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WoW Moviewatch: Plight of the Gnomes
You're going to have a little variance in your opinion of this piece, dependent on whether you like or hate gnomes and whether you like old, scored story pieces without dialogue. Plight of the Gnomes by Harmon Productions is a retelling of one of the Alliance's oldest, tragic events (in World of Warcraft). Using music and images, Plight fills us in on not only the Great Betrayal, but the entire story about how the gnomes came to take up residence in Ironforge. This is a movie about the fall of Gnomeregan. The work was beautiful, in my opinion. The music definitely fit the piece perfectly, and the many portrait shots of key gnome personalities really helped get across the historical feel of Plight. I would have enjoyed letting the action move a little faster, but that's probably just me. I especially found the blood-spattered images of the trogg invaders to be powerful and moving. They were an effective tool for portraying the loss of the gnomish homeland. Click here to see it yourself! If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.Previously on Moviewatch ...
Ask a Lore Nerd: Demons rule, naga drool
Welcome to Ask a Lore Nerd, where each week blogger and columnist Alex Ziebart answers your questions about the lore and history of the World of Warcraft. Ask your questions in the comments section below, and we'll try to answer it in a future edition.Just as a warning, today's Ask a Lore Nerd has a couple of spoilers for Wrath content. At this point, I assume that light Northrend spoilers isn't going to scare people off, but I figure I should mention it anyway. It's nothing major, so you won't ruin your experience by reading it anyway. Let's dig in!Tarean asked...Blizzard's said that there's enough material for plenty of more expansions after Wrath of the Lich King, and there's plenty of possibilities, but what expansion should come next lore-wise?
All the World's a Stage: So you want to be a Mage
This installment of All the World's a Stage is the sixteenth 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. It's also the first installment with a title that rhymes! The Mage is the foremost master of magic in the Warcraft universe. Although all the other classes excluding the Warrior and the Rogue use magic of one sort or another with equally wonderful effects, the Mage is the class that's named after the stuff.But what is magic? What does it feel like to harness it? Does the mage have to do a strange ritual or utter incomprehensible words in an ancient language in order to cast her spells? Other fantasy settings often have one or more of these elements together, but as far as I can tell, Warcraft lacks them.Arcane magic in the World of Warcraft is an ever-present energy field surrounding the whole world. Mages access it by concentrating in the magic energy within themselves, feeling it rush through their body, and directing it as they please. Those spells that require reagents need an extra focusing item with magical properties of its own in order to bring about the desired effect, but for the most part, fireballs, frostbolts and arcane explosions can be created through the mere act of will on the part of a properly educated mind.
WoW Moviewatch: A very Northrend Christmas contest
Today, Moviewatch would like to give a shout out to its old keeper Moo Money. Moo is working over at Machinima.com now, and posted up a video last week about a new contest they're running called the Christmas in Northrend.Submit a holiday video featuring Northrend by December 20th to Machinima.com and you could be a winner! The video that Moo posted is, of course, well put together and has a simplistic version of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" playing in the background. Gnomes are represented too, so all you gnome lovers out there should be happy.The content itself has a pretty nice grand prize: a Frostmourne Sword replica. I want one of those. And if you do too, head over to machinima.com for the full rules and enter. Good luck!
All the World's a Stage: So you want to be an Alliance Warrior
This installment of All the World's a Stage is the twelfth 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. From the way that warriors are available to nearly every race in the game as a sort of default fighter person, you'd think that they would be the fallback choice for any number of different sort of characters you might imagine. Any sort of regular shmuck could be a warrior right? You just gotta pick up some sort of weapon and start swinging it around at an enemy, yes?No. Even though the Warrior class is available to almost every race in the game, every race has its own tradition of what it means to be a warrior -- it's not just a farmer with a pitchfork running around and trying to kill things. Warriors go through extensive training, learn to wield a wide variety of weapons, and train themselves in staying upright and charging about even while wearing all kinds of heavy metal on their bodies.So today we'll look into some of the ways that the races of the Alliance understand what it means to be a warrior, and see which heroes your character might look up to, as well as the archetypes these heroes represent.
WoW Moviewatch: The Gnomeregan Revenge: Red Alert
The Gnomeregan Revenge: Red Alert is an original tale told in pre-Arthas Azeroth, the first of a new trilogy by filmmaker Odessa. The Gnomish race is cast in the role of Soviet revolutionaries against the Alliance. In this episode they use their technological superiority to stage a surprise attack on Ironforge. The Gnomes even speak Russian, albeit with English subtitles. The machinima is excellent and the handheld out-of-focus shots work superbly to convey the surprise and confusion of the first wave of copter attacks. Since I don't speak French or Russian, it's difficult to tell the quality of the voice acting but the other sound effects are deftly done. (The English subtitles need some work; there are a lot of typos.) Still, I think it's possible to follow the story just from the visuals. The cliffhanger at the end prepares us for the next two episodes which promise to show us the war and its outcome. From just this first episode, it's difficult to tell if the film will have an allegoric theme with a larger message or if this was merely a creative tangent invented by the filmmaker. The follow-up episodes should come before the end of the year, so I guess we'll find out soon enough. [Via WarcraftMovies]If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.
WoW Moviewatch: Pepitoz
Today's feature is a humorous tale of QQ channeled into roleplaying entitled Pepitoz: The World of Warcraft Story. Although Rurikar, the same filmmaker who brought us the hilarious Jimmy: A World of Warcraft Story, seems lately to have moved away from machinima to creating his own animated shorts, Pepitoz is a character that stands the test of time. It is a tragic love story, with a twist. Perhaps a dash of music would've added even more humor, but that's my only critique. Anyone who is wincing at possible changes to their class upcoming in Wrath, you'll be able to relate to the source of the melodrama here.If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.Previously on Moviewatch ...
All the World's a Stage: So you want to be a gnome
This installment of All the World's a Stage is the fifth 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. Gnomes are probably the easiest race to roleplay in World of Warcraft. They have a strong (and mostly accurate) stereotype that people just get instantly, and there's a childlike "blank-slate" quality about them that means that they don't have to have complicated backstories. In fact, you could define the gnomes as a race without a history to speak of. They are so very curious and inquisitive that they ask questions about everything, that they try to unravel any mysteries they encounter, and consider their personal life stories to be of little account. They've written tomes upon tomes on the inner workings of multi-polar data transfer relays and eletro-magnified parallel power circuits, but it never really occurred to them that they should write down the history of their species. They are a people always looking into the future, and whatever passes beyond the infinitely precious present becomes lost to them in the unseen reaches of the past -- out of sight, out of mind. That's not to say they have no memory -- they make use of their superb memories in carefully constructing their world-renown masterpieces of technological craftsmanship! Rather, it would be better to say that their minds only serve up memories relevant to the inquiry at hand. So if the orcs paved through azeroth a while back and destroyed everything in their path, well that was bad and all but it was a long time ago and who wants to hold a grudge? If the monstrous troggs came from the bowels of the earth and destroyed their cherished technological city of Gnomeregan... well, they'd love to get it back, but it's no reason to be unkind or uncheerful!
New facial models in latest beta build aren't quite done
Banana Shoulders has a pretty in-depth look at a graphical update we weren't expecting at all: Blizzard has, in the latest beta build, decided to update the facial textures of some player models, including Gnomes, Human females, and Tauren. And unfortunately, the updates aren't necessarily for the better -- while the models do look a little clearer and more well-defined, they definitely aren't done yet, as the eyes are eerily in the wrong place inside the head, and some of the models are just plain uglier than they used to be.More realism and detail is always a good thing, and it's important to remember that we're still in beta -- there's no way those Gnome eyes will go live. Blizzard may even be updating the way the heads are put together as well, in order to make sure the new hairstyles all work the way they're meant to. The real challenge, however, will be making sure that the characters come out of this process looking the same way they did before -- if the textures look extremely different, you may end up logging into Wrath with a character you don't recognize.Update: Don't panic -- Tigole says the facial model texture changes were "a development experiment," and these funny faces will never make the live realms.Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
Some Gnomes glitched in Wrath beta
Gnomes can't handle their weapons. At least not in the Wrath beta. In a strange graphics glitch, gnomes of certain classes look as if their swords are glued to the backs of their hands instead of being grasped. The glitch occurs whether fighting or not. It doesn't happen with Warlocks, who hold their weapons correctly, but I was able to replicate it with a Rogue and there are Warrior screenshots elsewhere on the web. Some players are even reporting that their offhand weapon is floating away and seeming to fight by itself. Blue forum poster, Gradina, says that Blizzard knows about the issue and is working on a fix. Now in the meantime, I think a little creativity is called for. Instead of stabbing or slicing with your sword, you could slap mobs upside the head. (Who doesn't like the phrase "upside the head"?) Or, you could spin around really quickly, Whirlwind style, and scrape everyone on the ankles, thereby cutting them down to your size. Maybe for the female Gnomes out there, you could use your weapon as a mirror for smoothing out split ends after a fight. And if your offhand weapon gets frisky and floats away? Take some time out for a bite of toast or to smell the roses while your extra weapon does all the work.
Players respond to the cinematic
Welp, the cinematic is out now for your viewing pleasure, and the response is... mixed. While pretty much everyone praises the technical quality (Blizzard's got that cinematic magic, which makes it all the more surprising that they went with live action for the movie), there is some back and forth on whether this cinematic stands up to the other two. While fans of Arthas definitely got their fill (and it was interesting to hear Terenas' voice echoing from the past, which hearkens back to perhaps the best cutscene Blizzard's ever done), other players were disappointed to see that this cinematic doesn't follow the standard "various classes and races battle it out" formula. And that only shows that this expansion will be very much more about the guy in the Lich King suit than anything else.We'd point out, too, that this trailer didn't really have a "You are Not Prepared"-style catchphrase (though the word "King" definitely echoes with significance right at the end there). Clearly, Blizzard chose to go a different direction this time around, and whether it worked or not, of course, is up to you.Unfortunately, Gnomes didn't get their day... or did they? When players cry foul on the forums, Vaneras (in official blue text) answered with the picture above. Can you see the Death Knight Gnome hidden in among the Undead army? I like Schwick's answer even better, though -- there's probably a Gnome Rogue stealthed right behind Arthas. Those little buggers are everywhere.Update: A few people are suggesting that there is more to the trailer that we haven't seen, but Nethaera has confirmed that that's everything. She commented on the forums that the trailer only showed half the battle, but later confirmed that she meant the story was incomplete (and that we needed to complete it by going to Northrend), and not that there was more of the trailer to show.
Death Knights get an evil facelift
WoW Insider has a wonderfully Death Knighty (it's a word, we swear!) gallery up that features their recently upgraded look. Now your brand new Hero class will come with blue glowing eyes of despair that will haunt your foes for an enternity! Oh, plus Blizzard added in some new rune graphics for the Death Knight's class mechanic. They're apparently much improved over the last set, so it's a good thing.After looking through the gallery, we were suddenly reminded of a particular blog post about Batman by a Mr. Warren Ellis. We've never been afraid of a Gnome (well, there was this one time on an RP server in Goldshire) but today, we have known fear and its name is Gnome Death Knights. Gallery: New Death Knight skins
A Death Knight with pink pigtails
Ever since we heard way back at BlizzCon last year that Death Knights would be available for all races, the lament has been heard: Gnome Death Knights will ruin it for everyone else. Death Knights are, by their very nature, supposed to be pale and scary and imposing, and given the fact that there are bound to be a ton of Gnome Death Knights out there just for hilarity's sake, the Death Knight starting area is going to look more like a nursery than a gothic bed of evil.But will it really ruin the lore? Daniel already pointed out very insightfully that Gnomes definitely have a dark side -- we all seem to overlook the fact that Gnomes can be Warlocks, and that doesn't make the Felguard they send after you any less scary. And while yes, on launch day, there'll be a lot of Gnome DKs running around (the starting areas will be chaos no matter what gets rolled), after that it should settle down for sure. After all, if Gnomes were all people wanted to play, we'd never see Humans or Dwarves on the realms, and there are plenty of those.So I'm all for Gnome Death Knights, pigtails or otherwise. If nothing else, it'll give us Horde something to laugh at -- right before we go in for the kill.
Sunday Morning Funnies: Of edible size
This week we have a new comic up for scrutiny concerning Blizzcon, a comic depicting the humorous side of the Midsummer Fire Festival, and some pretty aggressive battle strategy. A new comic has sprung up about the adventures of two 'durids' attempting to get to Blizzcon. It makes use of a bit too much lol-speak for my tastes, but what do you guys think? The fellows of Dark Legacy Comics are going to require a Plan B if they hope to reclaim their place on the top of the hierarchy. Also, I am jealous of their murloc action figure. On LFG, the gnomes are coming to save the day! This episode actually stands well on its own. When stealth goes wrong. NoObz. Episode 21 of The Adventures of Disgraph T. Dwarf is A Midsummer Night's Dream. Are you ready to vote?
Gnomes or Dwarves: Which would be better to attach to a bottle rocket?
I don't know if it's just the kid in me that likes to blow things up, but I always find myself aiming to make a few explosions happen around this time of year. As I've grown older and understood more about physics, chemistry, etc., I've come to make the explosions even larger. For instance, putting a bunch of fireworks in a barrel, lightening them all on fire at the same time, and then funneling the explosion towards the ground usually has a humorous result. Humorous might be a few missing fingers, but they can be reattached. And really, who needs their middle finger for anything good? This year I'm going to try to attach things to bottle rockets, perhaps 10 to 20 all tied together in a bundle. My goal is to see how high I can make things go up in the air. It's going to be a grand ol' time. And after all, what better way to celebrate the birth of America than to blow your own little part of it up? All this talk about blowing things up has got me thinking though, which race would fit better on a rocket, and which would fly farther? Gnomes or Dwarves? Let's look at the strengths and weaknesses of both. %Poll-16438%
WWI '08 Panel: Death Knight
Understandably, everyone is begging to know more about the Death Knight class. At WWI, the Blizzard developers discussed the class in depth at both the main Development panel as well as at the Q&A panel. So you don't have to go fishing everywhere to find what you want to know, here's a roundup of new information about Death Knights from WWI so far.Starting AreaThe Death Knight starting area will be an extended area in Northern Plaguelands. The developers feel strongly about keeping people interested in playing in the Old World so they are creating this new zone. I personally hate every zone that has the word "plague" associated with it. Admittedly, I didn't reach either of the current Plaguelands until after I'd upgraded to The Burning Crusade, which meant I really had no time for grinding there since Outland awaited alluringly. However, it will be interesting to see if they make changes to the existing Western and Eastern Plaguelands along with adding content to the North to make these areas more interesting to players -- be they Death Knights or not.
TurpsterVision : Oh and one more Ding!
Every Tuesday TurpsterVision is LIVE (kind of) right here on Massively! Take the 'T' from 'Tuesday' and the 'V' from 'LIVE', smash them together like its going out of fashion and you got yourself TV for TurpsterVision - the best video podcast LIVE right here on Massively! Welcome back, it's been two weeks too long - though I blame that on the fact that its been time to party! Forgetting that, today is a special post, its a game close to my heart, and it isn't a review. It's World of Warcraft folks; there is no need to review it, what do you want me to say? Honestly, it's THE World of Warcraft, there aren't any imitations that even come close, well, maybe one. So I won't bore you with a 5 minute long video reviewing what we already know, instead I have made a 9 minute long video showing off my mad PvP/PvE skills in my recent DINGSTRAVAGANZA! (An event which saw my Shadow Priest finally tip the scales and join the big boys at level 70) It is also a friendly plug/invitation letting you all know that I will be at the World Wide Invitational this weekend in Paris and if any of you guys are out there then I urge you to come seek me and my camera out and share the love!
Examples of "incidental RP"
I love this idea from Matt on WoW LJ -- he points out a few great examples of what he calls "incidental RP." The vast majority of players in the game wouldn't call themselves "roleplayers" (and lots of them might make fun of people who do), but all of us, in playing the game, are buying into the lore and the roles we're playing to a certain extent. If you've ever yelled "for the Horde!" or felt a strange hatred towards Gnomes, guess what -- you've been roleplaying.His examples are a little more silly -- his girlfriend hates parrots (because one of them once killed her in Deadmines), and he'll sometimes answer NPCs, even though they never respond. I do the same thing -- /salute an NPC after grabbing a quest, or yelling "and stay down!" after dropping a major boss or a mob that's given me trouble. That kind of stuff is a far cry from the heavy RP that can go on in game, but just the same, it makes the game more fun. And just like good art, it puts you even more in someone else's (fictional or otherwise) shoes -- what would it feel like to be someone given a quest, or a real member of a group like the Horde? Maybe that's why roleplaying is the wave of the future.Any other great examples of incidental roleplaying? It's another mark of how great Blizzard's game is that the setting, art, and experience of playing pushes people who wouldn't normally get into character to really think about what the person they're playing is all about.
The perils of crossing water on a mount
This is something we've all dealt with: my Hunter is traipsing through Terrokar right now, and nothing makes me more frustrated than hitting those little rivers on my mount and having to dismount in water. When you think about it, the logical reasons for our mounts disappearing once we hit water are pretty sound -- you don't want that cat or wolf you worked so hard for to drown. But on the other hand, it's a huge annoyance -- not only does it slow you down while crossing the water, but you have to wait another second afterwards to resummon the mount.On larger bodies of water, this isn't so bad, but those little rivers are nothing but trouble (and Gnomes have it even worse). Even cowboys knew how to ford with their horses -- why can't we do the same with our mounts?Zarhym, the new CM, doesn't seem very empathetic, so odds are that this won't change anytime soon. We can only hope that in future designs, Blizzard stays away from putting the deeper water all over the landscape, where it acts as nothing but an annoying roadblock in front of our next quest. It's not like we don't have enough problems with the water as it is.
Know your roots have changed; 4E launches a new world
Even while creative maestro Metzen experiments with making World of Warcraft unique among its fantasy peers, there's not much denying that WoW has some pretty solid roots in, and respect for, Dungeons and Dragons. You can see proof of that in the patch notes from 2.4, which were dedicated to pen-and-paper legend, Gary Gygax. Many of us cruising Azeroth have some experience with good old D&D. WoW has pretty strong, deep roots in D&D, and those roots changed with the newly released 4th edition. What's new in the 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons? The class system is radically different, spells work differently, healing works differently, and fights work differently. Okay, it seems everything is pretty much different. But there's one big change that will probably make more than a few folks happy: no more Gnome PCs. Gnomes are now monsters, and not available for play in the core rules. A lot of the speculation about these changes is that D&D might be trying to distance itself a little from the World of Warcraft juggernaut. It's a good thing Blizzard isn't still following its roots. I'm looking forward to my Gnomish Death Knight in Wrath of the Lich King.
