WRUP: Twitter, sparklelions, and Nutsy Bolts, oh my

Every week, just at the start of the weekend, we catch up with the WoW Insider staff and ask them, "What are you playing this week?" -- otherwise known as: WRUP. Join us to see what we're up to in and out of game -- and catch us in the comments to let us know what you're playing, too!

Ever wonder what your favorite WoW Insider writers are up to when they're not writing for WoW Insider? Well, thanks to the technological marvel known as Twitter, you can now e-stalk our writers and absorb our infinite wisdom 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! (That's right, even on Fridays.)

What did you miss this week by not following your favorite WoW Insider editors? Well, for starters, yours truly talked about a new Dispersion glitch and lustful cries of "zug zug;" Mat McCurley bragged about his prescience on the Winged Guardian mount and spammed more pictures of his cat; Tyler Caraway (who will heretofore be named "little nugget") surrendered to his crippling devotion to Fox Van Allen and begged to be "taken;" Mike Sacco created a WoW-themed game of Nutsy Bolts and invited all his followers to join in; and Alex Ziebart played some Atari 2600, gave away a loot card, and then freaked the hell out over a bug. All in a week's work for the WoW Insider crew.

What will happen next week? You should follow us all and find out. Whatever we say, it's likely to be entertaining, if only because we don't have paid editors on hand in our personal lives to stop us from saying something really, really stupid.

But enough shameless plugging of ourselves on Twitter -- it's time to get back to shameless plugging of ourselves on WoW Insider via WRUP. This week's bonus question lands our editors in a bit of déjà-vu-like controversy: "What do you think of the winged lion (Winged Guardian) mount? If you hated the sparklepony, do you hate this? Or have you come to terms with microtransactions?"

Adam Holisky (@AdamHolisky) This weekend I'll be mixing various flavors of Raman Noodles to create a SUPER FLAVOR that will sustain humanity for the next billion years. After that, people will buy me a winged lion mount because they love me so much. As far as the sparkepony goes, I like it, and I think it's fine if people like it or hate it -- I just don't get why some parts of the community are so up in arms about it. It's a mount on a computer screen. Not a big deal.

Allison Robert (@AllisonRobert) More ZA and ZG on the PTR, and some organizational work on an upcoming Shifting examining some problems with the restoration talent tree. Microtransactions don't bother me as long as they're restricted to cosmetic stuff, but I'm descended from a long line of cheapskates and nothing in Blizzard's "pet store" has really caught my eye yet. To the extent that the pet store bothers me, it's painful to see high-quality models like the Celestial Steed and Winged Lion while models like the wyvern languish without updates/improvements.

Anne Stickney (@Shadesogrey) THIS weekend will be cake weekend. I will be making cake oh yes I will. Something outrageously chocolate. There may be ganache. Other than that and being mobbed by nephews, not a whole lot! As for the KITTY I am so excited about the KITTY he is a KITTYKITTYKITTY with GLOWY PAWSKITTYKITTYKITTY

Chase Christian (@madsushi) I am going to be packing this weekend, as I am moving next weekend. There will be boxes. Bonus: I am all for vanity items, as I get to buy them for my wife to easily stock up brownie points.

Christian Belt (@ihatewarlocks) I finally picked up the original Dragon Age, in its uber ultimate complete champions hyper fighting collector's edition, what comes with all the DLC and expansions and such. I'll apparently be playing it until they pry my mouse from my cold dead hands. Oh, and I have zero problem with the new mount. It looks awesome, provides no actual in-game benefit other than the whole "look at me I have 15 disposable dollars" thing, and I will absolutely be dropping unsubtle hints to everyone I know that it would make a great Birthday/Easter/Tuesday gift.

Daniel Whitcomb (@danielwhitcomb) I have a relatively slow weekend for once, and I am tempted to take a weekend off from gaming to catch up on sleep. As far as store mounts go, it's obvious that microtransactions are to stay. As long as WoW keeps them cosmetic and unique and doesn't try to sell us reskins or stuff that gives a huge advantage in game, I can deal with them. Hell, I own more than one purchased pet. I think I'll need to see the lion in motion before I decide if it's worth buying.

Dawn Moore (@dawnwow) I'll be catching up on work and plotting out raid starts with the guild for our next heroics. As for the winged lion, I wasn't too impressed with it as a concept so I don't care too much, though I still don't think much of microtransactions that aren't for charities.

Fox Van Allen (@foxvanallen) I'm absolutely torn on this weekend -- I will either be attending an all-expenses-paid poetry reading on Nantucket, or going to a NOH8 photo shoot here in Boston. As for the "Winged Lion," I guess I just don't see the allure. I mean, it's a cool mount and all, but I just can't bring myself to buying an in-game item. But hey, if that's your thing, knock yourself out and buy a million of the damn things.

Joe Perez (@Lodurzj) Leveling my alt worgen warrior, PeterBarker, a little bit more and trying to actually fill my pokédex in Pokémon White. As far as sparkleponies and winged lions, stuff like that is OK in my book as far as microtransactions go. They are purely cosmetic, and don't have an impact on gameplay. If you don't like it, simply don't buy it. Easy as that. Now, if we get to a point where you're purchasing things like bag space then we'll have a problem and I'll have to put on my fighting trousers. My only real gripe with the winged lion is I want it to come in five different colors so I can fly around pretending I'm a member of Voltron with four of my friends.

Josh Myers (@Elamqt) I've got a very boring weekend ahead of me. Possibly some more arena on my unholy death knight, probably some more Pokémon Black. Beyond that, not too much is going down. As for the bonus question -- I wasn't a fan of the sparklepony based on its looks, but I'm all for microtransactions. I'm not sure I'll be buying the winged lion myself, but I'll be jealous of everyone who does!

Kelly Aarons (@Cadistra) This weekend I will be inching ever-so-slowly to the Salty title. As for the sparklepony/winged lion? Welcome to digital gaming. Microtransactions aren't going anywhere, and it's not like either the pony or the lion make you a stronger player; they're purely cosmetic. I wish people would just chill out about it.

Lisa Poisso (@emused) I'll be traveling, so no gaming for me. As for the new microtransaction, well, I don't have much use for mounts; I'm more the flying carpet type. Now, if this winged whatever were a vanity pet, we might be talking ...

Mathew McCurley (@gomatgo) I'll be leveling my hunter, working on some writing, and having a bad movie night on Saturday. I love the winged lion, and am surprised that the pet store isn't chock full of mounts for people to buy. People obviously want them, so make them available!

Robin Torres (@cosmiclaurel) I'll be playing war games with the gang in It came from the Blog. Do come! The winged lion mount looks lovely, but I prefer my sparklepony. I think Blizzard does microtransactions correctly: we can buy stuff from them that's cute and fun, but that don't affect gameplay. More plushies that are also in-game pets, please.

Tyler Caraway (@murmursofadruid) I think I'll probably be taking a bit of a WoW-break weekend to get various things done around the apartment to prepare for moving. It's still months away, but I don't want to wait for the last minute. In pony news, I have no feelings on the issue. You want to buy a pretty horse or cat, then go buy one; so long as it doesn't impact gameplay, I'm not bothered by it.

The weekend is the perfect time to kick back, relax and enjoy some game time. Are you an achievement junkie? Can't get enough raiding? Rolling a new alt? Considering taking the leap into roleplaying? Whatever your favorite way to play World of Warcraft, let us know in the comments what you're playing this weekend!