Recommended Reading

Warsong Gulch Druids by Tigon

Before you can head out to celebrate Friday and libation liberation from 9 to 5 weekdays, make sure you do your homework!

• 5 Improvements to Tailoring and Why We Need Them from Destructive Reach 
  Tailoring is a common profession choice for Druids. After all, we need the bag space. Saresa details five great proposals for making the profession more entertaining and useful.
• A Better Stance Bar from Of Teeth and Claws
  You’re not still using the default shapeshifting bar, ARE YOU?
• Brewfest – Drunken Cavortin’ Fer All from Slash Hug
  With just two days left to enjoy the festivities, you can take best advantage of everything that Brewfest has to offer with Aurik’s in-depth guide.
• The Great Armor Nerf from Of Teeth and Claws
  Karthis shares his thoughts about the removal and reduction of much of the additional armor on many TBC items formerly considered to be staples of a Feral Druid’s potential armory.
• Expertise and the Swing Timer from Big Bear Butt Blogger
  BBB takes a look at expertise and why it’s so valuable to (but often overlooked by) Feral Druids.
• Inscription Guide from Banana Shoulders 
  Siha contributes another fantastic guide, this one aimed at helping the budding Inscription practitioner. Includes a wonderfully helpful PDF version for reference while playing!
• Is Lifebloom Obsolete? Another Look at Resto Druids in 3.0 from World of Matticus
  World of Matticus’ Druid author Sydera weighs in on recent changes to the Restoration spec.
• So what am I (not) Wearing (yet)? A particularly Heroic shopping list. from Unbearably HoT 
  Runy shares a list of potential Wrath drops and rewards from Wrath.
• WotLK: What Spell Do I Use? – Spell Rotations from Gray Matter 
  Wondering whether Wrath or Starfire will be king in Wrath? Graylo explains in easy-to-understand terms the recommended nuking rotations for Moonkin and Restos “moonlighting” (C WUT I DID THAR?) as Balance for the purpose of easing their leveling experience.

Forgotten Shift Happens Submission

I’m abashed to admit that I forgot to include one of the earliest submissions to Shift Happens contest. It was sent in by Nic of Nic Get Life and, while I loved the concept and execution, I unfortunately had to decline since it uses in-game models. It’s featured at left.

Thanks, Nic! Sorry for the absent-mindedness!

I hope to announce the results of the Shift Happens competition early next week (though honestly, you could probably just watch the poll results).

Blogs to Check Out

• Feral at Heart
  Feral at Heart contains thoughts and commentary on playing a Feral Druid.
• The Gnogue
  A green-haired gnome has never looked so dangerous. Or would if you could see her.
• Hearthstone
  Aleathea and her husband co-GM a guild on the Draka (US) server. Hearthstone serves as a chronicle of her WoW life and a place to share character-based stories.
• Lorecrafted
  Lorecrafted is a fantastic resource for roleplayers. Warning: may just turn you into a lore aficionado.
• Muffin Factory
  Blueberry, lemon poppy seed, and strawberry. All pale in comparison to the awesomeness that is Revast’s Mage-themed blog.
• The Sacred and the Profane
  A Shadow and Holy Priest unite to bring you a blog from the perspective of two raiding Priests.
• Spam Moonfare
  The author of Spam Moonfare is a fearsome amalgam of feathery Boomkin and leafy Tree goodness.
• Udder Madness
  Beathooven of Aman’Thul (US) is very punny Tauren Druid. /moo

A Message from Runycat

For all U.S. readers, be you Democrat or Republican, it’s your civic duty to vote! Be like Voter Cat! (And that’s seriously Runycat’s cat at right.)

Unconvinced? Check this out.

Related Posts

• Welcome, Karthis!
• Community Spotlight
• Community Spotlight

I am ecstatic to share the following submissions to the “Shift Happens” Tree-Shirts contest! As you may remember, the winner will receive a free copy of a shirt featuring his or her design. ALL contest submitters have my heart-felt appreciation. I know how much work went into these gorgeous creations, and I am so pleased to be able to share them (click on the thumbnails to enlarge the images).

How to Vote for Your Favorite

You can vote for your favorite among the four entries by visiting the main page and using the poll included in the sidebar. Voting will remain available until the end of the week!

And here they are, in alphabetical order:

Eggo’s “Wreath of Forms” Our Tree of Life Form looks quite broccoli-esque in this green silhouette, reigning over a beautiful wreath of multi-hued leaves and surrounded by both cat and bear paws. Silhouettes of our other forms, including Moonkin and Travel Forms appear on either side of the design, and pretty swirls give it a lovely symmetry! Thank you, Eggo!

Leigh Ann’s “A Happy Death” At left is the entry submitted by Leigh Ann, featuring a Tree of Life who is surprisingly happy to have been chopped in half. Maybe she’s looking on the bright side of all the recent nerfs! Featuring a stylized version of our Tree Form with autumnal, geometric leaves, Leigh Ann’s submission is both colorful and cheerful! Now if only we could persuade Blizzard to let us complete our death animations Tree of Life Form instead of being automatically shifted into Night Elf form! Thanks, Leigh Ann!

Rhoelyn’s “Comic ‘Strip’” Below is the entry submitted by Rhoelyn, author of Points of Convergence. It features a most unfortunate Male Night Elf who, while cheerfully going about the business of appreciating Nature, discovers he’s developed an allergy to purple flowers! The results are … well … revealing! And may I say, RAWR! Azeroth definitely needs more male Night Elves! Much appreciated, Rhoelyn.

Tesh’s “Druid Amalgam” This entry comes from Tesh, author of the blog Tish Tosh Tesh. It features a character illustration that’s an amalgam of almost all of the Druid’s shapeshift forms. With two wings from both Epic Flight Forms, arms from Dire Bear and Night Elf Cat Form, a head from both Night Elf and Tauren Moonkin Forms, a belly and tail from Travel Form, and legs that clearly “stem” (wonka wonka) from both races’ Tree of Life Form, this piece nicely (and beautifully) sums up the many roles that a Druid can perform. Thank you, Tesh!

Additional Submissions

In addition to the three entries above, there were two submissions that I received but couldn’t include. I’m sharing them both here, though, because I really appreciate the work that went into them! Thank you!

Hiu’s “Shifting Man”	Riverwish’s “Squished Gnome”
Reader Hiu submitted the above image featuring a Resto-inspired figure changing shape and with intricate vines on both sides. Unfortunately, the figure that comprises the center piece of the design wasn’t sampled in such a way that it would print, and I worry that the vines are too intricate for Spreadshirt’s print techniques. Thank you, Hiu!	Riverwish of Skullcrusher (EU) submitted the above image which features an unlucky, green-haired gnome being crushed by the very bear bottom intended to protect her! I had to decline this entry because I’m trying to keep Tree-Shirts somewhat Restoration inspired. After all I wouldn’t want to step on BBB’s paws! Thank you, Riverwish!

Related Posts

• Community Watch
• "Shift Happens" Contest and Community Spotlight
• Runy and Phae Get Their Nethers in a Twist

Fridays at my workplace are considered “casual” in that you’re allowed to wear jeans, tennis shoes, and T-shirts. I haven’t historically been a big T-shirt collector and have previously pretty much just rotated between my Tori Amos, Fiona Apple, and J!NX Druid tees. Today, however, I had the chance to wear one of my very own Tree-Shirts, one with the Positive Carbon Footprint Tree created by my friend, Jamie:

How many Trees can you find in this picture?	Now I just need a second mousepad for my trackball!

The shirt is a Yoga-style tee that was tighter than I anticipated, despite sizing up to a Medium at the product’s recommendation. I love it with a jacket, though I’ve discontinued the shirt type for fear others might run into the same problem. I also purchased an Arena Pole Dancer shirt but quickly realized that it wouldn’t exactly be safe for work wear, no matter how “casual” the dress code on Fridays! Perhaps my favorite item, however, is the Resto4Life mousepad I ordered. Let’s just hope my boss doesn’t notice it and decide to Google the term!

Related Posts

• New Tree-Shirt Designs and Store Changes
• Community Spotlight
• New Tree-Shirts!

"Shift Happens" Tree-Shirt Design Contest

To shamelessly steal borrow ideas from a certain ursine friend of considerable girth, I’d like to hold a contest for a new Tree-Shirt design to be added to the Resto4Life Tree Shirts store.

The skinny:

• Inspired by the name of our guild in beta, the theme of the contest is SHIFT HAPPENS. The shirt design should include this phrase. The graphic can be one of your choosing. Ideally, it should be something partially Resto-related.
• To reduce the possibility of problems with copyright infringement, designs should not make use of the model viewer.
• Designs with fewer colors (simpler, less gradiated designs) appear to print better than those with greater color depth.
• Readers will have the chance to select their favorite of the submitted designs (hopefully, there will be more than one).
• The winner will receive a complimentary copy of the shirt they’ve designed in exchange for giving me permission to resell the design (and I recognize that you’re doing me a tremendous favor by doing so).
• The deadline for shirt submissions is September 24 which, not coincidentally, is also my birthday. ^_^

Additional (technical) requirements:

• Design should be 3000 x 3000 pixels at 400 DPI.
• Design should be submitted in transparent PNG format. You can e-mail your submission to me at . If file size is an issue, I can give you temporary access to an FTP server.
• Due to restrictions of the printing process, I will have to smooth out any rough edges and fill in any small gaps by placing a second layer of color behind the design. Just something to keep in mind!

Featured Posts

Night Elf by Erica Batton

Another round of best of the best blog posts that I’ve found

• The 3.0 Patch – Cat Build Edition from Kalon of ThinkTank
  Kalon plays with a possible build for kitty cats in Wrath with an eye toward the elimination of powershifting as a DPS tool.
• Addressing Druid Tanking in WotLK from Runycat of Unbearably HoT
  Runy rants about the troubles faced by Ferals in Wrath of the Lich King, analyzing at length the comments made by Ghostcrawler regarding changes to Bear itemization and mitigation.
• Character’s Theme Song from Tigerfeet Secret Agent Cat
  It shouldn’t take a leap (or Feral Charge) of intuition to guess what theme song Tigerfeet chose for herself.
• Debuffs Made Easy: Blizzard’s Way Out from Natarumah of Twisted Faith
  Natarumah comments on the change to buff and debuff stacking and changes to mana regeneration affecting Shadow Priests.
• Epic Flight Form Questline: A Guide from Aurik of /hug
  A highly detailed, beautifully illustrated guide to completing what is, in my opinion, one of the best questlines in the game. Hats off to Aurik for doing it justice!
• Ferals and the Restoration Tree from Tigerfeet of Secret Agent Cat
  Tigerfeet discusses the Feral-oriented talents within the Restoration tree, including Furor, Naturalist, Natural Shapeshifter, and Master Shapeshifter.
• Keybinding Guide from Horns of YAOWN
  Don’t be a clicker. Please.
• Tree of Life History Lesson from Keredria of Tree of Life
  Get schooled by Keredria on the myths surrounding the "Tree of Life" in various world cultures.

World Tree Additions

Just one new Druidy place to read and subscribe to this week:

• Glyph of Thorns
  Arianthorn of Moonglade (EU) plays a Balance Druid with a bad case of altitis. Plenty of Beta commentary … not that I’m into that sort of thing …

Wordle Cloud

Wordle is a free, Java-based service that creates keyword-density clouds of a blog’s most recent posts. You can see my Wordle cloud below:

The words "change" and "Northrend" make prominent appearances, probably because of the recent Wrath of the Lich King posts. Spirit, +Healing, Aura, Tree, and Life are also unsurprising. I was a little abashed to see the word "want" featured so prominently, though! And I’m not sure how the word "melee" snuck in there. ^_^

I shared this service with Runycat last week. Here were her immediate thoughts:

[13:50] Phaelia: try this out
[13:50] Phaelia: http://wordle.net/create
[13:50] Phaelia: it’s fun!!
[13:51] Runycat: what is it?
[13:51] Phaelia: it makes a word cloud from your most recent posts
[13:51] Runycat: I hope mine says BONER BONER BONER
[13:51] Phaelia: LOL

Thanks to Anna of Too Many Annas for originally sharing this fun site!

New Tree-Shirt: Restoration Cloud

Using the Wordle service, I created a set of Tree-Shirts featuring words commonly associated with Restoration Druids. These are only available in black but come in a variety of styles for both men and women. Prices range from $15.90 to $23.90. 

 » View All Restoration Cloud Shirts

Related Posts

• Timber!! New Tree Shirts Are Here!
• New Tree-Shirt Designs and Store Changes
• New Tree-Shirts!

I redecorated the Resto4Life Tree-Shirts store so that it better matches the rest of the blog. I also discovered that the “free color selection” option ended up getting toggled off on all the shirts whose designs I updated (oops!). You should once again be able to select whatever color shirt you want for all designs with the exception of Moonglade Swirl (whose colors I found to look best on navy, black, and brown shirts).

I’ve also added three new shirts to the shop:

Men’s HoTs Like Me
By request, I’ve created a men’s version of the “Dontcha wish your girlfriend cast HoTs like me?” shirt. I replaced the pink and green with blue and changed the font to a more masculine one. (Apparently, dotting your I’s with a star isn’t “masculine.”) It’s currently available in Lightweight, Heavyweight, AA Brand, and XXXL. You can preview the design here.

Waffles! <#
If you’ve spent any time in the Druid forums, you’re probably familiar with what has become the standard response to posters from another class who come to the forums to cry for nerfs to the Druid class. These nerfs can range from whining about how OP Cyclone is, that Feral Charge needs to be placed deeper in the Feral tree, that Druids shouldn’t be able to use Travel Form in Arenas, that Dire Bear Form should be a deep Feral talent … the list goes on. What do Druids do to these trolls? We feed them waffles! Now you can wear a shirt celebrating this tradition! You can also preview the design here.

Warsong Flag Carrier
Druids are well-known (well-hated?) for their ability to run flags, especially in Warsong Gulch since flag-capping is the central objective. You can now display your status as a veteran Flag Carrier with a shirt reading: “Warsong Flag Carrier” surrounded by Travel Form-inspired Cheetah spots. I like this design best on yellow, brown, and red shirts, and you can preview it here.

» Visit the Resto4Life Tree-Shirts store
» Learn more about Resto4Life Tree-Shirts

Related Posts

• New Tree-Shirt Designs and Store Changes
• Timber!! New Tree Shirts Are Here!
• Tree-Shirts Are Here!