[1.Local]: The rare and benevolent internet troll

The argument for losing
Could we cocky players stand to be taken down a few rungs? "The argument goes that we've been sort of steamrolling our way through massive challenges and insurmountable odds pretty much the whole raid game, and it's just getting boring," wrote Daniel Whitcomb in this analysis piece. "Nothing feels like a threat anymore. We know we're going to defeat it and move on. We need to shake things up."

As always, the [1.Local] gang was ready with suggestions on how to do exactly that.

Sean Riley: You could make it work with an instance, and make it make sense, and still give it loot. That would keep players doing this.

Allow me to demonstrate: Massive war-dungeon, you lead a small brigade of troops dedicated to wiping out a valuable strategic point for the Lich King. Failure to take this point will lead to the slaughter of hundreds of troops in a valley below.

So far, so good. You charge in as usual, and do some excellent work killing various groups and bosses. One of the latter ones drops some loot and a "tightly locked chest" that can only be opened in the "______ Rise" ending area of the dungeon (this contains the major loot).

Then you go into the final battle, NPC soldiers all around you, against one of the Lich King's trusted lieutenants ... and once you reach a certain point, he moves to wipe the floor with you. NPC soldiers die in droves and some clever attack do slow damage to everyone just for being there. NPC soldiers yell, "Retreat!" and it should become clear that's the only real choice.

You flee with them, entering the TRUE last boss fight: a gauntlet of small mobs and monsters that need to be either run past or killed fast enough that the party doesn't wipe to the slow, constant damage. (HoTs here could be vital to survival.) As you break out of the dungeon, onto the "______ Rise," you get to see the soldiers march into the valley ... and be slaughtered horribly. You know you failed and (feel) the price of your failure.

The loot in the chest is a cold comfort.

Sinthar: Or maybe even a "heroic defeat." What I mean is, those brave adventurers stay on fighting an impossible battle ... The longer we stay alive and killing things (guarding the retreat of those fleeing soldiers/refugee/NPCs), the better loot you eventually receive. The mobs get harder, until maybe Arthas or one of his top sidekicks comes to kick our tired and OOM asses.

What about you -- could you stand to have your "OOM ass" kicked?

Stars discuss their Yogg-0 kill
We've watched the Chinese guild Stars as they pulled off the world-first Alone in the Darkness, killing Yogg-Saron with no Watchers helping. Now, they're sharing their tips with the rest of the world – and their easy-going attitude hasn't gone un-noticed.

dairykween: Stars appear to be a shining example of player skill, innovation and dedication. What a refreshing change to see such polite WoW players willing to share and discuss a world first. Nothing like the terminally embarrassing battle between the US and EU. This is truly a guild to emulate. Not a paid-to-play sponsored superguild stacked with the world's best who gave up on the Yogg-0. Not an exploiting U.S. guild who was content with letting their "interesting use of game mechanics" slide under the radar.

Well done, Stars, we look forward to seeing you more!

Grace under pressure. We like.

Around Azeroth writer comes out of her shell
Is Around Azeroth's Elizabeth Wachowski really as deep in turtle shells as she claims?

Douglas: Do people really still send you screenshots of their Battleground scoreboards, gold-seller ads with dead Gnomes, and the Ninja Turtles in Dalaran? Or is that just a general disclaimer that you keep using?

Elizabeth Wachowski: Douglas, while I haven't gotten a Ninja Turtles in a while, we do occasionally get Battleground scoreboards. And during the past two weeks, we've gotten several submissions of the dead Gnome gold-seller exploits every day. Seriously.

Other things we see a lot of: aerial shots of Dalaran, players transformed into Vrykul and riding tiny mounts, players with the bug where they stand on top of mounts, and various animals stuck in trees. (Also, the AA spam mailbox would like to give me codeine, a college degree, a GOOD BUSINESS PROPOSAL, and something called
"porn tubes.")

Thanks for sharing, Elizabeth -- but let's just not go there, k?

We miss our Ethereals and Arakkoa
What old friends do you miss the most in current game content? Ethereals and Arakkoa ranked high among over 200 comments on this Breakfast Topic.

Stephen: I like these. I felt like the Ethereals and Arakkoa stories never seemed to be fully completed. The Arakkoa looked like they were trying to summon C'Thun into Shadowmoon Valley. The Ethereals' Bash'ir Landing and Ethereal prison quests were not done very well, but it seemed like there was supposed to be a story there.

We always thought the Ethereals had a great take on the Hervé Léger bandage couture, wouldn't you agree?

Multiboxing Recruit-a-Friend style
The times, they are a-changin' – and plenty of players seem to support and enjoy the once-reviled practice of multiboxing.

Jason Roskam: As a multiboxer myself, I was very surprised to see that virtually none of these comments were flames against multiboxers!!! I don't know how many times a day I hear myself referred to as a "cheater," "hacker," etc. I don't know how many times I've been "reported," and obviously it is all a wasted effort on these flamers -- because everything we do is perfectly legal within the User Agreement.

Multiboxing is so freaking fun! I five-box a Paladin and 4x Elemental Shamans and am currently running through all of the Northrend instances on Heroic mode. I've only got like three left! I also run all the Icecrown/Grizzly Hills dailies with my team and can pull 1,500 gold A DAY in about an hour and a half of dailies!

To anyone interested in starting, I say GO FOR IT! All you need is five accounts, a decent multi-core computer, the program Keyclone and some handy addons such as Jamba. And go to dual-boxing.com for TONS of info from a (mostly) friendly community!

What'll these kids think of next?

Have you equipped The Shirt?
Packing for BlizzCon? Do you have The Shirt? Phlem shared an over-the-top description of this beauteous garment, originally posted as a top review at Amazon.com's The Mountain Men's Three Wolf Moon Short Sleeve Tee.

phlem: This item has wolves on it which makes it intrinsically sweet and worth 5 stars by itself, but once I tried it on, that's when the magic happened.

After checking to ensure that the shirt would properly cover my girth, I walked from my trailer to Wal-Mart with the shirt on and was immediately approached by women. The women knew from the wolves on my shirt that I, like a wolf, am a mysterious loner who knows how to "howl at the moon" from time to time (if you catch my drift!). The women that approached me wanted to know if I would be their boyfriend and/or give them money for something they called mehth. I told them no, because they didn't have enough teeth (and frankly, a man with a wolf shirt shouldn't settle for the first thing that comes to him).

I arrived at Wal-Mart, mounted my courtesy scooter (walking is such a drag!) sitting side-saddle so that my wolves would show. While I was browsing tube socks, I could hear aroused, asthmatic breathing behind me. I turned around to see a slightly sweaty dream in sweatpants and flip-flops standing there. She told me she liked the wolves on my shirt; I told her I wanted to howl at her moon. She offered me a swig from her Mountain Dew, and I drove my scooter, with her shuffling alongside, out the door and into the rest of our lives.

Thank you, wolf shirt.

Pros: Fits my girthy frame, has wolves on it, attracts women
Cons: Only three wolves (could probably use a few more on the 'guns'), cannot see wolves when sitting with arms crossed, wolves would have been better if they glowed in the dark

We're howling. (But is it with laughter, or ...?)

Are you ready for a Cataclysm?
Will there be an announcement of a new expansion or game at BlizzCon? And will it be named, simply, "Cataclysm"? One reader had several more melodious takes on the moniker.

SixTwoSixFour:
World of Warcraft: Cataclysms on a Plane
World of Warcraft: To Cataclysm or Not to Cataclysm
World of Warcraft: Frankly, My Dear, I Don't Give a Cataclysm
World of Warcraft: "Cataclysm" Ain't No Country I Ever Heard of
They Speak English in Cataclysm?

We're back to howling – no, wait, make that paroxysms ... err, cataclysms of laughter?