murlocs
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Wanna be friends with a murloc?
Who's yer buddy? Murloc's your buddy! At least now he can be since he has his very own MySpace page. Did you know that a murloc's heroes are Jay & Silent Bob? Of course you didn't but now you can learn even more fun facts about murlockind by following his blog. Although his posts are written in Nerglish (e.g., "glmrmrgrbaba! mrllgrmrmrgr grmrmrblmrllrlmrgrmlbllb" is one of his most recent comments), he's provided handy translations for us via an unnamed enslaved Troll. His writings offer insights into his budding filmmaking career and his ongoing feud with his nemesis, Aquaman.Now I'm not much into MySpace, but this profile had me cracking up. Whoever is writing it has the Murloc mindset down cold and provides some funny roleplaying fodder. I don't think I'm alone in wishing Murlocs were a playable WoW class -- even though I know my wish is in vain. I haven't yet gone so far as to play the Murloc RPG, but it does pique my interest. Oh, and ladies, he's single! Catch him while his current mood is "rockin" and before it changes back to "angry."
The Spore report: Murloc sightings
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/Murlocs_in_Spore'; It won't be long until you'll be able to hear the lilting sound of "mgrlllmgrlrrr" across the universe. Spore, the new game from The Sims' Will Wright, which involves creating a species from a single living cell and evolving it all the way through space colonization, is growing murlocs. The official release of Spore's Creature Creator isn't due until Tuesday, June 17, but somehow it broke free early, giving WoW players an early start in trying to create their favorite Azerothian creatures.We got a peek at some of these creations. The little guy to the right was created by a Spore user named Saphirus. If you check the Sporepedia, you'll find some more murloc attempts -- including one by WoW Radio's Duncor. There's even an odd attempt at a kodo (you wouldn't know it except from the description) and a strange looking crocolisk.[Thanks, Andrew.]
The new and improved Murlocs
Just in case you missed it the other week, my absolute favorite part of all the new expansion news was that we will, for the first time ever, be doing something with Murlocs besides killing them. In the Borean Tundra, there will apparently be two Aldor- and Scryer-like factions, with one being called "Wolvar" and consisting of "wolverine people" of some kind (probably not the same as Worgen), and the other being our favorite gurgling landfish.Which is not only awesome because, man, we sure missed Murlocs in Outland, and also because apparently the Oracles (that's what the faction will be called) will be a reputation faction, so we'll actually get to earn reputation with Murlocs. We have no idea how we'll possibly communicate with them, though -- rumor is that they're "more evolved" than the murlocs we've been fighting so far, but it would be super out-of-place to see a Murloc saying anything other than "Murrrglgglrrlgglll!!"Then again, we already know it's possible (at least unofficially) to capture a live Murloc and develop a translator. Never underestimate the power of goblin ingenuity, I guess.
More Wrath of the Lich King impressions and information coming out
WorldofWar.net also got an invitation to the Blizzard event this past week (our invitation must have been lost in the mail, maybe?), and they've got six full pages of text about what they saw. Six pages hard to read though, so we've got all the salient points right here: Both Jeff Kaplan and Tom Chilton presented, with Kaplan showing off the Death Knight class and Chilton showing off the work they've done on Northrend. The Forsaken-designed starting town Vengeance Landing was shown off -- this was the same area we got to play back at Blizzcon, as well as Utgarde Keep They also got to see Valliance Keep (the other Alliance starting area), and Warsong Hold, a huge gothic iron structure run by Garosh Hellscream that Kaplan apparently called the "new look " of the Horde Horde players will be taking a Zepplin up to Northrend The Nexus, in the Coldarra part of the Borean Tundra, is the first instance on the western side of Northrend from Utgarde Keep, and it's a three wing instance with a raid dungeon where players will meet Malygos. The Badge of Justice system will continue in Northrend, but there will be new tokens to act as Badges and be returned for loot. Lots more after the break.
Sunday Morning Funnies: Rouges in Azertoh
This week we have an NPC coup, a battle of the bands, two strikes, and of course, the much beloved mischief. In the Scout Report, #37, a new activist wanders onto the scene. From the Noob Comic comes Area Effect. Sometimes, a mage just can't help himself. Messy Cow has some adventures in Skinning, although she should have been healing. The best part? The "rouge" who was stealing corpses! Teh Gladiators battle their stealthed opponents, and the Murlocs heat up the scene. This week, the commentary beneath the comic is decidedly worth the read. Sockpuppet holds the "Azertoh Battle of the Bands." Yes, I said "Azertoh." Want to see a raid with the characters from Real Life? NoObz #9 brings you to a special mob-held meeting of sorts, where you get to meet the gray kangaroo (wolf). The old computer has finally broken him. A friend of Monkey Punchers is finally Losing It. In LFG this week, my favorite character breaks into a song and dance! Shakes and Fidget have made their Preparations, and with proper hilarity ensuing. This week on Dark Legacy Comics, the NPCs launch plans to take over the world, through Operation: Horace. From Action Trip comes Impressive Knowledge. Seriously, kids these days really know their stuff! Sure, they might lose a finger or a hand, but then they'll know which faction they're dealing with, right? Pass through the break to vote for your favorite from this week's selection.
WoW laser etching impresses and inspires
Here's an example on how to take a really cool concept and make a bad choice. Not that we think the etching itself looks bad, but there are all sorts of other cool WoW designs the owner could have put on this Macbook. We certainly understand the meaning of putting the very image players see when entering World of Warcraft's uh, world, onto your machine. To be honest we were half-expecting to see a Horde or Alliance symbol when we first heard of this homebrewed homage. That being said, the skills of whoever etched this are quite impressive; can we resist saying level 325 etching skill? Nope, we can't.If it were up to us, there would probably be something ridiculous on there like a bunch of Murlocs playing Poker or maybe some kind of breakdancing Troll.
Your least favorite races
We all have our favorite races, whether we actively play them or not. Personally, I have a thing for playing Humans and I desperately want to play an Ethereal one day. At the very least, have an Ethereal presence in Wrath, even a small one.What about your least favorite races, though? We all have those, too. We don't always have good explanations for it, but for one reason or another there's just something that drives us absolutely crazy. My #1 most hated race in Warcraft would have to be Gnolls. What do they even do? Their most famous member is Hogger, who doesn't even do anything. Okay okay, they kill people and that's bad, but they don't do do anything. At least Kobolds mine stuff up.Tell you what, I'll go ahead and give my Top 5 after the jump. If you're interested, go ahead and read on!
Cinemassively: Snacky's Journal, Episode 1
With the Snacky's Journal Episode 4 teaser released yesterday, I guess I'm feeling a bit nostalgic. This award-winning series, by Stone Falcon Productions, is about a gnome rogue, Snacky, and his night elf friend, Angie. They get into all sorts of trouble together, including murloc mishaps, weight training gone wrong, and a fishing fiasco.Episode 1 introduces us to Snacky through his writings in a journal that Angie gives him. As he is finishing up, he is interrupted by his friend, who suggests that they go murloc tipping. You'll just have to watch to see if things go as planned. Apparently Episide 4 could be the very last, so enjoy the series while you can!
WoW Moviewatch: Ultimate Snowdown
What do you get when you cross a human, an elf, and a murloc? The Warcraftmovies Christmas Spirit Contest third place winner, of course! Lafawnduh created Ultimate Snowdown to remind us what Christmas is all about - sticking it to the man. Wait, no. It was about those darn murlocs!When a human sets off for that perfect holiday tree, he doesn't expect to encounter competition. Not ready to give up his territory, he takes the petty way out and pelts the elf with a snowball. As the elf gathers a posse, the human has no choice but to do the same, erupting into an all out snowball war. When they take their eyes off the prize, well ... you'll see what happens![Via Warcraftmovies.com]Previously on Moviewatch...
Cinemassively: Ultimate Snowdown
Christmas has finally arrived, and Lafawnduh has an important message for all of you. Get along, work together, and don't be greedy, or the murlocs will take over. Well, that's not actually what he meant in this World of Warcraft Machinima, but it's close enough. Ultimate Snowdown recently won 3rd place in the Warcraftmovies Christmas Spirit Contest.When a human and an elf are on the hunt for the perfect Christmas tree, they discover that they're after the same one. Rather than calmly resolve the dispute, they resort to a snowball fight that ... snowballs out of control. As their friends get involved, there is an epic power struggle. In the end, though, they both got what they deserved.Remember the murlocs, and have a Cinemassively Christmas![Via Warcraftmovies.com]
Around Azeroth: Meet the family
Normally I flee screaming at the sight of Murlocs in a group. After all, if you see one, you know there must be two or three more hiding nearby, waiting to pounce on you if you approach. By this logic, if you see three Murlocs in plain sight, there must be an additional six to nine hiding in the bushes -- more than enough to overwhelm the most powerful of players. But these guys are so cute! How could you possibly run from them? Kyuketsuki of Malygos, who sent this shot in, was apparently one of the lucky ones who managed to attend BlizzCon 07 and BlizzCon 05, as evidenced by the Murloc suit and the Murky pet. The other two critters? They're part of a devious quest chain in Zabra'jin, Zangarmarsh, which aims to introduce Murlocs to the currently Murloc-free Outland.Taken a screenshot that highlights the ordinary in an extraordinary way? We'd like to see it on Around Azeroth! All you have to do is e-mail aroundazeroth@wow.com with a copy of your screenshot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could find your pictures and story featured next!%Gallery-1816%
Cinemassively: Limited Escapism - To Cure a Hangover
When an orc wakes up with a horrible hangover and no booze in sight, he heads for the video store. The clerk begins showing him a series of movies, some hits and some misses. This Machinima has it all - guns, anime girls, tentacles, music, and murlocs.BaronSoosdon has done it again! With voice acting by Nyhm & Olibith, and creative use of World of Warcraft and Unreal Tournament 2004, it's no surprise that this movie won first prize in the comedy category of the Fabled Few contest. My personal favorite mini-clip was "Unlimited Escapism - Liberation." What was your favorite moment?
WoW giveaways winners: Murloc suit and 3 game cards
As some of you may have noticed by now, we've been busy giving stuff away last week and all this week in celebration of our launch. We've been waiting for many of the winners to get back to us (and we've also been busy with a bunch of other stuff!), so we'll be rounding up our winners and making official announcements this week and next. If you haven't seen a winners post for a contest you entered yet, sit tight! They're coming. Right now I'm happy to announce all four winners from our day of WoW giveaways: Winner of the first 60-day game card: Commenter #253, Grendel! Winner of the second 60-day game card: Commenter #93, Girricane! Winner of the third 60-day game card: Commenter #25, Joshua Z! Winner of our grand finale BlizzCon murloc suit: Commenter #36, Moragaine, who is somewhere right now spamming guild chat like a fool. Congratulations to all the winners, and thanks to everyone who entered! Over the rest of the week you'll have plenty more chances to win stuff, so stay tuned!
Around Azeroth: Murloc nesting dolls
Okay, perhaps these Murlocs aren't actual nesting dolls, but they do have the right look to them. (Much like these charming Furbolg we've talked about previously.) However, I think we have to all applaud Magecakes of Archimonde for managing to get together such a large group of Murlocs without any fighting breaking out. Mrrgrgrlll my brothers, mrrgrgrrgl!Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth or Outland that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing a copy to aroundazeroth@wow.com, with as much or as little detail as you'd like to share with the world! %Gallery-1816%
Mrrrrgllhllrrll in real life
Okay, it probably grosses less at the theater than "Dan in Real Life", but this picture, sent to WendellGrave by one of his guildies, definitely looks like a real-life murloc. Our own Arturis suggests that this is a sculpture made from a fish body, but I think we can all agree that whatever it is, it's really quite ugly. No word on why this was created, but it does remind me of the Fiji Mermaid. The Fiji Mermaid is a popular attraction at carnival freak shows. It's a "mermaid" usually made from papier-mache and fish parts, with a dash of monkey thrown in. For those of you disappointed in this fakery, I present an indisputable real-life tauren, as well as the warlock epic mount in its natural habitat of the Ford Mustang. Is this an accurate murloc or not? What do you think it's made from? [Thanks, WendellGrave!]
Forum Post of the Day: What's the sound Murlocs make?
On the official forums, poster Soylent has started a discussion of how precisely to represent the Murloc sound in text. Suggestions vary from the traditional "mrglmrglmrglmrgl" to "aurrrrrrrrruuuuggguglugglugglugluguaa," with Blizzard poster Bornakk chiming in to let us know that in the I Am Murloc music video, the official line was "rwlrwlrwlrwl," though he points out that both "mgrlllmgrlrrr" and "mrrglrlrlrmgrrr" are acceptable alternatives. Until Blizzard releases an official spelling and pronunciation guide, we're on our own -- so what do you do when you're trying to convey the frightful sound of the Murloc to others?
Murloc suit in action
If you can't make it to Blizzcon with us, you can still grab a Murloc Suit on eBay for a redonkulus amount of real world moolah, or you can just indulge in the video above. If you are here, look for us and say hello (we've got swank WoW Insider badges thanks to Amanda)! If you're not here, look forward to our exhaustive coverage from the show floor tomorrow. Woot!
A whole herd of Tauren, fighting an instance of bosses
I love this-- reader David B sends us news that he was chatting with this Alliance guildies about what to call a group of Horde ("Hordies," of course, but read on), and they eventually came up with a list of collective nouns for the various player groups of Azeroth.You know what collective nouns are-- like a gaggle of geese, or a swarm of bees. I've reprinted David's list below the jump, and I have to say, some of it is genius: "a blush of Blood Elves," "a den of rogues," and a "congregation of priests" are definitely my favorites. But there is some room for improvement-- "an annoyance of gnomes" is funny, but couldn't there be a better word for that? Maybe a "short stack"?And there have got to be better things to call a group of Alliance and a group of Horde, so post your own ideas in the comments below. I have to say, though, "a murder of Murlocs" is just about perfect. Don't touch that one.
WoW Moviewatch: The Murloc Dance
I'm not sure how I missed out on this Myndflame video, now nearly a year old. As with all of their music videos, it's expertly edited with some catchy tunes in the background -- and, best of all, this video features everyone's favorite Azerothian character, the Murloc! Dance on my Murloc brothers, dance on!Previously on Moviewatch...
WoW Moviewatch: It's beginning to look a lot like fish-men
Do we have any Lovecraft fans in the audience? If so, perhaps you'll recognize this jaunty carol set in the Warcraft universe by machinima-maker Asfaril. And if you're not a Lovecraft fan? Well, it's still an entertaining murloc video.Previously on Moviewatch...[Thanks, Mats]
