We saw Blizzard's first April Fool's Joke in this post. Now here's another:
We are treated to a whole Wisps-Are-The-Alliance-Race-writeup including:
Racial Traits:
April Fool's Post From Blizzard - A preview of Patch 1.11
(thanks broadbandforums!)
Here are five of my favorites:
I found this little gem of information at wowvault.ign.com and am hopeful that this will help me have a normal patch life. Blizzard is starting something new - a Background Downloader. Here are more details:
"With the 1.10 patch we have integrated a new content delivery system called the Blizzard Background Downloader. This program will run seamlessly with World of Warcraft and download upcoming content prior to the release of a patch. With use of this program a minimal amount of data will be needed during the next actual patch release and help to decrease the amount of time spent downloading the patch. The Blizzard Background Downloader uses the same protocols and connection methods as the Blizzard Downloader, some customers may need to configure their various network protection programs and hardware to take full advantage of it."
"The background downloader is designed to minimize the amount of time users spend during the patching process. As users play the game the background downloader is automatically launched at a random interval when there is new data available. An icon appears in the system tray or dock to notify players that the download has started. Data is then streamed at a very slow rate into a new folder that is created in the World of Warcraft installation directory. When a patch is released users already have most of new data available and need only to download a very small amount to be able to run the patch. "
The blogosphere recorded the history for Patch Day 1.10.
It didn't go exactly as planned:
"...Chatting with friends while at work, and reading LJ here and seeing people getting frustrated at the continued problems that prevented the servers from going up.
...Chatting with friends while at work, and reading LJ here and seeing people getting frustrated at the addons that no longer worked.
...Feeling relieved that I was still at work and was not exposed to all the /tap waiting for stuff.
...Getting home and joining the others in /tap waiting.
...Finally logging in, and addon after addon generating error messages in the game."
"It's part of the normal process," said Shif, "and unfortunately, it went a little longer than expected today."
"An issue occurred while applying the 1.10 content patch yesterday that prevented the realms from going live at the end of our scheduled maintenance window. To compensate players for any inconvenience caused by this extended downtime, we will be issuing a 24-hour time extension to all players with an active account. Thank you for your patience during today's maintenance; we hope you enjoy all the new content in patch 1.10!"
Satire Abounds:
"Through my connections at Blizzard, a few well-placed bugs, a couple of illegal wiretaps, a clever spycam, the rather plump receptionist I bribed with two Cokes and a ham sandwich, I’ve managed to find out exactly what the hell happened. It’ll be more enlightening if I lay out the evidence for you, piece by piece, a la CSI: Miami. Besides, it’s cooler. "
"All Roads into Azeroth are closed..."
The End Results were exactly as Blizzard Intended:
"EDIT: To clarify, if you're hit with a snowball just as you take off, you get instantly teleported to your destination. I used to do it to random people in Silithus to make their trip to Gadgetzan shorter (and get much thanks for it :B)"
Just a few lines(*) in the the Patch Notes such as:
"You are no longer able to modify the Blizzard XML and Lua files."
"What a crazy day it has been on ui.worldofwar.net. Well over 100 updated mods have been uploaded by mod authors, too many to list here, but if you have been experiencing mod issues then make sure you grab the latest versions. Thanks to all the mod authors who have updated so quickly and uploaded their new versions or new mods to the site."
"The low bandwidth version of wowinterface has been enabled because of the World of Warcraft 1.10 patch. Our site will go back to normal and this made an optional style again once traffic dies down in a couple days. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you."
Customizing the interface is a very technical endeavor, and you should not attempt it unless you have a good working knowledge of XML and Lua.
You probably know all the major changes for 1.10:
I haven't posted a video link in a while and this one tickled me. A Level 9 Shaman takes out Level 60s in Gadgetzan. Access the video here at the post where I found it.
The Tip Parade will wait a little bit since today is Patch Day (tomorrow in EU). THE Patch Day actually. 1.10
Here's the post from Eyonix on the forums announcing it: here. (Kudos on the completely hysterical and satirical "F1RST POST!!11!!.")
Also - Caydiem is leaving the forums. Announcement
For your Patchy convenience:
See you on the other side and don't forget to check your mods!
One of the questions I hear asked in "General" the most is "How do I quit a guild?"
Here's your answer: /gquit or /guildquit.
There are a ton and a half of tips out there. I will distill the ones I know down to just a handful of the best and share them with you in this series: The WoW Tip Parade.
Today's tip is my favorite: SHIFT-Right-click.
Instead of looting your kill by right-clicking it, use your left hand to hit shift while you're doing it. Instead of just opening the loot box, WoW will open it and automatically traansfer all contents to your bags. If you don't have enough room, it will take what it can and then give you an error message.
To make this tip even better is this little factoid - it works with more than just looting. Shift-Right-click to mine your ore and it will do the mining and then open up the window and automatically transfer the contents to your bags. It also works with Herbalism, Skinning, treasure chests and mission gathering as well.
Warning - I do this so often when I'm working solo; it gets hard to mentally turn it off when I'm in a group. But it's important to not do this if there are special looting rules in your group.
Here are some of my favorite posts from the past week or so:
What
Is
Up
With
This?
First: Elwynn Forest. I had started a human character and I'm running around the newbie zone and I find this:
I think hmmm. Coincidence all these people died in this spot fighting non-aggro Kobolds?!? Can't be. It reminded me of the Jonestown story where everyone drank the poison-laced-Kool-Aid (apparently it was "Flavor-Aid" - but if I was the Flavor Aid people I'd let the world think it was Kool-Aid too) in a mass suicide.
Snap picture. Move on.
A couple weeks later I decide to check in on a different newbie character (different server). She's jogging on over to Fargodeep mine and whoa.... what is this....?!?
Soooo many things to say about that.
Quick Note - they were not just lying there. These are all most definitely corpses and thanks to my CorpseInfo mod I knew they were all dead and offline. Seriously, even if this was some adult-themed RP action (on a PVE server) exactly how did you all end up dead?
So, I am stumped.
Snap pic. Shake Head in Bewilderment. Move on.
Then I'm on a totally different server (again, these are all PVE servers, none are RP). This time on a horde character, in Durotar in the middle of nowhere and sure enough... this!:
Okay,
A - the Horde don't play - they don't need your stinking Kool-Aid barrels.
B - et tu Horde?
Found in Undercity. These two gentlemen are fighting while a ring of other NPCs watch around them.
IMDB Link to Fight Club here.
www.glowchart.com is a new website that will attempt to provide a visual reference for all the enchanting glows.
It's still new and doesn't have everything yet, but let me tell you, as an enchanter, I'm thrilled to see it.
The chart you see to the left is their "Quick Glow Chart" (as of today). There are pictures of individual glows in the detailed chart.
Looking for more on Enchanting? Check out the sidebar (scroll down) for a list of websites that cover enchanting including the FAQ from the Azerothian Trade Union and Blizzard's Enchanting Info.
I present for your consideration - the Stylish Black Shirt.
Finally; a plain ol' black shirt that doesn't make me feel like I'm hookin.'
I had Briar model the some dark shirts so we can show you. She wasn't too happy about the Black Swashbuckler.
You can find other very good screen shots of other dark shirts in the comments about the Master Builder's Shirt on Thottbot. It's also a very nice simple dark shirt, but unfortunately it's a BOP drop item.
Where to find it.
The good news is that it's available for purchase for only 60 silver (before any faction discounts). The bad news is that it is only for sale in Stormwind! Unfortunately, the only way for the Horde to get it is to to hope someone wants to make some money by selling it on a neutral auction house.
Saunter on over to the Canal Tailor shop in the Trade District to find this gem. 
Even better news - there's no limit to how many she has available.
p.s. I owe a thanks to my brother who showed me this gem.
The Daedalus Project has asked readers to submit screenshots of:
One of the screenshots I submitted is shown here - it's a bug we found in our days at SWG. You would think a room that opened up into infinity would give you unlimited storage but unfortunately it did not.
Here are some of the results they have chosen to share so far:
Slideshow
Slideshow #2
Update: Slideshow #3 including my submission.
The submission page is at the end of both slideshows. Since your WoW screenshots are saved as ".tga" you will have to convert them to .jpg first. The details of the best kind of pics are on the submission page.
Blizzard just announced 4 new realms available immediately (3/20/06).
I don't usually post all the realm updates but it's been so long that we've had fresh new ones that are open for all players - I just couldn't resist. There are 3 of the 4 types available (no RP PVP it seems).
Here are the new realms:
Duskwood - PvE
Zuluhed - PvP
Anetheron - PvP
Steamwheedle Cartel - RP PvE
And now back to shorter posts... /whew!
You might remember the post about Disney's Animal Kingdom's showing up in the Barrens Wallpaper.
Well... guess what I found now... a bit of Universal Studios (shown here). You can see Jaws hanging near the ride named after him in Orlando or this big fish just SE from Sen'Jin Village in Durotar.
I'm a big fan of the way the way Blizzard tributes pop culture. At least that's what I'm calling it today. It could still be subliminal marketing, but the Jaws thing is way too obvious for that. So for now it's "homage."
In Part I we learned a little bit about what we might expect of the "Burning Crusade." In Part II I want to share with you some excerpts about the Blood Elves.
WoW Lore - Some of the WoW Lore is truly epic. And it greatly enhances my gameplay experience to know a little bit of it. When the Burning Crusade was announced it had immediate meaning for me because I had done a little research into the history.
Here is a great resource for you to have the same context. Warcraft History by Blizzard on the WoW Site.
Here are some excerpts which describe the genesis of the Burning Crusade:
I added Action Trip Comics to the post on Comic Strips that Feature WoW. To spare you some of the stranger ones, here are links to a few of the ones most worth your while:
This is an interesting find over at Amazon.com. It's a book "aimed at dedicated fans" called The Battle for Azeroth: Adventure, Alliance, and Addiction in the World of Warcraft
Here's an excerpt from the Editorial Description:
"...issues ranging from economics and psychology to addiction and game ethics are addressed, as are the outstanding design of the game and the histories of several main characters.... "
| This is a fun page on WoWWiki. It outlines the rumors and hypotheses for what the Alliance race will be in the Expansion (including the recent Quilboar rumors). Rumored Races - WoWWiki |  |
Here's a great bunch of posts I found on livejournal.com/worldofwarcraft/ and livejournal.com/wow_ladies/
A new video find that really made me lol. Stick with it to the end.
It's also particularly funny if:
I have a number of players on the Alliance side but lately I've been pretty pro-horde while I play in the Barrens. Come on, who doesn't want to run with the Gazelles?World of Warcraft Vault just released a new talent calculator that you can use to plan out your talents after the new patch comes in:
Want the skinny on fishing? There's loads to be had, so here you go:
Guides/Info
World of Warcraft Fishing Basics
Draznar's Fishing FAQ
Fishing Ain't for Wimps
Thottbot on Fishing includes Quests and Item lists.
Mods
Fishing Buddy Mod
The Stranglehorn Fishing Extravaganza
Here (worldofwar.net) and here (WoW Wiki) and here (at World of Warcraft.com).
These links are also posted in the sidebar of this blog if you scroll down.
If you check out this comic from GUComics and watch for a bit, it will scroll through some funny "tips."
There's also discussion on it with some "real" WoW tips here. Some of them are actually fairly useful:
Tip: If you throw away your Hearthstone, talk to any innkeeper. They will give you a replacement.
TIP: don't pet the Voidwalker.
Tip: If you are ever caught saying the words 'Chuck Norris', you will be banned. There are no exceptions.
I just ordered Penny Arcade's Attack of the Bacon Robots
Although technically in Foxtrot they feature "World of Warquest" but still, it counts. In fact, check out Allakhazam's interview with Bill Amend, Foxtrot's artist here.
Here's a sample from FoxTrot:
These two "Switcher" videos are very well done so I wanted to introduce them to you.
"Atkins" was featured in the Xfire contest. It won 2nd place in the Comedy category.
"Frostshock", the other Switcher video, actually influenced me to create a Shaman about 2 weeks ago. (My secret hope, as it is everyday I play World of Warcraft, is to mimic my Assassin in Diablo III. The totems reminded me of her traps. Ahhh, killing the end boss without ever actually touching him....traaaaps...)
Anyway, back on track: I hope you enjoy the videos!
 | Atkins Switcher |
 | Frostshock Switcher |
Yup. I love finding WoW movies. I will continue to pass on my best finds to you. But if you want some great movies right now, check out these Contest Winners:
Is that what you think it is?
Yup. It's the pre-order
There's a big write up
"Availability: This item will be released on October 15, 2006."
Now, we all remember going through this when we were originally waiting for WoW. Stores would post it for pre-order and list a date that made no hint it was just an estimate. But we quickly caught on as we saw the different and updated dates. So as of now, it says October 15. Let's see if that sticks.
(Updated)
Gamasutra - Chinese World of Warcraft Players Threaten Boycott
"The Chinese userbase reports widespread delays of over an hour when logging
into the game and getting a server list, and the last straw seems to have been
complete server outages that disrupted the endgame of a large-scale raid
involving nearly 1,000 players."
Don't we have this all the time in the non-China versions?
Update - (thanks to this post from Clickable Culture) - Apparently in China they pay by the hour rather than by the month. It's not really different I think; we're all paying for time spent in queue. The insanity of it is just painfully more obvious when you're paying for it by the hour.
Now for some iPod
 | iWoW chikky! 1/2 minute |
 | iWoW dance! 1/2 minute |
 | ipwn 1 minute |
Here are some interesting World of Warcraft posts I've collected this past week:
Casual Vs. Raiders Part I |
In a very "Close Encounters of the Third Kind
And I still feel like it's not done yet.
Meanwhile somewhere at Blizzard someone is scrambling to shred memos between them and Disney because we're on to their secret subliminal advertising.
While you're flexing those caption muscles to participate in the Caption contest, surf on over to OGaming's Caption game room. (Unfortunately the picture this week is from the contest but there are other pictures there to practice on plus polls on how people liked the submissions.)
From the Events Calendar for March:
| Darkmoon Faire (Mulgore) March 6 - March 12 |
| Call to Arms: Arathi Basin! March 3 - March 6 |
| Call to Arms: Alterac Valley! March 17 - March 20 |
| Call to Arms: Warsong Gulch! March 24 - March 27 |
Having been with this game since the beginning, it is incredible to realize how many people are still just joining WoW. Check out these stats from Blizzard Press Releases:
| Date | Worldwide Player Count | Link to Press Release & Notes |
| 2007-07-24 | 9 Million | Cached Page |
| 2007-07-03 | 8.5 Million | Cached Page (BC Sold 3.5 Million Copies in 1 month) |
| 2007-01-11 | 8 Million | Cached Page |
| 2006-11-09 | 7.5 Million | Cached Page (BC Street Date Set) |
| 2006-05-10 | 6.5 Million | Cached Page (BC Features Announced) |
| 2006-02-28 | 6 Million | Link (Spanish Version Released) |
| 2006-01-19 | 5.5 Million | Cached Page (1 million in Europe) |
| 2005-12-19 | 5 Million | Link (WoW is a Year Old) |
| 2005-11-08 | 4.5 Million | Dead Link (Taiwan Launch) |
| 2005-08-29 | 4 Million | Dead Link (UK Link) (1 million in North America) |
| 2005-07-21 | 3.5 Million | Dead Link (Singapore Launch) |
| 2005-06-14 | 2 Million | Dead Link (China Launch June 7) |
| 2005-03-17 | 1.5 Million | Dead Link (UK Link) |
| 2004-11-23 | Debut | - |
Yoda walks into the Emperor's chambers.
/waves hand
Both guards die.
Most days I feel like the guards. But for a few moments while watching this video,... I felt like Yoda.
Why? Because in this video we see what it's like to be a GM. I didn't expect to be as spectacularly dazzled as I was. Seriously. My jaw dropped; I sat straight up; I just started laughing. Maniacally. (So this is what it's like to be an evil genious?)
Click to see the video here: GM Video
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