with little gear and experience been running through two wings in 25 man Naxxramas with under 21 members in the raid. That's not particularly hard, is it? Imagine people running around in blue equipment back at level 60 with only 32 members rampaging through the Molten Core. It just don't seem right.

I am looking very much forward to Aion, and I hope it is as good as it looks. There might not be much raiding there, but it's a whole new world to explore. Not that Northrend was a big letdown in World of Warcraft, but it just was too easy. When we just had dinged the max level, we were running through the instances on Heroic. And I mean running. Most instances were little to no wipes. It just doesn't seem right. Why is it so simple? It ruins the fun of accomplishing things.

Back to Aion. It has been released in Korea, and Wikipedia suggests that Aion will be released in Q2 of 2009 to the European marked. So far they have been awfully quiet about it, so if they are thinking of releasing it then, they will have some hard marketing to do.

What am I going to miss about World of Warcraft? A very important aspect to World of Warcraft was its stunning gameplay and musical score. I have the original soundtrack on my iPhone and I often find myself playing heroic songs and compositions from the official soundtrack. Regarding Wrath of the Lich King's soundtrack, I must say that my favourite is the intro, both with and without the speech by King Terenas Menethil. Seriously, I get the chills from just hearing the introduction. It's so awesome. I cannot describe it sufficiently. I have not yet heard Aion's official sound track, but I really hope it's as good.

January
We got accepted for the guild Tivoli, but didn't get to raid much with them since they didn't feel for "dragging us through" the attunement bosses. We got one of them, but Kael'Thas still lived. Trekki acquired both Super Mario Galaxy and Super Paper Mario for Wii.

February
Not much happened in February.

March
Blizzard released a patch which made attunements unnecessary, and as a result we were allowed to raid with Tivoli. Unfortunately this meant that they expected us to be ready for almost every raid, but we were unable to do so, so we started planning on getting away from there.

April
We quit Tivoli and founded Voltage. We got some good guys in and started raiding Karazhan. I changed my main to Koopa.

May
A bit less playing due to exams, but we continued to recruit and slay bosses in Karazhan with Voltage. We also started playing some Lord of the Rings Online: Trekki played a Hunter and I played a Lore-Master.

June
Blizzard revealed Diablo 3! Vacation time meant less raids. Trekki (<3) gave me a Nintendo DS with Final Fantasy VI Advance! In Lord of the Rings Online, I changed to a Dwarf Guardian. We got accepted for a Kinship.

July
We stopped playing Lord of the Rings Online at about level 30. I got a beta key for Wrath of the Lich King and made me a low-level Death Knight which I and Stein-Ivar duoed Blackrock Depths with at level 57.

August
We started conquering Zul'Aman with Voltage. All the first four bosses went down. I purchased The Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass and Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings for the Nintendo DS. I was absolutely amazed by Zelda and uttermost disappointed by Revenant Wings. School commenced so there were less gaming as a result of this.

September
We tried out Spore, and got to the space age there, but stopped playing shortly after that.

October
Vimeo gave gamers the finger by banning all gaming videos and deleting them without warning. I tried acquiring my videos back, but they have yet to respond. I got an keychain which looked like Frostmourne.

November
ipwn gaming blog was created! Zul'Jin was defeated. On November 12 we went on an epic quest to acquire Wrath of the Lich King. We spent most of the gaming time in November on levelling to 80.

December
We started raiding and soon cleared all contents except Malygos. He's still alive, but given the lack of challenge it should be no big issue to get him down too. I soloed Onyxia and became hated with Steamwheedle Cartel. Finally I released Fishbringer to the public. I got Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures from Trekki for Christmas.

I have for some time been developing an addon named Fishbringer. Fishbringer is a small addon that shows you what requirements you need to fish in the different zones and subzones of World of Warcraft. It also counts and estimates how many fish you need to catch to get the next skill level.

It was originally made in December/January last year using the Dongle framework, but when I dug through its old code, I figured that I'd rather build the addon up from scratch myself without any interference of a framework.

Last Saturday I uploaded it to WoWInterface.com, and I got some good responses to it. In fact, it made this week's "Pick of the week". I'm proud as hell. :D As we speak it's gotten almost 500 downloads and 74 favourites!

To check out Fishbringer, please visit its WoWInterface download page.