Welcome to the Mana Obscura Site Archive. Here you’ll find a list of nearly 200 articles on a variety of subjects, all categorised and with short descriptions where needed. If you’re trying to find an article and flipping through the date archives or searching doesn’t help, give this list a go. If you still can’t find something then please contact me.

I was recently trawling through the archives to try and find old articles on subjects so that I could reference them and explain how things had progressed in the intervening time, when I thought that other people might find it useful too. It’s not perfect (several posts fall into multiple categories) but it should help you in finding things.

Bear in mind that this is manually updated. I’ll do a refresh periodically, but don’t expect to find more recent topics. Still, I hope it’s of some use to you!

Help & Advice

Reviews & Interviews

• Review – Warcraft: Mage
• The Best Warcraft Smartphone (comparing iPhone and Android WoW Apps)
• A House Of Cards (Warcraft Trading Card Game)
• Review: PingCraft LagKiller
• Storybricks: A First Look
• Storybricks: Questions & Answers

Computer Hardware

• Will My Computer Run Cataclysm?
• Blueprint for a Next-Gen MMO Machine
• Building a Next-Gen MMO Machine
• The Finished Next-Gen MMO Machine

Account Security

• The Flow of Gold
• Authenticators: Busting the Myths
• Sony MMOs: An Uncertain Future

User Interface and Addons:

• The Annoyance of Addons
• UI Quest: Mashing the Buttons
• The Crutches, They Do Nothing
• UI Quest: Staying On Target
• UI Quest: Cast Bars & Cooldowns
• Taking Better Screenshots

Beta Testing

• My Rules of Beta Engagement (Cataclysm, but applies to all betas)
• Cataclysm Beta Gallery
• Cataclysm: New Mage Experience
• Beta Patch: The Pyromaniac’s Impact
• Entering Beta: The 80 Fire Mage
• New Mage Experience
• Polymorph or Polydeath
• The Beta Mage
• A Good Beta Tester

Mage Mechanics & Guides

• Mixing Mage Mechanics (spellcaster playstyles)
• The Flaming Boomerang (and Scorched Fingers corrections)
• Early Look: Mage Talent Revamp
• Patch 3.3.3: Twisted Firestarter?
• Mage Cataclysm Preview
• Mage Playstyles in Cataclysm
• Mage 4.0 Compendium
• Stat Ratings and Mage 4.0
• Mage Tier 11 Preview
• Cataclysm UI: Mage Auras
• The Fresh 80 Mage Arcane Raiding Guide (now out of date)
• Choose Your Mage: Alliance
• Mage Stat Priority in 4.0
• Mages and Patch 4.0.6
• Reader Q: From Arcane to Fire
• Comparing Mages: Warcraft Versus Rift
• Caster Legendary Staff: The Lowdown
• Mages and Patch 4.2
• Firelands Legendary Staff: Get Ready
• Playing DPS: From Good to Great

Characters

• An Architect of Archetypes (character archetypes and roleplay ideas)
• So You’re A Roleplayer?
• Finding Our Place
• The Business With Bank Alts (character study)
• The Jigsaw Man (having alts)

Crafting & Trading

• The Impossible Saronite
• Becoming a Better Barker
• Mages Making Money
• Trading in Titan

Games Deconstructed

Game Development & Design

• Evolution or Revolution?
• The Colour of Money (micro transactions)
• A Matter of Time (subscriptions vs free-to-play)
• Of Polygons & Principles (female character art styles)
• Casting your Net Wide (upcoming MMOs)
• The Impending Release (guessing release dates)
• A Fashionable MMO? (game style & setting choices)
• Warcraft Versus the Traditional MMO
• What The Stat? (number of stats in an MMO)
• Being Late to the Party (Mastery stats & armour classes)
• Hit It Like You Mean It (Stat Juggling)
• It’s Only Taken Four Years (Reputation Grinds)
• More on Mastery (stat analysis)
• The Melee Misfit (playstyle drift)
• Charting the Curve Of Awesome (character levelling experience)
• Escaping the Vortex of Suck (LFD design)
• Getting Time to React (strategy versus twitch)
• The Composer and the Engineer (difficulty curve approaches)
• My Diamond Shoes Are Too Tight (loot choices)
• Choose Your Weapons (loot choices)
• Under the Hood (Cataclysm game engine changes)
• The Quest Conveyer Belt (phasing technology)
• The Growing Yet Shrinking World (server tech & realm clustering)
• The Lament of Lost Adventures (switch from upgrade quest chains to badge systems)
• The Machine Behind The Curtain (knowing mechanics reduces game enjoyment)
• The Future of MMO Control
• Justice Points Are Useless
• Enounters that Rock (encounter/boss fight rhythm and pacing)
• An Appreciation of Developers
• Cheering the Armchair Designer
• Playing Cards at the Carnival (side-games as a distraction from the core game)
• Designing My Own MMO
• Warcraft, Rift & Fun (giving games depth)
• Karma as a Mechanic
• The Infinite Trial (not limiting trials to 10 days)
• Tired of MMOs? (on repetitive or over-similar MMO design)
• If Not You, Who Else? (MMO churn rates and playing with a smaller content set)
• Style is Everything (comparison of Wildstar and Guild Wars 2 trailers)
• Is It Fun? (over-analysing beta feedback)
• Google Cannot Make Good MMOs
• The MMO Blueprint (MMO design models & focus)
• Free To Play: MMO Retirement? (transition from subscription to free-to-play)

Social Gaming, Grouping & Raids

• It’s the People That Make It
• Angry Mage Is Angry
• Starting the Engine
• A Snipe At The Socials
• The Final Night Raiders Club (PuG Raiding)
• Getting Real About Idents
• Getting the Most From Refer-A-Friend
• The pre-raid Credit Check (PuG Raiding)
• Clearing My Head (moving raidgroup)
• RealID: What The Forums (real names on forums)
• Getting the Guild Appeal (guild loot systems)
• A Socially Aware Warcraft (limitations of social structures in games)
• The Back Seat Guild Leader
• Coping with Cataclysm Heroics
• The Incredible Shrinking Raidgroup
• Managing Limited Game Time
• Looking For Dramatic Change
• My Folly Against The Entitlesloth (coping with bad apples in groups)
• Bribes, Karma and Recommendations
• Managing Guild Change
• Getting the Most out of Game Time
• In Defence of the Trifecta (pinpointing the problem to identify correct fixes)

Gaming Culture, History & Legacy

• Nostalgia is a Double Edged Sword
• Care for Some Cheese With Your Whine?
• Standing in Awe
• Battling the Burnout
• Hitting the Reset Button
• Where Videogames Go To Die
• The Dying High Street Retailer
• The Spark of Excitement
• Getting Ready for Cataclysm
• Games Within Games Within Games
• Mementos and Keepsakes
• Inspiration For A World
• The Optional Extras (release versions)
• Last Chance to See
• Casual Is Not A Dirty Word
• The Last MMO On The High Street (transition to digital sales)
• Burnout By The Numbers
• The Merits of Old Content
• What is Hardcore?
• PC Gaming Is Dead
• A Thoroughly European Convention (Eurogamer Expo)
• The Lure of the Franchise (buying IP to lure in players)
• Fear of the Fansites (developer-blogger relationships)

Odds & Ends

Sillies & Funnies

• My You’re A Tall One
• Blizzcon? I’m Virtually There
• Half-Baked
• The Campaign for Cheese Sculpting
• Under the Sea
• The Flaming Kitty Copter

Site Stuff

• Amusing the Muse
• A Moment To Review
• Injecting Chaos
• An Interlude, with Music and Ice Cream
• Gazimoff the Librarian
• Coming Back to Haunt Me
• Entering the Youtubes
• Mage Community Forums Now Live (now at damageb.in)
• Website Wizardry
• The Meta-Cataclysm
• Where did the Obscurecast Go?
• Mage Resources Need You!
• The Veteran Mage Toolbox
• My 3 Warcraft Christmas Wishes
• An Obscure 2010
• A Plethora Of Podcasts (being on Groupquest and Twisted Nether Blogcast)
• 5 Ways To Help The Warcraft Community
• One Year Old!
• Rebuilding My Blogroll