If your Russian is strong, you can read the original article here. What, you can’t read Russian? Well, you could try and see if this Google translate makes it easier for you. It doesn’t, I know, but it lets you somewhat see the comments people are posting.

I’ve gone ahead and posted the original transcript of the interview here. A few bits and pieces was cut out of the article posted on noob-club.ru, but this seemed like the easiest way to do it.

Whats your WoW story, friend? What classes have you played? When was your famous moonkin born?

I started playing WoW in the beta back in the days, where I had made a female night elf hunter. When the game launched, I realised that 90% of the population were female night elf hunters, and instead made a gnome warlock. This warlock made it to level 55 before I got a bit tired of it. In hind sight, I realise I was probably a massive noob back then – I didn’t know what I was doing, but at the time it wasn’t a big deal, cause I was just having a bit of fun. I remember looking at the warlock tier pieces and deciding that “I wanted this instead of that, because it looked cooler”, without realising that it would probably require a lot of effort on my part to actually get epics back then.

I decided to ditch my gnome warlock, and made an undead priest instead, and when I got to level 60, I started raiding with it. I raided up to AQ40 back in the days and then TBC came out. My priest made it to level 70, and I did a few Karazan runs with it, but decided that I didn’t like playing priest anymore. Instead I made a hunter, which I raided on all the way through TBC. At some point during Sunwell Plateau, I quit the game for a few weeks. When I came back, I started raiding very casually on my druid, that had somehow managed to get to level 70. I did some 10 man runs in Karazan as a tank, and slowly took over raid leading and eventually the guild.

In Wrath of the Lich King I continued as a bear and tanked my way through Ulduar. During this time, I had managed to pick up quite a lot of caster items, and I once in a while got the chance to raid as a moonkin. I slowly got lured into the fuzzyness of being a giant chicken, and when I finally left my guild to go back to serious raiding again, I took on moonkin full time. I haven’t changed away from moonkin ever since, and I still haven’t managed to get another character to level 85.

Whats you favourite thing is WoW currently? What activity you like the most?

I love to raid. This is probably what I do most of the time in WoW. I do like to level up when new content comes out, and I enjoy doing quests with a good storyline in it. But raiding is where I get my excitement from. Raiding is fun because it requires you to not only master your class, but also master each specific encounter, and as an expansion comes along, fights get harder and harder.

You won’t often see me do PvP, because I’m generally not very good at it. I seem to die really quickly, or at least not as quickly as everybody else. I could probably get into it, but BG queues on my server are generally quite long, which takes a bit of the fun out of it. I do go for some achievements, but I only really care about the achievements that add a nice reward, like a mount or a title or a weird little item.

Is there any WoW achievement you are proud of? Some PvE boss or arena rating actually?

I am extremely proud of my heroic Lich King 25 achievement. We spent a long time learning that encounter, and it is the hardest thing I have ever experienced in WoW. I remember how my heart was beating when I saw his health at 15% with a good minute to spare on the enrage timer, and almost everybody alive. When we finally managed to iron out all of the issues with our tactic, and was in top 400 to kill Arthas on heroic, the whole guild cheered on Ventrilo as we watched the final roleplaying.

Is there any feature, ability or mechanic in the game you would like to change?

I have this neat idea that I would like to make a radical change to target dummies. They are fine for learning your rotation on a stationary target, or to compare specs, but they don’t teach you the essensials of a boss fight: Tactics. I want a room, an instance of your own, where you have a wide arena (like the Crusaders Coliseum) with a target dummy in the middle. You can set it to different modes, which will force you to move from fire, react to special events, even click on buttons or the like. You would be fully raid buffed inside the room, and even have an item that you can activate to get bloodlust. Then, you could simply have an achievement that states the highest DPS you have managed in this room, set over a 5-10 minute duration, and people could suddenly much better use the target dummies for real practice, and prepare for raiding.

Back to your moonkin, what thing amuses you the most of him?

I think it’s the general look and feel of the moonkin. Every other class looks really badass with their spiky gear and sinister shading. But moonkins are giant, fat chickens with soft feathers, who will once in a while stare around for no particular reason, as if they aren’t really sure what they are supposed to do. I giggle a little bit inside everytime I swap into moonkin form and hear the HURRRR coming from my druid

Given only 3 words, how would you call current state of moonkins in PvE?

Pretty freaking sweet!

If a blizzard developer asked you to add only one feature to your beloved spec, what it would be?

One? Just one?! Well, it would probably be a glyph that allows us to have one (just one) treant active all the time, much like mage’s water elemental. And if this feature could be super cool, I want to be able to set this treant to be either healing or damage orientated.

Time for some blog questions, Qieth! When have you started to write Qieth’s Quips?

Qieth’s Quips saw the dawn of light on November 3rd 2009, so it has been going on for a good 1½ years now.

What were the reasons for you to start a moonkin blog?

I’m pretty active on a number of forums, most noticeably on MMO-Champion’s druid forums (where I am also a moderator). I have always thought that answers given on the forums should be really exhaustive and explain everything to the person asking. Too many people simply reply with “Do this, do that” – I always wanted to reply with “Do this, because..”. I think it’s important that people know why they should do one thing over another, so that they are empowered to make their own decisions in the future.

I have a habit of posting really long answers in every single thread, and I realised that all the effort I put into making a good post would soon be forgotten – the next week, the thread would be replaced with another, and soon my post would be forgotten by myself and everybody else. Since a lot of my blog posts were already much like articles, where I focused on answering one aspect of the class – whatever people asked – it didn’t take much to rewrite some of them into a real blog post. So I figured I would make a blog for these posts, and those that came after it, so that I could always go back and find my earlier posts.

For a long time, I have sought something that could be my creative outlet. When I started writing, I realised that this was probably the way to go. I can’t draw or paint, I don’t sing very well and I can’t play any instruments – but damn it, I can write! I hope that some day, I’ll be a good enough writer to actually publish a book of sorts.

Does your blog improve your playstyle and WoW statistics?

A big part about being a blogger is to do your research. I couldn’t very well go out and tell people to stack agility to increase their DPS, so in order for me to be able to provide useful information to my readers, I have to do a lot of work to keep me up to date. Of course, playing the game is one thing, but I sometimes lack the mathematical skills to do massive theorycrafting, so I rely on the smart people of Elitist Jerks to do that. I take their information, let it soak in for a bit, add my own experience and thoughts, and post it in a more humane fashion – a lot of people are scared away by the sciency tone of Elitist Jerks.

Not only that, but I get a lot of comments on my blog posts, or even as private messages sent to my mail, from the people who read my blogs. They often have tips of their own, or come up with brilliant arguments – or they might actually prove me wrong on some points. So while I give a lot to the community, the community gives a lot back to me as well.

What drives you crazy about it?

I think every writer has the same problem: Writers block. Sometimes there is not so much to write about, and I feel that I owe it to all the people who visit my blog to keep it updated. But there are times when there is just nothing to write about.At other times, there might be a topic that I want to discuss, where I simply can’t get the right words out of my mind. Every writer struggles with this from time to time, and I’m no different.

What thing you want to improve in your blog?

I am toying with the idea of making a forum on the blog. Actually, I am considering making a forum with a couple of other druid bloggers, where we could all link to our special druid forum. Other than that, I would really like to make a billion rubles!

Ive heard youve made some nice podcasts and posted it on the site. Any plans to continue?

I have indeed participated in a few podcasts, and I have even made a few of my own, although they were more like a vlog or a video guide. I guess that, from time to time, a show comes along that wants me in – I am hoping to one day be on Blue Plz! with TotalBiscuit!

However, while it is not completely related to World of Warcraft, I do actually have something like a podcast. Since September last year, I have been doing “Let’s Play” series on my Youtube channel. A Let’s Play is generally where we play a game, and commentate on it as we play. It is usually quite amusing if you’re into that stuff, and you can get a doze of 15-20 minutes of my voice every single day. I think people especially like it when I play through horror games, or anything that will make me scream with fear… …

My Youtube is this: http://www.youtube.com/qieth

Is there any secret benefits of having a moonkin blog?

I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you. Sorry!

What advise can you give to a novice blogger?

The number one advice for all writers is this: Write, write, write. Write every day, and when you’re done, write some more. Get into the habit of writing something – anything – every single day. It doesn’t matter what you write about, only that you write. After a while, you can begin thinking about writing about specific topics, and then you can start posting it on a blog. Obviously, grammar and creative skills are important, but those will usually come along after a while.

Moonkin bloggers a elusive people, dont you agree?

There aren’t that many (good, consistent) moonkin bloggers, but there are a lot of people in the community, on forums like MMO-Champion or Elitist Jerks – or even on noob-club.ru – who helps out other players. They make a huge impact on the community as well.

What can you tell about yourself to our readers?

My real name is Dan Poulsen. I am 24 years old, I live in Denmark, and I currently work do tech support for a danish internet provider. Before this, I was an editor of a large social networking site, and I have done a lot of work with youth organisations and police across the globe. I was also part of a group in the European Commission for a few years, and even did a session in a workshop in Prague, held by the Czech Republic Ministry of Culture. I eventually had to quit that job because the company ran out of money (damn Facebook! ), but I am now building a career with Denmark’s largest internet provider.

Some people say that bloggers are like hardcore raiders – they have no social life, girlfriend, job, friendsetc etc. Do you agree?

Absolutely not. Bloggers are passionate people, just like hardcore raiders are, but we are dependant on a wide community of players and people to give us inspiration and make it worth our while. And after all, it doesn’t take several hours to whip out a decent blog post – there is plenty of time to spare for social activities. This goes for hardcore raiders as well. I am part of a guild that raids three nights a week, but we still managed to be in the top 400 for Lich King heroic kills back in Wrath of the Lich King. Most of us are between 20-40 years old, and many have girlfriends, wives and children.

What music you prefer to listen? During raid-time maybe?

I actually very rarely listen to music during raiding, mainly because it sort of distracts me from the raid and makes it hard to hear Ventrilo and in-game alerts. If I’m not raiding, I am often listening to rock ranging from Red Hot Chili Peppers to John Mayer, or nu-metal such as Disturbed or Deftones. One of my favourite artists is Serj Tankian, the lead singer from System of a Down. Also, I have a secret love for Avril Lavigne…

Some people think we like fresh mices and spiced eggs in real life Is there a favourite moonkin meal you like to eat?

I’m danish, so nothing beats the good old danish classic pork rib steak!

Time is money, friend! As a final word in this interview, what would you say or wish to our russian audience?

I am a huge fan of russian women. Don’t ask me why. Perhaps, one day, I will travel to Russia and seduce your women!

Thanks alot, Qieth, that was an awesome interview!

Thanks for asking, it was great fun!

- QQ

Ahead of everybody else is Paragon from Lightnings Blade EU, and I hooked up with their very own moonkin Lappé for a little chat.

- First off, can you tell us your name, how old you are, and how long you have been playing WoW?
My real name is Niko Lappeteläinen – now you can try to pronounce it properly! I am 18 years old and I have been playing World of Warcraft since the summer of ’06, although I did have a break before The Burning Crusade.

- Have you always been playing moonkin/druid?
My main has always been a druid. In The Burning Crusade I was “forced” to play as restoration if I wanted raid spots. When Wrath of the Lich King came, I was able to switch to moonkin.

- What is it that makes you play a moonkin? Why not another caster class?
I’ve always loved to play moonkin, as long as I can get raid spots with that spec. In case I get bored, I have a few alts that I can play. I haven’t really considered rolling a mage or a warlock as a serious main, cause I don’t believe there is nothing a mage can do that a moonkin can’t – except, perhaps, for proper PVP!

- Looking at the grand scale of things, how do you feel moonkins have progressed through the expansions?
I stopped playing around level 57 before The Burning Crusade, so I really can’t remember much of those times, and back in The Burning Crusade, I mainly played as restoration. It was easier to get a raid spot as a moonkin in WOTLK because of our raid buffs.

- How do you think moonkins compare to other DPS classes?
In regards to damage, we’ve always been a bit behind other classes, but never too much. Even if I hate the RNG part of eclipse, I still love it when I get the best possible RNG and top our other casters! Ofcourse, we will have to wait and see what happens once we all begin to wear heroic loot. We might fall a bit behind because of our scaling with soft haste and crit caps.

- What kind of difficulties have you noted with the bosses in Icecrown Citadel?
Actually, there is nothing that has really bugged me in Icecrown Citadel. I think we are quite strong and usefull for every fight. Sindragosa, for example, is a real badass, but that is the same for every caster. For all fights, you just have to figure out how to maximize your DPS without dying, but theres nothing we can’t handle.

- What do you think about the difficulty of the instances and the “casual catering” that people have been complaining about?
Icecrown Citadel on normal is okay for casuals, but the hardmodes are pretty well tuned right now. I’d just wish they would have removed limited attempts earlier and come up with something really hard for the heroic modes that would actually last for couple of weeks.

- What kind of changes would you like to see being made to moonkins?
Short answer would be “More DPS, less RNG”. I’d like to see a change to Nature’s Grace and Eclipse to make them something less dependable on crit.

- If you could take one talent from another class, what would it be?
That would be the old ignite for mages for sure. It would keep stacking up as long as you can keep up your crit streak, so if we add that to eclipse we would be able to reach huge numbers. Languish is similar, but it won’t refresh its duration completely if you lose a crit.

With the old ignite, you could have a tick followed by a crit, and it would retain the full effect, stacking it up to 100.000+ damage ignites! At least, that’s how I think it worked.

Once (and if) they remove eclipse my decision would probably be different, though.

- Are you going to be playing in Cataclysm, and what are you looking forward to?
I will try to play as much as I can, but I am scheduled to go to the army this summer. I am definitely looking forward to seeing what Cataclysm brings to druids.

- Are you going to change to troll in Cataclysm?
If it’s a huge DPS benefit, then I probably will, but I would rather not. We will have to see what kind of changes they bring with the new tauren racials as well, if they follow through with that.

- How does hardcore raiding effect your real life?
It’s not really “hardcore” raiding. It’s hardcore for just a few weeks, until we beat the content, but it’s not really that hard. Once we beat the encounters, it doesn’t take that long to clear the instances, and we go back to a much more casual raiding schedule.

- What is your favourite dungeon of all times?
I always prefer the one that holds the hardest difficulty level – so right now, I enjoy ICC the most. I don’t hold any favourites with all of the old stuff – if someone asks me to join, I’ll probably go!

- Finally, if Mumins were a playable class, would you switch to it?
Definitely – they’ll probably get better racials than taurens!

To catch up on Paragon’s progression in Icecrown Citadel, check out http://www.paragon-wow.com!