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"The Raid" movie documentary examines WoW raiding
If there's anything I've learned over the years as a gamer, it's to approach films and TV shows about games or gaming with extreme caution. Be it cinematic game-to-film monstrosities like the Street Fighter movie or sensationalist "documentary" garbage like the fifth estate's Top Gun, there always seems to be a disconnect between the people operating the camera and the subjects they're trying to portray. World of Warcraft in particular has received plenty of positive and negative attention, but in recent years, there has been an increasing movement among geeky creatives to try their hand at explaining the game and the phenomenon of its popularity through all sorts of projects. The Raid is one of those projects. The Raid is a short, 20-minute documentary that sets out to understand not World of Warcraft itself but raiding in the game. What raiding is, how it's different than in other single- or multi-player games, and what makes it so compelling are all touched on by the documentary. Some of the topics might seem rudimentary to actual raiders, but that's because the target audience of the film isn't raiders but rather their friends, family, and any other outsiders who struggle to understand what it is that we're doing within the game. That doesn't mean actual players won't have a reason to watch the documentary, though; raiders will easily be able to connect with the narrative of the film and the players featured in it.
Spiritual Guidance: Finishing Wrath raids as a 4.0.1 healing priest
Every Sunday at WoW Insider, you'll find Spiritual Guidance, a guide to healing as a discipline or holy priest. Priestess Dawn Moore will bring you the latest in news, discussion and advice for priests in the World of Warcraft while simultaneously battling her shadow priest rival, Fox Van Allen. This week Dawn is able to take a break, since Fox is busy promoting the musical tour of Foxlight, his Hannah Montana-esque alter ego. Previously on Lo -- Spiritual Guidance, I assaulted your eyeballs with monoliths of text describing what's going to be happening in patch 4.0.1. This week, in response to a couple of emails I got, I'm going to scale it all back and talk less about the nitty-gritty and more about how to apply the patch to whatever it is you're still doing in the game. Working on heroic Lich King? OK, we'll talk about that. Halion? Sure, we'll do that too. Farming Invincible? Err ... Well, I guess I could draft up some sort of farm content. ICC drinki -- An ESRB rating falls on Dawn's head. Yes, well, let's get to it, shall we?
Breakfast Topic: A few of your favorite things
This article has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW.com. Every once in a while, Blizzard truly raises the bar in designing a raid. My personal favorite is Ulduar from patch 3.1. The boss encounters required strategy, while still remaining unique, and the graphics in the zone are some of the coolest things in the game. However, one of the only things that a character can permanently keep from a raid is the loot.The legendary mace Val'anyr, Hammer of Ancient Kings and the Starshard Edge off Algalon the Observer are by far some of the coolest item graphics I've seen in this expansion. Even in Icecrown Citadel, few items can measure up to the epicness of these stellar designs. After all, one can only see so many bone-spiked maces before they begin to get old. While a few items like Bryntroll the Bone Arbiter are pretty exciting and unique, Blizzard didn't even create new item models for the climactic boss in the Lich King: only two of the 28 weapons (excluding heroic versions) that the final boss drops are unique, and one of those is repeated between 10- and 25-man. In my opinion, Blizzard could have taken a few more days to design some really exciting and unique weapon designs before releasing the Lich King. While I'm no hardcore raider, I would really love to sit in Dalaran exhibiting a one-of-a-kind weapon from the hardest boss in the expansion, just as the Ulduar raiders could back in 3.1. What do you think? Is there an item that sets the bar in graphic design? Do you think Blizzard should spend more time on item graphics so there aren't as many repeats for end-game encounters, or does a simple recoloring make the item cool enough for you? Have you ever wanted to write for WoW.com? Your chance may be right around the corner. Watch for our next call for submissions for articles via Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW.com. The next byline you see here may be yours!
Shattering the Frozen Throne
Blizzard has posted the third (and supposedly final) chapter of the Rise of the Lich King story, called "Shattering the Frozen Throne." It covers Arthas' betrayal of his father, and his subsequent journey (through Illidan) to Northrend to the Frozen Throne of the Lich King.Call me a lore noob (I've been called worse), but for some reason I never connected Arthas' charge into Silvermoon with everything going down in the Ghostlands. I've played through the Blood Elf starter area a few times now, and while it's obvious the Scourge is there, I never actually realized it was Arthas who brought them through there. Interesting.And of course the story ends with Arthas "sealing his union" with the Lich King. We're still not sure (and maybe Blizzard isn't either) what exactly happened there-- did the Lich King completely possess Arthas, or did Arthas consume the Lich King? Are they still separate, and is there a chance we might still break Arthas free of the Lich King's influence? Blizzard has bolded, enlarged, and highlighted the "Now, we are one" quote, so it seems that a redemption for Arthas is unlikely, but Metzen hinted that we might be able to do exactly that at BlizzCon.At any rate, it seems we won't know the end of the story until we actually step up to the Frozen Throne ourselves.
The most powerful character in Azeroth
Killah sent us a interesting question: who is the most powerful character in all of Azeroth? We've talked about this one before, but it's been a while, and considering that we've learned a lot since last December about Azeroth and what's happening in it, I'd say it's worth another look.So who's on top? Last time around, we said Sargeras or Elune, but let's refine things a bit-- those two may both be very powerful, but Sargeras is currently "ceased to be," and Elune, who supposedly created the world, doesn't actually use that power much, does she? If she was so peaceful and in charge, why's the world called Warcraft?Still, looking down the list, Elune does seem to top it-- if you're talking about potential power, she's it. Aman'thul and the Pantheon are up there-- they toppled Sargeras and have even killed the Old Gods. But the most powerful character that we know for certain is actually in Azeroth right now? Besides the winner of the our One Boss Leaves tournament, I'm not sure. Nozdormu? The Lich King?Unless by "most powerful character," Killah actually means player character. In that case, I have no idea. Awake? One of the guys from Team Pandemic?
Arcane Brilliance: The Magical Nation of Dalaran
Once again we're back with Arcane Brilliance, where we discuss all things mage-like. This week I'd like to talk a bit about our roots as mages in the World of Warcraft universe. In order to understand who you are and where you are going, sometimes you have to learn about where you've been. In this case, both our past as mages and our future are tied to the same place, namely Dalaran, or more specifically The Magical Nation of Dalaran.
First look inside the BlizzCon Exhibition Hall
The hall opened up not an hour ago, and BlizzCon is on! Here's your first look at what's inside the Exhibition Hall, including booths from all the exhibitors and vendors, lots of game playing (Starcraft II and the Arena tourneys are underway), and what we've most been waiting for: Wrath of the Lich King art. Pretty! Sorry, Arthas fanboys and girls, but the post above says we're going to meet the LK himself.Browse through the hall (as I just did), and enjoy. The opening ceremony kicks off in a little over half an hour, and we should be liveblogging live from there as well. It's BlizzCon, baby!%Gallery-5496%
Leaked BlizzCon VGL sheet music points North
This might be the closest thing we've heard to news about the next expansion yet-- an anonymous tipster sent us a note that the Video Games Live orchestra, scheduled to play in the final concert at BlizzCon, has received their sheet music for the show, and hidden within the pages is three pieces called "Northrend 1, 2, and 3."That track doesn't appear in the Warcraft III, World of Warcraft, or Burning Crusade soundtrack lists at all. Warcraft 2's soundtrack was released as mp3 tracks by Blizzard, and Northrend doesn't appear there, either. So unless this is an old midi track from Warcraft or Warcraft II, odds are that we're looking at a brand new piece of music, and that players will be headed to Northrend very soon.Now, of course when you think Northrend, you have to think Arthas. Blizzard has said in the past that a full raid of level 80 players would be needed to beat him (at least), so if we are going to Northrend in the next expansion, we may be looking at yet another 10 level cap raise. Then again, just because Northrend opens doesn't mean the cap is going up yet. And of course, even if we do go to Northrend, there's no guarantee that it will be the only new land in the expansion, so you Emerald Dream dreamers can still hold out hope.But I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that at some point during BlizzCon (my guess is still during the opening ceremony), we're going to hear more about the big continent to the north.
