Friday, March 31, 2006

April Fools Again - Alliance Race

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:

  • Detonate: Destroys the wisp, dispelling all magical buffs and draining 50 mana from each unit in an area around the wisp.

  • Gatherer: Skill to herbalism, mining, and skinning increased by 10.
  • Permanent Death

  • Treeform: Turns the wisp into a tree for 30 seconds. During this time, spirit is increased by 300. However, the wisp's chance to dodge or parry axes is reduced by 50%.


  • Even Screenshots:


    (Okay, so maybe I added the "Patch," and I stole your bandwidth to do it too.)

    p.s. There was also this Press Release on BurgerCraft for more than just WoW April Foolin'.

    "Taurens, you've been warned."


    April Fool's Post From Blizzard - A preview of Patch 1.11
    (thanks broadbandforums!)

    Here are five of my favorites:

  • Night Elves will now lose a small percentage of experience after jumping.

  • Pets have a small chance to attack the Hunter when hungry.

  • Fixed bug which allowed Rogues to wield two weapons at the same time.

  • New level 35 quest series added which teaches players to detect stealth. We feel that by this time, players have lived in fear of Rogues long enough.

  • Due to the awkward look and feel of Taurens in the Undercity, guards will no longer permit their entry and have been flagged to kill on sight. Taurens, you've been warned.
  • Background Downloader

    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:

  • Description from wowvault

  • "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."
  • Blizzard's FAQ

  • "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. "

    Thursday, March 30, 2006

    Patch 1.10 Results

    The blogosphere recorded the history for Patch Day 1.10.

    It didn't go exactly as planned:

  • Teniblue's Snapshot Impressions of 1.10 Patch Day

  • "...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."

  • Patch Note Comparison - An excellent post that compares the test patch notes to the final patch notes. (via watchingwow)

  • News of the Delays was reported on the Web. (via Marc's World of Warcraft Blog)

  • "It's part of the normal process," said Shif, "and unfortunately, it went a little longer than expected today."

  • Player Compensation (via wowvault and wowinsider)

  • "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:


  • Patch Day! or Big Fun with Blizzard’s Technical People

  • "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. "

  • Weather Report

  • "All Roads into Azeroth are closed..."

    The End Results were exactly as Blizzard Intended:


  • Biggest 1.10 Nerfs.

  • "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)"

  • They knew that Many Mods Would Die to Bring You This Patch
  • Many Mods Died to Bring You this Patch

    Just a few lines(*) in the the Patch Notes such as:

    "You are no longer able to modify the Blizzard XML and Lua files."

    And there was a great disturbance in the Force...
    as if a million voices suddenly cried out in terror as their mods were suddenly silenced...

  • Addons broken by 1.10.0


  • ui.worldofwar.net's Blizzard Mod Forum Watch and latest Updated Mods


  • "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."


  • wowinterface.com says:


  • "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."


  • I would like to tell you what Curse-Gaming says but I can't even get their site to load.


  • World of Warcraft Interface AddOn Kit released. (Via worldofwar.net)


  • 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.

    (* Actually there were a ton of UI Patch changes.)

    Wednesday, March 29, 2006

    Tiny Little Patch Changes

    You probably know all the major changes for 1.10:


    But let's take note of the little things that might get overlooked (from the patch notes - if you've digested them already you can skip this, particularly since the patch notes have been available for weeks):
    • Shift-R will now reply to the last person that you sent a tell to rather than the last person who sent a tell to you.
    • Various tooltips updated.
    • Reputation will no longer be gained if a pet kills a monster without aid.
    • A new level 52 druid quest that takes place in Un'Goro crater has been added.
    • (Druid) All shapeshift forms can now use equipped items.
    • The drop rate for Essence of Air has been increased.
    • Added support for widescreen video resolutions.

    I also noticed:
    • A lot of changes that appeared to be fixes to problems, exploits, griefing, etc..
    • A lot of changes to other classes, particularly Hunter
    • A lot of changes that should affect add-ons and mods (See This Link for a list of mods that broke with 1.10)

    Tuesday, March 28, 2006

    Level 9 Shaman Video

    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.

    Rain Delay - 1.10 Patch Day

    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:

  • Realm Status Page


  • Read the official Patch Notes Page to see the Patch details once updated


  • To remind yourself of what will be in 1.10 check out the test-realm-patch-notes.


  • Note to self - get the patch here since it would otherwise take you 40 days and nights to try to do it normally.

    See you on the other side and don't forget to check your mods!

  • Monday, March 27, 2006

    WoW Tip Parade - /gquit

    DarkHoodSaysOne of the questions I hear asked in "General" the most is "How do I quit a guild?"

    Here's your answer: /gquit or /guildquit.

    Sunday, March 26, 2006

    WoW Tip Parade - Loot All

    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.

    Saturday, March 25, 2006

    Finding Great Posts 2006-03-25

    Here are some of my favorite posts from the past week or so:

  • Player Screenshots - a community member on livejournal posted some of her best screenshots. Pretty nicely done.

  • Dangers of Azeroth Roaming Elites from wowinsider.com. The first comment is just Worthy.

  • Lieutenant Commander Psyae I photo-shop /salute you!

  • WoW Observations on what WoW looks like now if you've been away for a while

  • Pictures of a LOT of video games and I mean a LOT a LOT a LOT of video games. (not directly WoW related)

  • Helpful UI Mod - findremind suggests a mod for remembering to turn on those gathering skill monitors

  • Latest nVidia Drivers which address WoW issues


  • And now for a healthy dose of satire:

  • World of Burgercraft

  • New Mage Talents
  • Friday, March 24, 2006

    What is with these Kool-Aid parties?

    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.

  • Another Kool-Aid party? (Note the barrels nearby.)
  • Remy Two-Times doing his thing Four-Times?
  • Alien Crop Circle of Humans?
  • Synchronized Swimming Practice gone horribly wrong?

  • 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?

    C - WHAT IS GOING ON?!?



    Update - Here's another Kool-aid party found by another WoW player: here.

    Thursday, March 23, 2006

    Fight Club Anyone?


    Found in Undercity. These two gentlemen are fighting while a ring of other NPCs watch around them.

    IMDB Link to Fight Club here.

    Wednesday, March 22, 2006

    Enchanting Glows - New Website

    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.

    A Truly Black Shirt

    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.

    Tuesday, March 21, 2006

    Pictures of MMO Enjoyment

    The Daedalus Project has asked readers to submit screenshots of:

  • Player Gatherings: protests, demonstrations, vigils, etc.

  • Guild / Avatar Portraits: images of your guild (posed or not), or well-composed screenshots of your avatar

  • Raid / PvP Combat: well-composed screenshots that show the chaos and intensity of raids or PvP combat.

  • Strange Bugs: like the recent WoW Plague

  • Others: any other screenshots that you think are interesting but don't fall into a category above.
  • 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.

    Monday, March 20, 2006

    Brand Spanking New Realms

    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

    Jaws!

    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."

    Sunday, March 19, 2006

    The Epic History of the Blood Elves (Part II)

    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.

  • Night Elf Queen - "Azshara, the night elves' beautiful and gifted queen, built an immense, wondrous palace on the" Well of Eternity.

  • Has her priests study the "Well" - "Sharing her priests' curiosity towards the Well of Eternity, Azshara ordered the Highborne to plumb its secrets and reveal its true purpose in the world." "The heedless Highborne had stumbled upon primitive magic and were now resolved to devote themselves to its mastery."

  • Transformed by the Magic - "As their powers grew, a distinct change came over Azshara and the Highborne. The haughty, aloof upper class became increasingly callous and cruel towards their fellow night elves."

  • The Magic was felt by Sargeras - "The Highborne's reckless use of magic sent ripples of energy spiraling out from the Well of Eternity and into the Great Dark Beyond. Sargeras - the Great Enemy of all life, the Destroyer of Worlds - felt the potent ripples and was drawn to their distant point of origin. ...Sargeras was consumed by an insatiable hunger. The great dark god of the Nameless Void resolved to destroy the fledgling world and claim its energies as his own."

  • The Queen Lets Him Through - "Queen Azshara, overwhelmed by the terrible ecstasy of her magic, fell victim to Sargeras' undeniable power and agreed to grant him entrance to her world. Even her Highborne servitors gave themselves over to magic's inevitable corruption and began to worship Sargeras as their god. To show their allegiance to the Legion, the Highborne aided their queen in opening a vast, swirling portal within the depths of the Well of Eternity."

  • The Invasion - Thus "Sargeras began his catastrophic invasion of Azeroth. The warrior-demons of the Burning Legion stormed into the world through the Well of Eternity and laid siege to the night elves' sleeping cities." "As the night elves' allies converged upon Azshara's temple and the Well of Eternity, all-out warfare erupted. "

  • The Queen Awaits - "As the titanic battle raged around Azshara's capital city, the delusional queen waited in anticipation for Sargeras' arrival. The lord of the Legion was preparing to pass through the Well of Eternity and enter the ravaged world. As his impossibly huge shadow drew ever closer to the Well's raging surface, Azshara gathered the most powerful of her Highborne followers. Only by linking their magics together in one focused spell would they be able to create a gateway large enough for Sargeras to enter."

  • The Well Collapses - "As the horrific battle between the Legion and the night elves' allies raged around and above the ruined capital city, the surging Well of Eternity buckled in upon itself and collapsed."

  • New Society - "As the centuries passed, the night elves' new society grew strong and expanded throughout the budding forest that they came to call Ashenvale. Many of the creatures and species that were abundant before the Great Sundering, such as furbolgs and quilboars, reappeared and flourished in the land."

  • Yet some Desired Magic - "However, many of the original Highborne survivors grew restless." The Night Elves "decided to exile the reckless Highborne from their lands...and warned the Highborne that any use of magic would be punishable by death."

  • "High Elves" Exiled - "The Highborne, or Quel'dorei, as Azshara had named them in ages past, would eventually set shore upon the eastern land men would call Lordaeron. They planned to build their own magical kingdom, Quel'Thalas, and reject the night elves' precepts of moon worship and nocturnal activity. Forever after, they would embrace the sun and be known only as the high elves."

  • Renamed the Blood Elves - A perfect lead in to Blizzard's intro to the new Horde race where we learn that some would later rename themselves from the "High Elves" to "Blood Elves."

  • These excerpts give you the general story, but I recommend reading the full Well of Eternity Lore so you can get the whole picture. The betrayal by a brother; the dragon that went mad during the battle; the blotting out of the skies; the creation of the Naga... good stuff!

    Saturday, March 18, 2006

    The Epic History of the Burning Crusade (Part I)

    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:

  • "The Titans, ...gods from the far reaches of the cosmos, ... shaped the worlds ... They breathed skies and raging atmospheres into being."

  • Sargeras: Over time, demonic entities made their way into the Titans' worlds from the Twisting Nether, and [the Titans elected their] greatest warrior, Sargeras, to act as its first line of defense [against the demons]."

  • Doubts: "Though Sargeras' nearly limitless powers were more than enough to defeat the vile eredar, he was greatly troubled... Incapable of fathoming such depravity, the great Titan began to slip into a brooding depression."

  • Conversion: "...he lost all faith not only in his mission, but also in the Titans' vision of an ordered universe. Eventually he came to believe that the concept of order itself was folly, and that chaos and depravity were the only absolutes within the dark, lonely universe...he resolved to form an unstoppable army that would set the physical universe aflame."

  • Betrayal: "In his fury, Sargeras shattered the prisons ...and set the loathsome demons free. These cunning creatures bowed before the dark Titan's vast rage and offered to serve him in whatever malicious ways they could."

  • The Army: "Once Sargeras saw that his armies were amassed ... he launched his raging forces into the vastness of the Great Dark. He referred to his growing army as the Burning Legion. To this date, it is still unclear how many worlds they consumed and burned on their unholy Burning Crusade across the universe."

  • And this was just the beginning... Read the full version and much much more.

    Friday, March 17, 2006

    Action Trip Comics

    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:

  • Getting Exalted Rep with Your Shrink

  • Hidden Agenda

  • Ding!

  • A Crack in the Horde's Armor?

  • The Melding Game

  • A History Lesson

  • PVP Lesson for the Horde: Lesson 1

  • PVP Lesson for the Alliance: Lesson 1


  • If you want to see the rest or you play other games, look through their Index of Comics

    Thursday, March 16, 2006

    Not Your Average World of Warcraft Book

    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. It hasn't been released yet, but is currently scheduled for release on July 1, 2006.

    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.... "


    Fine. Make my blog useless then.

    Wednesday, March 15, 2006

    March - In like a Lion & Out Like a Lamb


    The Race for the Race

    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

    Tuesday, March 14, 2006

    Post Collection - 2006-03-14

    Here's a great bunch of posts I found on livejournal.com/worldofwarcraft/ and livejournal.com/wow_ladies/

  • Jackpot of ore? - A post about finding ore to level up in mining.

  • Cracking down on mods? - Noooooo, Benecast is short lived?!?!?

  • Editorial on the Opening of Ahn'Quiraj

  • Finally, progress - Winning a roll with an 11

  • Hunters: Traps Are Now Stealthed

  • My thoughts on PVE Servers - A view on PVE Servers from the perspective of a PVP Server player

  • Monday, March 13, 2006

    Burning Crusade - Review & Dance Preview

    World of Warcraft Vault had some neat Burning Crusade finds:

  • A Preview of the game from gamedaily.com

  • A video of what the /dance will be for the blood elves (the video is apparently from BlizzCon last year)
  • No Love for the Pallys

    A new video find that really made me lol. Stick with it to the end.

    It's also particularly funny if:

    • You're familiar with the names Caydiem & Eyonix
    • You play a paladin
    World of Warcraft CM Meeting
    2 1/2 minutes


    Sunday, March 12, 2006

    Horde is Beautiful

    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?

    Saturday, March 11, 2006

    Patch 1.10 Talent Calculator

    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:

  • Talent Calculator Post Patch

  • Talent Calculator Pre-Patch
  • I am a Fishing Fool


    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.

    Tip: Blink

    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.

    Some are good common sense:
    TIP: don't pet the Voidwalker.

    And some are soap-box opportunists (although with valuable thoughts I have to say)

    Tip: If you are ever caught saying the words 'Chuck Norris', you will be banned. There are no exceptions.



    p.s. While I was there I found their Store with some funny t-shirts, mousepads, etc..

    Friday, March 10, 2006

    WoW in Comic Form

    I just ordered Penny Arcade's Attack of the Bacon Robots and realized there are a bunch of fun comics that occassionally touch upon World of Warcraft that it might be fun to share.

    Gaming Comics that occassionally feature World of Warcraft (other games are featured too):


    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:

    Thursday, March 09, 2006

    Oh the Humanity!


    Going out in style - See the Video of a Level 60 who deletes all his best stuff.

    Wednesday, March 08, 2006

    Switcher!

    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

    Movie Contests

    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:


    Want more, eh?

    Tuesday, March 07, 2006

    Expansion Pack Available on Pre-Order

    Is that what you think it is?

    Yup. It's the
    pre-order for the Burning Crusade available on Amazon.com.

    There's a big
    write up on it, but here's a juicy excerpt:
    "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.

    Monday, March 06, 2006

    China = Non-China

    (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.

    Do you do polls?

    Searching around, I found a few sites with periodic polls:

  • World of Warcraft Vault (Here)

  • World of Warcraft Stratics (Current Polls are on the home page and archived polls are here.)

  • The Druids Grove (Here)

  • Sunday, March 05, 2006

    iPod - iWoW

    Now for some iPod commercial parodies:

    iWoW chikky!
    1/2 minute
    iWoW dance!
    1/2 minute
    ipwn
    1 minute


    Nicely done folks!

    Saturday, March 04, 2006

    Friday, March 03, 2006

    Disney's Animal Kingdom and The Barrens

    In a very "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" making-mashed-potatoes-into-the-Devil's-Tower kind of moment I felt the need to create the photo at bottom to compare to the World of Warcraft wallpaper on the top.

    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.

    Caption Game

    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.)

    Thursday, March 02, 2006

    2006-March Events

    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


    During a Call to Arms, emmissaries from that Battleground will be found in the major cities, and honor/faction rewards for performing objectives in that battleground are increased.

    Worldwide WoW

    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:

    DateWorldwide Player CountLink to Press Release & Notes
    2007-07-249 MillionCached Page
    2007-07-038.5 MillionCached Page (BC Sold 3.5 Million Copies in 1 month)
    2007-01-118 MillionCached Page
    2006-11-097.5 MillionCached Page (BC Street Date Set)
    2006-05-106.5 MillionCached Page (BC Features Announced)
    2006-02-286 MillionLink (Spanish Version Released)
    2006-01-195.5 MillionCached Page (1 million in Europe)
    2005-12-195 MillionLink (WoW is a Year Old)
    2005-11-084.5 MillionDead Link (Taiwan Launch)
    2005-08-294 MillionDead Link (UK Link) (1 million in North America)
    2005-07-213.5 MillionDead Link (Singapore Launch)
    2005-06-142 MillionDead Link (China Launch June 7)
    2005-03-171.5 MillionDead Link (UK Link)
    2004-11-23Debut-


    Lately it seems as though every month another 500,000 players join. I'm quoting the press releases here; though there are some who would say it literally feels like 500,000 players have just joined on their server alone.

    Updated 11/5/2007 to add new Press Releases. Blizzard also removed some of the old Press Releases so I tried to find some replacement links (Cached Google Pages or Blizzard.co.uk links).

    Wednesday, March 01, 2006

    .kill all NPC

    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