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WoW Moviewatch: The Craft of War: BLIND
I've treasured the WoW machinima community just as much -- if not more -- than the rest of the game. Over the years, I've witnessed so much joy and pleasure, not to mention raw creativity, that I'll always carry the indelible mark in my heart. What's not to love about a group of people who sing, animate, draw, and create? Hundreds of outstanding videos testify to the strength of that community. So when choosing one last final video for my personal swan song, I was stumped. WoW filk played during my wedding and during the birth of both my daughters. My wife and I fell in love with machinima together. I ultimately chose this, the machinima that took the world by storm. To this day, I still get notes asking if WoW Insider is aware of the video. So with a tip of that, I present to you: The Craft of War: BLIND. Keep an eye over your shoulders, folks. 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: Boom De Yada
For one of our very last moviewatches, I've been looking for videos that spoke of our long love of World of Warcraft. Videos that explained why we were still here and playing after all of this time... and I couldn't find one better than Irdeen's Boom De Yada. After all, we love the whole of the crazy virtual world in which we all live. We'll see you all in game. 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.
Know Your Lore, TFH Edition: Unraveling Azeroth
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. What a map, huh? I've gotten plenty of mileage out of it -- only it was an older edition of the map, before we took Mists of Pandaria into account. Now the map has slightly changed, along with the meaning involved, and I guess there's sort of a star, although it's six pointed, now -- which means we've got another puzzle to unravel, one I've been trying to untangle for a very long time. And while I don't have all the answers (I never seem to, in these articles), we have enough information to ask some really interesting questions, and come up with some really crazy theories. Not just about Azeroth, about the Warcraft cosmos -- that strange expanse of universe that involves a mighty battle we still don't quite understand. Draenor's involved, Azeroth's involved -- according to Algalon, there are millions of worlds that have been involved -- but how do they interlink? When I first created this map, oh so long ago, it was under the presumption that there were five old gods, which correlated to the five Dragon Aspects of Azeroth. I wasn't quite wrong, as I discovered in Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects, but I wasn't quite right either. We have a sixth star, in Pandaria. I'm a fan of correlation -- so else what do we have six of? But before we get into that, let's talk about the naaru. Because that seems like a good place to begin. Today's Know Your Lore is a Tinfoil Hat edition. The following contains speculation based on known material. These speculations are merely theories and shouldn't be taken as fact or official lore.
Know Your Lore TFH: First the ripples, then the stone
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. For my last KYL, a hat made of tinfoil. You know the drill - for the farewell of this column, Anne and I are going to go out speculating. This one's mine. You might want to read this old KYL to get a handle on the concepts I'm going to be throwing around. The idea is simple enough to start with, however. We know that at some point in the distant past, over twenty five thousand years ago, the fallen Titan Sargeras sought out a world whose inhabitants were powerful, with great potential for magic. Their culture was ancient - so very ancient that it had already risen and fallen and risen again, creating not one, but two golden ages. They were the eredar. Sargeras's offer was accepted, and the majority of the race along with two of the three triumvirs that ruled Argus entire became man'ari, corrupted. Barely a tenth of the race resisted and escaped, led by Velen and aided by the naaru, who sent the mighty Genedar, a dimension ship, to rescue them from this corruption. Velen first contacted the naaru using the Ata'mal Crystal, an ancient artifact of their people which was said to be a relic of their distant past. This has always interested me - the Ata'mal Crystal is said to be an eredar relic, yet it summons the naaru and their dimension ship, and when it is used in this fashion it shatters into seven fragments, each of which manifest strange new powers when used properly. Where am I going with this? Well, Sargeras was a Titan. Like all Titans, he has strange and almost unfathomable powers, and he seeks to undo the works of his fellow Titans, his former friends and allies in the Pantheon. He sought out the eredar - he went looking for them. This has always struck me as interesting, because the eredar resemble a race created by the Titans here on Azeroth, namely the mogu.
WoW Moviewatch: The Lament of Captain Placeholder
If we're going out, we're going out singing sea shanties, just like The Lament of Captain Placeholder. Sure, it's sad that our friend Captain Placeholder has gone, but a new and more vibrant world has risen in his place. At least we hope it has. Farewell, fellow placeholders! We'll just sing ourselves out. 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 Queue: This should be somber and dignified
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Anne Stickney (@Shadesogrey) really wishes she could keep answering questions forever. Honestly though the thing I loved best about Fraggle Rock was that it was really, really weird. Red asked: Q for Loremaster Anne: can you sum up the entire Warcraft story in a single paragraph? I think I'll borrow a perfectly applicable quote from one of my favorite authors: In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.
WoW Moviewatch: How World of Warcraft Should Have Ended
We're hoping our favorite game isn't coming to an end for a while yet, but that doesn't mean we can't still enjoy this classic animation that speculates on how Wrath of the Lich King should have come to a close. After all, if you're an end boss and your daily grind is being killed over and over, you'd get tired of it eventually and want a break. Unfortunately, for both Azeroth and Arthas' vacation plans, Deathwing ruins everything. 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 Queue: Let's talk about Fraggles and Warcraft
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Anne Stickney (@Shadesogrey) is answering all kinds of questions today! You know what? I loved Fraggle Rock when I was a kid, and I still do today. When I was a kid, it was all about the music and the story, and as I grew older, it was all about the slow and astonishing realization that a few pieces of felt and a couple of ping-pong googly eyes felt really real. It wasn't the felt or the googly eyes, it was the person operating that device as a vehicle for delivering authentic emotion. More importantly, it was the wide-eyed audience that watched it all and somewhere in their heart of hearts held the little spark of belief that it all was real. Basically what it boils down to is this: You can set the stage and build the parts, but without that genuine exchange between actor and audience, you've got nothing but a shell. Shells are nothing. The rest of it, that's the really amazing part, the part that can't be easily replaced. With that, let's answer some weekend questions, why don't we? BaronoftheLake asked: QFTQ: Where is the Exodar on Draenor? I haven't seen any Draenei ships in Draenor, and I thought that was rather strange. The Exodar was originally one section of Tempest Keep -- but Tempest Keep didn't arrive on Draenor until after it had already shattered into Outland. It's not a draenei ship, it's a naaru vessel -- it's the ship A'dal and the rest of the Sha'tar arrived on. There is one other naaru vessel on Draenor, but it's half-buried in Nagrand and falling apart.
The Queue: Dinosaurs, Twitter Questions, and a hug
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Matthew Rossi will be your host today. I don't really have a favorite dinosaur. Or it's more like I have so many favorite dinosaurs I can't pick one. And to be honest when I do sit down and think about my favorite dinosaurs, my opinion changes with the research to a degree. At the moment, I'm fond of Deinocheirus with those massive arms. But a lot of people ask me what's the deal with all the dinosaurs, like there's a proper age to like them, and I'm way, way over the limit. So I'll try, just this once, to explain what the deal is with the dinosaurs. They were our superiors. They were better suited to life on Earth than the mammals. This is indisputable. They first arose 231 million years ago during the Triassic, at a time where our own therapsid ancestors were recovering from a mass extinction that nearly wiped out all life on Earth, just as the mammals were starting to evolve. Our ancestors. Us, in potential. And our ancestors, with their highly evolved teeth, with the start of the mammalian body plan that we see today in everything from tigers to dogs to sheep to cattle, lost the competition with the archosaurian dinosaur clans. It's just that simple. For over one hundred and thirty five million years, mammals went head to head against dinosaurs in the evolutionary arms race. And in all that time no mammal larger than a modern housecat thrived. The dinosaurs won. Their dominion was so total that even after the extinction at the end of the Cretaceous, it was birds that first evolved into truly massive predators feeding on our mammal ancestors. So that's it. Dinosaurs are proven winners. They lasted for one hundred and thirty five million years, and they still exist today in the form of birds. And you'll notice that no mammal has managed to push birds out of their aerial niches. So yeah, I like dinosaurs, and I see no reason not to keep liking them for the rest of my life. I realize this was a huge digression, but to be honest, it simply wouldn't have been right for me not to talk about dinosaurs in this edition of The Queue. This edition of the Queue will likely be very, very long. I got quite a few questions on Twitter, and there's 981 comments, so we're going to try and get through as many of those as we can. Sean Boyle asks: Here's one for you Rossi. Why haven't we seen any Naga or Ethereals on Draenor? Naga are native to Azeroth. The ones we saw on Outland were part of Lady Vashj's contingent, pledged to Illidan's service. Etherals are also not native to Draenor, but were cosmic exiles whose native world of K'aresh was destroyed by Dimensius the All-Devouring, and in the process of trying to save their people from his arcane devastation the Ethereals lost their corporeal forms. Neither group was on Draenor thirty five years ago in our timeline, and as a result, they aren't on the alternate Draenor we now explore.
WoW Moviewatch: That's the World of Warcraft That You Play
In our revisiting of classic WoW machinima, we couldn't skip Ian Beckman's Weird Al parody, That's the World of Warcraft That You Play. Beckman's made two versions of this, and while the original (from the dark ages of 2006) holds a special place in the nostalgia center of our hearts, this updated version (from the less dark ages of 2013) includes commentary on all of the game's current classes. Despite their age, however, both videos are still surprisingly relevant to gamers today... but, hey, that's just the World of Warcraft that we all 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.
The Queue: Archaeology, specs, and a personal note about this column
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Adam Holisky (@adamholisky) will be your host today. A few days ago I was trying to reflect on what my favorite Queue of all time was -- and I think it's the one where I announced my engagement to my wife. First, it was the initial time that I thought to myself, "I really love the community we have here. They're a whole lot better than a lot of the other junk on the internet." Secondly, the post marked such a momentous occasion in my life, and one that I will always hold close to my heart, that it has some major sentimental connotations. Let's jump into the questions, going loudly into that good night. Pvpscrub asked: QFTQ: Is there a catchup mechanism for Archaeology?
The Queue: Twitter Edition
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Anne Stickney (@Shadesogrey) is answering all kinds of questions today! I've had this song stuck in my head for a couple of days, so now you guys get it. Today's Queue is a special Twitter edition, because oh my gosh 1,700 comments and there is no way I'm going to be able to sift through all of that for questions, guys! But let's get to the good stuff, shall we? @WarlockTriqz asked: How do we get that new mount that Blizz announced? Boy I wish I knew! But I really have no idea -- however, the purple color scheme and books/runes on the kitty make me think it might be something legendary quest related. I mean, we have Khadgar, who's all Kirin Tor which is all about the purple and the runes, and we have the Watchers hanging out with him, and they all ride nightsabers, presumably. So maybe something tied into that? Alternatively, maybe a tie-in for Heroes of the Storm, but I'm not sure about that one.
WoW Moviewatch: The Story & History of The Furbolgs
Warcraft goes beyond just World of Warcraft, and nowhere is that more obvious than in the game's lore. Sure, you can find out plenty by questing your way through WoW, but there's a lot you won't find without delving into the older RTS games, the novels, or even more obscure sources. That's what makes Bellular's lore videos so great: they pull together lore from all sorts of sources to tell you new things about in-game elements you though you understood. This video digs into the surprisingly fascinating history of the Furbolgs... with the interesting suggestion that they might be related to the Pandaren. Wouldn't that be an interesting storyline to explore? Only time will tell if Blizzard ever decides to expand on the idea or leave it to collect dust as arcane game history. 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: ROFLMAO!
Monday is upon us once again, and since we're all in need of some workweek cheer, we dug into the Moviewatch archives to find this classic from Oxhorn. Sure, this 2007 machinima looks a bit dated, especially when compared with the new models that rolled out in Warlords of Draenor, but it's still darned funny. (Much like the even older Muppet Show skit this machinima is parodying.) Go on, we dare you not to laugh. Happy Monday, 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.
Know Your Lore, Tinfoil Hat Edition: The ordering of Draenor and Azeroth
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. According to various accounts, the Titans have had their hands on almost every inhabitable world in the universe. Certainly Algalon had to keep an eye on more than one planet in his impossibly-long life -- he says as much when we stop him from sending the signal that would re-originate our world. This fact alone is enough to indicate that in the Warcraft universe, worlds aren't quite as unique as we'd expect them to be. If the Titans had a hand in their ordering, they're likely going to have at least some similarities. But it doesn't mean that every world we come across is going to be just like Azeroth. We've been presented with the idea, time and time again, that Azeroth is unique in the universe. It's special. There's something about it that sets it apart from every other world. And yet, when you hold Azeroth and Draenor next to each other and take a good long look at what they are, you can see the bare bones of what was once upon a time, a blueprint shared between the two. Unfortunately, the comparison raises more questions that it seems to answer -- but those questions are pretty important. Today's Know Your Lore is a Tinfoil Hat edition. The following contains speculation based on known material. These speculations are merely theories and shouldn't be taken as fact or official lore.
WoW Moviewatch: Like Froot
Look, I'm going to be perfectly honest here: I have absolutely no idea what's going on in this machinima. I'm not sure if it's telling a story or not, or what that story happens to be. But Like Froot, the latest music video from Youtuber Killercookie, still manages to be hypnotically entertaining, story or no. The bright visuals mix well with the song, which I've never heard before -- but it's now thoroughly stuck in my head. As always, Killercookie knows exactly what to do with model placement, animation, and cuts. I guess the lesson here is that sometimes you don't really need a story for a machinima, a pleasant tune and some colorful visuals are more than enough to entertain. If you liked this short, don't forget to check out Killercookie's Youtube channel for plenty more. 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 Queue: Anne's Story Hour
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Anne Stickney (@Shadesogrey) is answering all kinds of questions today! It's Sunday, the day of rest and apparently of rambling on about stories in my head, and as such I'll go ahead and indulge the few people that asked the question below. Don't worry, I've also got plenty of other far more pertinent questions to answer as well! Ligkvaern asked: I made an account just to ask this, damn you! ...What happens in Kharazhan, in your head? robertjamesftw also commented: Anne. ANNE. You may NOT tease us with hints about your head-canon and/or the stories you create in there and not share them! C'mon! Give!! I can take a hint. Please note -- none of this is actually what's going to happen in the next expansion. I have no idea what's coming in the next expansion. This is just stuff I made up in my head that seemed to make sense given what we already know. Okay? Moving on, and continuing from where I left off on Wednesday:
WoW Moviewatch: Yellow Flicker Beat
Death knights are inherently kind of creepy. And even with the revamp in Cataclysm, the Eastern Plaguelands are still pretty creepy as well, along with the death knight starting area on the eastern coast. Put that together with a little bit of Lorde and you've got Yellow Flicker Beat, a machinima music video from Time-Lost Productions. Time-Lost Productions has been doing these kinds of music videos for years, and it shows -- the production quality is good, the cuts are sharp, and the only minor critique I can make is that really I think the video would have stood on its own without the text that was added for emphasis. It totally didn't need it! If you liked the video, be sure to check out Time-Lost Productions' Youtube channel for more. 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 Queue: I still miss Karazhan
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Anne Stickney (@Shadesogrey) is answering all kinds of questions today! I'm glad so many people liked the fill in job I did with Wednesday's Queue. Fun fact: I've actually given way more thought to the whole tie-in idea than absolutely necessary over the past couple of months. For those that thought the answer was interesting, it's what happens next in Karazhan that is really interesting. Or would be. If it were, you know, real and not made up in my head. I miss Karazhan. adidast05 asked: Did I read that follower upgrades will no longer drop from salvage ? Follower armor set pieces will no longer drop from salvage crates -- the items that equip your follower with an ilvl 615/630 weapon or armor. Weapon Enhancements (the items that simply upgrade your weapon or armor ilvl by a certain number), are still dropping from Big Crates of Salvage as it stands on the PTR.
WoW Moviewatch: How to Rig a Pet Battle
Pet battling isn't easy. Sometimes you come up against the perfect team, all of your attacks seem to miss, and you're left floundering. And sometimes, like in the video above, you try to rig things in your favor. (Though the active word is definitely try.) Yes, Mooclucking clearly understands all of our battle pet frustrations. Unfortunately, this doesn't seem like a good solution for them. We'll just have to do our best to keep forging through even the toughest pet battles... and maybe steer clear of the pug while we're at it. 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.
