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The Road to Mordor: Bits 'n' pieces
Three wolves. A full moon. One incredible cloak in the Lord of the Rings Online store. As a forum poster asked, is the Cloak of the Mountain Wolves too powerful and too intrinsically sweet? I think it is a distinct possibility. I already own six and have Sauron on farm status because of them. Forget piddly rings -- this is the one cloak to rule them all, and in the darkness, blind them. I'm a bit all over the place in today's column, so bear with me as I spew forth a 427-line stream-of-consciousness poem devoted to Aragorn's stubble. You totally know you want to hit the jump to read it. I triple-dog-dare ya. [Editor -- No, Justin, you have to write a normal column. Don't make me get the fire hose.] Darn.
World of WarCrafts: The infamous Three Dragon Azeroth shirt
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music, fan fiction and more. Sample the whole spectrum on WoW.com's Arts and Crafts in WoW page. That's right, folks -- you could do better at BlizzCon 2010 than a Three Worgen Moon T-shirt. No, we're not going retro on you and suggesting you turn back to the original Three Wolf Moon tee. What you need is something more au courant, like the Three Dragon Azeroth from MagicalMelonBall at DeviantArt.com. Sadly, this cataclysmically excellent design isn't actually available for purchase on a T-shirt ... Still, we felt the design represents a worthy upgrade from its howlingly lunar predecessor. Ready for more fresh takes on art about Azeroth? Join us after the break for a buffet with a little something for every taste.
SOE vets create new studio for TCGs based on upcoming MMO
They're not quite Three Wolf Moon, but the folks over at Dire Wolf Digital have their own special brand of magic waiting in the wings. Formed by several Sony Online Entertainment veterans, including Scott Martins, Paul Dennan, Ryan Anderson and Bruce Mitchener, Dire Wolf Digital will focus on creating online trading card games (TCGs). The SOE vets have several TCGs under their belt, including Legends of Norrath and the Free Realms TCG. What's interesting for MMO fans is that Dire Wolf Digital is working on a project in conjunction with an upcoming MMORPG. Per the press page: "The company is currently producing a trading card game based on an upcoming massively-multiplayer online game, and is in pre-production on additional social and strategy game projects for 2011." Of course, we have no idea what this upcoming MMO is, but the talent involved makes Dire Wolf Digital worth watching. Considering that the team has previously worked on several TCGs for SOE and elsewhere, it certainly appears to have the pedigree necessary to succeed in the field.
White and longer than your average cloak
It seems like so long ago. But only three or four years ago, I got a very special drop from Stratholme. No, the original Stratholme, not even the Culling of Stratholme. I want to say we were doing one of the old timed runs, when you tried to kill Baron Rivendare within 45 minutes. But, we just happened to have a night when the rare-spawn gargoyle, Stonespine, appeared. I got luck and won my very own Stoneskin Gargoyle Cape. When I looked up information about the cape on Thottbot, I found myself a little treat. The very first comment proclaimed that this cape was "white and looks longer than your average cloak or cape." Something about that comment must have caught the imagination of other WoW players, because the comment thread went on for pages. The Stoneskin Gargoyle Cape became a Thottbot meme, and was (perhaps) a predecessor to things like the Three Wolf Moon shirt. It was an amusing blip on the community of World of Warcraft, but not one I've thought about for a long time. It's with great joy that I am now the proud owner of a Saronite Gargoyle Cloak, which "drops" from the box after you complete Icecrown Citadel's gunship battle. The flavor text for the cloak proclaims that it is "even longer than your average cloak or cape." It's an unmistakeable shout out to that original item, and one that had me giggling like a mad man. I love it when Blizzard pokes a little fun at themselves, and indulge in a bit of metagame. I usually leave my cloak invisible, but I absolutely had to turn it back on for the Saronite Gargoyle Cloak. And I assure you, gentle reader, that this item is absolutely white and even longer than your average cape or cloak.
Three Worgen Moon graces Jinx
I had never stepped foot inside an instance before now. My life had been one of roleplay and sitting AFK in Alterac Valley's luxury "Starting Cave" resort. And then she came to me. My precious. She was heralded originally by our own Mike Schramm, and now she's here. My incredible Three Worgen Moon T-Shirt. She's a second gen shirt, much more powerful than her Three Wolf Moon original.Now? Now, Arthas lays dead on the ground under my feet. Alexstrasza clings worshipfully to one of those feet, while Sylvanas looks up pleadingly from the other. Their adoring eyes proclaim the legend of my deeds. There's not much room on the floor for the defeated Lich King, but that's okay. I feel like Ash on the cover of the Army of Darkness posters. Hail to the king, baby.No. Hail to the Three Worgen Moon T-Shirt, now on sale over at the JINX store. Available in sizes all the way up to 4XL, the Three Worgen Moon T-shirt should be all it takes to bring your game to another level. Forget a snazzy mouse, forget about primitive technology like computers. Three Worgen Moon will let you interface with the game directly via its incredible mojo, powering your character to levels that you never even imagined. You barely even have to think, before the magic starts happening.Enough for now. I have to go kill Deathwing. Solo. You chumps who lack the totemic Three Worgen Moons can just wait until Cataclysm. Jaina just gave me a call, she's gonna go with me. Apparantly, she dumped Thrall as soon as I unwrapped the shirt from its box.
Breakfast Topic: Shirt of choice
Out of all of the things we've broken down and discussed on this site, I don't think we've ever really dug into this one: what's your character's shirt of choice? The shirt slot on your character screen is really the last customization-only slot we've got left, ever since the tabards were allotted to earning reputation. So today's discussion topic is: what shirt do you have in there?Unfortunately, the Shirt of Uber is only a PTR item, so no one is wearing it on the live realms, or else obviously that's what we'd all be wearing. The Epic Purple Shirt is probably a favorite since earlier this year, if you've been lucky enough to get the TCG code. I'd bet the Swashbuckler's Shirts are popular, and the Red Linen Shirt has always been one of my favorites. I'm sure the Tuxedo Shirt has its share of fans as well.So what are you wearing underneath that armor? It'd be cool if Blizzard actually beefed up our choices there a bit -- maybe they could put stripes on the sleeve to show rank, or have some special color or model for people who have met certain achievements (and come on, a Three Worgen Moon shirt? I'd wear that). Then again, maybe it's better that the shirts stay pretty low key -- every other item on our character screen has gotten a purpose lately, so maybe we're better off wearing whatever shirt we want.
Cataclysm easter egg reveals Deathwing's musical side
Blizzard is a cunning bunch and they seem to love easter eggs. No we're not talking lovely chocolatey orbs like the ones you find during Noblegarden, rather that they like hiding artwork in plain sight and waiting for us to click on it. Tucked away in the Cataclysm official site is the kind of artwork which practically demands to end up on a T shirt. Yes, Deathwing is actually the sixth member of The Artists Formally Known as Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftain (aka TAFKAL80ETC or that funny Prince-like symbol with the Horde sigil at its center). Oh and he plays the piano. Who knew, eh?You can find it by clicking here and looking for the small keyboard at the bottom of the page (it's in the middle underneath the artwork, just below the page indicator). Alternatively, if you want all the gratification and none of the work, click here to download the awesome high res version. We fully expect to see everyone wearing them come next year's BlizzCon rather than those three wolves howling at the moon.
Blizzard warns against Three Wolf Moon at BlizzCon
Grainne was posting over on the BlizzCon forums today, and brought up a very good point. We all need to be very careful about wearing our Three Wolf Moon shirts to BlizzCon.My first experience with this shirt of legend, like many of you, came through the largest digg in the known universe. It became so popular that the digg counters are even screwed up. It's just that awesome. When my shirt finally arrived I immediately found that all the Blood Elves were attracted to me, even the dudes. But that's okay, because such a powerful shirt demands respect. I was attracted to me too.I think Nethaera must have had such a similar experience. Perhaps she was posing in game as one those Blood Elves? Because that would explain her warning:"Whoa... no need to dress up that much! Not to mention, it may cause a disturbance you know."
