WRUP: Thanksgiving, Black Friday ... and math
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!
Happy holidays, everyone! It's a magical time of year where those of us in the United States load up on flavorless turkey, dull mashed potatoes, and that terrible corn that comes from a can, yell at our family members who have different political views than we do, and fall asleep in awkward positions on couches. Oh, and then we all head out to Best Buy at, like, 2 a.m. so we can save $100 on an HDTV.
As for you Canadians, well ... you already had your Thanksgiving in October. I'm not sure if you eat turkey at all up there. And frankly, I'm too lazy to head over to Wikipedia to find out for sure. I'll just assume that you eat the Canadian equivalent of turkeys, which are probably geese or something.
But I digress. With the holidays upon us, I felt it time for us at WoW Insider to give thanks. And that's what this week's bonus question is about, at least for Americans: "What are you thankful for?" For Canadians, a different question: "How jealous are you that us Americans get to eat boatloads of dry, flavorless turkey?"
And for those who live in neither the United States nor Canada, your bonus question is this: "The four numbers a > b > c > d can be paired in six different ways. If each pair has a different sum, and if the four smallest sums are 1, 2, 3, and 4, what are all possible values for d?"
Alex Ziebart (@alexziebart) The combination of Skyrim and Saints Row 3 fulfills every gaming desire I could possibly have right now, so that's what I'll be doing right up until patch 4.3 lands. Thanksgiving is usually a pretty big bore around my place. I just get together with my mom and little sister for our Thanksgiving dinner, and my mom goes totally insane cooking the meal. She must enjoy doing it because nobody asks her to make it, but she drives herself totally nuts doing it. The holidays bring out the weird in people. As for the bonus question ... I picked up a writing gig specifically so I wouldn't have to do math like this.
Allison Robert (@AllisonRobert) I have family home for the holidays, so I'm not likely to be around WoW much. If I do log on, it'll probably be to the PTR for a bit more 5-man work, as I haven't had as much experience in Well of Eternity as I would like. However, I'm thankful for my family and friends, a dog who recently survived major surgery, and a brand-new kitten!
Anne Stickney (@Shadesogrey) I'll be messing around on the PTR a bit and hanging out with family -- oh, and cooking that turkey. My turkeys are neither dry nor tasteless, I'll have you know! Bonus question: I'm thankful for being so close to my family and getting to hang out with all of them on a regular basis. Also, the job I have and the coworkers I have, because they're all awesome.
Chase Christian (@madsushi) I'm in Oregon spending Thanksgiving with my family, so there won't be any gaming this weekend. That is, unless I convince my brothers to buy Skyward Sword. d = 0, -0.5.
Chase Hasbrouck (@alarondruid) Currently, I haven't been playing much of anything. The only thing I have left to play in my DS pile is JRPG's, and I'm rapidly burning out on those.
Happily, one of my friends let me borrow his netbook, so I have a computer again.
I'm thankful for my wonderful wife, my amazing three-year-old son, and that it looks like I'll be home from my deployment for Christmas.
Daniel Whitcomb (@DanielWhitcomb) I will probably be running some more 4.3 dungeons on the PTR just to make sure I'm good and ready when the patch goes live. I also have another Shepard poised to run the Suicide Mission on Mass Effect 2. Finally, I will be pulling down some games off of the Thanksgiving Steam Sale and seeing what happens with those. Portal 2's definitely on the purchase list, and I'll have to see what else is on sale.
I am thankful for beta leaks and beta previews, because I am going crazy waiting for new info and/or beta invites on Diablo III and Mass Effect 3, and at least I'm getting some new stuff now.
Dawn Moore (@dawnwow) I don't have any gaming plans for the weekend, but I do want to go hunting for a copy of Skyward Sword while I'm visiting my family in Oregon. There's no sales tax here and I've never actually gone shopping during the Friday madness, so I figure a Zelda title is worthy of an adventure.
I'm not quite sure what I'm thankful for though, other than the usual friends, family, and a roof over my head. Perhaps my naturally high spot and listen modifiers. Those have proven quite useful in life, and I've met many people lacking them.
Elizabeth Wachowski (@leeatwaterlives) I'll be playing Skyrim until someone intervenes and stops me. Seriously, I haven't played WoW since that thing came out.
I am thankful for my husband, my jobs and my wonderful coworkers, both in EMS and blogging.
Fox Van Allen (@foxvanallen) (gplus.to/foxvanallen) I'm going to be hitting the mall on Black Friday to pick up a couple of early birthday gifts for myself -- probably Super Mario 3DS and Skyward Sword, both of which I'm super excited to play. Here's a brief list of the stuff I'm thankful for:
My bosses at WoW Insider, past and present, who let me go off the creative deep end to the point of giving them heartburn.
That time Paula Deen got hit by a ham.
The folks I've met through WoW Insider. And not just the awesome people like Mat McCurley who work here, but readers too. Like Ari and Kurtis.
Tyler. Sorta.
In exactly that order.
Kelly Aarons (@Cadistra) I'll be doing some comic stuff and finally giving some love to my paladin ... if I can stop playing Skyrim long enough.
Eh, one Thanksgiving is enough for me. It's a much bigger deal with you Americans anyways. I'm thankful for my friends, family, and the roof over my head. Y'know, the usual. I am also super-thankful for you guys and gals at WI. Seriously -- I get paid to draw World of Warcraft comics. Meeting you guys in person each BlizzCon is such a treat, and I wouldn't ask for any other virtual coworkers.
Lisa Poisso (@lisapoisso) The only thing I'll be playing this weekend is some good old-fashioned WoW -- not the PTR, not some work-related project, just plain old playing. Actually, I take that back -- I think I'd like to run around and do some screenshots of particular things we seem to always need more screenshots of. So maybe a little work, a little play ...
I'm thankful for ham. Ham beats turkey any day. Spiral-cut honey ham FTW.
Matthew Rossi (@matthewrossi) "What have I become, my sweetest friend ... everyone I know goes away in the end."
I'm going to spend time with my wife and our menagerie, going to read, going to remember my mother, my grandparents and all the other dead I've left behind over the years, contemplate the future and what I want and need to be doing in it. Books on tap include the Gormenghast books by Mervyn Peake, Jurgen by James Brach Cabell, and The Norse Myths by Kevin Crossley-Holland, which my mom gave me on my 18th birthday, three months before she died.
That's pretty much it for me. Since I moved up here, ironically enough, Thanksgiving has taken on a lot more significance. I'm thankful I'm still here at all.
Michael Gray (@writegray) I'll be engaging in some additional Arena before the season end. We're doing a late Halloween party this weekend also, too, and I put together a throwing axe range to have fun with on Saturday. Might be too cold and windy for it, but I'm eager to have some fun with it.
What am I most thankful for: my wife. I forget I had a life before I met her, it's hard to think of not being a couple. So, every day, thankful for her.
Olivia Grace I'll be Arenaing my little heart out to try to get our 5v5 and 3v3 as high as possible! I may well also take some screenshots ... d = 9. I'm hopeless at maths, and wish all you Americans a very happy Thanksgiving!
Robin Torres (@cosmiclaurel) I am going to have a drama-free Thanksgiving (you hear me, Holiday Drama Gods?), and Friday I will be attending the It came from the Blog's Pilgrim's Bounty event. There will also be Disneyland, SWTOR and Tiny Tower. I have given up on Sims Social. No more for me.
I am thankful that some of my family will be able to make this year's feast and that I have a healthy daughter likes to write and illustrate warped fairy tales. And I will be thankful if there is no drama this year. I wish everyone a drama-free four days, whether you are celebrating Turkey Day or not.
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!
