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Mine of WorldCraft blockifies Azeroth
YouTube user and Minecraft enthusiast Haasth22 has replicated some of the human starting experience in popular indie title Minecraft, complete with blockified tier 2 Judgement armor and quest NPCs. Sure, it's heavily edited, but who doesn't love seeing Azeroth all blocky with that recognizable Minecraft charm? Whatever you do, don't watch the movie while playing WoW, because you will alt-tab into game to see if you got a message or a whisper (like I'm doing right now) while listening to the sounds of the video. If you've got other cool recreations of WoW in Minecraft, we'd love to see it. You can always use our tip line to send us videos, questions, and suggestions. Heck, you could even shoot us a compliment. We love compliments.
World of WarCrafts: Recipe roundup
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 our Arts and Crafts in WoW page. What's cooking? We've posted a ton of Warcraft-inspired cooking recipes over the years. In fact, the Warcraft recipes didn't just begin with World of WarCrafts. We used to have a column called Well Fed Buff that exclusively covered Warcraft-inspired recipes, and that column was merged with World of WarCrafts a long time ago -- well before my time here at WoW Insider. Needless to say, that's a heck of a lot of recipes out there! One of the most frequent requests I receive is that we provide a list of all the recipes we've covered to date. I like requests, and I love cooking, so today we've got exactly that -- a roundup of all the recipes we've posted. From Barbecued Buzzard Wings and Murloc Fin Soup to Essence Mango and Fizzy Faire Drinks, we've got you covered. Follow after the break for a cavalcade of cooking recipes sure to inspire.
World of WarCrafts: Dalaran Doughnuts
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 our Arts and Crafts in WoW page. Azeroth has a variety of sweet treats to choose from. Some will make you feel better, others are meant to be shared with friends, and others ... well, you can just hog them for yourself. Mages are known for concocting sweet treats out of nothing, but today we've got a confection sold only in the Kirin Tor base city of Dalaran. We've got no clue whether these doughnuts are conjured up by mages or not, but today's recipe is about as easy to conjure as making a Mana Biscuit or Strudel. Everyone knows doughnuts are best when they're fresh, and when you wander to your local bakery, you've no idea how long the doughnuts there have been sitting on the shelf. So what would you say if I said I have a doughnut recipe that's so easy that you can have fresh, warm doughnuts in your greedy little paws in the matter of about 10 minutes or so? Interested? Let's get to the kitchen and make some magic! %Gallery-132870%
World of WarCrafts: The fanciful cosplay of Svetlana Quindt
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 our Arts and Crafts in WoW page. BlizzCon is coming, and it's already sounding like it's going to be a good one. Last year was my first BlizzCon experience, and besides being dazzled by the lights, panels, and sheer number of people wandering the convention hall, one of the things that caught my eye were the costumes. They were everywhere. I'd seen photos of years past, but nothing really compares to seeing these costumes live and in person. Every little detail that goes into creating an authentic-looking piece of armor is astounding. That said, I put a call out on Twitter last week asking for cosplayers who'd like to be interviewed, and goodness, did I get a reply. Svetlana Quindt may be a familiar name to some people and a familiar face for others. European fans of the WoW TCG may recognize her as none other than the Dragonqueen Alexstrasza from Darkmoon Faire: Köln earlier this year. Mind-bogglingly intricate and exquisitely constructed, Svetlana's costumes include both armor and weapons, running the gamut from Warcraft to Diablo and even Aion. And if that's not enough, she blogs about the process and even has tutorials on her site! Check out the gallery for just a few of Svetlana's gorgeous works of art, and follow after the break for more from Svetlana. %Gallery-131972%
World of WarCrafts: The musical compositions of Daniela
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 our Arts and Crafts in WoW page. When I was a kid, I always wanted to play an instrument, but my parents couldn't afford to get me lessons, so I tried the tactic of teaching myself to play on an old keyboard. I never got anywhere with it, but in the process, I did develop a great deal of respect for those who can play instruments, whatever they happen to be. It's a lot harder than it looks! Today, we've got a musician who plays and sings her way along with tracks from video games, original song compositions, and parodies of contemporary music, to boot. Daniela, or Starwarspunk as she's known on YouTube, has been gaming for a long time and creating music even longer. In addition to creating songs, she also collaborates with other YouTube artists who remix her work with an electronic flair -- I love watching the contrast between raw version and remix. Dani was kind enough to sit down and have a chat with us about her musical background, her influences, and of course, World of Warcraft.
Guild Wars 2's crafting system detailed and demonstrated
Guild Wars 2 fans, it's time to get out your smithing hammers and fire up your forges. Freshly imported from Gamescom 2011 is a new video outlining Guild Wars 2's crafting system. The game offers eight different professions, and -- like many other MMOs -- you are granted your choice of two of those professions at any given time. However, unlike many MMOs that give you a set list of recipes based on your crafting level and then limit you to crafting only those recipes, Guild Wars 2's system allows players to experiment with different combinations of materials to see if they form a new recipe. Only guy on the server who's figured out how to make that badass warhammer? Don't tell anyone and monopolize the market! Also gone are the days of skill points. Rather than giving crafting recipes a somewhat random chance to give you a skill-up, Guild Wars 2's crafting system provides you with an experience bar for your tradeskill, with each completed recipe providing a set amount of experience toward the next level. But what if you're not happy with your profession choices? While the game only allows you to have two active professions at any given time, you're able to freely swap one profession for another while retaining progress made in your former profession. So if you want to drop your level 50 profession to mess around with another, you can pick back up where you left off at a later time. For the developer commentary and a whopping 20 minutes of hands-on time with two different professions, hop on past the cut for the full video. [Thanks to Paul for the tip!]
World of WarCrafts: The musical work of Katethegreat19
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 our Arts and Crafts in WoW page. Sometimes fan music comes in the form of parodies or remixes of contemporary music. And sometimes we get covers of music from the game itself. Today, we've got the latter -- haunting and beautiful remixes of original Warcraft music. Katethegreat19, as she's known on YouTube, has been creating breathtaking covers of gaming music for several years now from Warcraft and from other popular gaming titles. Her moody and evocative tunes highlight a background with a Celtic influence and show off some serious skills with composition and mixing. We've featured katethegreat19 on WoW Moviewatch before, including her first foray into machinima with her Temple of the Moon cover. But Kate's covered a lot more than just Warcraft tunes, and she's got a definite talent for composing, mixing and creating original lyrics -- even songs that never had lyrics to begin with. Kate was gracious enough to sit down and have a chat with us about her musical background, composing, the process of creating tracks, and of course, Warcraft.
World of WarCrafts: T-shirts and more from Julia Minamata
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 our Arts and Crafts in WoW page. Who doesn't love a good T-shirt, especially if it's got great design? I know I do, although my T-shirt skills lean toward clicking an appropriate link on Jinx and typing in my credit card information. Creating T-shirts can be a time-consuming process, but the end result is ultimately satisfying, especially when one has the skills to back it up. Today we've got a crafter who is particularly talented when it comes to creating Warcraft T-shirts -- but given her background, this really isn't too much of a surprise. Meet Julia Minamata, a freelance illustrator who is no slouch when it comes to art. She's worked for clients including BusinessWeek, The New Yorker and The National Post. Don't let the big names fool you; Julia's art lends itself to whimsical color and dreamy characters, something that works perfectly with a game like World of Warcraft. Julia's been creating Warcraft T-shirts, art, and sculpture for friends and family for years, and now she's sharing it with us! Check out the gallery for a look at Julia's Warcraft work, and follow after the break as we sit down to have a chat with Julia about her background in art, her T-shirts, and World of Warcraft. %Gallery-130282%
World of WarCrafts: How to make Lynnora's decorative Horde pendant
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 our Arts and Crafts in WoW page. I love getting submissions for World of WarCrafts, especially do-it-yourself projects! Today's submission is from Lynnora of the Silvermoon server (EU-A). Longtime readers of World of WarCrafts may recall the name from a column on bleach T-shirts a couple of years ago. Lynnora's still crafting away and comes to us this week with a how-to for a simple project that anyone can complete -- a Horde pendant suitable for a necklace, keychain, or whatever your imagination can come up with! What makes this project so easy? Well, the materials to make it, for starters: plastic bags. Say what? That's right, we've got a new use for those plastic bags hanging around your house, a technique called fusing. Check out the gallery for a visual step-by-step, and follow us after the break for the full tutorial from Lynnora! %Gallery-129820%
World of WarCrafts: Lightly Fried Lurker
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 our Arts and Crafts in WoW page. Cataclysm brought about a whole host of world changes to Azeroth's landscape, new talent trees to explore, and a ton of new quests and achievements. It also brought a whole ton of new recipes for aspiring Azerothian chefs and a bunch of new cooking achievements, to boot -- achievements that involve a whole heck of a lot of recipes for fish, which is only appropriate since a ton of new fishing achievements were added, too! Some people love fish, some people hate it, and some chefs shy away from it, as it can be tricky to cook. But today's recipe is one of the easiest dinner recipes out there. Not only is it simple, it's delicious. This is actually a special recipe to me; it was my mother's, and I have no idea where she got it from originally. But whenever my mother fried up fish, it disappeared in a flash; we kids could never get enough of it. Thankfully, the recipe was passed on to us, and now I am passing it on to all of you -- deliciousness ought to be shared, after all. Let's wander into the kitchen and make ourselves a fish dinner, shall we? %Gallery-129212%
World of WarCrafts: The musical stylings of Ember Isolte
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 our Arts and Crafts in WoW page. Last week, we talked about rebuilding audio found in World of Warcraft; this week, we've got audio rebuilding of an entirely different kind. Rather than giving in-game music and sounds a revamp, today's guest takes modern day music and rewrites the lyrics to form parodies with a uniquely WoW twist. She's been writing and producing parodies for quite some time now -- Shut Up and Grind, a parody of Rihanna's Shut Up and Drive, was uploaded to YouTube on July 21, 2009. Exactly two years and plenty of songs later, the bubbly and ever-charming Ember Isolte is still busily creating music parodies -- for WoW, and for other games as well. From the incredibly catchy Ninja Raiders to her newest release, Boomkin, Ember's done nothing but improve in leaps and bounds. It's crafting of an entirely different kind, and we recently had the distinct pleasure of sitting down and having a chat with Ember about music, lyrics, ideas and of course, World of Warcraft.
World of WarCrafts: Sounds like a whole new Warcraft
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 our Arts and Crafts in WoW page. Longtime readers may remember an article that came out two years ago, an interview with Ashram of Darksorrow (EU-H). Ashram was attempting to do something incredibly unique; he was rebuilding the entire soundtrack of World of Warcraft from scratch. Every sound effect, every song, every bit of voice work was meticulously redone in a video that detailed a journey through Stratholme --- a Stratholme that sounded completely different from anything seen in game to date. But Ashram isn't done with his audio journeys or his success, and he recently released a part two of sorts to the original Stratholme experiment. Titled Lament of Vaia, his second work features more voice acting, a coherent story, and an ending that had me clamoring for part two. Ashram sat down with us to chat about audio work, Lament of Vaia, and just what the heck he's been up to in the two years since we last spoke.
World of WarCrafts: WoW Eh? and Safe Passage artist Kelly Aarons
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 our Arts and Crafts in WoW page. We've featured plenty of various artists here on WoW Insider, each with their own unique style and method of bringing their characters to life. Today, we're going to chat with one who has taken the fan art just a little further by bringing those artistic creations to life through story and art. Kelly Aarons should be a familiar name to those who follow WoW Insider's weekly comic Safe Passage, but her comic WoW Eh? has been chugging quietly along for much longer than Safe Passage or even its precursor, Byron the Tauren Rogue. Launched in October 2008, WoW Eh? started out as a wacky series of strips about an unlikely pair -- a fiesty blood elf paladin named Kissless and a gentle, nature-loving tauren named Cadistra. Over the course of a couple of years, the comic has transformed every step of the way, from artistic style to content. Remaining ever constant amidst the madness, Cadistra, Kissless, and their camaraderie through it all form the backbone of the comic and its story. We sat down with Kelly and had a chat with her about comics, art, writing, and Warcraft.
World of WarCrafts: Real-life WoW chef Niki Casselberry
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 our Arts and Crafts in WoW page. Every now and again on World of WarCrafts, we like to include recipes that are real-life versions of some of Azeroth's tastiest dishes. These recipes were originally a column called Well Fed Buff that was incorporated into World of WarCrafts because let's face it -- taking an in-game item and creating it out of the game is a pretty crafty thing to do! Well, today we've got a chef after our own heart -- Niki Casselberry, aka Edenvale from the guild DunderMifflin of Anvilmar (US-A), chef extraordinaire and author of The Gamer's Fridge, a blog dedicated to recreating tasty dishes. But it's not just WoW that The Gamer's Fridge covers. No game is safe, as recipes from Lord of the Rings and Final Fantasy have also worked themselves into the mix. Sometimes sweet desserts, sometimes a hearty meal like the one pictured above, each food creation includes a recipe so those at home can recreate the recipes for themselves. An avid gamer, Niki was kind enough to agree to sit down and chat about her blog, WoW, and of course, delicious food!
Siemens DA36 E-Star glider takes serial hybrid to new heights
It's not exactly Wonder Woman-ready, but this little glider is already a star. A collaboration between Siemens, Diamond Aircraft, and EADS, the DA36 E-Star, being billed as the "world's first serial hybrid electric airplane," has taken to the friendly skies and is now on display at the Paris Air Show. The two-seater, which boasts a serial (or series) hybrid electric drive, similar to that found in the Chevy Volt, is currently a two-seat affair, but is intended to pave the way for passenger planes, and could eventually cut emissions by 25 percent. Along with a decrease in fuel consumption and subsequent emissions, the plane is also nice and quiet. So what's next? Scientists are working on a new motor that could make the drive five times lighter. Hey Siemens, give us a call when it gets inflight-WiFi. Full PR after the break.
World of WarCrafts: Very Berry Pie
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 our Arts and Crafts in WoW page. You can get pie all over Azeroth. From vendors; as quest rewards -- heck even mages are getting in on the action. Today's pie however, is a very special pie. Full of berry goodness and with a crumb topping to die for, the Very Berry pie is only available in one location -- from a pie vendor named Chris Moller who lives in Gilneas. Being a Gilnean citizen, vendor Moller is not long for this world, and his delicious treats are only obtainable for a limited time by low-level worgen players. So you've got two choices, haven't you? You can level up a worgen, run them through Gilneas and buy a few stacks of these Very Berry Pies for your character, or you can simply hop to the kitchen and whip up one of these on your own time, without having to worry about impending forsaken invasions or rabid furry intruders. This recipe is intermediate level, though it does include a heroic mode that will leave some chefs shaking in their boots -- homemade pie crust, from scratch. Don't worry, even hard modes become trivial once you know the trick to beating them! So let's head to the kitchen after the break and get started, shall we? %Gallery-126960%
World of WarCrafts: Sculptural delights
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 our Arts and Crafts in WoW page. Sculpture is one of those things that sounds like it ought to be easier than just drawing, when you think about it -- after all, you don't have to make a two-dimensional object look three-dimensional, do you? My sister used to mess around with modeling clay and Sculpey when we were both young, and I was continually amazed by the teeny tiny details she managed to eke out of a lump of clay. However, in all her repertoire of sculpture I'm pretty sure she never attempted anything like what we've got featured for you guys today. From an incredibly detailed troll shaman to an adorable moonkin hatchling, today's various submissions are a testament to what a lot of work and even more patience can produce out of a lifeless lump of clay. Check out the gallery for a look at today's sculptural submissions, and follow us after the break to see what can be done with a bit of Sculpey and the imagination to turn it into something more! %Gallery-126486%
World of WarCrafts: Darkpippi's Warcraft tunes
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 our Arts and Crafts in WoW page. Some Warcraft-inspired projects just take a little bit of time and a whole lot of patience, while others take a little more know-how. Singing, however, takes a little bit from both and combines it with the need for a voice -- and today, we've got a golden set of pipes. While there's a whole lot of singing machinima out there suitable for Moviewatch, there are still plenty of musicians and singers out there merrily pushing out the tunes without machinima. Today, we've got a mage with a passion for singing and the voice to back it up. DarkPippi's been quietly putting out songs for well over a year now. While many of his tunes have been heard on The Instance podcast, his YouTube channel doesn't exactly have a ton of traffic -- I only just stumbled across his work last week when working on The Daily Quest. Needless to say, I was stunned with the quality of vocal work and immediately went about contacting Darkpippi for an interview, which he graciously accepted. Follow after the break for more with Darkpippi and plenty more tunes!
World of WarCrafts: June is an excellent month for cake
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 our Arts and Crafts in WoW page. When putting together cake and confectionery posts for this column, I often receive feedback that the cakes presented are a little one-sided -- mainly, that the majority of them appear to be Horde or Horde-related. I can only work with the material I'm given, and judging from the submissions I receive, the Horde is a little more popular when it comes to cake design. Maybe it's something to do with the logo being incredibly easy to construct in baked form. However, Alliance players should be pleased and more than a little awestruck by the first submission today: a two-tiered cake in Alliance blue with the Alliance logo and wee little reproductions of the player and his wife's characters on the top -- all completely edible! It's a birthday cake almost too good to eat. (Almost.) On top of that, today we've got a selection of wedding cakes, groom's cakes, and even an edible murloc. Who says they have to eat us? Follow after the break for more!
Travels through Azeroth and Outland interview, part 2
We return today with the final portion of our interview with Zac, the gifted writer behind Travels through Azeroth and Outland. Today, we've asked about narrative difficulties, the dark parts of Azeroth's development, "fridge horror," and whether player characters are ultimately a good or bad thing for the world. You can find the first portions of our interview here: Travels through Azeroth and Outland: Forsaken narrators, MMO storytelling, and why the draenei are scary. Zac's notes on racial characterization.
