Five reasons to like Bears

World of Warcraft's portrayals of things are noticeably cartoony when compared to real life equivalents. Bears and druids in Bear Form are no different, being any combination of cute, adorable, cuddly, pitiable and likeable.

This regular will dissect the art of various characters to identify some features that appeal to the inner child.

1. Wide abdomen
A wide figure appeals to the touch when hugging, especially if it is soft and plushy. There is little question to why bear hugs, in particular, feel so nice!

Ulduar Protocol

I have seen worlds bathed in the Makers' flames. Their denizens fading without so much as a whimper. Entire planetary systems born and raised in the time that it takes your mortal hearts to beat once... A million, million lives wasted. Had they all held within them your tenacity? Had they all loved life as you do?

Algalon's dying breath

Considering the tremendous amount of history contained in the Storm Peaks, it might be worth finding out how Ulduar got there. A history of Azeroth's defense mechanisms follows. It all started during the Ordering...

Parasitic, necrophotic symbiotes
Azeroth was not as peaceful and beautifully formed as it currently is. Before the Titans' arrival, the elements would rage across the world in endless conflict, and the Old Gods would exact chaos upon it.

Random Ramblings to 8 August 2009

Archivist
A person who maintains the material in an archive. This can involve collecting, organising and assessing the records. Among their skills, they show expertise in preserving the physical media on which information is contained. In WoW, Auriaya is the archivist for the secrets of Ulduar.

Information asymmetry
A concept in economics which suggests that buyers and sellers in a real-world market cannot find each other easily (lacking information about each others' presence). One needs to search for the other before a trade can occur. However, doing extra searching will come at a cost, so these costs should be balanced against the benefits expected in deciding which to do.

Archavon's Parade

Which better way to Wintergrasp's Titan Relic than a beeline? The Scourge successfully employed this strategy in invading the Sunwell, after all (though their sheer numbers may have had something to do with it). This 160-man raid may now be trying to squeeze through an instance portal to Archavon...


It would be interesting to note Blizzard's use of perspective in this shot (where parallel lines seem to meet at a certain vanishing point). The above annotated image is provided for convenience.

There's Something About Lady RNG

Computerised environments intrinsically lack randomness, so a random number generator (RNG) must be used where an unpredictable result is required. In effect, the RNG works on randomly generated data provided to generate a seemingly random number. Since this piece of programming code decides your fate and destiny in WoW in several cases (just like how Fortuna (Lady Luck) decides your fate and destiny in real life), it helps to know a bit about probability!

The golden rule of probability
Probability is that branch of mathematics that deals with random phenomena to (among other things) determine how likely it will act in a certain way. It is important to know that, for truly random phenomena:

Random does not necessarily mean even or fair!

My Computer and I: Connection Degeneration

My desktop is a 3-year-old Dell Dimension 8400. It was high-end at the time it was bought, but regardless is starting to show its age. I have upgraded some of its parts since then to keep playing World of Warcraft bearable, but of course it will need to be replaced eventually.

I have had my share of computer problems with my current computer (not suggesting that Dell is necessarily a poor computer assembler, mind you). Other than high school computing studies, I have had no formal training in maintaining a computer, so I usually need to end up experimenting when something goes wrong. Without further ado...

The Problem:
World of Warcraft's latency would be satisfactory when first logging on, but would increase over time, eventually causing WoW to disconnect.

Not All Hitpoints are Created Equal

There is always question on whether the output of healing meters (healing charts) can be used in indicating a healer's performance. Unlike points of damage, where heals go matters. While everyone has use for a heal, some players will need it more than others.
 Healing meters (such as the 'Healing done' component of Recount) collect raw figures from the combat log. It becomes easy to assert, from skimming over the healing chart, that all hitpoints (HP) are created equal, with all players appreciating 1 HP of healing equally. However, I would not.

1. Factoring in absorptions
When a player inevitably takes damage, a healer can respond to it in any of two ways: