WRUP: Return to "over there"
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!
Hello again. It's me, Faux Van Allen. Pull up a seat, ladies and gentlemen. It's been a long time.
Five months ago, the blogger you know as Fox Van Allen ventured to a place you may know as over there -- a parallel universe where there's a second version of everything, people included. The airplanes of your universe are zeppelins in ours. And the website you know as WoW Insider is known as Wow.com over here. At least, it was known as Wow.com up until last month. It's now known as wowgame.nbci-xoom.com/warcraft. (Long story.)
Dear friends, I'm afraid we're really in it up to here. It seems that someone -- and darned if any of us can remember who -- tore a permanent hole between this universe and the one over there. Since then, the WoW Insider team and the Wow.com team are in regular contact, sharing information to help bring you the latest news. But it seems that this is less than useful. They've never even heard of the Yellow Dragonflight. And their "death knights" as a hero class? What that hell is that? That doesn't even make sense.
What's really weird, though, is this bizarre yet sad flicker I keep seeing out of the corner of my eye, like there's someone else around, someone who belongs and yet is so terribly out of place at the same time. A dangerously underweight flicker that likely needs treatment for malnutrition. It's like the universe is trying to correct some kind of mistake that we can all agree doesn't need correcting at all. Strangest thing.
Anyway, though we've seemingly got all those universe-devouring wormholes from May under control, we've still got issues with quantum entanglement regarding the over here and over there versions of WRUP. Don't worry, though, we've got a lot of creepy, bald-headed technicians working on the issue as we speak.
Anne Stickney (@Shadesogrey) I'll be puttering on the PTR and writing in the meantime. Other than that, no huge plans!
Anne Stickney (@Shadesogrey) Writing a tin foil hat edition of Know Your Lore on the elemental planes. What if -- and this is just a what if, mind you -- what if Ragnaros wasn't dead from our encounter with him in MC, and instead he's alive and well in the elemental plane of fire? I'll also be exploring the topic of whether or not Ragnaros has legs. My call? No, he doesn't have legs, because that'd be stupid.
Daniel Whitcomb (@danielwhitcomb) I'm still doing Brewfest stuff on a couple characters, if only for the XP, so I'll keep that up. I also plan to do quite a bit of PTR diving, both to test various transmog outfits and to get a feel for the new dungeons and the death knight tanking changes.
Daniel Whitcomb (@danielwhitcomb) Just got back from a very successful book tour for the 20th book in my fantasy novel series The Cycle of the Swords of the Ancient Wheel of Knowledge. Current plans involve the hot tub on the observation deck of my top floor penthouse apartment, steak, waffles, french fries, and of course, Scotch.
Dawn Moore (@dawnwow) Rain or shine, I will get onto the PTR this weekend and run some dungeons. If I have to murder someone who stands in my way to do it, I will.
Dawn Moore (@dawnwow) Playing my shadow priest on the PTR and spending time with my loving husband, Fox. <3
Elizabeth Wachowski (@leeatwaterlives) I'm getting married! And maybe leveling my DK and rogue. Due to all the hubbub about the wedding, I'm not even messing with the PTR.
Elizabeth Wachowski (@leeatwaterlives) I'm getting married! And maybe leveling my brewmaster and rogue. Due to all the hubbub about the wedding, I'm not even messing with Alex Kidd 3D.
Fox Van Allen (@foxvanallen) I bought Disgaea 4 this week, so I'll be playing that if I can figure out what the hell happened to my PS3 controller. Also, my roommate is having a birthday party, so I'll be going to that, too.
Faux Van Allen (@fauxvanallen) A nice relaxing weekend at the clubs. And the specialty bookstores. What's that? My wife? Yeah, this weekend, there are going to be a lot of things we don't tell my wife.
Joe Perez (@Lodurzj) A lot of Minecraft this weekend, and of course some alt leveling in WoW. That is, of course, when I'm not running around the PTR and the new 5-man dungeons. Really love the look and feel of the dungeons, and can't wait to get the quests to go through them and get me some tasty lore bits. Mmm-hmmm lore! Delicious and nutritious!
Joe Perez (@Lodurzj) Hello Kitty Worldbuilder 1.9, and of course some alt leveling in WoW. That is, of course, when I'm not running around the PTR checking out the new 10-man Destiny of Azshara raid. Really love the look and feel of the raid and can't wait to get more details on the new shaman legendary. Seriously, Blizzard, you've buffed us so much, and now this? Tasty.
Kelly Aarons (@Cadistra) Work, work and more work of varying degrees. I'm really gunning to get my shaman going, so I'm hoping I'll have time for that. So much to do before BlizzCon ...
Kelly Aarons (@Cadistra) Very busy finishing up the art for the new Fox Van Allen WOWTCG card. The chest was very lovingly drawn, and it took days getting the glisten just right.
Lisa Poisso (@emused) Brewfest, pet farming, and a showdown between my Horde alts. Who'll be next to level up, the mage or the pally?
Lisa Poisso (@emused) Still trapped in amber. :(
Mat McCurley (@gomatgo) I will be living on the PTR this weekend, hopefully getting some more videos put together of dungeon runs and all that jazz. League of Legends Dominion launched as well, and it is a blast, so I'll be playing that a bunch too.
Mat McCurley (@gomatgo) We started filming for the new season of Offline with Mat McCurley, so that's eating up most of my time. (Monday's guest: Ray Jay Johnson.) The DC/League of Legends crossover launched, and it is a blast, so I'll be putting in a long weekend at the Riot offices fixing the bugs too.
Matt Walsh (@Rhidach) Playing Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Minecraft, mostly. Enjoying DE:HR immensely; the hacking aspect is a lot of fun. I'm not one for stealth, though; I have a bad habit of just bursting into a room and gunning everyone down. All that sneaking around is too much work.
Matt Walsh (@Rhidach) Playing Terminator 5: Human Revolution and Hello Kitty Worldbuilder, mostly. Enjoying T5:HR immensely; the diplomacy aspect is a lot of fun. I'm not one for the music composition aspect, though; I have a bad habit of just putting a bunch of Sarah Connor heads on the D line. I'm not even sure I understand why they put this feature in the game.
Michael Gray (@WriteGray) I'm being forced to see Les Miz this weekend. I am filled with a sense of dread that I can't explain. Everything I know about The Miserables tells me that title refers to the audience, not the characters.
Michael Gray (@WriteGray) I'm going to see Mannequin 2: On the Move: The Musical this weekend. I've heard good things -- how can a play that received so many Tony awards be bad?
Mike Sacco (@mikesacco) Golly, Faux, if there's one thing I like to do in this universe -- which is a really funny thing to call it, since this is clearly the only universe there is even though it's called over there which suggests the presence of a universe prime -- it's responding to your WRUP emails. I just love doing it. I can't imagine ever not doing it, never mind failing to reply to a WRUP email for six or seven months in a row.
Robin Torres (@cosmiclaurel) Brewfest, Sims Social, Tiny Tower and [redacted]. Also, I'll be watching my Les Miserables in Concert DVD just to counteract Mr. Gray's response.
Robin Torres (@cosmiclaurel) Wishing that I had a name that was as cool as Walternate. Instead, I'll have to make do with Robinevil and I'll fly around on zeppelins all day saying "Oh the humanity!" ... because I can.
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!
