Ruins of Lordaeron

(Update May 1, 2010 - putting this at the top of the Blog since it's the video I created.)

One of my favorite tourist destinations in WoW are the Ruins of Lordaeron just outside the Undercity. If you walk through it with the music off and the environmental sounds on, you can experience the ruins and echoes of a former capital city.

Well, I finally documented those sights and sounds in a video clip. You might want to turn up the sound to hear the ghostly whispers.



When I brought the Ruins up to a friend of mine, he suggested I would enjoy the ambience ten-fold if I had played the human campaign of WarCraft III: Reign of Chaos. So I did.

Wow, was he right. If you don't know what Arthas went through to "save" his people, I would recommend either playing the campaign or reading about it (Arthas Menethil in WoWWiki or Wikipedia).

In short, Arthas was the prince of Lordaeron who would do anything to save his kingdom, even slay his own people - eventually setting his sights on revenge against his father, the king, for trying to stop him from doing what he felt had to be done. But of course, his chosen path corrupted him.

This video is the ending cinematic of the Human campaign. Arthas returns home to Lordaeron to see his father:

Warcraft 3: Human Ending Cinematic


Voila, context.
Those are Arthas's words that whisper in the royal chamber. Cross the same bridge in the courtyard. The hall is littered with the rose petals that welcomed home the tragic hero. The bells still toll for his return.

Perhaps the citizens wouldn't have welcomed him so heartily if they had known what he had done. Or that their graves and ghosts would litter the courtyard today.

Much appreciation to Blizzard for the tie in to the Lore. Thanks also go to Emp for suggesting I play the campaign. And kudos to this video creator who remixed the cinematics and added a great piece of music to really give Arthas's story the epic feel it deserves:

Arthas destiny - Loreena McKennitt by Ohkami

Murlocs <=> Morlocks

Just an FYI for those who were as in the dark as me - I was surfing around the internet and was looking at this post of artist M.S. Corley's depiction of horror characters in literature. I saw a "Morlock" and by picture and by name it reminded me of a murloc. I have to admit not knowing where this creature was from and had to rely on my good friend wikipedia to tell me what they were.

Here's the first paragraph:

Morlocks are a fictional species created by H. G. Wells for his 1895 novel, The Time Machine. They dwell underground in the English countryside of A.D. 802,701 in a troglodyte civilization, maintaining ancient machines that they may or may not remember how to build. Their only access to the surface world is through a series of well structures that dot the countryside of future England.

That's what I get for watching Malcolm McDowell and not reading the book. For a flurry of furry Morlocks check out this Google image search. And apologies to all who are slapping their heads right now saying 'no duh, welcome to the party.'

Jimmy Fallon and WoW

Just a quick post to share this video of Felicia Day's helping Jimmy Fallon with a new WoW toon:

Inscription Reference

Patch 3.0.2 (Link to Blizzards 3.0.2 Patch Page) included the advent of the Inscription Profession. Here are some links to reference material and a few quotes:

Overall:

• Blizzard's Inscription Page
• Inscription Guide in from the WoW Forums
• WoW Wiki's Inscription Page
• Inscription Guide by El
• WoW Insider posts marked "Inscription"
• Thottbot's Inscription Portal
• wowcrafterstome Inscription Page (mostly a list of glyphs)

Short Video introducing Inscription (by El) 2:15:


Quote from Eyonix on including Inscription in the Patch before the Wrath of the Lich King Expansion:

Regarding Inscription, please note that all Burning Crusade players will be able to select Inscription as one of their two professions and level up to a skill level of 375 with it. Upon the release of Wrath of the Lich King, players who purchase and install the expansion will be able to continue leveling in Inscription and the other professions beyond 375.

Trainers/Vendors:

• How to Unlearn a Profession to make room for Inscription
• WoW Wiki Vendors Section
• WoW Wiki's List of Inscription Trainers

Quote from Blizzard's Inscription page on Getting Started:

Lastly, when getting started as a scribe, a character should not neglect to purchase a Virtuoso Inking Set from an Inscription Goods vendor. Without this item in his inventory, a scribe will be unable to progress in his craft!

Glyphs:

• Glyphs are spell and ability enhancements that can be created by Inscription.
• WoW Insider's Brief Introduction to Glyphs
• Thottbot List of Glyphs
• Jump to the Glyph section of the Blizzard page
• WoW Wiki Glyph Page

Quote from Blizzard's Inscription page re: Glyphs:

Lastly, just as for enchanting or for gems, once a glyph is inscribe to the glyph sheet, it cannot be removed. However it can be overwritten with another glyph should the character wish to change his glyphs at a later date.

Lexicon of Power:

• A glyph created by Inscription requires you to be located next to a Lexicon of Power in order to install the glyph on your character's Glyph sheet.
• Blizzard's Lexicon of Power section of the Inscription page
• WoW Wiki's Lexicon of power Page

Other Ingredients (Vellum, Ink, etc.):

• Most inks require a pigment to create. Most pigments are produced from using the milling on herbs.
• Vellum is made with inscription for Enchanters to make scrolls.
• WoW Wiki Ingredients Page (Milling, Pigments, Ink, Parchment, Vellum)

Quote from Blizzard page on something else a Scribe can do:

A scribe can also create small Darkmoon Faire decks from which they, or others, can get rewards. For more information about the Darkmoon Faire decks that scribes can create, check out our Darkmoon Faire rewards page.

All Things Easter

Happy Easter to those who celebrate it, and to those who don't, Happy Noblegarden. Here are some links to previous posts as well as a new video for you today:

Easter Eggs:
Northrend Easter Egg
Easter Eggs and Pop Culture References in WoW

Lamenting the Noblegarden holiday event:
The subtlety of the event
The shortening length of the event

And now for something brand new, Spiffworld and Jonathan Coulton bring you something for your Sunday best:
Mr. Fancy Pants - 1:56

WoW Phishing

We know to be wary of emails asking for our Banking password, but would we be as wary of an email asking for our WoW Password?

WoW Phishing Noteworthy
Phishing emails aren't new, and neither are WoW phishing emails. But they're now prevalent enough for security software companies to take note. Last week Trend Micro highlighted a recent trend to target WoW players in their blog (via securitypronews).

Blizzard talks account security in this "Support Article" which shares that:

The vast majority of account compromises originate from one of three sources:

1. "Spoof" websites and emails
2. Downloading hacks, cheats, or other executable content
3. Sharing account information and/or using power-leveling services

I guess it's just a matter of time before we see this:



The above fake, pretend, mocked up, imaginary, parody of a WoW mail item (let no one say I wasn't clear) is modeled on an example of one spoofing for ebay account info. It uses a trick or two I learned while researching how to identify fraudulent emails - particularly from this paper Anatomy of a Phishing Email, which included tricks I had never heard of before - highly recommended.

WoW Account Management is Easy
And one last note - To date, World of Warcraft has always done a fine job of making logging into my account an easy task from their home page. Navigation within "Account Management" has also been a cinch, so hopefully I will never feel that it would be easier to just click the link in the email rather than go to worldofwarcraft.com myself.

Christmas WoW Videos

One last Christmas video, short and sweet.

Crafting Worlds: 1:01


Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

Christmas Videos: Musicals

Baby It's Cold Outside by Windspire 2:30:


Hark! Hear the Wails by Oxhorn: 2:20


It Looks like Christmas: 3:58

Christmas Videos: 12 Days

12 Days of Winterveil by Oxhorn: 5:12


Bob & Doug's 12 Days of Christmas: 3:22


12 Pains of Christmas: 3:40

Christmas Videos: Ode to TV

Heat Miser: 2:53 (1:55 plus 1 minute of Credits)


Snow Miser: 1:31


Grinch: 3:43 (Murlocs killed at 2:40 - cause that's what's really important)


Kidnap Sandy Claws: 3:55