Just in case you're having the same problem as Paynegwynn, whose WoW won't run its video recording feature properly on his Mac for some reason, then here's an explanation.

It turns out that there's some conflict between the video recording feature and a GPU bug. The folks at Blizzard have noted this already and it turns out that they've actually already disabled the option to record videos. Here is Blizz poster Tigerclaw's full explanation:

At present there is a bug in the driver software for that GPU which inhibits our video recording feature (in fact can lead to a crash) - so we disabled it for now on that hardware. However, once an updated driver is released for that machine which addresses that issue, we can post instructions on how to re-enable video recording on that configuration. It's not ideal but this is the best we can do given the bug that we ran into.

Though the solution implemented (meaning the disabling of the recording function) is rather off-putting, it really is the best thing they could do, given that the problem is hardware-based.

Apparently, there's more than one way to enjoy World of Warcraft's recently integrated voice chat feature from patch 2.2.0, at least if you follow Redcrystol's lead. The gamer explained that he played as a female character, and in the days prior to having voice chat, he used to get plenty of freebies by sweet-talking (or is texting a better word?) other players into thinking he was a girl IRL.

The problem was, come WoW's integrated voice chat, Redcrystol found that using this new feature gave away the fact that he's a dude. The thread poster further asked if there was a way to mask his real voice.

Blizzard spokesman Tigerclaw dropped by a little later explaining that if Redcrystol had  analog audio input for his microphone, WoW allowed the use of various voice-disguise devices. Mighty nice of Tigerclaw to point this out, especially given that this wasn't pointed out in the official Voice Chat.

The thread was further backed up by opinions of two distinct opinions: guys who were either against Tigerclaw's advise (they were apparently fooled into giving out free loots), or guys who gave their own suggestions for voice-masking devices. Guys interested in catching up on the thread can visit the WoW Forums via the source link below.

We picked up an interesting bug report over on Blizzard's Public Test Realm forums. Youcantseeme of Draenor reports that there's a bug plaguing the Mac video recording function currently being tested on the PTR.

According to Youcantseeme, the glitch causes the movie to freeze, though the sound will keep on going as if nothing happened. Eventually, the video returns to normal, with the frozen portion of the movie getting skipped.

Blizzard poster Tigerclaw is on the case, however, responding to Youcantseeme's report. He writes, "there were some bugs with the time stamping of the frames, I'll check and see if the appropriate fixes made it into the build currently on PTR (7195)."

It's good to know he's looking into the matter. Hopefully the issue will be resolved in the next PTR build. In the meantime though, PTR players would best be warned with an actual video of the glitch in action, which you can see below. The freezing actually occurs halfway through the video, though we're having trouble scrolling to the exact point. Chances are, the glitch affecting the video is also messing with how YouTube reads the vid, so you'll just have to watch it from start to finish to see the freeze.

 

We found on very interesting question over at the World of Warcraft Forums and it's about an upcoming addition to blockbuster MMO, (no, not the Wrath of the Lich King) voice chat. Appompyro from Stonemaul asks whether voice chat will eat up precious download and upload usage.

The player explained that his "internet connection plan has a download limit" so when that's maxed, he won't be able to play WoW until the next month. Appompyro was concerned about how much download and upload usage the voice chat would add on top of playing. Players have been concerned whether the in-game voice chat will affect things like bandwidth usage and additional latency issues, most of which were addressed by Nethaera's voice chat FAQ. We know that voice chat will use up additional bandwidth, but don't know how much. Blizzard poster Tigerclaw addressed the question:

The added voice chat bandwidth should be comparable to the basic WoW game traffic, but the actual total amount will vary depending on how much talking you do. Silent times should see no traffic due to voice chat.

I don't think we have released any numbers yet on the data rate of the WoW voice chat solution.

Hopefully, we'll be seeing those numbers soon. Otherwise, people with limited internet connection services will surely keep their mouths shut or turn off the feature while playing the World of Warcraft.

Since the introduction of in-game support for VoIP in World of Warcraft, a lot of players have been jumping on the bandwagon finding it sufficient for conducting raids and PvP. However, setting it up has proven to be difficult for some.

One of the questions that was posted at the official WoW Forums was whether or not this service works on the PowerPC Macs. Blizzard Community Manager Tigerclaw said that it does work, but you have to make sure that you've got it properly configured as he detailed in his post:

Make sure you have visited the chat options panel in the Sound part of the settings menus. Also, you won't hear anything until you are part of a group or party that is using voice chat. But yes, I believe it is working on Power PC in 7125.

So go ahead and try it out if you're a Power PC Mac user. If you can't get it to work after you've done what Tigerclaw said, you might want to inform the CMs about it so they can get someone to look at the problem.

If you're a World of Warcraft player, then you probably know that Blizzard has introduced an in-game recording feature for Mac users. However, there are still some unanswered questions regarding this, such as whether or not it can record voice in addition to video.

Blizzard Poster Tigerclaw gave word that currently, the in-game Mac video capturing tool does not record voice. It was also said that this feature is under consideration for a future release of the program. This is good news for those who want the additional flexibility in producing their in-game WoW films.

If Blizzard could find a way to include the voices from users who will be using in-game chat, then it would be pretty interesting to see what players will be able to come up with. Perhaps we might even find the first full length machinima video filmed and recorded entirely using in-game tools.

 

We came across a thread in the World of Warcraft Forums about the upcoming patch 2.2 and one of its features, VoIP. Well, Proudpaw from Shadow Council was concerned about the other bug fixes that are supposed to come with the next patch.

The player's concern was more about whether the patch will not go live until VoIP is good and ready. And Proudpaw seems keen on the bug fixes that are included in the patch. Blizzard poster Tigerclaw provided an explanation for the delay:

Intent here is: Ship v 2.2.0 with Voice Chat enabled.

Prerequisite for that to happen: successful testing for a substantial period on PTR.

Plans can sometimes change when things happen, but that is our plan at this time of writing. As you know the voice chat feature is not enabled on PTR yet, there is still a level of internal testing and debugging going on that we really need to complete before activating it on PTR.

There you have it kids. You may have to wait a couple of weeks more with small-ish shoulder armor. As with most game developments, we'll wait happily so long as the release works properly and is as promised. You never know, we might see the World of Warcraft patch 2.2 sooner than expected.

A lot of people have been excited about the in-game addition of VoIP in World of Warcraft. It has been slated for implementation in version 2.2, but there has been some confusion on whether or not this will happen.

A question some of the players are asking is why add this feature? Well, VoIP has proven to be a necessity during raids and PvP, as it provides information to other members of the party almost instantly. There is an established need for this, so it's understandable that players are a bit edgy when it comes to this topic.

Blizzard Poster Tigerclaw has given word that it might actually make it to v2.2, if they can iron out the problems.

We are working on it, and plan to ship it in v2.2. It is not activated in current builds of 2.2. As there is both a client and server component to it, you might even see a build where all the UI is live but the server side component is not yet active. Lots of pieces to get right at our end.

Will we be seeing this implemented in v2.2? I certainly hope so, because it will introduce voice chat to a lot of casual players which just might make the whole game a little bit more enjoyable. Keep checking back here for more updates on World of Warcraft.

 

What is the Royal Apothecary server on the PTR in World of Warcraft? A lot of players have been asking about it and were wondering why there were six level one characters on it and no one else. Well, when we first saw it, we were discussing the possibilities of the people at Blizzard conducting experiments on a Gnome-Tauren hybrid.

Thankfully, as the discussion became increasingly disturbing, Hortus from Blizzard's QA gave some information on the server. "This server is being used for a special project, I would not suggest accessing it with the wowtest client as it is set up on a different build and there may be stability problems." A special project...that piqued the interest of other players on the forum even more. Blizzard poster/Moderator Tigerclaw further clarified the existence of the server.

I think some new server-side hardware / software configurations are being tested, nothing relating to 2.1.2. It's not running the same build as the proper 2.1.2 server and is not being kept in sync, so crashes and other oddities can occur if you log on there with your PTR build.

 
That said, I would have to stick with the Gnome-Tauren hybrid theory and a great cover-up scheme by Blizzard on this genetic experiment. Seriously though, they're probably doing exactly what Tigerclaw said and outside interference may actually slow down their progress, so logging into the server may not be the best move on any player's part. Be sure to keep checking back here for more updates on World of Warcraft.

 

A not so recent post made by a Mac techie, Tigerclaw, has pinpointed not only the confirmation of voice chat being integrated to your World of Warcraft client, but an ETA as well. In fact, last we heard of this news of a possible voice client integration was way back on the transition period of patch 2.1.0 to the world realms.

Today, however, it seems Blizzard has already penned the patch version when the voice chat features would arrive: patch 2.2.0. In fact, he said, "You might have heard we have an integrated voice chat client coming in 2.2.0. We'd love to get your feedback on it when it goes to the PTR phase." Whether this is considered the next of major content patches or just a minor addition to the WoW feature set, we're unable to tell.

When will 2.2.0 go live? We haven't the faintest idea. But since 2.1.1 transitioned to the world realms recently, we can hope that Blizzard won't take their sweet time to push the one to a two by the Yuletide Season. That said, however, this could be cause for worry. After all, it takes Blizzard eons to get something right after its been implemented.