Drunk
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Brew of the Month for October: Autumnal Acorn Ale
Apparently that 200 tokens I spent on the Brew of the Month club was well spent -- I got my second Brew in the mail this week, and it's a good one. Autumnal Acorn Ale is not only tasty, but it'll make you smell like Autumn Acorns, too. Drinking it will get you drunk and call Woodland Squirrels up to show you a little critter love (or hate). I sipped it for the first time last night during a Slave Pens run, and at one point I had three cute little squirrels showing their affection. Apparently they'll also throw acorns at you, though I missed that in the chaos of the instance last night.Plus, it's an unlimited use item after 3.0.2 (14 day duration, though BotM members can buy more in Ironforge), which means you get as much alcohol as you want, and every time you drink one, you get an "empty brew bottle" to throw with a glassbreak bang. Very fun.If you didn't round up enough tokens to become a BotM member, you're unfortunately out of luck -- I originally thought you could buy the brews in Ironforge even if you weren't subscribed, but no dice, and the brews you get sent are soulbound. You'll have to wait until next Brewfest to sign up for your monthly beer. Can't wait to see what shows up next month!
One Shots: A few too many
Ah, sweet, blessed weekend. Time for relaxation, sleeping in, and occasionally long nights at the pub which perhaps involve a few too many drinks. This screenshot shows just what can happen if you decide to get too drunk in Lord of the Rings Online. Finudir's been tying one on recently, and we got this concerned note:Clearly, an intervention is necessary. Seems that since being dispatched to Eriador by Faramir of the House of Anarion, Finudir Captain of Gondor has acquired a taste for the Hobbit brew. Here we see Faramir stumbling and staggering towards some pub or another, having taken part in a few too many activities of the Summer Festival. One wonders where he might have awakened!All we can say is that we'll stick with our respective non-Hobbit alcohol. We've been blurry after one too many drinks before, but never had the world go sepia. Do you have a screenshot of you partying a little too hard in your favorite MMO? Or perhaps just of a celebration that you'd like to note? You should send those in! The email address is oneshots AT massively.com -- and be sure to include a description. Just remember: say no to Hobbit alcohol this weekend!%Gallery-9798%
LotRO Spring Festival extended, drunken keg quest temporarily disabled
Earlier when we reported on the commencement of Lord of the Rings Online's Spring Festival, we brought attention to the Inn League Keg. You know, the one that has the potential to get you so wasted that you pass out and wake up in a different area of Middle-earth? Well, a note on the forums has announced that the quest that gives the Keg as a reward has been temporarily disabled, so it cannot be obtained for now.Before you get too upset, note the "temporarily" in the above -- the message states that the Keg will be made available again in an upcoming patch. As a way of saying sorry, the Spring Festival has been extended by one week, so it's not all bad. Check out our previous Keg post to see a video of the drunken antics.
New Year's Eve in Azeroth
Just in case you aren't headed out to a party this evening, let this serve as your reminder that it's New Year's Eve in Azeroth this evening as well. As usual, there will be hourly fireworks in all the major cities after sunset, free drinks in public areas, and revelers aplenty (make sure to blow them a /kiss). Additionally, while it's not listed on Blizzard's official page, there are two quests available (one for each faction), and tradition says that the guards in Booty Bay will get drunk and pass out, which means PvP is going to be welcome in the neutral port town (usually, attacking someone there will get you beat up).Wherever you are this evening (in Azeroth or the real world), here's hoping you have a safe and happy New Year's Eve! Thanks for all you've done for us at WoW Insider in 2007, and we'll see you in 2008!
Patch 2.2.2 and you: Brewfest tomorrow
It looks like we'll be getting another patch tomorrow, according to Nethaera -- Brewfest is coming! That'll be two consecutive patch weeks, for the first time in my memory. We've seen Dan's Brewfest preview, as well as some info from Blizzard, and all of it looks like it's going to be pretty fun.The irony for me is that I don't drink any alcohol in real life. This may sound odd, but I usually try to avoid it in the game too, if for no other reason than I don't know exactly how my characters should act when they're drunk out of their minds. I've tried roleplaying it before, though, at the Darkmoon Faire, and I guess I was believable enough! It's not that hard to just be uninhibited. Still, something tells me that Brewfest isn't actually about getting drunk. What's the significance of this holiday for you?
Just say no to the glow!
Before everyone heads out tonight to various and sundry events, I wanted to take a moment out to give you all a valuable tip for anyone playing WoW and who intends to drink far too much in-game ale. As many people have noticed, when you overindulge in game, your screen will go from lovely and clear to blurry and hard-to-navigate. For those who weren't aware, the drunken effect that you get when you overindulge -- as well as that comes from the waiters in Moroes' room, the poison effect from the spiders in ZG, and pretty much all other drunken/hazy visual effects that mobs can cause you to experience -- are tied to your "Full-Screen Glow Effect" in Video Options. So if you're in dire need of quick sobriety, or just want to improve your system's performance and not have to deal with it while mid-run, pop into your Video Options and say no to the glow. Although I recommend turning it back on if you're just drinking (in game) for fun, personally. Some of those folks from the Darkmoon Faire are much better looking when they're blurry. Whooo...
Mythbusters: Pee on the PS2 edition
It's the stuff great urban legends are made of: A drunk University of Wyoming student supposedly knocked himself out and earned a trip to the hospital after urinating on a still-plugged-in PS2 at an off-campus party. The story got pushed by Fark on Monday and is slowly making its way into the mainstream media, getting a mention yesterday on Fox News Live.We're a bit incredulous. First of all, it's arguable whether or not the physics of the story would even work. The popular Discovery TV show Mythbusters determined that it's nearly impossible to get shocked by peeing on the supercharged third rail of a train track because the urine stream isn't consistent enough to carry a charge. Even if the drunken party-goer somehow did get close enough for a solid stream, we find it hard to believe that the measly power output of a PS2 would knock someone out for a full ten seconds.The original report itself doesn't exactly inspire confidence, either -- Fun Tech Talk is not exactly a well-known and respected source for news. While the post reads like an AP brief, there's no link to any outside sources or mention of who originally reported the story. There are some journalistic inconsistencies too -- the party supposedly happened late Saturday night, but the dateline says it was written that same Saturday.The final nail in the coffin? None of the three students mentioned in the piece turn up on the University of Wyoming's online student directory.While we'd like to believe in the poetic justice for anyone stupid enough to pee on a game system, we've got to nip this one in the bud. As the Mythbusters themselves might say, this one is busted.
Inebriated crooks leave behind digital snapshots of themselves
It's one thing to lose track of all the peripherals you need to gank whilst stealing a gaming console, but to leave behind digital snapshots of yourself at a crime scene is on an entirely different level of dumb. In a case filled with Darwin award nominees, a team of self-incriminating thieves managed to break into private property and jack about "$5,000 worth of expensive alcohol, including $800 bottles of wine and high-dollar scotch," only to forget a digital camera filled with photos of the party in progress. Interestingly, game designer Richard Garriott (Ultima Online, anyone?) actually owns the property, and has stated that he'll probably install a swank video surveillance / security system to prevent such an annoyance from happening again. But if you've been wondering how to make a quick buck in order to snag a few new pieces of kit flowing out of CeBIT, Texas police are offering "up to $1,000 in reward money" for leading investigators to the less-than-intelligent criminals.[Via Fark]
Toyota getting into the anti-drunk driving game
Just days after most everyone in the world celebrated (read: ingested alcohol) the new year, Toyota is hitting us up with news declaring that drunk driving won't be tolerated in its future fleet of vehicles. Although Nissan has already considered an add-on option that would prevent inebriated individuals from motoring around on a whim, it looks like Toyota is following suit with its own anti-drunk driving approach. Reportedly, the automaker is developing a "fail-safe system for cars that detects drunken drivers and automatically shuts the vehicle down if sensors pick up signs of excessive alcohol consumption." Utilizing "sweat detectors," the steering wheel automatically sniffs out the driver's BAC and can restrict the car from cranking if it deems necessary; additionally, it can recognize "abnormal steering" or take advantage of the "special camera installed to monitor your pupils" in order to slow your vehicle to a halt if you're smart aware enough to wear gloves when taking the wheel. While we've no idea how much Toyota will inflate vehicle prices to account for this, um, luxury, the firm purportedly hopes to outfit its cars with the system "by the end of 2009."[Via The Raw Feed]
Nissan considering anti-drunk driving technology
Although third-party options have long been available to interfere with the poor decision to start a car while inebriated, a recent string of alcohol-related accidents in Japan has led Nissan to begin mulling over a factory installed system that prevents intoxicated individuals from cranking up their own ride. The technology would utilize "breathalyzer-like devices" to detect the blood alcohol content when you got behind the wheel, and if it finds that you're over the legal limit, the hopes of turning that engine over are squashed. Potential "solutions" included a straw-like device which you'd have to puff on before ignition could ensue (sanitation concerns could become an issue here if you share your car with someone), or an automated system that would require drivers to enter a series of numbers (presumably difficult if you're not sober) before being granted access to cruise. While we don't know when these anti-drunk driving vehicles will start popping up at dealerships, we highly doubt folks that are careless enough to toss a few back before getting behind the wheel would have the presence of mind to pay extra for something like this when they buy their car -- besides, we'll all be using autopilot before too long, right?
