Elizabeth Harper
Articles by Elizabeth Harper
WRUP: New year's resolutions edition
Happy new years, fellow WoW players! We're heading in to the first weekend of the year the same way we head into most weekends of the year -- by playing games. But we're also thinking about what 2015 has in store with our own new years gaming resolutions. So just what is Team WoW Insider playing this weekend? Keep reading to find out. We also hope you'll chime in to let us know just what you're playing this weekend -- and what 2015 in games (and WoW!) looks like for you.
Get started with fishing in Warlords of Draenor
Virtual fishing may not seem like the most exciting thing to do with your in-game time, but it can be a useful profession to have. And in Warlords of Draenor, even if you've never picked up fishing before, you'll find it's been streamlined to make it easier to level. Fishing in Draenor is also the path to the water-walking mount Crimson Water Strider and the unique Land Shark pet (as well as a number of other unique pets and mounts if you decide to trek back through older content). Plus, fishing can help you quickly advance cooking and first aid (with which you can create handy Healing Tonics)... and even make some decent gold on the side by selling fish to everyone who thinks fishing is too time-consuming to bother with. Still, the profession does have its downsides. Because there are three sizes of fish, multiple kinds of fish-specific bait, fish flesh, and plenty of miscellaneous extras you can fish up, fishing can take up a lot of space in your bags -- we wouldn't recommend going on an extended fishing trip without an empty bag to hold everything you fish up. Also, it's definitely not excitement central, which can put a lot of people off. But in our opinion, it's an excellent task to work on while catching up on social networks or watching TV, because you can turn up ambient sounds (i.e. the splash of your fishing lure) and mostly ignore the game -- just clicking to pick up your catch and throw your line out again. And did we mention how useful fishing can be? And the amazing Land Shark? Focus on that! Have you got your heart set on leveling fishing and unlocking the level 3 Fishing Shack to give you access to all of the fishing fun Draenor has to offer? Read on for how to get started, no matter what your skill level is.
WoW Moviewatch: The Grind Returns, Episode 1: Face Time
You could easily be forgiven for not remembering The Grind from machinima-maker Oblivious Films: The series premiered way back in 2009 and has been quiet since 2010. While that's a long time to be gone, The Grind is looking to make a comeback with a new video, which hopefully has an "episode 1" moniker, which implies we'll also see episodes 2, 3, and so on. So just what stymies our heroes after so long gone? Mostly being confused by the model changes that have happened while they've been away. Check out their latest adventure and, while you're at it, we highly recommend going through the old episodes too -- they're like a WoW time capsule, and some of the jokes are even funnier with the added dimension of "Did we really used to go through all of this to play?" 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.
WoW guides to help you through the new year
The end of the year is a time in which we all look back and reflect, and in the case of WoW Rookie, that means looking back and reflecting on the guides of the year. While Warlords of Draenor has changed much of the game we've been playing -- like all expansions before it -- we have plenty of getting started that are good resources for players new or returning to WoW. If you're feeling a little rusty on your essentials, here are our favorite guides from 2014. Pet battles. It's no secret: we love pet battling. The collecting, the leveling... it's like a miniature version of WoW inside WoW. Whether you're looking to get started with Warlords-level battling, power-level your pets, or brush up on battle pet basics, we've got you covered. Collecting. There's a lot more to collect in the game than pets! We've got guides to help you grow a potential collection of mounts and titles. If you're looking to collect transmog gear, you'll want to work on soloing classic dungeons. Leveling. If you're leveling a new alt and not just boosting to 90, the leveling grind can be tedious, so you'll want to check out our advice on spicing up your leveling game -- though if you've been gone from the game for a while, you may want to check our guide on how to get back into WoW. And, finally, once you get to level 100, you'll definitely want to check our list of what to do at level 100. Garrisons. As soon as Warlords of Draenor arrived, everyone had questions about garrisons -- and we've got answers. Check out garrisons 101, what you need to know about garrison followers (and garrison follower abilities), how to get resources, which buildings to choose, and where to get level 3 blueprints. Have anything you'd like to see WoW Rookie cover? Drop us a line and you may see it covered in a future WoW Rookie! Just because you don't know everything there is to know about World of Warcraft doesn't mean you can't play your A-game. Visit the WoW Rookie Guide for links to everything you need to get started as a new (or returning) player, with new sections on garrisons and what to do at level 100.
WoW Moviewatch: How the Warlords Stole Christmas
If you're not already completely bah-humbuging the holiday season, you'll want to Warcraft-style machinima take on How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Ian Beckman. Writing rhymes that make sense can be a real challenge -- and having to match those rhymes to a well-known original must be even more difficult. But How the Warlords Stole Christmas pulls the feat off beautifully: Every hero on Azeroth liked the feast of Winter Veil a lot But the Warlords who lived through the portal on Draenor did not! The Warlords hated Winter Veil! The whole Winter Veil creation! So many heroes would get new gear from the expansion. It could be, perhaps, that their XP was too low It could be then that their talent specs blow But I think that the most likely reason of all May have been that their DPS was two sizes too small. For the rest, we recommend checking out the video itself. 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.
WRUP: Holiday cheer edition
For most of us, the holidays mean spending time with family, and perhaps traveling a lot to do so. That sometimes means there's less time for gaming... but sometimes, gaming (and the gift of gaming) is a family tradition (or a getting away from family tradition). Either way, those of us who are still at our computers this holiday season are spending at least some time in WoW. But what about you? You can catch up on what the WoW Insider team is up to below, and tell us what you're doing in-game this holiday in the comments. But whether in-game or out, have a happy holiday weekend!
WoW Moviewatch: The Eve of Winter Veil
So just what is the true meaning of Winter Veil? We're not entirely sure, but we are pretty sure that the two questionable heroes in this video by Mooclucking haven't figured it out, either. Using the holiday season to rob the affluent homes of Stormwind City by sneaking down chimneys (how do they fit?), the duo's crime spree seems to be quite successful (having netted a Ragnaros action figure that Blizzard clearly needs to merchandise themselves). Of course, since it is the holiday season, the two are struck by a rather explosive crisis of conscious which leads to a Grinch-style change of heart. How long this crisis will last is anyone's guess, but judging by our heroes, it might not be long... so let's enjoy the holiday spirit while it lasts. Happy Winter Veil, everyone! 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.
WoW Moviewatch: Frozey the Snowman
Wowcrendor is definitely having a great Winter Veil with his 10 Days of Winter Veil countdown and a new machinima every day. We're half-way through the countdown now with Frozey the Snowman, an appropriately Azerothian take on on the Frosty the Snowman story. So just how do you make Frosty the Snowman into a uniquely Warcraft creation? Well, I'd hate to give away the ending, but maybe bringing a random snowman to life just isn't the best thing you could do with a magical hat. Maybe. 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.
What was under your Winter Veil tree?
Everyone loves loot drops, and for many of us, today is the biggest real-world loot drop of the year. So today seems like the ideal time to talk about holiday gifts: just what did you find under your (real-life) Winter Veil tree this year? Did you snag any great gaming gifts or did you just find lumps of coal (or cheerfully tacky holiday sweaters) in your gift haul this year? And if you're not celebrating (or got a disappointing gift selection), what's the best in-game gift you've gotten this holiday season? Happy holidays, everyone!
WoW Moviewatch: WarCraft: Armies of Azeroth
Perhaps the biggest downside to the success of World of Warcraft is that we haven't seen a Warcraft RTS since Warcraft III in 2002 -- or 2003, if you'd prefer to count from the release of The Frozen Throne expansion. Either way, that's a long time to go without any classic RTS Warcraft goodness. The Armies of Azeroth team is trying to fix this problem with a StarCraft II mod that recreates Warcraft III on the StarCraft II engine. From the trailer above, we've got to say that the results look awesome. Sure, we've played Warcraft III plenty of times, but, while there's no release date for this mod, we're eager to check it out all over again with the tech updates the past decade has made possible. 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.
Wowcraft presents "Rudolph the DC'd Tauren"
If you're sick of hearing Christmas carols playing by now, you might want to skip over episode 17 of Carbot Animations' Wowcraft series, which brings the joy of caroling to WoW. Like the rest of the series, this video picks out the in-game hassles we all face and portrays them in Carbot's signature animation style and, this time, a song. "Rudolph the DC'd Tauren" is a play off "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" and the end result is about as silly as you'd expect. Still, if you're looking for some Warcraft-themed holiday cheer and you've already exhausted your Winter Veil options, this particular brand of adorable is as good as it gets.
Breakfast Topic: What do you want to see in Winter Veil?
World of Warcraft's holidays are a fun change of pace from the normal daily grind, but after a while even they can seem a bit same-old, same-old. Take a look at Winter Veil, for example, which brings festive decor and quests across the land throughout the holiday season... but some of these things -- like those cookies you always forget to farm eggs for -- have been the same since the holiday first appeared. Sure, there are some additions this year, but much of the holiday can be filed under "been there, done that," even if the holiday decorations are always nice to see. So for today's discussion: just what would you like to see added to Winter Veil in the future? Personally, I'd love to be able to bring Winter Veil my garrison for the holiday, placing excessive quantities of holiday lights on everything. That's what the holiday season is all about, right?
WoW Moviewatch: Cataclysm in Reverse
Sure, the Cataclysm seems like a bad thing. Dragons, destruction, more dragons, more destruction... who wants that? (Or wants to clean up afterwards?) But if you tell the story of Cataclysm in reverse... suddenly you have the tale of the helpful (but mis-named) dragon Deathwing helping put out wildfires and rebuild a ruined Azeroth. Now that's the kind of happy tale we can really get behind -- and machinima-makers Slightly Impressive have stepped in to tell this important story of Azerothian history. (Or Azerothian un-history, as the case may be.) So if you want a happy story from Azeroth, this is one of the few. Just ignore the fact that it's fictional... or more fictional than the rest of the world. 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.
WRUP: Hitting up Highmaul edition
Another week has come and gone, which means it's time to sit down and catch up on some games. As the holidays approach, just what are you playing? At Team WoW Insider, we've been exploring Highmaul... but with the holiday season almost upon us, it can get harder to get a guild raid group together, which makes LFR the perfect "quick fix" raid. But to hear all about the gaming we're doing, read on! And, of course, jump in to the comments and let us know just what you're playing this weekend.
WoW Moviewatch: Kilrogg Shoots His Eye Out?!?
Happy Winter Veil! In the latest Winter Veil video from Wowcrendor, we meet young Kilrogg, who's just been given a sweet air-rifle as a Winter Veil present. Between that and the video's title, you can imagine how the plot plays out from there... so just how did Kilrogg lose that eye? The answer involves a cameo from Greatfather Winter because it's the holidays so of course it does. If you're looking for more holiday cheer, Crendor is doing a series of Winter Veil videos, so check out day 1 and day 2 of his 10 Days of Winter Veil countdown if you've missed them. 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.
WoW Moviewatch: Villain Holiday Party
Think your holiday party is awkward? At least you're not a World of Warcraft villain, because their get-togethers never seem to go well. The real question, of course, is whose terrible idea was it for them to have a holiday party -- complete with gifts and strained conversation -- in the first place? Whoever's on the planning committee for this, at least we get to sit back and watch everyone's misery courtesy of Wowcrendor. This is second part of a Winter Veil series of videos by Crendor, so we can only expect more holiday mayhem in the days to come. We're going to count that as a solid entertainment win. 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.
WoW Moviewatch: Battle for Town Square: Winterveil Day 1
Khadgar seems to be everywhere. He's giving you quests and following you around Draenor, but he's also set up camp in the capitol cities of Azeroth to try to recruit fresh faces for the battle against the Iron Horde. (We'd ask how he does it, but the answer would probably involve complicated magical theory and we just don't have the patience.) It's a practical plan: of course Khadgar would want to stake out the busiest areas to catch the attention of adventurers... but it seems to have set him at odds with Greatfather Winter, who's recently arrived to ring in Winter Veil. The latest machinima from Wowcrendor sets us up for a holiday-themed series that pits Khadgar against Greatfather Winter... but as to who will win and who will lose in this epic battle, we'll just have to keep watching. 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.
The making of Grommash Hellscream
If you've ever been to BlizzCon, you're probably familiar with the super-detailed character statues that adorn the show floor, including Illidan, Tyrael, Jim Raynor, and Kerrigan. This year, a new statue joined the ranks, welcoming con-goers on to the show floor: Grommash Hellscream. Towering over spectators, with one foot resting on Mannoroth's still-smoking head, this larger-than-life orc was more than a little threatening -- with much more of an intimidation factor than anything we'd seen before. However, Grommash is somewhat less threatening when you see him in pieces in the video above, which explores how the statue was created, from the tiny maquette model to the full-sized sculpt we saw at BlizzCon. Interested in going behind the scenes to see just how this vision of Grommash came to life? Watch and learn.
Hearthstone now available for Android
Android fans rejoice, for today Blizzard's super-addictive digital card game, Hearthstone, is available for Android tablets. Sure, it's been out on PC and iOS for a while, but it's a newcomer amongst the Android ranks -- and since it's a game that's really designed for the touchscreen experience, that's definitely a tough fact for Android owners to cope with. The rollout of Hearthstone for Android has already begun, with the game currently available for free on Google Play for players in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. Gamers in other regions still have a bit of time to wait, but Blizzard promises that Hearthstone for Android will be available worldwide in the coming days (including on the Amazon Appstore for Kindle Fire owners). Android players will get to enjoy all of the content the game features elsewhere, including Curse of Naxxramas and Goblins vs Gnomes. Anyone playing a match on Android will also get a free pack of classic cards -- so there's no reason to wait! Unfortunately, not all Android tablets will be supported: you'll need a tablet with at least a 6" screen and 1GB of RAM that runs Android 4.0 or higher. Check out the system requirements for full details.
WRUP: WoW vs. Dragon Age edition
What are RPG fans to do with a new WoW expansion and a new Dragon Age game coming out at almost the same time? After hitting level 100 -- and some of the new-game shine wearing off of Warlords of Draenor -- a lot of us jumped ship for BioWare's latest... but we'll no doubt be back when DA:I similarly loses its new-ness. Still, plenty of us are playing WoW this weekend -- and to find out what we're up to (in WoW or out), read on. This week we've also been thinking about our biggest WoW annoyances (which may or may not have driven us to other games). Agree? Disagree? Let us know what you think in the comments -- and tell us what you're playing this weekend, too.