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One Shots: Durotar sun
When you've seen it all in your favorite MMO, what's a geek to do? Well, if you're one of the myriad World of Warcraft players, you could always roll an alt on your side -- or perhaps on the opposing side! With Azeroth set to explode sometime soon, there's definitely never been a better time to run those old-school quests. Today's image comes to us from Zack, who has headed back for the familiar landscape of Durotar with a friend and sent this in. "With the launching of Cataclysm drawing ever closer, a buddy and I decided to roll new alts just to try to regain the feel of Azeroth. This One Shot seemed very fitting, considering the major changes that the new lore is bringing to Azeroth. The sun is setting on one story and a bloody infernal will be rising in it's place as the world is torn to bits by Cataclysm. Also it's nice just to take a second and breathe while playing so you don't get caught up in the mega grind. Hope you guys enjoy!" We love to see what players are doing in their favorite MMOs, but it takes readers sending in screenshots to make that happen. If you'd like to show off your latest adventures, then grab a screenshot and send it in to us here at oneshots@massively.com along with your name, the name of the game, and a description of what we're seeing. We'll post it out here on Massively and give you the credit! %Gallery-85937%
World of Warcraft iGoogle theme
More and more people (myself included) are starting to use iGoogle as their homepage, because it's incredibly useful. There's all sorts of widgets you can use to customize your homepage, from useful things like the weather and a feed of the top news stories, to goofy things like games and videos. I started using it awhile ago, so I was excited to hear about the addition of World of Warcraft iGoogle theme.The theme is pretty basic as far as its appearance goes: A little art on top, a little art on the bottom, and text colored to match. No absurd bells and whistles or major distractions. The cool thing this theme does, like a few other iGoogle themes, is it changes depending on the time of day in your region. When I first put this theme on my homepage earlier today it had a somewhat orange tinge to it all, the art being what I believe is Durotar. Orcs, all of that sort of thing. As of my writing this, it's only 2 PM Central and it's already switched over to the dark blue of the Lich King. It seems a bit early to be swapping to what appears to be the nighttime version of the theme, and it's somewhat depressing in an odd sort of way.
All the World's a Stage: So you want to be a troll
This installment of All the World's a Stage is the third in a series of roleplaying guides in which we find out all the background information you need to roleplay a particular race or class well, without embarrassing yourself.Trolls are based on the "wild savages" you've seen in the movies or on TV, from King Kong to Discovery channel. If you've seen people hunting with spears, walking around in the forest without many clothes on, or dancing around in costumes and face paint in some kind of ritual you've never heard of, you've seen the apparent inspiration for trolls in World of Warcraft. The culture of Warcraft trolls are a mishmash of all the different myths and rumors that have grown up about some of the earth's indigenous peoples that live outside modern society: Strange voodoo beliefs and rituals? Check. Bloodthirsty headhunters with a taste for cannibalism? Check. Witch doctors, shrunken heads, human sacrifice, and rampant superstition? Check on all counts.It's important to note here that troll culture is based on the myths about some indigenous people, not on their reality. Cannibalism, for instance, has been rare among human societies, nearly always viewed as anathema, but among the trolls of Azeroth, it appears to be the rule rather than the exception. Unbiased study of the world's primal religions has shown them to be far more sophisticated than early (and prejudiced) Western explorers ever imagined. Don't listen to the Jamaican accent trolls have in the game and assume that trolls are based on real life Jamaicans. There is nowhere near the correlation here that we might find with the dwarves and the Scots, or even the draenei and the eastern Europeans that they sound like. Indeed, one could argue that the choice of a Jamaican accent to represent the trolls and their culture reveals a great deal of ignorance we Americans have regarding Caribbean islanders -- but that's a discussion I'll not go into today.Suffice it to say that as a member of the Darkspear tribe, the only tribe of trolls to join the Horde, your character living in a time of great change for your people. Your tribe is the first to embrace the more modern values promoted by Thrall, to take up the spiritual practices of shamanism, and to integrate itself with other races. Although the Darkspears have officially given up human sacrifice, cannibalism, and now tell you to "stay away from the voodoo," these practices are all elements of religion and superstition that your character would have grown up with, and may find it hard to let go of completely.
All the World's a Stage: So you want to be an orc
This installment of All the World's a Stage is the second in a series of roleplaying guides in which we find out all the background information you need to roleplay a particular race or class well, without embarrassing yourself.If you've seen Lord of the Rings, or read any other fantasy story in which orcs are portrayed, you probably think orcs are hideous humanoid monsters charging mindlessly forward to slaughter helpless innocents. Azerothian orcs are significantly different, however, with a shamanistic culture that prides honor above all other virtues.But unless you've played World of Warcraft or Warcraft 3, you probably wouldn't know that. The orcs of Warcraft 1 and 2 were pretty squarely in "bad guy" territory, and it is only with the story of Thrall's rise to power and return to shamanism that we find out what the orcs' true history is.Ironically, the story of the orcs is a bit like that of the horrors of modern Nazis and the lore of the ancient Jews mixed together. Imagine that the vast majority of your species came under the sway of a terrible and evil leader, utterly determined to commit genocide against your peaceful neighbors. After carrying out this deplorable task, your people sought a new enemy, and found a new world to destroy. In the midst of this conquest, however, your people's political leadership failed, the way back home was cut off, and you all ended up as slaves in exile, lethargic and utterly without hope. Suddenly, a hero appeared to unite your people, overcome your former masters, restore your ancient faith, reclaim your dignity, and establish a new homeland. What follows is a brief account of the events most orcs know about or lived through, and a glimpse of the effects they would have had on your character.
One Shots: Riding to Northrend
For those of us who still haven't made it into the Wrath of the Lich King beta but would like to know some basic details (non-spoiler) we're glad to offer this nifty screenshot courtesy of our very own Senior Network Editor, Elizabeth Harper. The place you want to go to find your way to Northrend (for the Horde) is just outside Orgrimmar and to the right, as opposed to going to the left where the old zeppelin tower is. Apparently, you can catch a similar zeppelin outside of the Undercity as well. Today's One Shot captures this strange new zeppelin flying across the hot sands of Durotar, on the way to colder lands and new adventure! Do you have a screenshot from a beta (that's not under NDA, mind you) that you think shows off some of the cool things in an upcoming game? Perhaps you're just fond of showing off your own particular mount that you worked hard to achieve and would like to tell us about it? Whatever your reason, send those screenshots in to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with a description of what we're seeing. Yours could be one of the next One Shots!%Gallery-9798%
