The WoWWiki Reference desk was voted to be decomissioned on Sep 13 2006. Old unanswered question were kept below for archival / incoming external link purposes. Reference desk sections that actually had answers in them were also kept for the same reason.

All pages now have notices that this is not the place to ask new questions. Links to the reference desks are removed from the wiki. The remaining pages are placed in the Archives category.

Deletion vote

Delete

Delete --Mikk (T) 19:48, 8 September 2006 (EDT) - (see comments)
Delete -- Kirkburn (talk) 19:52, 8 September 2006 (EDT) - (I like making shock decisions, so ... er ... yeah, so much for that :D)
Delete -- Gryphon 19:53, 8 September 2006 (EDT) - ()
Delete Jaxdahl 04:52, 12 September 2006 (EDT) - (a stale wiki isn't a good wiki)
Delete -watchout 03:26, 20 September 2006 (EDT) - ()

Keep

Comments

This is a vote to delete ALL PAGES RELATED TO THE REFERENCE DESK. See Project talk:Village pump#WoWWiki:Reference desk. --Mikk (T) 19:49, 8 September 2006 (EDT)

Old, unanswered questions...

Monsters Questions

Wrath Phantoms

Hi everyone, Does anyone have any information on Wrath Phantoms? A guildy says he just saw a bunch of them in Orgrimmar but we have no idea what spawned them or why. They didn't last too long, apparently Thottbot has a spell to summon them but no more information on it.

Thanks, Milana 20:37, 22 Feb 2006 (EST)

Modifications Questions

Get Mana Cost of a Spell

How do you go about getting the mana cost of a spell?

For example, I want to find out what the mana cost is for each rank of my Healing Wave spells and then populate an array w/that information.

Someone on the WoW UI forums suggested to create a tooltip and parse the info to get the mana cost, but I have no idea where to begin on creating a tooltip.

--Shodin 11:17, 7 Jan 2006 (EST)

Have you browsed the API information here? -- _ℑilver§^ℑide 23:40, 7 Jan 2006 (EST)

Yes. I've already written the rest of the addon, but the mana cost is just in static form right now. Since the cost can vary b'n players, I'm needing get the info on the fly rather than setting it as a fixed amount. I obviously haven't found a way to do this yet. Come to think of it, I need to do the same thing for the max amount a spell can heal for as well. --Shodin 13:11, 9 Jan 2006 (EST)

Beginning Hacker

Hi there. I don't know how to make the boxes mentioned in the main page would work, so feel free to fix this as needed. Once I've seen it look right, I'll do that for any page I post on. I've been interested in working on mods for quite a while now, and I have a few questions:

How does one look at Blizzard's source code for a particular component (if that's possible)? For example, I want to make changes to the MessageFrame:AddMessage() method, but I need to see how it works now to make reasonable modifications.
How does one replace Blizzard's code with one's own? So, to continue the same example, what do I do with my re-written AddMessage() to make it work instead of the Blizzard version?
Has there been any progress with determining map coordinates correctly? It seems currently that all mods that record map coordinates use them from the most recently viewed map, rather than from the map for the current zone. This is cool since we can get world coordinates as well as zone coords, but causes major problems with automatic data retreival.

Thanks for looking at my questions, and happy hacking!

--DJUrsus 23:13, 2 Dec 2005 (PST)

WHO_LIST_UPDATE event not always fired ?

I'm trying to gather information abotu characters that are not yet in my party/raid. So, I send a who request via

SetWhoToUI(1);
SendWho("n-\""..myQuery.."\"");

and then I wait for the WHO_LIST_UPDATE event. With this system in mind, consider the following scenario:

Send request for info about Fred
Intercept the WHO_LIST_UPDATE event
1. Assume that Fred is not onlie: your result set (that you traverse via GetWhoInfo) is empty
Send request for info about John

Now assume that John is not online either. It seems that we never receive a WHO_LIST_UPDATE event for the second query.

I also suspect this to be a timing issue. If I waited long enough between the two queries, I would get the event for the second one. Anyone else encountered this problem ? I'm seeking confirmation and possible workarounds or alternatives.

Thanks, Krag

Post edit: moved this one down (I had erronously posted it at the top of the list)

--Krag 12:56, 17 Feb 2006 (EST)

Guild Roster

How do I tell if the Guild Roster is being displayed? I know that ToggleFriendsFrame(3) will hide/unhide it. I want to be able to see if it's already up, and if not, display it. As it is, if it's up, it will be hidden.

Thanks.

--Pachelbel 19:39, 17 Feb 2006 (EST)

Answers

First of all, what boxes? I am not quite sure what your talking about, lol (-:
Second, use # for numbered lists, as I have changed your above post to use
Now, to your questions: I myself am not a modder, I just do wikis (rofl) but sadly this community is in such a state of upheaval as things are set up and standardized (thanks to me, to sound a little conceited) that I am afraid nobody would see you post here! Usually, truly helpful members would have this page watched to help anybody who came along, but for now, I will refer a true modder here to help you out (-:
Also, make sure that you indent replies with ':' or '::' or ':::' or so on - the more the colons before the line, the farther it is indented. For instance, a reply to my post (this one) should have two colons infront of it (::) - just trying to help a friend out (-:

[[User:SilverSide| ^Silver\_Side]] 03:09, 3 Dec 2005 (EST)

I presume you cannot look at the source code for World of Warcraft components unless you are Blizzard employee of some sort.
However, if what you really want to do is create a UI mod (aka and AddOn), you should see Interface Customization.

--Fandyllic 8:54 AM PST 4 December 2005

HOWTO: View Blizzard's Interface Code explains how to get and read the code for blizzard's interface elements.

Finding new Wow APIs

Hi, i was wondering if i could get some explanations on how can you find the new APIs from patch to patch? I know there is a website that logs these changes, but i was more interested in the actual process of finding the APIs that Blizzard offers for UI customization.

Thanks for reading this.

--Tazio

How I did it for 1.12

Scan for all functions in-game (easily done in Lua)
Extract all strings from WoW.exe. This will include the names of all bona fide APIs (and lots of other things, of course).
Remove all functions that do not occur in the wow.exe string list

That's roughly it.

The scripts I used for 1.12 are up on User:Mikk/Scripts#Create Global Function List.

--Mikk (T) 10:59, 11 September 2006 (EDT)

Gameplay Questions

How to call a makro with a /slashcommand ?

is it possible to run a makro like an emote, if yes please tell me how Thanks...! (sry bad english) --dArE777 22:42, 6 August 2006 (EDT)

How to get a mapzone of specified unit?

The specified unit is player in a raid(or team), how can I get his mapznoe??

Lore Questions

Shamanism

What role shamanism in history Warcraft? Whether It is possible to give history and lore in Universe Warcraft on magics of the druidism, shamanism, voodoo, Necromancy, fel and arcane? (holy it is already described in this site)

The shaman's power is drawn from the Earthmother who is a tauren (now shaman) deity. It is beleived that she is in one way or another one of the Old Gods. Shamans haven't got a big role in Warcraft history. Orcs where a shamanistic race before they where corrupted and Tauren also were, hundreds of years before Warcraft I, but theres no history related to them because they aren't sufficiently significant to the story line.

Actually, that's incorrect. The Earthmother is just a deity (who hasn't been shown to actually exist, at least to the extent that Elune has) that is supposedly part of all of nature. Tauren shamans probably incorporate her into their shamanism, but Orcs and Trolls don't. Orc shamanism evolved on Draenor, and Troll shamanism is rooted in their Voodoo customs, and is heavily influenced by Orc shamanism.

Here are some links to pages in Lord of the Clans that explain shamanism pretty well:

163, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180

--Bevans (FeldmanSkitzoid) 16:19, 25 Jan 2006 (EST)

--Haddon 14:31, 5 Dec 2005 (EST): Ner'zhul, the reason Warcraft exists (Along with Medivh and Gul'dan) was a great shaman on Draenor, and it was his idea to bring much of this about, and he destroyed Draenor. While the art of shamanism had little sway in Warcraft lore until Thrall's time, there were many shaman that did.

Ner'zhul was a shaman, but he dabbled in demonic magic and by the time the Orcs crossed over into Azeroth, he was probably more Warlock than Shaman.

Shamanism really only waned for about a generation or two, when the Shadow Council (and by association, the Burning Legion) was manipulating them.

--Bevans (FeldmanSkitzoid) 16:19, 25 Jan 2006 (EST)

Druids

Druids get their power from nature like how mages get there power from the magic in the world. So if nature was destroyed, it is conceivable that druids would lose their power. Night Elves were taught Druidism by Cenarius (usually thought of as the first druid) but The Ancients had druid-like powers as well.

--Haddon 14:31, 5 Dec 2005 (EST): Cenarius was given his powers from his father, Malorne, and his mother, who seems to be Ysera the green dragon. Whether or not Malorn taught any druids is unknown.

Actually, Cenarius' biological mother is Elune, but he was raised by Ysera. I doubt that Malorne had much of a hand in his upbringing; Malorne is an Ancient, and therefore more of a forest spirit than an actual physical creature.

--Bevans (FeldmanSkitzoid) 17:08, 18 Jan 2006 (EST)

Voodoo

Voodoo I think is a strange mix between the power of the shaman and of the warlock. I think they rely on dark nature powers and alchemy. This is only practiced by trolls.

--Haddon 14:31, 5 Dec 2005 (EST): Voodoo is the (as one of the voodoo priestesses explains) magic from around the world. energy of Azeroth itself, unlike Arcane, which is directly from the Twisting Nether. Voodoo just seems to be a different path that naturistic magics, druidism and shamanism, took.

Necromancy

Necromancy is similar to the power that warlocks use, but instead focuses on the study of death rather than demonology. They are capable of reviving living creatures from death to do their bidding as undead servants.

--Haddon 14:31, 5 Dec 2005 (EST): Necromancy is done in 1 of 2 ways, to my knowledge. Either thru demonic or arcane means, like necrolytes in Warcraft, or using the Scourge Plague. Necrolytes have a much weaker form of this, and their minions are theirs, whereas the Plague raises them for Lich Arthas' control.

Fel

Fel is the demon magics I'm pretty sure.

--Haddon 14:31, 5 Dec 2005 (EST): Fel just seems to be a name given to anything demonic in nature. Be it a demon, a taint, or a spell. Demonic magic comes from somewhere, it seems to be a twisted form of Arcane that the eredar created.

Arcane

Arcane is a form of magic. Magic is only found on certain worlds. If there is no magic there a mage is useless. They get their energies from the magic in the air.

--Haddon 14:31, 5 Dec 2005 (EST): Wrong. They get their magic from the Twisting Nether. It's fire and ice magic they get from the world, much like nature magic.

Garona

Question: Anyone know anything about Garona? Where is she?! She was in Ravenhold in beta, but she was removed. Any lore in the RPG books? --Haddon 14:31, 5 Dec 2005 (EST)

I haven't heard anything besides what you said. Clearly they intend to add her to the game at some point.

My personal theory goes something like this: The only Draenei we've seen in the game were apparently mutated by the explosion of Draenor. Since Garona was born before that happened (and was on Azeroth at the time), she is an unmutated half-draenei/half-orc. I don't think Blizz had actually designed the unmutated Draenei at the time of the game's release (though I'm sure they have by now, for inclusion in the Burning Crusade expansion), since the first time we ever saw the race was in Frozen Throne, and that was after their mutation.

If the Draenei are the new Alliance race, I think it would make the most sense if they were the unmutated version, since a large faction of the mutated ones are allied with Illidan, and therefore are somewhat allied with the Blood Elves.

Getting back to Garona: I'm guessing that they just used the female Orc model for her when she was in the game during beta. But by now they've decided what an unmutated Draenei looks like, so they'll probably have a new model for her (possibly just a slightly modified unmutated Draenei model).

I also think that she'll probably have a big part in the Expansion. Perhaps she'll want to get back to her original people (I'm assuming that the Sundering didn't mutate ALL of the Draenei, and that is where the new Alliance race could possibly come from). Neither the Humans or Orcs trust her anymore obviously. Or she could still be working for whatever remains of the Stormreaver clan. (If I remember my rogue's in-game mission lore correctly, all the Horde rogues are kinda part of the Stormreaver clan.)

So, that's what I think.

--Bevans (FeldmanSkitzoid) 16:58, 18 Jan 2006 (EST)

Garona

What is the current situation of Garona? Originally human/orc, from the first raids into human lands, this made a small bit of sense with the timeline. The timeline was retconned down from rouhgly 16 years to about 4 or 5, making her impossible. When this was realized, they retconned her from half-human to half-humanLIKE. medivh states "perhaps she of human heritage, or another humanoid from their homeworld" in The Last Guardian. She has since been stated to be half draenei, half orc, but why isnt she nasty and ugly like draenei? Retconned, so they are the lost ones and the broken ones, the real draenei are purple-blue with tentacles on their chins(does anyone else laugh when they think about that?)...so why is she human looking, light green, and non-tentacled. Was her father an orc or her mother? Obviously, nobody knows where she is, since she was taken out of wow, so maybe they retconned her look to be a blueish hue?--Haddon 06:21, 10 July 2006 (EDT)

Bronze Dragonflight

I'm a large Lore junkie, and lately I've been researching a lot about the Bronze Dragonflight. Particularly, I have two Major questions. First, I know that when Amant'Thul gave Nozdormu his power over Time, and as such, Aman'Thul also told Nozdormu exactly when, Where, And how he would die. I'm curious, if Nozdormu dies, Doesn't his past self still have influence in the future, to the point where he never ACTUALLY dies? the Second major Question is this. I've noted that there are only a couple of Bronze dragons listed by name as "Important." How exactly do more of this brood, or any other come about. I guess what I'm trying to ask is how exactly do the Flight repopulate themselves? Does the leader get all of the women? Are there specific high-ups, Like Anachronos, That are charged with repopulation? -- Kitsunei

Perenolde similarity

Such good theme and anybody here does not write. Let's try again. A question: Lord Aiden Perenolde (from Land of Magic) - the betrayer and the head of Syndicate, Lord Aliden Perenolde (from WOW) - the betrayer and the head of Syndicate, Lord Perenolde (from lunaforce) - the betrayer and Death Knight of Ner'Zul. Funny, it is one man, so where is mistaken? --Zato

Scarshield Legion

Hey, who are those Scarshield Legions? I just joined in the RP/PVP server of Scarshield Legion but I always want to know what the name means, I already watched the 'Realm Names and their meaning' wiki, I also know they're an orc clan that has something to do with Worgs... --Deodoran (Qrakk) 10:00, 27 Feb 2006 (EST)

I know that Lower Blackrock Spire (LBRS) is populated with Scarshield Orcs and some of them do have Worgs with them as part of the group, but I do not know the story behind them. EmeraldElement 03:33, 3 June 2006 (EDT)

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Warcraft Wiki talk:Reference desk

Deletion vote

Comments

Old, unanswered questions...

Monsters Questions

Wrath Phantoms

Modifications Questions

Get Mana Cost of a Spell

Beginning Hacker

WHO_LIST_UPDATE event not always fired ?

Guild Roster

Answers

Finding new Wow APIs

How I did it for 1.12

Gameplay Questions

How to call a makro with a /slashcommand ?

How to get a mapzone of specified unit?

Lore Questions

Shamanism

Druids

Voodoo

Necromancy

Fel

Arcane

Garona

Garona

Bronze Dragonflight

Perenolde similarity

Scarshield Legion

Other Questions

Tooltip stats

Philosopher's stone, level 40 requirement?

Instance map mod?

Increasing Graphic Quality and Visuals in WoW Beyond Maximum