WRUP: Two guys, a moonkin, and a pizza place
Every week, just at the start of the weekend, we catch up with the WoW Insider staff and ask them, "What are you playing this week?" -- otherwise known as: WRUP. Join us to see what we're up to in and out of game, and catch us in the comments to let us know what you're playing, too!
Oh my goodness. I'm so embarassed. I didn't even see you walk in. And now here you are, staring at my computer screen, in full knowledge that I write nothing but fanfiction in my spare time.
It started innocently enough. After watching an episode of Seinfeld, I couldn't help but be upset over the fact that Elaine had never started a relationship with her boss, J. Peterman. I had visions of her being caught in the rain, totally drenched -- her clothes ruined. Her boss would walk up, lay a comforting arm on her shoulder, and say, "Why Elaine, did you forget your ... urban sombrero back at the office? Would you ... like to come up to my apartment? I have a spare."
Five minutes and two-hundred-seventy-four pages later, I had a fanfiction masterpiece. It didn't matter what made sense and what didn't. I was in control. I could make anyone fall in love with anybody! Steve x Kimmy Gibler. ALF x Lucky. Nothing was off limits!
"Oh, Tony," said Mona, smiling at the hunky housekeeper in front of her. "You've caught me just as I was getting out of the shower."
My latest story involves a certain boomkin, pre-med student Berg, and this girl Sharon. All the action takes place in a pizzaria circa 1999, and man, is it hot. See, Berg is there ordering a pizza, and he's not wearing a lot of clothes because it's very hot on account of all the pizza being steamy and whatever, and ...
... oh, what's that? You don't care about my fan fiction? Fine. Forget you. I'll just leave you with a rundown of what all our WoW Insider writers are playing this weekend and save my stories for an audience that will appreciate them. This week's bonus question: "Blizzard announced that certain users wouldn't see authenticator prompts if Blizzard is sure of the identity of the person logging in. Does that make you feel more secure, less secure, or doesn't it make a difference?"
Alex Ziebart(@AlexZiebart) I've been in a WoW slump for awhile -- I've still been into the game but I have had no interest in logging onto the game. I've picked up my mage alt again to try and get back into it and it's so far been successful and I'm enjoying myself. This weekend probably holds more of that. As for the authenticator thing ... if Blizzard says it's still secure, I have absolutely no reason to doubt them. However, like Mat says below, part of the power the authenticator holds for me is peace of mind. I liked entering my authenticator code when I logged in. It's like ... if you had doors on your house that locked automatically at night, I bet you're still going to check that they're locked before you go to bed.
Anne Stickney (@shadesogrey) I am up to a whole lot of nothing this weekend, if I have any say about it. This means of course that I will probably be slammed with things to do, but what can you do. As for the authenticator change, it bothers me -- not that I think my account is any less secure or anything, but that little box reminds me "Hey, you have that widget on your account and it's working just keen, please give me numbers thank you!" With no little box, I don't have that reminder -- and I don't have any sort of visual cue that said authenticator is even on my account. I'd kind of like the option to turn the box on and type in the numbers, because I am weird like that and honestly prefer it that way.
Daniel Whitcomb (@danielwhitcomb) I actually think I will make another attempt at getting my druid to 85 so he can queue for the fire festival and grab a Scythe off of Ahune. Because Scythes, much like bowties and fezzes, are cool. I'm cool with the Authenticator change in theory, but it still feels weird not to enter it, and it's probably going to be a pain to dig it out to enter it AGAIN when I move or go on vacation.
Fox Van Allen (@foxvanallen) I had this whole fancy night planned out. I was going to invite a certain someone over for a romantic dinner; maybe watch a movie together before heading off to a room filled with rose petals and candles. But those plans got ruined, so I'm just going to hang out with Tyler instead. (Yawn.)
As for the authenticator, I think all the hand wringing over it is pretty ridiculous. Still, I'm surprised Blizzard hasn't learned their lesson -- taking away peoples' authenticator prompt is going to make them feel less secure, whether they're actually less secure or not.
Joe Perez (@Lodurzj) A quiet weekend for me this week, maybe a little alt leveling maybe some alt raiding. I'm going to be gushing over my brand new Mic stand and Boom! Yes, I'm that much of a geek. As far as the authenticator's go, I already wrote a rather lengthy response to it on World of Matticus. After some experimentation, I'm not too concerned about it. I only really wish I had an option to disable the feature so I could enter my code every time. That however is more because I'm a creature of habit, and I don't like changing my routine if I don't have to. I don't think we're any less secure, but it would have been nice to have had some prior notice to the change and maybe a way to opt out if we felt like it.
Josh Myers (@Elamqt) My druid went feral for PvP leveling, so I'll spend the weekend enjoying one-shotting cloth-wearers with Ravage. Sorry it came to this clothies, but balance is just really bad. :(
On the authenticator front: Is makes me uncomfortable, but I don't know enough about security systems to know if that discomfort is warranted. I like the reassuring presence of the authenticator question, but I do recognize the quality of life change of not needing to find my authenticator before logging in ...
Kelly Aarons (@Cadistra) I'm babysitting my friends' house while she's away, so there's that, but mostly it'll be goblin warrior, tauren paladin, and dailies on Cadi. We are so excited for 4.2! Fun, fun, fun, fun! Speaking of fun, I'm hoping to enjoy some of the fledgling sunshine that we're getting. I'm thinking of riding downtown at the Waterfront, especially now that the city is no longer on fire. /ashamed
Mat McCurley (@gomatgo) Going to be doing lots of video recording this week for < i>WoW-related crap as well as planning out Firelands stuff. WoW is on the menu, as usual. Other than that, it seems like it's going to be a game-lite weekend. As for the authentication change, I have a sneaking suspicion that the new parameters being taken into account are using hardware and IP IDs to figure out if it is you logging in, and if that is secure, I'm cool with it. Blizzard already fights for a better security image, and hopefully this will help that. But I don't mind the authenticator process becoming less invasive.
Matt Low (@Matticus) Busy beating Red Faction: Armageddon. Or at least, trying to. Got back into the Starcraft 2 scene again. Need to find me some fun multiplayer maps that aren't all melee based. Don't like the authenticator change. I want to be able to enter mine every time. I paid 6 bucks for peace of mind. I'm not feeling that peace of mind right now.
KITTEH KITTEH KITTEH
We had a scare the first night he was home, but Vet says he's in good shape; energy is good. It's been a rough past couple of months for my wife and myself, so we're happy to have the new kitten and happy he's okay.
I'm trying to figure out what I want to be doing in WoW, to be honest. I enjoy the game but really feel like Blizzard made some big mistakes with Cataclysm in how they released content and what content they released that has made raiding much less fun for me so far. I hope 4.2 makes some of it better.
As for the authenticator change, I have no opinion, but I could have a picture of the new kitten (his name is Sasquatch) biting my authenticator if you want to see that.
Michael Gray (@writegray) I'm going to something like SWINEFEST or SWINETASTIC or something to have some beer and BBQ. Western Maryland is an odd place.
Robin Torres (@cosmiclaurel)I'm going to pick a character and take her through the Mt.Hyjal quests and obsess about Archaeology a bit. While flying around, I'll be knitting and playing Hanging with Friends (same handle as my twitter). As far as the authenticator, I think we should be able to opt-in to this "service" and that the default should be to keep plugging in my code happily.
Sarah Nichol (@mentalshaman) I will be horse riding for the first time in something like 5 years. All of my gear is in storage, and I'm dead nervous. The game will be 'try not to fall off'. As for the change - I probably won't notice it much, aside from maybe lose my authenticator in desk clutter more often.
The weekend is the perfect time to kick back, relax and enjoy some game time. Are you an achievement junkie? Can't get enough raiding? Rolling a new alt? Considering taking the leap into roleplaying? Whatever your favorite way to play World of Warcraft, let us know in the comments what you're playing this weekend!
