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Releasing the third video in their 3-part series, Nihilum has posted their live-realm kill of Teron Gorefiend - another boss of the Black Temple. This is certainly quite a feat for Nihilum to have succeeded in so many encounters in such a short time. They also have rumored that they are "making progress on a certain encounter, but are not ready to show a corpse shot yet." Stay tuned for more progress in post-2.1 content!
Read MoreNihilum has done it again, this time posting the second video in their 3-day trilogy: The Shade of Akama! This is the 3rd boss in the Black Temple. I'm not sure if this was a world-first kill, but it is confirmed that it is a live-server kill (and not the PTR). Great job, Nihilum! Keep on pushin that content for the rest of us to drool over!
Read MoreNihilum has released the video clip of their world-first Kael'thas Sunstrider kill. This means they have completed Tempest Keep: The Eye. Congrats to them, and thank goodness the GM gave them all the Black Temple attunement items! Nihilum has also mentioned that they will be releasing multiple videos of boss encounters over the next few days, so stay tuned for more!
Read MoreAfter a perfectly executed 30-minute wipe fest, Curse has downed Azgalor - the fourth boss of Hyjal. This means that there is only one more boss in their way: Archimonde himself. Unfortunately, since everyone died, the corpse despawned, which resulted in no loot. Hopefully a GM will be on later to rectify their issue. Congratulations to Curse! Good luck with Archimonde!
Read MoreYou may be at work, busy as ever. You may be on the road, on a sales trip or vacation. You may also be at home, repetitively clicking on that button that might just let you into the virtual world we all love. Click, click, click...and the result is always the same: "Unable to connect to server." What do you do during your downtime? I, personally, enjoy a few hours with Youtube. If I really feel the withdrawal symptoms, I may even start clicking on game-play links...you know, just so it feels like I might be playing if I squint hard enough. Need some good ideas on how to pass the time? Go back in time, Tivo the Heroes marathon on SciFi, and watch it all. Troll the World of Warcraft forums to make it harder for people to read/post. Make a few batches of cookies, and eat them all. Be sure to taunt as many people/family members/pets with said cookies. Do not share. Travel to and then picket Blizzard's corporate offices until the servers come back up. Become and Air Guitar world champion. Attempt to perfect the jet propelled paper airplane. (Disclaimer: do not attempt these methods of time passage unless you are professional time traveler, troll, baker, eater, picketer, learner, or rocket scientist. I'm not liable for your entertaining exploits and/or injuries.)
Read MoreThe song from this clip appeared in the Curse of Monkey Island, third in a series of popular LucasArts games. This WoW-edit brought back nostalgia of the earlier gaming generation. The plot of the song is that Guybrush Threepwood is trying to get his crew to stop singing and get to work sailing the ship, but they keep on rhyming...that is, until he uses a certain word. Enjoy!
Read More"Games for Windows" magazine has released their third article about the things to come post patch 2.1. Above the Undercity will be a new PVP arena, called "the Ruins of Lordaeron." This will be a new 2, 3, and 5-man arena available sometime after the next content patch. Blizzard has taken what they learned from the previous two arenas and tried some new things in the new map. Attempting to cut down on the geometry features and line-of-sight breaking objects was a goal in this arena. While there are still a few hiding spots, they tend to be in the middle of the map. Another option that Blizzard is thinking about implementing is the ability to choose which arena map you play on. The downside, however, is that by doing so you are limiting the number of people in the queues by splitting them up into smaller specific queues. While I've never been a big PVP buff, I'm sure that those of our readers that are will be excited to have another new arena map to play! You can read the article here.
Read More"Games for Windows" magazine has released an second article regarding further implementation of features post patch 2.1. Guild banks, a feature we've been begging for for years, will finally be a reality! Get ready to free up some character slots and delete those mules! In every bank, a new NPC will appear where guild members can deposit and withdraw items. Offering potentially hundreds of storage slots, this will offer players the ability for free storage. At repair NPC's, a new button will appear allowing players to repair using guild funds rather than their own money. Blizzard even has methods for hindering the abuse of this system. Using a tab system, guild leaders can allow certain levels of players access to certain tabs in the bank. This will prevent players from stealing and selling or transferring guild items. "But what if the guild leaders do the thieving?" Blizzard's website will track EVERY transaction, so their customer service can respond if there is a dispute. I think this feature is a long time coming, and I'm excited to see it finally implemented. I'm not sure how it will work for those of us who have private mule characters to consolidate our auctions, funds, and storage between many different alts, but we'll see what happens. You can read the article here.
Read MoreAs previewed before, the Blizzard developers made mention that they were working on an in-game voice-over-IP system. Well, "Games for Windows" magazine has an article that confirms that Blizzard will be implementing this feature in the future. While the release of this feature has not been scheduled, more specific information and details of the system have been discussed. Some of the features that have been disclosed include feature that lights up the speaking character's name in the interface, allowing you to actively see who is speaking, and target them if necessary. Also, the voice channels can be separated so that the music can be silenced while a player speaks, or the music can be over normal speakers and voice can be sent directly to a headset. While the replies of the players are mixed as to the potential of abuse, options of use, and how it will effect gameplay and system lag, I think that this will be a feature that could be amazing if done well. I can't wait to give it a try! You can read the article here.
Read MoreIn response to Blizzard's upcoming spam prevention in 2.10, there has been tons of speculation by forum-goers at whether or not the methods being implemented will really work or not. According to Drysc, a Blizzard CM: Players will now be able to report chat and mail spam with the click of a button. A "Report Spam" option will now be available by right-clicking on a player's name in a chat channel, whisper, or mail. Using this option will quickly and easily report the player to our in-game support department for review. Ok, fairly easy, but you could easily abuse this feature on people you don't like, whereas the reporting process was usually drawn out and people wouldn't abuse it. When you report a player, he or she will automatically be added to your ignore list for your current session. You won't see any chat or mail from that player until you log out and back in. What if your ignore list is already full? Is Blizzard going to increase the number of ignore slots or make it unlimited?
Read MoreFaingrin of Hellscream has begun a protest on Proudmoore that he's entitled "The Trail of the Broken Class." They created a trail of shaman bodies from the starting zone in Durotar all the way to the gates of Orgrimmar. This is in retaliation to the statements that Tseric has made regarding the shamans and Blizzard's view on (not) fixing them, regardless of how the players feel.
Read MoreToday's forum watch has started a new humor thread about the origins of the reopening of the Dark Portal. Many debated if it was Kazzak or some other power, or if it had always been open. Quite a few people had their own opinions about how it opened: Chuck Norris may have roundhouse kicked it open. Rick Astley might have "rickroll'd" it open. Kazzak reopened it because Pokemon Silver came out 3 months earlier in Outlands. A Blizzard comic submission seems to have their own theories as to how the Dark Portal opened. A fairly blunt opinion stated that, "Blizzard wanted more money." I personally like the idea that someone finally discovered what the "unused light switch in their garage" did.
Read MoreYesterday's forum debate asked, what is your "best reason for leaving a group?"I personally think that leaving a group is a highly questionable and situational thing. If the group is a pickup group, then you may be giving yourself a bad name by not sticking it out until the end. Of course, there are always exceptions to every rule, and sometimes the actions of other party members warrant the immediate abandoning of the group.Some of the reasons for leaving were quite entertaining:When the hunter says, "I can't find my bow. Do you have it?" It's a good time to leave.The elemental shaman says, "I'll pull," and proceeds to chain lightning.When you hear over vent, "the police are here."While the forum derailed almost immediately, there were still many posters who replied in the original spirit of the forum. Some of the more humorous replies were:"I had diarrhea.""My toes are cold.""Wife Aggro.""I'm finished here at work. Time to go home!"Or, from Nathaera, "I was tired and needed to go to bed before I woke up with waffleface."What's your best reason for leaving a group? Or, what have you ever kicked someone out of a group for?
Read MoreAt last, we see a teaser of the final encounter of Mount Hyjal! Curse from Vek'Nilash has gone up against Archimonde to give us a preview of this epic, world-changing battle. They bring attention to a few of his abilities, and particularly how incredibly difficult he is. I can't wait to see what kinds of items he has in store for us! [Thanks, WarcraftMovies.com]
Read MoreFrom the guilds Drama and Curse on the PTR comes some more Black Temple loot! This stuff is amazing, folks! Both guilds have succeeded in slaying two bosses of the Black Temple instance, and I'd like to give you a preview of the loot. How about a 100.2 DPS One-Hand Axe? Or a high-stat crossbow? Or, maybe some resto-shaman gears? Check out all the linked gear so far, here. One of the biggest things I noticed about the few healing gears linked so far were the perma-haste casting effects on-equip. This could be a huge hint at what's to come, where you may need to get those big heals down to under one-second cast times. I'm very excited to see more from the PTR. On a different note, another quest has been reported: The head of Magtheridon is a quest item that is turned into Thrallmar or Honor Hold. Like the heads of Onyxia and Nefarion, the quest turn-in gives a zone-wide buff: "In Hellfire Peninsula and Hellfire Citadel, increases Honor Hold/Thrallmar reputation gained from killing monsters by 10%." Here is a snippet of the quest dialogue:
Read MoreBaronSoosdon has released his second masterpiece in Unlimited Escapism Volume 2. He uses fabulous video editing techniques along with footage from other sources, not just World of Warcraft. This volume features Final Fantasy X, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Unreal Tournament 2003, Defcon; and I'm pretty sure it uses the jeep from Halo, though its not credited. Excellent movie! For anyone interested, here is the linkback to the previous movie: Unlimited Escapism Volume 1. [Thanks, WarcraftMovies.com]
Read MoreI know what you're probably saying..."you mean there are eight more of these?" Yes, yes there are. This time, Shepiwot has brought a friend along for the fun in Winterspring. Take two parts Blood Elf, three parts frostsaber, and about 30 parts wintermaw furbolg, and hilarity ensues. Enjoy. [Thanks, WarcraftMovies.com]
Read MoreMingka of Dath'Remar shares her story of genuinely needing an item that dropped on a Sunken Temple run, the Robes of Insight, only to have it snatched away by greed. The hunter in the group rolled need on the item as well, with the excuse that his alt/friend/guildmate/girlfriend needs it also. The bottom line question: who is allowed to roll on an item that drops while grouped? The debate continues, but people are very united in the answer that items should always go to players who were present for the drop and need the item as a direct upgrade. What happens if nobody directly needs the item is still a question. I personally think that loot should be discussed if a clear upgrade situation is not present. Many people have alts, and would like to outfit those characters. But All of us have mains that require funding and gear/enchant/gem upgrades to progress further.
Read MoreAn interesting forum topic has popped up on the World of Warcraft general forum today. It reflects on the amount of time we spend trying to gain one or two specific pieces of loot, only to have the gods of random drop-rates look unfavorably down upon us. It is a vicious cycle of farming that has eaten away at hours upon hours of our lives, but we still do it. We still go after that one elusive item that taunts us from the virtual nether. "I have a 25% drop rate, but you can run this place a hundred times and never see me! Mwahahaha!..." Players are recalling their 50+ runs for class chest from Upper Blackrock Spire, or their class helm from Scholomance. Mindtap Talisman seems to be a recurring theme, as well as the Tidal Charm. My worst experience was on my 67th run through UBRS for my Lightforge Shoulders from The Beast. They finally dropped, everyone congratulated me, and then the fury warrior rolled need. Ah well, water under the bridge as they say, especially since in my first Botanica run, I received the Spaulders of the Righteous.
Read MoreI probably play World of Warcraft way too much. Admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery, right? My addiction stems from not being happy with one character, or two, or three... I have 7 characters leveling in the Outlands right now, two of which are raiding Karazhan. Why can't I stick with just one and work on it until it's the best of the best? Because I love my alts! I created my first alt when my primary character, a Hunter, hit level 52. I'm not entirely sure why I did so, but it probably had something to do with having out-leveled my friends by about 20 levels and wanting to help them without hindering our playing experience. My first alt was a Warlock, who I took to 60 first, becoming my first instance grinding and raiding main character. The hunter stood on standby for a while, until my guild had Molten Core on farm-mode, upon which I took him to 60 and brought him in for our alt runs. He was one of the first to complete the Lok'delar/Rhok'delar/Lamina quest in our guild, which he still has (at least, until I dust him off and bring him out of retirement). After a few months with them, I met other people who played on a different server, and they needed main tanks for their progression. So I was off and running with a Warrior, who was level 60 in a matter of a few weeks. I helped that guild progress through Blackwing Lair when I took my first burnout hiatus. It took a few months of enjoying other things, more real-life than virtual, when I was feeling the pangs of withdrawal and logged back in.
Read MoreThis hillarious spoof on the Fiddler on the Roof classic, "If I were a rich man" is by far one of my favorite WoW-inspired videos. This was submitted in 2006 to a Taverncast.com contest, and was a winner. I know its an oldie, but its still funny, and WoW Insider hasn't ever shown it, so this was my chance!
Read MoreOnce the members of my guild hit 70, we decided to stage a raid to liberate the captive Naaru, M'uru, who is being ripped of his powers by the blood elves to grant the abilities of the light to their blood knights. We thought this was a noble endeavor, but now it seems that there is some speculation regarding the true intentions of the Naaru. Regardless, the revenge of the Horde was just around the corner. The Broken, from the Stormrage realm, have posted their victory over the leader of the Exodar, Prophet Velen. What surprised me was the near complete lack of resistance from the Alliance. Ah well, we had a few quiet raids on Undercity, too, so I suppose it's bound to happen anywhere. Beware, Broken...the Alliance shall retaliate!
Read MoreThe forums are abuzz with the debate on when to use the ability "Power Word: Shield" on the tank in your group. The original poster on the forum asked why pre-shielding the tank was looked down upon, and the response was abundant! Warriors and feral Druid tanks need to generate rage to use their abilities to generate the rage required to hold a mob's agro so that it doesn't run rampant in the group, slaughtering the squishies. They generate rage by being hit by a mob and also by hitting the mob as well. In order to be a raid/heroic tank, you have to have your mitigation and avoidance up to a point that you're almost always dodging, parrying, or blocking, in order to not die from a single hit, but in turn that will decrease the amount of rage you can generate. "Power Word: Shield" only decreases the rage generated, while not protecting the tank from that much damage. On boss mobs, it gets even more tricky. In order to successfully hold (most) bosses, you have to front-load your agro and maintain that agro lead throughout the fight. This means that they need an abundance of rage up-front in order to establish that agro, and they also need time to build up that buffer to keep them ahead. Most tanks only need a few seconds to accomplish that, but the shield just prolongs that time. This also hinders the raid on fights where time is a factor. For example, the old Kazzak enraged after 3 minutes of fighting (he probably still does), and every second of dps counted.
Read MoreUpon my now bi-monthly visit to my parents' house, they inquired if I had done anything social with my friends in the last few weeks. "Of course," I replied, "we started raiding Karazhan about a month ago, and defeated the Curator, Aran, and the chess event!" They looked at me strangely, and I immediately realized that I was talking about people I've never met in person and whom I spend time with only in a virtual setting. I began wondering if I was losing touch on reality, that a video game was becoming a real setting for me to socialize. I soon realized that it was not just me, but instead it is becoming a phenomenon that is quickly becoming the norm. Every day I work with people all over the world by phone and by email, and every night I do the same thing. Some may say that it does resemble more of a work environment than a friendship environment, but I say it can be both. I log into our Ventrilo server and chat it up with everyone who is online. I have my friends, and my not-so-friends, and sometimes we work hard, and sometimes we goof around. I believe that if you take it to a level that you desire, the WoW realm can be just as much a social environment as a party with friends, a date out with your sweetie, or a business trip. Granted I've never slaughtered the undead in my sales trips, but I'd love to claim a Karazhan raid as a business expense! What social event do you take along with you into World of Warcraft?
Read MoreWhile the title of this post may not seem that amazing, the actual video and character used are impressive. Theotwink of Malygos has twinked his character's basic gear, causing his dodge rate to exceed 100%. At level 10 (base level to enter the Deadmines) his high-level allies helped clear him to Van Cleef, where the showdown began. In what I can only guess was an excruciatingly long and probably boring fight, given all the guild/tell chat that was taking place, Theotwink emerges victorious over Van Cleef and his adds that he calls during the fight.
Read MoreToday's comic brings the love to our short, semi-sweet, and often misunderstood friends, the gnomes. Gnomes. Short, obnoxious, nauseatingly cute, and spunky. With their troll-doll-like neon hair choices, and their high-pitched chatter, they are one of the most endeared and picked-on race in the game. But with great ridicule comes great hilarity, as today has been deemed Gnome Appreciation Day! The forums are abuzz with comments about our new holiday, bringing even the blues out of hiding to voice their love of the pocket-gnome. Many jokes about keeping gnomes as pets, having gnomes for dinner, or treating them like footballs have entertained us for years now. But, lets face it, gnomes are important! They are our dps in raids. They are our vending machines, for food, water, and healthstones. They are the butt of our jokes, but they keep coming back. They are bait to lure The Beast out of his cave (which probably started most of the gnome-punting jokes). They are the best engineers in the game, which in the next patch may actually prove viable. "They're in ur raidz stealin' yur soul shardz." They're everywhere, and they're here to stay! So lets take a moment to give a shout-out to the shorties, for it's Gnome Appreciation Day!
Read MoreWell, our friends over at WarcraftMovies.com have done it again; this time recreating our favorite MMO with the old-school stylings of Final Fantasy! Watch and enjoy and bask in the retrospective nostalgia. For those that happen to have no idea what the Final Fantasy series is, let me enlighten you. The series began in Japan in 1987 with a turn-based cartridge game for the original Nintendo Entertainment System, developed by Square. The series is still alive and kicking, having released Final Fantasy 12 just last fall. The classic menu style, music, and Chocobo reference are amazingly funny. I love this video! [Thanks, Kakashisan on Mal'Ganis]
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