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The Perfect Ten: Shapeshifters
Because we are true geeks, last weekend my wife and I went to see X-Men: First Class. Afterward, we got into a discussion about what mutant power we'd pick for ourselves if we had the choice. I was torn between teleportation and quick healing, while my wife wanted to be able to turn into cash to pay off our mortgage. I think one of us is more grounded in the real world than the other. But the more I think about it, the more I was intrigued with the idea of a shapeshifter. To be anyone would give you unparalleled freedom -- and plenty of chances to get into mischief, too. Come to think of it, it's probably best I'm not granted that particular superpower. However, plenty of MMOs do give players the chance to shift between their normal forms and something else entirely. While there are far more than 10 examples that the brain trust over here came up with, I'm going to pick out my favorites to highlight.
Dragons and undead monstrosities in new DDO Unlimited screens
With Turbine gearing up for the launch of Dungeons and Dragons Online Unlimited on August 4th, new screens are becoming increasingly more common. This time around, we've been given images of the Deleras Tomb and Vault of Night modules. We don't mind at all, because well, dragons and undead liches are really quite awesome. The very screen above most certainly made us want to play the game the moment we set eyes upon it.Something tells us you can expect to see more screens in the coming weeks. Although, maybe next time we'll get to see some other monsters of Eberron -- perhaps some new demons? You can never really go wrong with intimidating demons -- just ask Tim Curry if you don't believe us on that one.%Gallery-65663%
Forum Post of the Day: Get your mum to draw the Lich King
Adding your mom's worldly wisdom to any situation always makes it better, and clearly the EU forums agree with this sentiment! Elbonio of the European WoW forums wants you to ask your mum to draw the Lich King, even if she's never seen him before. If she asks what he looks like, just ask her to draw what she thinks he'd look like. I'm pretty sure I've seen this meme before, on the SomethingAwful forums, replacing Arthas with Homer Simpson, but the results are still pretty hilarious. Elbonio's been kind enough to compile a gallery of the kid-tested, mother-approved images that resulted from the experiment. If you get your mom or significant other to do it, but don't have an EU forum account, feel free to post it in the comments below and I'll assemble them for laughs at a later date. What are you waiting for? Go ask! But be nice, because after all, she's your mum.
The Queue: High Elves, great race or greatest race?
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. I have to admit, there were one idea brought up in the comments yesterday that I'm completely in support of: Kael'thas returning as a Lich. Hell. Yes. Not aligned with the Scourge, but self-fueled and up to his own machinations again. Kael'thas has been one of my favorite villains, watching his fall into desperation through WCIII and The Burning Crusade. Lich Kael would own so hard.That's enough of that, though. On with the questions!Leprakahn asked... I remember reading during Wrath beta that at the end of inscription scribes were going to get a 7th glyph slot, what happened to that? Did it get scrapped completely or will it come with a later patch?
Ask a Lore Nerd: Shared tongues and other oddities
Welcome to Ask a Lore Nerd, where each week blogger and columnist Alex Ziebart answers your questions about the lore and history of the World of Warcraft. Ask your questions in the comments section below, and we'll try to answer it in a future edition.I fulfilled my dork quota in last week's Ask a Lore Nerd, so this week I'll ramble a bit less, and answer some more of the simpler questions we've seen recently. With that said, let's get started with Chris's question...Why is Gorehowl just an epic weapon? It was claimed to be wielded by Grommosh Hellscream and if so shouldn't the weapon be legendary?
Ask a Lore Nerd: Your curiosity will be the death of you
Welcome to Ask a Lore Nerd, where each week Alex Ziebart answers your quests about the lore in the World of Warcraft. If you have any questions, no matter how big or small they might be, ask them in the comments section below and we'll try to answer it in a future edition.This edition of Ask a Lore Nerd is very heavy on the Scourge and various other Wrath-related questions. Love it or hate it, that's what we've got this week. I tried to dance around spoilers where possible this week, but starting next week the spoilers are gonna come rollin' in. There will be warnings, of course, but they'll be there. Just sayin'. Meethan asked...What are Liches raised from? When encountered, Liches have sorceror and somewhat necromatic powers. Can they be raised from anyone or must it be a mage? Would you consider Kel'thuzad to be "Lord of the Lich"?As far as Kel'thuzad goes, I believe the title that was given to him is "Archlich." Almost all liches were raised from necromancers, warlocks and mages, though the Lich King pretty much does whatever the hell he wants and can raise other people as a lich if he really wants to do that. That's probably rare, because turning someone that isn't skilled at spellcasting into a being that is built for spellcasting would just be silly. The Burning Legion used to employ a lot of liches as well, but they lost most of them when the Scourge betrayed them.
Legendary Weapons: Drops vs. questing
A Discussion of the newly dropped Thori'dal bought up a lively discussion on Legendary weapons in my guild chat the other day, which has in turn set my own mental wheels turning. Looking at the difference between the pre-Burning Crusade Legendaries and the Burning Crusade Legendaries, there's one big difference that stands out (beyond the level difference): The pre-BC Legendaries were quested, while the BC Legendaries have been drops. The clear-cut off seems to suggest that at some point, Blizzard decided that creating long, involved quests in order to obtain Legendary weapons just wasn't the way to go, and they'd rather let the RNG take care of distributing Legendaries. But the question is, did they make the right choice? There's good arguments for both sides.
Why all race Death Knights make sense from a lore standpoint
It seems like one of the biggest problems a lot of people have with Death Knights is the fact that they can be all races. Me, I say: Why not? The lore really isn't as bad as you might think. Sure, some of the retcons can get a little annoying, but despite the fact that non-Paladin races will get to be Death Knights, I don't think you really consider it a retcon, but rather an evolution in an ever-evolving story that opens up a lot of great story ideas and RP opportunities, and I'm really looking forward to it.
Age of Conan loses two classes
TTH has word that Funcom has dropped two more classes from Age of Conan, bringing the total down to twelve instead of fourteen. If you were really hoping to play a Scion of Set (upgraded from the Priest archetype-- you choose an archetype at level 5, and a class from that set at level 20) or a Lich (upgraded from the Mage archetype) in the upcoming MMO, then let your hopes fall away like so much dust into the wind, because those classes are no more.Can't say yet whether this is a good thing or a bad thing-- on the one hand, it could be because Funcom couldn't make them work, which doesn't say much for the game we all want to play. But on the other hand, it could be good news-- Funcom may have more time to work on the other classes and get them up to speed. And maybe it's just our optimism for this game, but the fact that Funcom plans to spread the abilities of these classes back around to the other ones should mean that they're just cutting the fat, not bailing out a sinking ship.[Thanks, Boltar!]
Two Bosses Enter: Kel'Thuzad vs. Archimonde
Two bosses will enter... but only one will leave in WoW Insider's fantasy deathmatch series. We're pitting two of Azeroth's raid bosses against one another in a battle that your votes get to decide -- until in the end we're left with a single boss as the ultimate champion. Be sure to check out our brackets for a full round-up of our ongoing fight schedule!) This week we present Kel'Thuzad, the ominous Archlich of the Plaguelands, and Archimonde the Defiler, the greatest and most ruthless of the Eradar. Who will win no one knows -- because ultimately, it's for you to decide. So read on and voice your opinion!
