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Gearing Up IRL
All of us already know that WoW, and by extension Warcraft, is an exceedingly successful franchise. After all, we likely wouldn't be here if it wasn't. So with that in mind, I find myself wondering today about the numerous other sub-franchises that have sprung up around it.
Licensing is an amazing thing. You can get your guild crest printed on a
shirt
. You can have a three-dimensional
sculpture
cast of your character, in whatever gear you're wearing at the time. You can read
comics
about WoW. You can even play the WoW
Miniatures Game
, or the WoW
Trading Card Game
, or the WoW
Adventure Game
, or the WoW
Board Game
, or any number of other ways o
Live
Heroism
I submit to you the following question:
“Is your WoW character a violent person?”
Ostensibly, the answer would have to be yes, given that probably about 90% of what your character does involves fighting. And yet, I'm not exactly sure that needs to be the case. Is someone a “violent” character if they routinely use violence to accomplish goals that can
only
be accomplished through violent means?
Live
Philosophy of a Good Player
Recently I began digging around in various forums (both here at
Wowhead
and at other sites) trying to find a few good replies to the question, "What does it take to be a good DPS?"
Many players are still learning, or perhaps just started the game—and with over 11 million players, surely there are questions. My goal is to provide answers of a different color. Today I'm throwing out another (hopefully) thought-provoking entry. I originally planned it around damage dealers exclusively, but this entry can be applied to many roles (and in real life). And no, it was not conceived that way because I'm suffering from an influx of
Naruto Ultimate Ninja 3
. Okay, maybe I lied. Maybe. =)
Live
Tamat Interviews Mia Rose
So those of you who have been reading news (and watching some of those video interviews) over at our sister site,
Allakhazam
, will know Andrew "
Tamat
" Beegle, the editor-in-chief. Since we've been working together on editorial stuff on our respective sites, I've granted Tamat blogging privileges here on the Wowhead blog, so he can let you guys know when they have a particularly awesome story running over there.
Today's particularly awesome story is an interview with miss
Mia Rose
from CES this year. I admit to being a little reluctant at first ("oh ha ha cute girl plays WoW we get it"), but the shirt sold me—and as it turns out, she's a more hardcore WoW player than I am.
Those who are offended by mildly NSFW content are probably better off not clicking. :P
The interview is up on Allakhazam
here
!
Live
The Casual MMO?
So I've taken to reading
Allakhazam
's news posts lately, and just recently they came out with one that I think was an especially interesting read.
You can find the full story here:
http://wow.allakhazam.com/story.html?story=16670
Their new editor, "Pwyff", writes a topic that has some striking similarities to the things we've been discussing
here on the blog
for the last week or so, so I thought I'd take a moment to point it out so as to add to the discussion. Feel free to post your comments and thoughts here, or in the comments thread on the story if you happen to have an Allakhazam account.
Live
Did You Notice? Patch Changes in 3.0.8
Blizzard has been hard at work tinkering with professions, working on classes, and fixing a million other miscellaneous things to bring the game better in line with their vision.
In an effort to keep you guys from having to read all the boring details now that 3.0.8 (
patch notes
) is live, I've decided to to point out some changes or additions which I thought deserved extra attention. To quote Samuel L. Jackson, "Hold on to your butts!"
Find out more after the break!
Live
When Is a Newb Not a Noob?
Just a short philosophical question for you today, with any luck the real action will be in the comments. :)
I was having a conversation with a friend of mine today, someone who just started playing recently. Her priest is somewhere in her thirties now, and she asked me a question that I had never really stopped to consider – one of those questions that must
have
an answer, if you could only put your finger on what it was.
She asked me, "When do you stop being a newb?"
Live
WoW: The Schizophrenic MMO
ArgentSun
posted a comment
here
a little while ago, and it started to get me thinking.
I love WoW. It's clearly the most successful video game ever made. It's a beautifully tailored, wonderfully epic experience, that gets better each time I look at it. But ArgentSun's comment made me realize that aside from all the things we love about WoW, as a
game
, it's completely schizophrenic.
WoW, I would argue, is built around a blatant self-deception.
Live
Village of Warcraft: Small Scale Story Telling in WotLK
Yesterday,
Nabterayl
responded to one of
SBMrClean’s posts
about moral choices in WoW, and how they don't really exist. He says:
In other words, Blizzard is telling the story that Blizzard wants to tell (albeit with many loose ends and very, very slowly - how long did it take us to get anywhere with the new plague storyline? Almost six years?), and the players are really just along for the ride. WoW kind of has the perspective of the Tom Cruise War of the Worlds. That movie spends its entire time focusing on characters who, in any other movie, would be extras streaming past the camera.
Of course you can tell stories about people like that. But you have to stop and focus on them, and narratively speaking, WoW doesn't.
The original link is
here
.
In some ways I think I have to disagree with Nab's point. He's right about the structure. There is this two pronged duality in WoW that insists the PC is important and special while paying a lot of attention to the NPCs that, more than merely being outside the player's control, are basically un
Live
Diabolocles, Tormentor of Children!
Everybody likes a good story, right? Everybody loves a good story about a hero overcoming tremendous odds to achieve victory even more, right?
No, those weren't rhetorical questions.
I
certainly do.
In particular, I'm a
huge sucker
for stories in which the main character is able to save the day and do the right thing exclusively because of the strength of his/her convictions. The quality that makes him/her able to save the day is that he/she wants to do the right thing more than anything else in the world.
What can I say? I'm a romantic. And yet, that's not really something that the story of my WoW characters can be about.
Live
I'm a Miner Forty-Niner
Just a quick update today. I thought it was worth pointing out that the
official patch notes
listed on the
European WoW Site
contained a very interesting note:
Mining veins and deposits no longer require multiple hits to receive all the ore. Players will receive around the same amount of ore, stone, and gems they would have received from multiple hits.
What's that? I can't hear you over the sound of millions of miners rejoicing.
Live
Return of the Furious Five
Well, the five of us
finally
had the time to get together and run again tonight, so I figured I'd take a moment to post again to make sure you knew I hadn't forgotten. :)
This time we ran
Hellfire Ramparts
in about an hour, and found to our delight that we had time left over for a trip through the
Blood Furnace
– and it's a good thing we had the quest rewards from
Weaken the Ramparts
and
The Blood is Life
, or there would have been no loot at all (what good is
Hellreaver
to a dedicated protection warrior?).
In the process of doing them, though, I got to thinking.
Live
Happy New Year!
All of us here at Wowhead just wanted to take a few moments to wish everyone a Happy New Year. Everyone please be sure to drive safely, drink responsibly, and don't forget your New Year's Resolutions!
I'm personally resolving to spend less time writing blogs and more time actually levelling my damn character. :) What about you?
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Nameplates & Suggestions to Blizzard
In my entry today I'm going to discuss two little issues which I feel aren't being paid enough attention. Nameplates and the default threat system. You may be asking yourself, "What in Azeroth's three continents does threat and etched dinnerware have to do with each other?" The answer, of course, is you are silly. No, but seriously, these are two little topics which I'm going to present separately, then show you my suggestion to Blizzard to help truly maximize some of the already included features in the game.
Stick around for some exciting highs, disagreeable lows, and a lollercoaster ride you'll never forget. Okay, maybe not. Stick around anyway!
Live
Just How Epic Are Your Lewtz?
The scene is the
Shattered Halls
of Hellfire Citadel. A small group of adventurers lurks in the shadows, while
Grand Warlock Nethekurse
broods atop his throne. Suddenly, the heroes are spotted! A fel orc rushes at them with a roar, but a blast of flame from the party’s mage drops him in his tracks. More orcs have gathered their wits and join the melee. One is tackled by a druid who transforms into a panther mid-leap. The warrior hero is toying with Nethekurse, parrying blows and dancing circles around him. Enraged, the Grand Warlock doesn’t see the rogue who steps out of the shadows and plants a knife in his back. The evil orc falls with a thunderous clash.
Recognize that fight? How many of you have fought it as well?
Really?
Are you
sure
?
Because I never did.
Live
The Sungrass is Always Greener on the Other Side of the Zone
My faction choice has historically been
a little biased
. My first character was a Dwarven Hunter that reached the ripe old level of 42 in the original game before I got tired of getting ganked in
STV
by bored Horde (which would make a good name for a guild, in my opinion). I also rolled a Dwarven Rogue as part of
a Three Stooges joke
. He was 'Cheatem'. I thought the name to be an apt one.
Regardless, most of my experience has been on the Horde side of the fence. I know that to be the case with Malgayne as well, so when I saw him exclaim
For The Horde...?
, the unsureness of his statement made me wonder if he was thinking of becoming a turncoat. So, I read his post. What did I learn? Malgayne suffers from the same syndrome that a lot of my friends do from time to time: Faction Envy.
Live
For the Horde...?
If you can't tell from the artwork at the top – that Blood Elf on the left is me – I'm a Horde player. I was an Alliance player for all of seven levels before I made the switch, and made the switch for good. Now I have my Blood Elf paladin main, a Troll mage and an Undead warlock alt, and scattered other random characters (I know I still have a shaman somewhere). I picked a server, I picked a faction, and I stuck with it. I rolled Horde side on Draenor and I never looked back.
Or did I?
Sometimes...I...I'm not sure I feel comfortable saying this. Sometimes...
I wish I had rolled Alliance
.
Live
Now That I'm 80...
Wrath of the Lich King has now officially been out for an entire month. For many players the mad rush to hit max level is done. For others there are still a few levels to go. In either case, there's one big question which plagues most minds when ascending the final plateau – What happens next?
What to do when reaching level eighty is at the core of our topic today. I'll start off with some examples of some interesting things one may have missed in their journey. Special items, factions, and dungeons – let's explore our options for max level in 3.0.
Live
PUGs Anonymous
I have a secret. I don’t share it very often, because it’s the sort of thing that gets me odd looks. This is the kind of secret about which teenagers scream to their parents, “You just don’t understand!” before slamming the doors to their rooms. I am going to share this secret with you.
Are you ready? Do you promise not to laugh?
Do you at least promise to keep reading after you’re
done
laughing?
Okay. Here goes.
I like PUGs.
Live
It's Pronounced "Awe-tour"
First, a brief introduction to
Auteur Theory
.
The basic idea of this theory of film criticism is that a Director's personal vision can be seen in any film they create, and they are the primary author (auteur being french for “author”) of any such film. If you're curious about the theory, Google and Wikipedia can assist you with that, but lemme give a little example of it in action. (Thanks to Brian R. for the example)
How many of you know who directed “Reservoir Dogs”? A fair number, I imagine. How many of you know who directed “Finding Nemo”? My guess is virtually no one. “Reservoir Dogs”, during its entire run, grossed less than $3 million. “Finding Nemo” has grossed over $800 million worldwide.
Don't get me wrong, this isn't about the quality of the movies. They're both excellent movies, but Tarantino is a name you recognize, while even an animation buff like myself doesn't immediately recognize Andrew Stanton or Lee Unkrich.
How many of you know who Chris Metzen is?
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