Brewfest Resources

The new Brewfest holiday runs from October 2-16.

Blizzard's Video: 1:12 (Also: find the same Brewfest video here)


Find Info at:

• Mortal Ken
• WoWWiki
• Official Page
• Girl Meets WoW
• WoWInsider

A video of the Beer Goggles (Alliance): 0:24

Harvest Festival - 2007

If you're looking for Harvest Festival resources you may want to check out these links (listed in order of relative usefulness):

Mortal Ken's Harvest Festival Page

The Harvest Festival data we posted last year (The "preliminary" data turned out to be accurate.)

WoWWiki's Harvest Festival Page

WoW's Official Harvest Festival page

I thought they smelled bad on the outside...

Whatever with your Murloc Suits and your beta keys...

I can make a murloc suit:

Slightly slimey. Definitely smelly. Took a lot of looting.
Major difference from the official Blizzcon suit is no flag. And no dance:

Murloc Suit - Blutentzug: 0:44


But I like mine because I found a "Murloc Larynx" while looting and decided to use it for the zipper. Now whenever I zip up the suit, it makes the Murloc call.

I try not to do that too much around the Murlocs though. Apparently it's like "aloha" with the multiple meanings...

On the occasion of 9/11

See /Salute Post

Make Love Not Warcraft - The DVD

You remember Make Love, Not Warcraft, right? Well now you can own it on DVD via the South Park Season 10 DVD, which includes a 14 day World of Warcraft Trial.

Target's Special Version:
I was at Target and noticed they have two versions:

Their special version has Lenticular packaging and a free episode of the Sarah Silverman show. You are also eligible for a $5 gift card at check out.

This pic shows the alternate image on the special packaging:


For more coverage of the South Park and WoW - WoW Insider has a good collection of posts tagged "South Park."

From Amazon:

Burning Crusade Flash Mini Site

Bored? Feel like a game of "memory," WoW style?

In the category of old news, I'd like to mention The Burning Crusade Flash Mini-Site. I was trolling around for information on the next expansion and saw this link from the last one, but somehow had never visited it.

Once you're past the intro video, you can navigate to different areas of the site (there's 5) using the orbs in the lower right hand corner. Each section gives you an overview of what the Burning Crusade Expansion offered ... but the interesting thing is that there are tiny little quest givers in each section:



For a quick diversion, click on each NPC you find and complete the puzzles (a simple game, different for each section, each one takes less than a minute).

Your reward for completing all five? A few wallpapers and the ability to play the theme music from Silvermoon. Not a big deal, but a fun way to spend five minutes if you're ever waiting for maintenance time to run out.

The Lich King and the Alpha Map

Last week I posted pictures of each of the world maps showing the changes with each expansion. (By the way, the source for the Wrath of the Lich King Map is the Artwork on the Official Expansion Website.)

Then keen eyes at WoWInsider noticed changes to the continents. (Check out their post to see the outlined comparison.) Next, a few other sites around the world picked up the link and little ol' CasualWoW was visited by thousands of readers who wanted to see the map comparison.

But some astute responses to those links recognized that the differences resembled the old Alpha Map of WoW. (Examples in the Insider comments.)

So, let's see how those maps compare (please ignore the color change in the Burning Crusade iteration, that's due to my system):

The Eastern Kingdoms:

Kalimdor:

The end result indicates that those readers were right. The Wrath of the Lich King map is a modification of the Alpha map and not the Burning Crusade map. (I would particularly note the penciled in mountain ridges.)

So is it just the result of sloppy map making... the old copy/paste mistake? Or could it actually be insight into future content? I think it's a both. Here's why:

It's a mistake:

I haven't read a single Wrath of the Lich King Preview that mentions any new areas except within Northrend.

If it's related to new content, all the edits should be adds. However, there are two Kalimdor bumps that are missing (~Silithus & ~Stonetalon areas).

One commenter on the WoW Insider post identified the two islands by Stranglethorn Vale as joke islands - one named "Gillijim's Isle."

Blizzard does not give a lot of attention to keeping maps up to date.
Examples:
Even today if you visit the official World of Warcraft website to see map information you'll see the old map.

And I mean the old old map. It's the Alpha Map the commenters pointed out in the WoW Insider post comments.... still on the official website. Take a look:

Similarly, 7 months after the release of the Burning Crusade expansion, the official worldofwarcraft.com flash map site still says, "This map hasn't been updated for the Burning Crusade. We hope to update it soon."
So I feel confident in saying that keeping-up-to-date-maps has not been a Blizzard priority.

"Hey, intern-in-charge-of-map-making..."
"Yes, sir, Mr. senior Blizzard employee?"
"After you make the Lich King map just go ahead and load that baby onto the website."
"Don't you want to check it first? I mean it's the same map they're going to use at Blizzcon?"
"No, no, young intern, I'm sure it's fine as long as it has the new areas from the Burning Crusade and the Lich King expansions. No quality checking needed. If anybody has a problem, we'll just call it an 'artist's rendition.'"

Copy/Paste issue aside, it may still relate to unreleased content:
... just much later than Lich King.

If this were Lich King content the conversation would have gone like this:

"Hey intern-in-charge-of-map-making..."
"Yes, sir, Mr. senior Blizzard employee?"
"When you make the Lich King map, save yourself some time by updating the Alpha map instead of the Burning Crusade map. Then you won't have to add back in all those pesky new islands and shorelines, which we totally intend on releasing on or before the Lich King expansion."

Unlikely, but some of those Alpha Map features do look like they're part of the lore, particularly the islands.

Blizzplanet discusses the Islands on the map using information they learned from Warcraft Role Playing books like Warcraft Lands Of Mystery.

Another BlizzPlanet post has a screencaptured map from the behind the scenes DVD:

The World of Warcraft Collector's Edition Behind the Scenes DVD shows within the Art and Design section, a series of slideshows while the Developers talked about their work.

And in one screen shot?.... a map. Check out their post to see it. Note - There are significant areas in their map (aka Undermine) that will likely show up in much later expansions. However, you do see some less significant areas, such as the small islands off of Stranglethorn Vale that might show up in future content, as Northrend apparently will.

For a map that shows these smaller islands in more detail check out wowwiki's South Seas map; just make sure you compare it to the the map of the joke islands.

Machinima Guides

I've been visiting the home websites of some of my favorite World of Warcraft movie makers and found a surprising number of hints, tips and guides. I've collected a few here:

By Oxhorn:

• The Basics of Making WoW Machinima
• Tips on Making a Good Movie
• Oxhorn's Blog - Chewing the Cud

From Spiffworld:

• How I Make My Videos and Tips For Video Makers
• Spiffworld's Brand New Blog

From Myndflame:

• Sound & Video Editing Forum
• Myndflame Interview on Machinima.com
• The Myndflame Homepage

Stone Falcon Productions:

• Tips and Tutorials Forum
• Stone Falcon Productions' Blog

More:

• IGN Beginner's Guide
• South Park Episode Making-of Interview (link via Crafting Worlds)

Some Epic Inspiration:


And for Ambiance:


Update 9/8/2007:

WoWInsider's Machinima 101: The basics

Blizzard's Letter to the Machinimators of the World of Warcraft
Source: machinimafordummies.com (the blog for the book of the same name) via wowinsider

Update 9/1/2008:

WoWInsider's WoW Machinima: The basics

I'll Give You Every Reason to Quit World of Warcraft

If/when you decide to cancel your World of Warcraft subscription you'll be given the opportunity to tell Blizzard why.

First - You'll be asked the general category:



Then, based on your answer at the first level - they'll ask you to be more specific. These were the options given when I cancelled my subscription last month. They are listed here in the same order they appeared then.

General Category - Content:

• PVP - Not enough content
• Players level too slow
• Difficulty - Too easy
• Tired of game/game is boring
• Not enough single player content
• Difficulty - Too hard
• Economy - Broken or not handled correctly
• Game is too crowded/too many people
• Not enough high end content
• The Alliance is not developed
• Not enough role-playing content
• Not enough item diversity
• It takes too long to travel
• Not enough group content
• Not enough creatures to kill
• Players level too quickly
• Not enough raid content
• Not enough quests
• The Horde is not developed
• Professions - Unhappy with implementation
• PVP - Insufficient rewards
• Not enough character customization
• Not enough spells/class
• Unexpected Genre

General Category - Expansion:

• Class Change - Warlock
• Class Change - Warrior
• Shaman/Paladin faction update
• Class Change - Druid
• Unable to access content without purchase
• Class Change - Hunter
• PVP - Diminished item value
• PVP - Ranking changes
• Class Change - Priest
• Class Change - Mage
• Class Change - Shaman
• Class Change - Paladin
• PVP - Arena system
• 25 Player raid cap

General Category - Harassment:

• Botters
• Unsolicited Gold Selling Messages
• Verbal harassment
• Creature Training/Kiting
• Creature Stealing/Killing
• Conflict with player/guild
• Corpse Camping

General Category - Other Game: (A truncated list is shown here)

• Ultima Online
• Guild Wars
• Vanguard
• Everquest
• Warhammer Online
• Other game not listed
• Lineage2
• Dungeons & Dragons Online
• Elder Scrolls: Oblivion
• Star Wars Galaxies
• Neverwinter Nights 2

General Category - Patch:

• Patch 2.1.0 - Engineering Changes
• Patch 2.1.0 - Alchemy Changes
• Patch 2.0.10 - Druid Changes

General Category - Payment:

• Too expensive
• Unable to access account
• I want to use game cards
• I no longer need a 2nd account
• Subscription plan unavailable
• Payment method unavailable
• Pay as you go plan unavailable

General Category - Poor Support:

• Issues with Community Team
• Lost experience, item(s), money, quest(s) progression
• Disagree with Terms of Use/License Agreement
• Issues with Technical Support
• Issues with Game Master Department
• Issues with Billing Department
• Issues with Account Administration
• Support method unavailable

General Category - Technical:

• Frequent disconnects
• Slow or Choppy game play
• Weekly Maintenance unacceptable
• Constant Patching Errors
• Blizzard Downloader
• Installation Problems
• No Computer
• No Internet Access/Dialup Internet Access
• Connection Problems (cannot connect at all)
• Server issues make the game unplayable
• Constant Game Crashes and other errors
• My Computer does not meet the minimum requirements

General Category - Transfer:

• Unable to circumvent cooldown
• Realm transfer unavailable due to realm restrictions
• Service is too expensive
• Missed free transfer window
• Account transfer unavailable due to differing names
• Unsatisfied with destination realm
• Transfer was unsuccessful

General Category - Other:

• Moving
• Personal Reasons
• Offline play not available
• Military Deployment
• Language version unavailable
• I don't have enough time to play anymore
• School
• I play too much
• Vacation
• All of my friends quit playing
• Parental Control

Now, I know Blizzard provides Statistics of Items and Beasts, but frankly, if I could see any set of data, it would be an aggregate of the Exit stats.

Either way, perhaps knowledge that we all get an opportunity to voice our opinion on the way out the door (however too-late that might be) will minimize all those "good bye cruel world" posts that I hear litter the forums.

Although there's something to be said for a little catharsis:

I Quit (28 seconds)

Video found via WoW Insider.

The WoW Human Test

So how does a Dranei pass "the human test?"

Typical:
You know the Human test - you're posting a comment to a blog ... maybe even this blog... but you're faced with a captcha which looks something like this:

The purpose of the captcha is to make sure that when you comment on a blog you're not a spam-bot program but instead a living, breathing humanoid (or in the case of the Undead - previously living and breathing). You have to type in whatever letters and/or numbers are skewed in the little picture or else it determines you're a program devoid of eyes with which to see the swirly word maelstrom.

By the way, according to these programs I've been identified as an electronic bot only slightly less often then Google has determined I should cut back on the caffeine to improve my typing:



Moving on...

WoW-Perfect:
Mystic Chicanery, however, has de-biased the "human" test in their blog.

Now, every WoW Race from Booty Bay to the Undercity has a shot at passing the test without having to worry about the need to keep up on "human" culture.

Some examples: (You would just have to do one, the others are for example only.)

There remains, however, the need for those pesky eyes... although a number of Elves seem to be making do with just some glowy sockets...

Anyway, bravo to Mystic Chicanery.
I hope you don't mind I was in your blog, screen-shotting your security words.