Taking a cue from Leafshine, I’d like to take this opportunity to take a look back at 2008 for Resto4Life.

Top 10 Posts as Measured by Page Views

As I would have expected, among the most popular articles to reference were guides, including 2.4 mana regeneration and how to pick from the plethora of trinkets available in TBC. Andrige is also directly responsible for more than 120,000 of my page hits in 2008 with his sharing of a female hairstyles preview (which continues to receive lots of inbound links) and his customized shapeshifting skins.

1. Wrath of the Lich King Female Hairstyles
   This post alone has brought in more than 100,000 visitors. I imagine the companion piece over at BBB has had similar results.
2. Calculator: Mana Regeneration (from 2.4)
   This will eventually be updated for Wrath, but I’ve been reluctant to invest the time with all the blue talk about wanting to nerf mana regeneration (an action that could significantly change the formula used).
3. 2.4 Mana Regen: The Basics
   Without a doubt, one of my most complex series of 2008.
4. Andrige’s Shapeshift Skins
   Clearly, forms customization is high on the priority list for Druids! Hopefully 2009 will see some innovative and inspiring new forms for Druids of all shape.
5. Mailbag: WotLK Item List
   This was my original “I filter WoWHead so you don’t have to” list. I’m going back and writing more detailed posts by groups of slots now.
6. Grid: Thinking within the Box(es)
   Not surprisingly, many people had follow-up questions to my post on customizing this often overwhelmingly complex addon.
7. Talent Spec: Leveling Restoration/Balance
8. The Belkin Nostromo N52 TE
9. 2.4 Mana Regen: Regrowth as the New Raid Heal
   As far back as 2.4, I totally called the awesomeness of Regrowth.
10. Arrrghhh!!! Trinkets!!!
    This is another post I intend to rewrite for Wrath at some point, though if ever stop posting, it’s a good guess that I didn’t make it through writing it!

Top 10 Posts as Measured by Comments

These are the posts that got visitors talking. I worked hard in 2008 to ensure that I responded to as many comments as I could, but these posts were the ones that gave me a definite run for my money!

1. Direct Healing in Wrath (73 comments) 
   Interestingly, the original post on this subject written during the WotLK beta (since unpublished to avoid confusion) generated 27 comments of its own!
2. Ghostcrawler: Wild Growth May Receive 6-Second Cooldown (65 comments)
   This is a very recent post that generated a lot of discussion about whether such a cooldown was necessary and how much it would affect us if so.
3. Grid: Thinking within the Box(es) (63 comments)
4. The Belkin Nostromo N52 TE (63 comments)
   I was very happy with the amount of interest this post generated. Still waiting for my free Belkin Nostromo N52 TE to give away as part of a site contest, though! /peers Belkin
5. Andrige’s Shapeshift Skins (61 comments)
6. Blue: Mana Regen Complexity and Restoration Scaling (60 comments)
7. Bornakk: Druids Not to be “Big Green Blobs” (59 comments)
   I’m still waiting for the Druid- or multi-healer-oriented blog named “Big Green Blob.”
8. 9014 Nerfs and Ghostcrawler Responds to Resto Concerns (55 comments)
9. Build 8962 Changes (51 comments)
10. Ghostcrawler: Healers Not to be Interchangeable (51 comments)

Surprisingly, many of the top-commented post were related to blue posts or posts about upcoming changes to the class and spec. This would seem to indicate that a large number of visitors like to get their Druid-related (or at least Resto-related) news here and might even prefer discussing it here to discussing it on the forums.

Most Popular Shirt Designs

I love adding new designs to the shirt shop. Here were the top performers in 2008 (these results are obviously biased based on the time they were added):

1. HoTs Girlfriend and HoTs Boyfriend
2. Positive Carbon Footprint
3. Restoration Cloud
4. Resto4Life Logo
5. Restoration Wreath

Other Stats of Interest for 2008

• There were 234 total posts.
• Visitors made a total of 3706 comments.
• I made a total of 650 comments.
• Resto4Life.com received a total of 665,410 visits and 1,355,119 page views.
• Visitors spent an average of 3 minutes on the site per visit.
• There were 29 Community Spotlight posts or an average of 2.4 a month.
• I received (and hopefully responded to) more than 450 e-mails, not including those related to Arbor Day or Turkey Day.

Thank You!

Thanks to everyone who visited and contributed and helped make 2008 an awesome year for Resto4Life! I am looking forward with excitement to 2009 and hope you are, too!

Related Posts

• Resto4Life Closing Its Doors
• Work Complete!
• More Work?

Over the last few weeks, Mr. Phae and I have been in the process of moving into a rental house, spending the entirety of our nights discovering just how much stuff we’ve accumulated (and no longer need/want). It’s definitely been an lesson in consumerism! We only finished moving into our new place yesterday afternoon, and I’m happy to say there’s not a box to be found anywhere … well, except that one over there in the corner, but I’m going to get to that one … some day soon. And not Blizzard “soon” (hopefully)!

The size of our new rental is more than twice that of our old apartment, but my favorite thing about it is definitely the kitchen. Here I am cooking in it last night:

Would anyone like to take a guess at what I’m fixing?

Anyway, I thought I’d give you all a heads up on why things have been so … very … quiet … around here lately. I figured a month before the expansion was a pretty good time to move. Not that its impending release in any way affected our timetable, but it was pretty convenient! Hopefully, I’ll be back to posting again regularly now that my free time isn’t filled with filling (and unfilling) boxes!

* Title shamelessly stolen from Karthis from Of Teeth and Claws.

Related Posts

• @#$%&!
• 5 Things Learned … Sorta
• Site Troubles

Thelyne of Eonar (US) writes in with the following great question:

My name is Thelyne and I’m a blooming Resto druid from Eonar. I’d like to know how you got this lovely blog started as I’d like to start my own! Thanks!

What an exciting question to be asked! I’m always happy to see new blogs being created, especially by other Druids like myself, and I’m flattered that Thelyne chose to ask me for some advice. Because I think a blog reader is 10x more likely to create their own blog than a non-reader, I thought I’d share step-by-step, the process of creating a blog to show you just how easy and rewarding it can be.

Step 1: Decide on a Focus

This is really important. As enthusiastic as you might be to start writing immediately, it’s helpful if you can first refine what you want your blog to accomplish. There are limitless options to the type of blog you can create. Here are just a few and examples of each:

• Spec/Class Niche: Haelz, Unbearably HoT, Yet Another Warlock Nerf, Parry! Dodge! Spin!
• Guild Leadership/Officership education: Lume the Mad, Chick GM
• Role Niche: ThinkTank, Tank Hard!
• Roleplay: Too Many Annas (though not exclusively), Blogatelle, Need More Rage
• PvP (Mis)adventures: Out of Mana
• One or More of the Above: Big Bear Butt, BigRedKitty

Step 1a: Familiarize Yourself with the Other Players in your Niche

Learn about the other bloggers who write about the same topics you do. Pick out things you like and don’t like to help you refine the plans for your own blog. Take note of their blog titles to avoid stepping on any toes with too similar a name. Familiarizing yourself with your fellow bloggers will also help later on when you’re trying to gain exposure.

Step 1b: Pick a Title

Don’t get "Trapped" by your title later on!

Hand-in-hand with your blog’s focus, you will want to choose a title that reflects that focus. Be careful here; if you choose a focus and title that’s super-specific, you may find yourself feeling restricted later on. When I created Resto4Life, for instance, I recognized that — unless I wanted to switch focus to playing a Restoration Shaman — I was pretty much committed to Phaelia. Common inspiration for class or spec-specific blog titles include talents and spells, forum-based pop culture references, and in-game places associated with that class or spec. Don’t name your blog after your character unless you’re relatively certain you won’t be switching mains or renaming them (or are considering a server transfer).

Step 2: Choose a Platform

Focus defined and prospective blog title in hand, you’ll want to pick out a space for your new home. There are several different options for a blogging platform, and I’ll discuss the most common here:

1. Blogspot.com
   This is Google’s blogging platform. It’s extremely popular among new bloggers due to its ease of use and relative customizability. Many bloggers also already have a Google account, making creating a blog a relatively simple process. Theme selection is relatively limited, but you can customize available themes to your heart’s content. Image uploading can be cumbersome.
2. WordPress.com
   This is the company-hosted version of WordPress. Similarly easy to use. There are many different themes available, but once selected, your ability to make changes is extremely limited unless you wish to pay. Extremely limited customization.
3. WordPress.org
   This is a downloadable copy of the WordPress blogging platform for use with your own web host. Requires a bit of technical know-how to set up as well as paid web space and a custom domain name. Extremely customizable and flexible with practically unlimited available themes, but much more difficult to use than the previous two options.

It is not uncommon for a blogger to initially create a blog through Blogspot or WordPress.com only to move to a self-hosted option later on when he/she is more certain of her future commitment. Resto4Life actually started out at Blogspot.com before moving to a self-hosted option. (A detailed walkthrough of completing such a migration is available here.)

If you’re pretty certain that you’ll want to be self-hosted eventually but find yourself daunted at the idea of creating a database and completing a WordPress installation yourself, I recommend choosing a web host that includes an automatic install (and upgrades) of WordPress. Resto4Life is hosted with HostMonster.com, who is not only affordable but reliable and includes one-click installs for several packages, including WordPress. They’ll also throw in a free domain registration.

Step 2a: Register a Domain Address (Optional)

This step is optional for those choosing to host their blog through Blogspot.com or WordPress.com, but at $10 or less per year, I recommend it. Having a custom domain name lends a feeling of permanency and can make you easier for readers to find and remember. Just be careful. If you are considering purchasing a domain name, do not search for that domain name unless you are ready to purchase it. There are unscrupulous types that monitor domain searches so they can buy them up and "squat" on them to resell them for higher prices and/or to advertise on them. Also be aware that there have been some cases where squatters will purchase domain names that match the titles of blogs on Blogger or WordPress.com on the possibility that the author will later want to purchase a custom domain.

Help registering a custom domain name is available here.

Note: Many web hosts will include a complimentary domain registration when you choose them as your web host. Be sure to check to see if this feature is included with purchased web space before registering a domain separately.

Step 3: Write, Write, Write!

The best way to improve your writing is through practice… or so I’ve read.

So you have your blog named, hosted, and created. Before you go shouting to the rooftops about your admirable accomplishment, you’ll want to shore up your concept with a few posts. Remember what you’ve learned from others sharing your blogging niche and start sharing your own thoughts. If you get stuck for ideas, you can always choose or pull inspiration from one of the Blog Azeroth Shared Topics to help get the words flowing!

Step 3a: Refine Your Style

This includes the style of your blog as well as the style of your posts. While you might have great things to say and share, if they aren’t in an easily digestible format, it will be difficult to attract and keep readers. There are a million-and-a-half recommendations on this topic, but here are a few of the easiest to implement:

1. Avoid critting your readers with a wall of text. Break up huge paragraphs which can be difficult to digest. Use special formatting like bold, italics, and subheadings to make things more readable and organize your thoughts. A couple of examples of blogs that make good use of formatting include Yet Another Warlock Nerf and Parry! Dodge! Spin!
2. Include pictures. Try to be consistent with the images you choose, be they in-game screenshots, pictures from the Model Viewer, or stock photography. For some great examples blogs that leverage images to best effect, check out /hug and Too Many Annas!
3. Use a spell checker. It’s easy. It’s free. If you use Google Bar, it is that button labeled "Check" at the top of your browser. Firefox users will find spell-check is built in to their browser, as well.
4. Categorize or tag your posts to make it easy for readers to find more information on those topics. For help learning about the difference between tags and categories, click here.
5. Give your blog a unique personality. Try to make your blog’s aesthetics and writing style speak to its focus so that you’re not only easily identifiable but memorable, too. In the words of Runycat:

   Choose a title that will make wayward porn searchers stumble upon your site.
   I cannot tell you how many keyword hits I get for " bare ass"

   Obviously, this is hyperbole (well, for most people anyway), but you get the idea. Find some way to make your blog stand out from the rest! Great examples of blogs with distinct personality that shines through in every post include Need More Rage, Big Bear Butt, and BigRedKitty.

6. Tip from Valenna: Work towards consistency in your posts, speech and tone. If you are in character 100% of the time and you switch out to talk about your real life, your readers are going to jolted.  The same applies to the way you write. If you post even-keeled, balanced posts that look at all sides of an issue and then post a rant, your readers will be surprised. Let your readers know what to expect when returning to your blog, and they’ll keep coming back.

Behemothdan of More Pew Pew, Less QQ shares a great resource for helping to improve your blog’s overall aesthetics here.

Step 3b: Grow Your Blog

Grow your blog … but hopefully not into a rust-colored fern like this one.

Once you’re happy with the content and appearance of your blog, start getting your name out there! Here are a few different ways you can do this:

• Offer to swap links with other blogs within your niche (and, of course, it’s helpful to add a link to the blog in question before asking if they’d be willing to link to you). Druid blogs can request to be added to the World Tree listing here at Resto4Life, a project designed to specifically help new and old blogs increase their exposure.
• If you write on a topic that’s similar to one written by another author, try to incorporate what they’ve already written by providing a brief quote or a link back to their original post. Many blog authors monitor incoming links, and this can be a great way to get some free link love in return.
• Join and participate in Blog Azeroth. Learn from others and share what you’ve experienced. Ask (and answer) questions. Meet other bloggers.

For non WordPress.com bloggers, I recommend Statcounter or — for the more technically savvy — Google Analytics to help you monitor your blog’s growth (WordPress.com includes built-in stats). Try not to get discouraged by slow growth, though. Building a blog takes both time and commitment.

Conclusion

I hope that I’ve been able to show you how easy it is to create your own web presence. I know that it can be daunting when faced with some of the more well-established blogs out there, but we all started somewhere. In fact, I’d like to share a small snippet of a chat conversation I had with Valenna back in March of 2007:

[11:26:07 AM] Phaelia: I would like to blog about being a Resto druid
[11:26:31 AM] Valenna: Make a new blog and call it Resto For Life?
[11:27:00 AM] Phaelia: good idea
[11:28:36 AM] Phaelia: I like that idea a lot.
[11:31:09 AM] Phaelia: resto4life.blogspot.com

Just remember: you’ll never get there without taking the first few steps!

Additional Resources

The number of resources available to bloggers is practically endless. For World of Warcraft bloggers, the Blog Azeroth forum is a great repository of knowledge and friendly faces willing to help you with just about anything. Additional recommended resources include:

• Lorelle @ WordPress
  Don’t let the title discourage you if you happen to choose Blogger. Lorelle’s has tons of information for bloggers of all types.
• WoWModelViewer.org
  The model viewer is a fantastic program that will let you model and take pictures of your character, creatures, and items from within the game. This can be an invaluable resource for creating a consistent style.
• Twisted Nether
  A brand new "blogcast" each week featuring interviews with other bloggers. Can be a great way to learn more about the world of blogging!
• News Sources
  MMO Champion and WoWInsider are great resources for newly-released information. Just don’t fall into the trap of simply reposting news, though. Include your own commentary and personal take on the info.

Related Posts

• Welcome to the New Resto4Life!
• Starting Over
• Druids vs. Priests

Edit 11:34 MST: I had to make several significant updates to this post as I missed some important changes in my hurry to meet my instance group. Please reread the following, and sorry for the confusion!

For Graylo’s Balance perspective on these changes, I encourage you to check out his recent post Raid Stacking in WotLK.

A significant change to the way buffs and debuffs will stack is being made, ostensibly to make raid composition more fluid and less subject to optimizing every slot. Developer Jimmythenumbers explains:

As Ghostcrawler has been posting recently, we’ve decided to make a change in the way we allow buffs and debuffs to stack exclusively in a raid. For the most part, what this change means is that many buffs and debuffs which were previously allowed to stack together no longer can, and that many buffs and debuffs which only a single talent specialization could bring can now be brought by multiple different specializations. The philosophy behind this change shows up in many of the changes we have made in Wrath of The Lich King, such as when we made almost all buffs raid-wide. We want players to be able to form raids and parties based on who they want to play with, rather than who has the correct talents and abilities to min-max their raid performance. Raid composition will still matter to some extent, but without this change, it would have overwhelmed every other aspect of raid planning (as we added new capabilities to each of 30 different talent trees). You no longer need to rigidly control the melee/spellcaster balance of your raid, or make sure every group has all the critical buffing classes, etc. This change has many class balance implications. Before we are done, we will thoroughly test the performance of every class. Do not assume that the classes’ current performance relative to others in the beta is final. Some classes (and specializations) will need to be reduced in power and some increased. Many will complain the change has more impact on class X than class Y. We will address all those concerns via our internal testing and community feedback.

He goes on to detail that 30+ new buff/debuff categories are being created, within which only the most powerful of the effects will be affect raid members. Here’s a breakdown of the categories affecting Druids:

• Armor Debuff (Minor): Faerie Fire (1260), Sting (Hunter pet) (1260), Curse of Recklessness (800)
• Melee Critical Strike Chance Buff: Leader of the Pack, Rampage (5%)
• Bleed Damage Increase Debuff: Mangle, Trauma (30%)
• Spell Critical Strike Chance Buff: Elemental Oath, Moonkin Aura (5%)
• Increased Spell Damage Taken Debuff: Ebon Plaguebringer (13%), Earth and Moon (13%), Curse of the Elements (10%)
• Increased Spell Hit Chance Taken Debuff: Improved Faerie Fire, Misery (3%)
• Percentage Haste Increase (All Types): Improved Moonkin Aura, Swift Retribution (3%)
• Melee Attack Speed Slow Debuff: Infected Wounds (4% x 5 = 20%), Judgements of the Just (20%), Thunderclap, Icy Touch (15%)
• Melee Hit Chance Reduction Debuff: Scorpid Sting (5%), Insect Swarm (2%)
• Healing Debuff: Wound Poison (10% x 5 = 50%), Aimed Shot (50%), Mortal Strike (50%), Furious Attacks (25% x 2 = 50%)
• Attack Power Debuff: Curse of Weakness (416), Demoralizing Shout (410), Demoralizing Roar (406)
• Stat Add Buff: Mark of the Wild
• Percentage Increase Healing Received Buff: Tree of Life (25% x Spirit), Improved Devotion Aura (3%)

In the above list, I’ve bolded the buffs or debuffs with the highest positive or negative effects and reordered them in terms of greatest benefit to least benefit. In the case that two entries are listed in bold, their effects are equal but only one will be active at any given time.

Other significant changes being made to talents and abilities include:

I will also list the changes to abilities which exhibit new behavior regardless of the exclusive categories. The changes usually mean the old behavior was removed and replaced by the new behavior. Numbers listed are for maximally-talented versions. Here is that changelist:

• Improved Moonkin Aura: Grants 3% haste of all types.
• Earth and Moon: Increases spell damage taken from all schools by 13% on the target.
• Improved Faerie Fire: No longer benefits melee and ranged hit chance, only spell hit.
• Tree of Life: No longer grants healing based on spirit, grants 3% increased healing received to raid.

Tree of Life aura will no longer stack with Improved Devotion Aura. This is especially significant with the simultaneously-announced change whereby Tree of Life grants 3% healing in the same way that Improved Devotion Aura does. If it’s true that the above changes are for maximally-talented versions of each ability, there will be no raid-wide benefit to having a Tree of Life if a Paladin with 18 or more points in Protection is present.

If, on the other hand, the 3% is solely for Tree of Life and does not include the 15% bonus from Improved Tree of Life, a Druid with 44 or more points in Restoration can have an aura at 3.45% strength. This is a very important distinction, and one that I hope is clarified soon. And while I would certainly prefer that our spec-defining form trump the 18-point Paladin talent, it’s kind of sad to think that taking a point in IToL will invalidate a Paladin’s 3-point investment in IDA, making the talent almost superfluous (although it will still afford an additional 600 armor).

It looks like Shaman’s Elemental Oath is being reduced from 6% to 5%, making it equal to the +crit benefits of Moonkin Aura (at its previous value of 6% it would have trumped Moonkin aura). The change to Earth and Moon is great, an increase from 6% stacked to 13%, presumably with a single application. Unfortunately, Insect Swarm’s chance to hit debuff will no longer be useful in raids where at least one Hunter is present; Scorpid Sting will overwrite it. Obviously, though, its DPM makes it more than worth having for any raiding Balance-specced Druid.

A further implication of this change is that only one aura from any given class will be active at a given time. In other words, the Restoration Druid with the highest Spirit will be the only one whose aura is effective when not trumped by Improved Devotion Aura. Whether or not this would end up being the case, was previously the subject of much debate that can now be put to rest.

While I feel the goal of this change is an admirable one (making all classes more equally desirable), I believe that it will actually have the opposite effect. If several classes can provide the same buff (or debuff), raid leaders won’t have to worry as much about raid composition. But worrying about raid composition to optimize the stacking of buffs and debuffs has previously created opportunities for many classes and specs that might have otherwise been passed over. If everyone has roughly the same utility, then you will only want the classes/specs that excel at their primary role (DPS, healing, tanking). If Balance and Feral can’t match the DPS of their parent classes, Mages and Rogues, and yet no longer provide any unique utility, what will be the point in bringing them along?

Related Posts

• Salthem: Mark Buff "Relatively Small"
• “Fake” Patch Notes Not So Fake after All
• Forum Watch: Class Feedback for WotLK Solicited

Anonymous reader submits:

i have 3 questions. which is better a resto or balance?
Which is more fun?
and what are the abilities of each like what is a balance druid and what is a resto druid.

To answer this contact request, I’ve written a haiku (because everything is better when expressed in haiku):

I’m Resto 4 Life!
Which do you think I prefer?
WoWWiki could help.

Thanks, anonymous reader dude!

Related Posts

• Still Out of Town
• Matticus Interviews Resto4Life
• LFD = Looking for Designer