Newbie Blogger Initiative – One Year Later
One year has passed since the Newbie Blogger Initiative was started. There were a lot of blogs started. There were a lot of helpful articles in the forums. Over time though, a lot of people lost steam (I was one) and started posting less or stopping. I posted follow ups on the Initiative as follow ups to see how the various blogs were doing.
NBI Finale, NBI Follow Up and NBI Followup – Part 2 Syp posted a Wrapup as well as reader voted NBI Awards for the Newbies.
Unfortunately the NBI forums have gone offline and are no longer available. You can find links to many of the posts over at Bio Break. There was a lot of good information for beginners and those not so new but floundering.
Following up on the one year mark, here is the current status.
24 Active and regularly posting, 19 Semi-active and posting occasionally with 66 either Inactive, Closed or deleted. That is over 40% still going.
The Blog List
| Author | Blog | Active State | |
| Ocho | Casual Aggro | Ocho | Active |
| Skaggy | SWTOR from scratch | Skaggy Poet | Active |
| Zellviren | Unwavering Sentinel | Christopher Whyte | Active |
| Feliz | MMO Compendium | MMO Compendium | Inactive/Deleted |
| Iluviel | Elfkina Turret (in Slovak language) | Veronika | Active |
| Kiralynn of Landroval | Windy Acres Ranch | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Jacob A. Ratliff | tl-dr | Jacob Ratliff | Semi-active |
| Saali | Saali in Taborea | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Badtauren (Phil) | Bad Tauren | phillip jones | Semi-active |
| Lyrestra | Musings of an altoholic | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Maruka | Neurotic Girl | Maruka | Active |
| Chris | Geo’s Ironman Challenge | Chris Urquhart | Inactive/Deleted |
| Craftygod | Crafty’s Corner | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Pentha | Scattered Thoughts | Semi-active | |
| Youngblood | The Poison Mushroom | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Kavorkian | My Staff is Bigger than Yours | Pedro Rocha | Inactive/Deleted |
| Vagabond | Vagabond goes for a Walk | Active | |
| Rundle Allighter | Eve All Night | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Leodar | Dreadblade | Crusader Leodar | Active |
| Asherrylie | Priest All The Things | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Brazokie | Brazokie’s Blog Space | Brazokie | Semi-active |
| Grimmash | Warp to Zero | Active | |
| Bob Flintston | Altaclysmic | Active | |
| Wynnie | Wynniekins’ Adventures | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Wynnie | Wynnie goes Free to Play | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Bernard | Diminishing Returns | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Shadowspawnd | World’s End Tavern | Shadowspawnd | Semi-active |
| Quadzi | Warrior Needs Time Badly | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Killington | WASD Way | Killington | Inactive/Deleted |
| Mechalis | That Was an Accident! | Active | |
| Rhalinur | Aggrolicious | Aggrolicious | Inactive/Deleted |
| Jason | Conveniently Placed Exhaust Port | Jason Rice | Active |
| Efithor | Adamant Nomad | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Ben “Aarto” Lickerman | MiddleEarthInitiative | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Toastman | Toastman’s blog | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Ravanel | Ravalation | Active | |
| Black Seven | The Incidental Analyst | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Jimmeh | Funsponge.net | Active | |
| TJ Edgar | Bloodthorne | Semi-active | |
| Vitha | AntiPlasmaFrequency | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Kemwer | Kemwer Game Blog | Andre Goersch | Semi-active |
| Danania | The Adventures of Danania, Supergirl of Lorien! | Active | |
| Kalc | Unliving a Death Knight | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Diabloceto | Deathstomp, The Ruminations of a Death Knight | diabloceto | Inactive/Deleted |
| Aillas | MMO Juggler | Active | |
| White Charr | White Charr – A Guild Wars 2 Blog | Active | |
| JustRight | Not Too Heavy | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Jim | To Infinity and Beyond ! (Invite only at this time) | Inactive/Deleted | |
| O’Fajota | Raspberry Jammed | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Sooru | Click to Loot | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Ivy4Life | Kaw Kaw Get in the Bag | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Cocktorpedo | TFScribbles | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Sil | The Blue Haired Geek | Semi-active | |
| Onterion | Omens of Onterion (An Eve Online Blog) | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Kanter | MMO One Night a Week | Active | |
| Optimus Maleficus | Malefic Incantations | Optimus Maleficus | Semi-active |
| Aly | Mistress of Illusions | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Elunamakata | Healing Mains (co written with holybrae) | Elunamakata | Active |
| Braelyan | Healing Mains (co written with elunamakata) | Jenn Howard Cannon | Active |
| Ninevi | Flask Half-Empty | Ninevi | Inactive/Deleted |
| Pamela | Gaming for Introverts | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Cari Mac | Glimpses from Middle-Earth | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Wapsipinicon | Goetia’s Letters | Semi-active | |
| Nomieke | /con mmob | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Susi | Gaming Abroad | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Diane Rasmussen Neal | tl-dr | tl-dr | Semi-active |
| Lifedeathsoul | Backseat Game design | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Entombed | Divinity’s Reach | Semi-active | |
| Jezi | Big Numbers! | Rainee Sue | |
| Siadina | Trippin Tyria | Siadina Sorrowchild | Inactive/Deleted |
| Eon Themistocles | Eons and Eons Away | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Hasugo Numani (aka motstandet) | Horrible Ball of Fire | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Eva | Image Heavy | Eva | Inactive/Deleted |
| Khuruuk | Casually Vicious | Semi-active | |
| Skron | The Frugal Gamer | Skron | Semi-active |
| Brews | Gaming Brew | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Randolph Carter | This Roaring Silence | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Serenity | MMOARprz | Serenity | Inactive/Deleted |
| Tyler Murphy | How to Pour Sand Back Into the Box | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Peter Hatch | The Diverted Muse | Peter Hatch | Inactive/Deleted |
| Teatro | Newbie Hobbit | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Red Neckromonger | Red’s Roid Rage | Red Neckromonger | Semi-active |
| Zeth | Battlemastered | Zeth | Inactive/Deleted |
| Evilitis | thenotsonewnoob | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Mark/Valerian | commentarilies | mark colton | Inactive/Deleted |
| Rambling Redshirt | Beyond Tannhauser Gate | Active | |
| Fivequarters | Argus or Bust | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Beorneoth | LOTRO Cinna | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Amijade | Warlockery | Active | |
| Luranni | Stabby McStabStab | Li | Inactive/Deleted |
| Frinka | Warcraft Street | Warcraft Street | Inactive/Deleted |
| Kupapo | Real Adventures In Fake Worlds | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Tyler Murphy | Game Delver | Tyler Murphy | Active |
| Rich | Gnomegates.com | Gnomegates | Inactive/Deleted |
| Ewine | Hipstalotro | Semi-active | |
| Saali | Saali in Taborea | Semi-active | |
| Avaloner | The Mighty Viking Hamster | Semi-active | |
| Leelu | The Butterfly Gamer | Semi-active | |
| Jeromai | Why I Game | Active | |
| Joshua (Wald works too) | Wald’s Wanderings | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Ald | Ald Shot First | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Sephora | Sephora’s Closet | Active | |
| Donovan | Donovan Drones | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Brandon | Beyond-Reproach | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Laenlis | Landroval Style | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Budged (aka Darkeflaire or Sienra) | The Horn & Ivory Gates | Inactive/Deleted | |
| Syllenn | Renai Hunter | Semi-active | |
| Rob | spacefiddle | Inactive/Deleted | |
| GW2WvW | GW2 WvW | Guild Wars 2 WvW | Inactive/Deleted |
@BigMikeyOcho over at Casual Aggro has also done a 1 Year Anniversary post
Edit: Another follow up post over at Healing the Masses lists a lot of the articles written by many of the Sponsors and Newbies with a lot of info for anyone who is blogging or thinking about blogging.
Edit: Adding a few more links for additions commemoration blog posts
Ravaltation: NBI: One year and a week later
The Ancient Gaming Noob: New Blogger Initiative a Year Later – Who Survived?
Avatars of Steel: Virtual Party celebrating the original Newbie Blogger’s Initiative
Thanks to Ravalation for the great Badge for all participants you see on the sidebar.
Goodbye Warcraft
Last week I unsubbed from WoW for the first time since January of 2006. I found that I was only logging in to do my daily vegetable farming, a bit of crafting and the occasional holiday event and it didn’t make sense to continue paying for something I was not really enjoying.
I have been playing since Vanilla Wow. I helped contribute to the opening of the Gates of AQ although I did not have a toon high enough to actually be at the opening. I was in a MC raiding guild for awhile before the Burning Crusade expansion dropped and have a lot of fond memories of running Zul’Gurub. I played a rogue at the time and our class lead was a gnome with the fist weapons (Primal Blessing) that turned him into a huge tiger randomly. After BC released and the guild I was in fell apart, I switch to a Mage and my main and have been playing as an Arcane Mage since.
I have seen a lot of changes over the years. Many of the changes reflect the need to get new players or alts up to level cap to be able to participate in endgame. Other changes make endgame more accessible to a large amount of people instead of just large raiding guilds. A lot of the changes also are meant to simplify the playing of toons to make it more accessible to casual players. A good example of the changes is the way flightpoints are handled. In Vanilla Wow, you had to explore a zone and find the single flightpoint, except Azshara with none. Now you get the flight points in the immediate area when you leave the starter area, the are usually 2 or 3 per zone and when you move on, you get the flight points in the next zones automatically. For Vanilla WoW plays, on of the most fun (ha ha) things you could do is run or swim down the coast, from Stormwind to Booty Bay, to get the flightpoint for easy access to The Barrens.
In my raiding guild, we used to have people waiting out side Molten Core to join our already full 40 man raid. With Burning Crusade that went down to 25 man raids and many guilds fell apart. Now with 10 man raids and 3 man Scenarios and the LFR tool, raiding has seemed to lose the interest of many people. Now it seems everyone is doing Farmville (Tiller’s Dailys) or Pokemen (Pet Battles) in game.
I have a level 90 mage with an ilvl of 457, a level 87 hunter and level 85 rogue, shadow priest, pally and boomkin. When doing my vegatable patch for the day, I found that the level 85s where having an easier time killing Vermin than the mage. I am much more familiar with the mage as I have been steadily play it since BC. With the other classes, I am sort of winging it. I have gone through a lot of class changes that took getting used to but that is sort of ridiculous.
The game was fun while it lasted but I have little interest to back right now.
Something fun to tweak your brain!
This is fun read the puzzle yes past all 5 tests
Wow! I’ve seen this with the letters out of order, but this is the first time I’ve seen it with numbers . Good example of a Brain Study: If you can read this OUT LOUD you have a strong mind. And better than that: Alzheimers is a long, long, ways down the road before it ever gets anywhere near you.
7H15 M3554G3
53RV35 7O PR0V3
H0W 0UR M1ND5 C4N
D0 4M4Z1NG 7H1NG5!
1MPR3551V3 7H1NG5!
1N 7H3 B3G1NN1NG
17 WA5 H4RD BU7
N0W, 0N 7H15 LIN3
Y0UR M1ND 1S
R34D1NG 17
4U70M471C4LLY
W17H 0U7 3V3N
7H1NK1NG 4B0U7 17,
B3 PROUD! 0NLY
C3R741N P30PL3 C4N
R3AD 7H15.
PL3453 F0RW4RD 1F
U C4N R34D 7H15.
If you can read the following paragraph, forward it on to your friends and the person that sent it to you with ‘yes’ in the subject line. Only great minds can read this. This is weird, but interesting!
If you can raed this, you have a sgtrane mnid, too.
Can you raed this? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can. I cdnuolt blveiee that I
cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd what I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the
hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno’t
mtaetr in what oerdr the ltteres in a word are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is
that the frsit and last ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a
taotl mses and you can still raed it whotuit a pboerlm. This is bcuseaethe
huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the word as a wlohe.
Azanmig huh? Yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! If you can
raed this
Even if you are not old, you will find this interesting…
Short Neurological Test
1- Find the C below.. Please do not use any cursor help.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO O
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO O
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO O
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO O
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO O
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO O
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCOOOOOOOOOO O
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO O
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO O
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO O
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO O
2- If you already found the C, now find the 6 below.
999999999999999999999999999999 99999999999999999
999999999999999999999999999999 99999999999999999
999999999999999999999999999999 99999999999999999
699999999999999999999999999999 99999999999999999
999999999999999999999999999999 99999999999999999
999999999999999999999999999999 99999999999999999
3 – Now find the N below.. It’s a little more difficult.
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMNM M
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM M
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM M
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM M
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM M
This is NOT a joke. If you were able to pass these 3 tests, you can cancel your annual visit to your neurologist. Your brain is great and you’re far from having a close relationship with Alzheimer..
A Cry for Help!
I stumbled across this on the internet. I am not sure if this is the original poster or not. If anyone has different information please let me know as I would like to attribute to the original poster.
I don’t know about anyone else but I will also have a good pile of sticks ready to hand out to anyone asking for help!
Update
Sorry for the long absence. I have been busy playing games and not writing about them. I have been spending most of my time in the Mass Effect Universe with some AC3, WoW and Secret World thrown in. I have pretty much stopped playing GW2. I sort of lost interest with the Halloween event (mining candy corn?) plus as I am not a twitch gamer, the jumping mini game sucks.
I picked up a few new games due to Steam sales and the Humble bundle. I picked up The Witcher 1& 2, Red faction: Armageddon, Metro 2033, Saints Row: The Third, Sniper Elite 1&2, Titan Quest and thanks to a heartfelt endorsement from @Pikestaff, Morrowind (with the Morrowind Overhaul mod pack).
I have also gotten into a couple of Betas, Defience and Warframe. Too early to tell how good these will be but they look good so far.
I hope to getting back to posting more regularly soon.
Lest We Forget
Canadians have fought in most of the major conflicts for the past century. When the First World War ended with the signing of the Armistice on November 11th 1918 at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month a tradition began. Remembrance Day or Armistice Day was officially recognized by King George V on 7 November 1919 as a day of remembrance for members of the armed forces who were killed during World War I. Since that time most countries in the Commonwealth of Nations observe it as a day to remember all those who have or are currently serving in the Armed Forces in any capacity.
Many Canadians, myself included, have very strong feelings about this day and those veterans who are being remembered. I am going provide a few examples of how we feel. I am not ashamed to say I cried a bit while I composed this.
“In Flanders Fields” was written during the First World War by Canadian physician and Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae. According to legend, fellow soldiers retrieved the poem after McCrae, initially unsatisfied with his work, discarded it. Its references to the red poppies that grew over the graves of fallen soldiers resulted in the remembrance poppy becoming one of the world’s most recognized memorial symbols for soldiers who have died in conflict. The poem and poppy are prominent Remembrance Day symbols throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, particularly in Canada, where “In Flanders Fields” is one of the nation’s best known literary works.

On November 11, 1999 Terry Kelly was in a drug store in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. At 10:55 AM an announcement came over the stores PA asking customers who would still be on the premises at 11:00 AM to give two minutes of silence in respect to the veterans who have sacrificed so much for us. Terry was impressed with the stores leadership role in adopting the Legions two minutes of silence initiative. He felt that the stores contribution of educating the public to the importance of remembering was commendable. When eleven o’clock arrived on that day, an announcement was again made asking for the two minutes of silence to commence. All customers, with the exception of a man who was accompanied by his young child, showed their respect. Terry s anger towards the father for trying to engage the stores clerk in conversation and for setting a bad example for his child was channeled into a beautiful piece of work called, A Pittance of Time.
Highway of Heroes
On August 24, 2007, the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) announced that the stretch of Highway 401 between Glen Miller Road in Trenton and the intersection of the Don Valley Parkway and Highway 404 in Toronto would bear the additional name Highway of Heroes, in honour of Canadian soldiers who have died, though Highway 401 in its entirety remains designated as the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway. This length of the highway is often travelled by a convoy of vehicles carrying a dead soldier’s body, with his or her family, from CFB Trenton to the coroner’s office at the Centre for Forensic Sciences in Toronto. Since 2002, when the first dead Canadian soldiers were returned from Afghanistan, crowds have lined the overpasses to pay their respects as convoys pass.
On Nov. 11, 2008 a US News program showed the following to explain how we feel about the Highway of Heroes.
The Trews, a Canadian band eleased the single “Highway Of Heroes”. It was inspired by the 2006 death of Capt. Nichola Goddard, the first Canadian female soldier killed in Afghanistan and a schoolmate of members of the Trews. The song was made available on iTunes in Canada only, with all proceeds from the sales of the song going to the Canadian Hero Fund, a charity that provides academic scholarships to the spouses and children of soldiers killed in combat.
Theramore’s Fall – The Full Story
Let’s start with a bit of background. I have been playing World of Warcraft since January of 2006. I helped open the Gates of An’Quiraj, I was in a Molten Core raiding guild. I still have my first toon, although he is no longer my main. For quite some time I had 2 active accounts and both had the maximum number of toons on my mail server, although after a couple of server moves, I am back to only one account.
With The Burning Crusade my raiding guild fell apart as did many others but several of us stuck together until just before WotLK. Some of the best times in game were going through Zul’Gurub (our rogue lead was a gnome and had the Tiger Fist weapons) during Vanilla and working out way through The Shattered Halls in BC. The expansion was fun and I loved getting the flying skill and then doing the Netherwing quests to get my drake.
Along comes Wrath of the Lich King and things changed again. The story lines and quests were just as good as in Vanilla of BC, the scenery outstanding but I was not a big fan of phasing. Once people were getting into Icecrown, there were not always as many people at the same pace and sometimes you had trouble getting help as you were not in the same phase. I was great getting to know about the Titans and more of the story of Azeroth.
The release of Cataclysm brought even more changes to the game, many of which I do not like. As a long time player of the game, I can see why they felt changes may be necessary to get player to level cap as quickly as possible. This allows new player to be on a level playing field with friends and family who have played for a long time. Streamlining quest chains, putting multiple flight paths in zones and lowering cost and level requirements for mounts, do make leveling faster but take may of the fun aspects of the game away. Many long time players also seemed to lose interest in the game itself shortly after the release of the expansion. Usually things would slow down for awhile before the release of the next expansion but instead of a few months before the release of the next expansion, everyone seemed to lose interest only a few months after the release of the current expansion. When I talked to a few people, most said the changes seemed to turn them off the game as it seemed to be too streamlined, too easy to level.
When The Burning Crusade was released, for a week before, we had an event around the Dark Portal, fighting back demons from the newly reopened portal. The expansion was released and we fought our way through The Outlands until the Dark Temple was conquered and Illidan dies. For the Wrath of the Lich King, we had plagues and zombies for two weeks and then we boarded boats for Northrend and defeated The Lich King in Icecrown Citadel. With Cataclysm we had three weeks of cultist, occult devices and Elemental invasions before Deathwing is brought down from the sky. Now we come to The Mists of Pandaria. We have no big bad enemy to fight, the pre-release event is a short scenario that is way too easy and hardly seems worth doing. The fact that scenarios do not require specific roles (tank, healer) should result in fairly short queues as easier to match people did not seem to work as many people reported queues in excess of 30 minutes.
When Cataclysm was released, Blizzard also released the books, ‘Stormrage’ and ‘The Shattering’ which explain the return of Malfurion and the events that happen between the rise of Deathwing and the actually game play in the expansion as supposedly we slept through several years (although we rescue survivors in Darkshore?). This is a bit jarring for those of us who have not read the books but not too much of a break. With Mists of Pandaria, there is no new Big Bad Boss of Bosses that we need to kill, instead we have outright warfare between the Horde and Alliance. Blizzard has release ‘Tides of War’ to explain how this came about. Without reading the books, we have the fall of Deathwing, the destruction of Theramore and open warfare with pretty much no explanation. This is quite a disconnect for many people. The story of Warcraft has been a tale of Titans, Old Gods and the Burning Legion. Suddenly we have an expansion that sets all that aside. It is like Blizzard decided to say the story for the past several years doesn’t mean anything (look how well that worked in Mass Effect 3). As I no longer raid and haven’t been playing a lot recently, I may be missing things but I am probably in the same boat as a large number of players.
What could Blizzard how done to make this a pre-expansion event instead of a preview of their new Scenarios feature?
About a month before release, you get a mysterious letter in your mailbox from SI7. It mentions increasing Horde/Alliance tensions due to Garrosh’s saber rattling. There are reports of Horde forces being built up in Ashenvale, Felwood, Arathi Highlands, The Hinterlands, North and South Barrens. Over the next couple weeks, you are sent to SI7 to get assignments to investigate these reports and have the opportunity for for some true World PVP if so desired as both sides get sent to the same locations to hide the built ups. At one location you find a report of a secret weapon being developed, you return it to SI7 and Jaina goes undercover to look into it (Horde version might be to recover the report before it is found). Finally we get to the scenario and now it makes sense for those of us who have not read the book.
I have pre-ordered the game. I will be doing the digital download but not the deluxe version. I have played around a bit on Beta but wanted to leave much of it as unknown in hopes of once more renewing my interest in the game. Unfortunately, if it does not grab my interest once more, I will probably be cancelling my subscription for the first time since 2006.
Theramore’s Fall
NBI Followup – Part 2
I thought I would check up on my fellow newbie bloggers who participated in Syp’s Newbie Blogger Initiative.Last time I checked of the 109 participants over half were active, either posting very often of at least semi often (bi-weekly). I went through and checked up on all though sites and as surprising number (41) were very active and (16) semi-active. That is still over half of the participants who are still going strong.
I am not sure how this fares compared to other initiatives from other times but I think this was arousing success. I would once again like to thank Syp for setting this up and for the helpful articles from all the sponsors.
Here is the updated list of all the participants along with their current status.
Game Security
Since the early access to Guild Wars 2 there have been a lot of phishing and hacking incidents. With Mists of Pandaria being released next month there was also a report that Blizzard has been hacked for account info. I also just received a phishing attempt on an email account that I seldom use that was never associated with any game or gaming site.
At first glance this phishing email looks quite convincing.

The first part looks great. It is when it reaches that 3rd paragraph that things sort of fall apart. Then we come to the link. The link itself is in proper format but when you mouse over it, it tells a different story.

And then there is the link in the footer for the privacy policy.

I never click on any link in any unsolicited email. If a game company wants to reach anyone they usually direct you to go to there website and sing into you account. I always do this by going directly to the website and signing in, never from a link in the email. The only time I will click a link in an email is when the official website sends a verification email. You will usually get that email within moments of the site sending it.
I have had friends and guildies hacked before, had guild banks emptied and am constantly being bombarded by phishing attempt email, usually on accounts that have never been associate with any games. I feel it is better to safe than sorry.
I have a specific email account for WoW, one for Rift/Aion, one for TSW, one for SWTOR and one for ArenaNet. All have different password and WoW, SWTOR and Trion have authenticators. I still change the passwords every now and then. I use a website to generate a list of random 15 character passwords that I use only once and then genereate a new list when those are used up. It appears ArenaNet has got the email authentication working now and I recommend using iot until them come out with an authenticator, hopefully soon.










