Being a Know-It-All Without Knowing it All: Part 2

To continue with yesterday’s post about gathering game-related information from internet sources, let’s take a look at specific sources.

Specific Sources
Now that I’ve covered the major general information sources I use most often to gather information, let’s move on to some of the specific sources I use. What I mean by “specific sources” are sources that I use when I’m looking for a specific kind of fact or piece of information. For example, when I’m looking for information about pets, like what kinds of cats can be found in the game and what skills they come with when tamed, I use a specific source: Petopia. Here’s another example: when I’m looking for boss strategies in a specific raid or dungeon, I use a specific source. Or, when I’m looking for addons to fulfill a specific task I want in game, I use a specific source. Specific sources are sites or guides that provide detailed information about a precise aspect of the game, but lack a comprehensiveness that would provide information outside its niche. The major difference between a specific source and a general information source is that, while a general source will provide a wide breadth of topics covered, none of the information provided will typically be very in-depth, whereas a specific source goes very in-depth on a particular topic while providing little other information outside its area of expertise. When used in tandem, these two types of sources will provide you with more WoW info than you can shake a stick at, and I’ll show you how to cross-reference sources soon (I promise!). Until then, let’s look at some specific sources and what they can do for us.

Crafter’s Tome
As its name would suggest, this site provides us with information related to crafting professions. Now, my hunter no longer has a crafting profession (yes, I finally ditched leatherworking), but my priest has two: enchanting and tailoring. But, even if I didn’t have a character that crafted, this site would still be handy to know about. Why? Because, whether you craft or not, there are still craftable items out there that you can make use of.

Need some convincing? Hunters/Rogues: Did you know a leatherworker can make you a leg armor kit that will give you an additional 40 attack power and an additional 10 to your critical strike rating? Or, depending on the leatherworker’s skill (and Honor Hold reputation) level, they could make you a leg armor kit that gives you an additional 50 attack power and an additional 12 to your critical strike rating. Warriors/Feral Druids/Prot Pallies: That same leatherworker could probably make you leg armor kits that would give you an additional 30 stamina and 10 agility, or additional 40 stamina and 12 agility. And this is just the tip of a very big iceberg. Adding enchants to items is old news. By now, everyone knows that enchanters can add some pretty sweet stats to our stuff. But, The Burning Crusade expansion added a lot of new goodies to the game that the Crafter’s Tome can tell you about. For example: we now have socketed items. And with that addition came the advent of Jewelcrafting, so other players can cut gems to add even more stats to our gear. And, as I’ve already shown with the leatherworking examples, the other professions have seen some noteworthy additions as well. With the Crafter’s Tome, not only can you look up what recipes certain professions have that might be useful to you, but you can also look up the materials required for those enhancements so you’ll be ready to go when it’s time to slap some sexy on your stuff. You’ve worked hard to get that gear, now get it some bling.

Petopia
By now, every hunter should know about this site, and it’s one that hardly needs an introduction. With Petopia, you can browse through the different types of pets and see how they look and what abilities they can teach you. From the level 10 hunter out to snag their first playmate to the 70 hunter looking for something to help smash some face, Petopia is a one-stop-shop of pet-related trivia for hunters of all levels. In addition to the great information on tamable beasts, Petopia has also started adding articles, a blog, and even a Pet Talent Calculator similar to the one I developed (although, their’s looks a whole lot nicer than mine does). If you’re looking for any information that’s pet-related, Petopia’s the place to go.

Kaliban’s Class Loot List
Kaliban has been providing the WoW Community with a much-needed resource to help folks plan out their gear progression for a long time now, and while there are more and more resources popping up to help folks navigate the labyrinth of character itemization, Kaliban has provided a resource for the working man who just doesn’t have the time to sift through all the raw data themselves. With information pertinent to each class and level in the game, this site is an invaluable resource. You can filter information by your level, pre- or post-TBC, dungeon or raid instance, etc. Even for those that, like me, prefer to do all the research themselves, Kaliban’s site provides a great starting point to help you figure out where things can be found, what to look for, and why. There’s even a project Kaliban has in development to help you figure out what future upgrades in your gear will have an impact on with the Class Gear Planner (Beta).

WoWEquip
This site provides a downloadable program that will help you visualize the changes gear upgrades will make by emulating your character and providing a database of gear that you can “equip” to see the differences. It’s a very helpful tool, particularly if you’ve already got a “Wish list” of items to get or things you’ve had your eye on, as it’ll show you what changes to your character would take place by equipping that item, before you’ve gone to the trouble of getting it.

This idea was so cool that, before I realized this tool existed, I’d begun work on a web-based application that would do basically the same thing. (I may still continue development of it, as some folks prefer not to install programs to their computer that were created by distributors they don’t know/trust, but their tool is by far better than any web-based application I could create to do the same thing.) I absolutely love this program, although the drawback is that with patch changes coming fast and furious, it gets a little outdated as to how it calculates the changes.

Bosskillers
This site has a lot of great raid strategies. It provides user-submitted boss strategies for all raid dungeons, and in some cases (when available) videos as well. It also lists world progression ranks, and progression look-ups based on faction, guild name, realm, etc. I used this site frequently when I was leading Karazhan in my old guild.

AmpWoW
This is another site I visit looking for boss strategies, although this site includes not only raid boss strategies, but also regular dungeon boss strategies as well. Now, Bosskillers also provides regular dungeon strategies, but I prefer AmpWoW for those, because I like the interface better. Also, AmpWoW has a lot of great illustrations for boss strategies that I like to see as well. AmpWoW provides other resources, but for those topics, there are other sites that I prefer to use (that have mostly already been mentioned). The thing that really sets AmpWoW apart and keeps me coming back are really the detailed boss strategy illustrations that I haven’t seen anywhere else.

Arena Calculator
This simple tool helps you figure out how many arena points you’d get in a week based on your team’s rating. Simple, but effective.

AddOns
I use a few different sources to download and keep track of my addons. Predominantly, I use Curse, as many people do, because I can save a list of addons I like and keep track of when they’re updated. However, not all addons I use are logged by Curse, so I have to look elsewhere for them. (And I’ll be posting a list of my addons and where they can be found in upcoming posts.) Other addon sites I visit frequently are Ace and WoWInterface. Addons I can’t find at those sites, I’ll typically just do a Google search for.

There are tons and tons of other specific sources out there, and which you choose to use will depend largely on the kind of information you need while playing, and what class(es) you play. Usually a quick Google search can point you in the right direction, and when you find a site you like and foresee returning to, bookmark it. Also keep in mind that many blogs out there, like mine, can become specific sources as well, depending on the type of blog and how regularly it’s updated.

Time for another break! Next time, I’ll talk about how you can put general and specific sources together to increase the amount of information you can gather on a specific topic, and how to sort through the information you find to get the answers you need. I’ll walk you through an example of a process I’ve gone through, putting both general and specific sources to work, to reach conclusions. The example: What gear should I get, why should I get it, and where can it be found?