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The dilemma of Darrowshire and Warcraft's creep factor
I remember my first encounter with Pamela vividly. It was vanilla, years and years ago, and I discovered a quest in Winterspring offered by a woman named Jessica Redpath, who had very little else to say. In between all the usual round of Winterspring quests was this woman, who asked that I go check on the town she grew up in called Darrowshire. It was all the way in the Eastern Plaguelands, but I figured for a change of pace from all the snow and desolation I'd go check it out. Not only were the Eastern Plaguelands exceptionally creepy and bizarre in terms of architecture, especially compared to anything on Kalimdor, but the sounds and music for the zone were incredibly eerie as well. And when I finally found Darrowshire, I found a deserted collection of dilapidated buildings, and one lone question mark off in a corner -- belonging to the ghost of a very dead little girl. And every hair on the back of my neck simultaneously stood up.
WoW Moviewatch: Darrowshire
Welcome to another edition of WoW Moviewatch Staff Picks. Today, Anne Stickney has chosen Darrowshire by Cranius, for some very poignant reasons. This is what Anne had to say: Still one of my favorite pieces of machinima ever. Partially because I really loved the original iteration of the Pamela storyline in Eastern Plaguelands (the Cataclysm version is okay, but holds nowhere near the same emotion and depth as the original), mostly because the song he wrote for the piece is such a lovely, haunting tune. It's a perfect accompaniment to one of the creepiest, saddest, yet oddly touching quest chains in WoW. The video may be a bit outdated by today's standards of machinima creation, but honestly, this piece, to me, is the one where Cranius pretty much proved hands down that anything he puts his voice to immediately turns to gold. I think Anne did an excellent job describing the video, though I think I disagree about it being outdated. All of the game's graphics show their age, even the ones run through advanced filters. I think, ultimately, a machinima is about the story and content, not the graphics. Darrowshire is stronger for the in-game graphics. Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.
Cranius and Sharm team up for duo album
Folks who enjoy the World of Warcraft musical scene probably already recognize the names Cranius and Sharm. Individually, these two people have each created huge swaths of music that've inspired WoW players for year. That's why it's so exciting that the two of them are teaming up to release a duo album. The album will consist of entirely original work -- no parodies, riffs, or mere covers of other people's songs. The pair had tried to make the collaboration work while Sharm was in the U.K., but things weren't working out so well. What to do? Sharm jumped on a plane and flew out to Seattle, where Sharm and Cranius will spend the next few months recording the album. Here's hoping everything goes smoothly and quickly. We can't wait to hear the results! And while it's exciting that the album is entirely original, we wouldn't hate a fresh cover of Darrowshire with some duet action.
WoW Moviewatch: Don't Make Me Get My Main
Mathew here, checking in on Moviewatch once again. Gray sent me a text ... something about a ransom and some Russian mobsters and maybe even a bank heist. Look, who do you think I am, Gray? The Monopoly Man? Scrooge McDuck? What am I, made of money? I am notoriously picky about WoW machinima -- ask anyone here at WoW Insider. The War Room is usually abuzz with machinima that I enjoy but never tout. Cranius' songs coupled with Legs' videos, however, are high points in WoW machinima for me, as they are excellently produced, they're visually fun, and the songs are engaging. Darrowshire is still my favorite Cranius song, but Don't Make Me Get My Main and ranks right up there. The song hurts my very soul, mostly because I started WoW as Horde on a server that was Alliance-dominated. Stranglethorn Vale was nothing more than an Alliance gank-fest, as dedicated Horde players would skulk in the shadows, waiting for just enough Alliance players to leave Hemet Nesingwary's camp so that they could turn in quests successfully. Dark days. Dark, dark days, that are happily behind me. Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at machinima@wow.com.
The ghosts of Azeroth
I love ghost stories, and one of the nice things about WoW is that Azeroth is full of them. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that one of the nice things for us is that Azeroth's full of them, because lore-wise it's hard to argue that the existence of any ghost is a happy occurrence. While I could (and probably should) turn this into a giant feature cataloging all the ghosts in the game, I have my personal favorites: Caer Darrow The inhabitants of Caer Darrow are my favorite ghosts, not least because you can't see them at all until you've done a bit of work on their behalf. The island seems utterly deserted barring the Sarkhoff couple...until you realize that it's not, and that there's an entire town full of people trapped on its "happiest day," going about its business, oblivious to how the world's moved on. That there's a ghostly vendor you can't otherwise talk to without a Spectral Essence is even better.
Cranius music available on Amazon
Cranius has built one heck of a reputation as a World of Warcraft fan songwriter. His music and video credits include Big Blue Dress and the incredibly moving Darrowshire. This year, he (and machinimator partner Legs) achieved the first place prize at the BlizzCon 2009 machinima contest for their every-man video, Don't Make Me Get My Main.All this background makes it awesome to point out that Cranius has released his music through Amazon, all collected on an album titled Big Blue Dress. The album is pretty cheap, coming in under $5.00. It includes downloads of Big Blue Dress, Darrowshire, and The Lament of Captain Placeholder, as well as his new pieces, Happy Place and Don't Make Me Get My Main. The only piece I felt was missing was Ulduar, but I can think of a few reasons it didn't appear.At the cheap price, it's nice to be able to throw a little support at an artist who's brought so much music to the community. He's not been alone in this, of course, as both Oxhorn and Myndflame have released their music in one form or another. I think it's a wonderful opportunity, and something I support wholeheartedly. I obviously have purchased it, and am playing it on my computer even now.
WoW Moviewatch: Acolyte 1.5
What is it about Darrowshire and stunning machinima? This is the second video in about a month to come of the Eastern Plaguelands quest line. Last month, we featured the work of Cranius and his musical talents. Now we're pleased to feature a star-studded film by Firebolt Productions, Acolyte 1.5. You may recognize them from their second place win in the Warcraftmovies Christmas Spirit Contest, Ugly Goblin's Christmas.Acolyte 1.5 is not without faults, as it feels like half of the video has ads for websites. However, what we are finally presented with is an engaging storyline full of action and excitement. Don't miss the voice acting by Clint Hackleman, Drewbie, and Olibith, as well as the musical composition by Nathan Allen Pinard![Via Warcraftmovies.com]If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.Previously on Moviewatch ...
WoW Moviewatch: Big Blue Dress
The reception to Darrowshire has been so great that I wanted to highlight Big Blue Dress, the Warcraftmovies recommended film with over three million views on YouTube. Cranius didn't need a fancy Model or Map Viewer program. He was able to capture footage in-game that conveyed what he needed to for the scenes over two years ago, yet the movie is still popular to this day.If you liked this video, you can download it on Filefront or get the song from the Collective Order website. An interesting tidbit to note is that Olibith responded to this video with his first ever machinima, Olibith the Urban Spaceman![Via Warcraftmovies.com]If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.Previously on Moviewatch ...
Cinemassively: Big Blue Dress
Before there were the Baron Soosdons of the World of Warcraft machinima world, there was Cranius. When we'd ask WoW players what videos were in their top 10, Big Blue Dress came up quite often. He's back at it with his latest video, Darrowshire, but definitely download the high quality version of the video that started it all.Cranius wrote and sang the title song, which posed the question of why these manly men should have to wear dresses during their battles. You'll find PvP, singing gnomes, and plenty of nostalgia. You see, this machinima was made back in February 2006![Thanks, Cranius!]If you have machinima or movie suggestions from any MMO, please send them to machinima AT massively DOT com, along with any information you might have about them.
