turpster

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  • WoW Insider on Massively Speaking this week

    by 
    Mike Schramm
    Mike Schramm
    11.19.2008

    Miss hearing Turpster and I on the same podcast? I do too -- I think our show has definitely come into its own, but at this point, there's just a scheduling conflict keeping us apart (Turpster's new show is recorded at exactly the same time as ours). Worry not, however, because whenever we can, we'll try to podcast together, and here's your first chance to hear us again: Michael Zenke and Shawn Schuster of our sister site's Massively Speaking podcast invited both of us on to sit down and talk about the Wrath release with them.It was a lot of fun -- we talked about the Wrath launch and how it went, and then went on to hit on some of the most important new features for MMO fans in general, and how Blizzard has really done some great work with the new expansion (while also simultaneously borrowing from other developers). And we confronted the topic of whether there was enough content in Wrath at all, and whether it was a bad thing that all the PvE instances have already been cleared. And finally we talked about the future of WoW, and where we might be headed next.We had a great time (as you can probably hear), and you can listen to the show right on Massively. WoW Insider covers WoW, but Massively covers all MMOs, so if you're also a fan of Guild Wars or LotRO or Warhammer, check them out. And if you're a Turpster fan (who isn't, really?), you can also see him every week in his video series over there, called TurpsterVision. Thanks to Zenke and Schuster for letting us run amuck on their podcast -- we'll have to return the favor on the WoW Insider Show soon.

  • WoW Insider Show Episode 60: Inside Blizzard HQ

    by 
    Mike Schramm
    Mike Schramm
    10.21.2008

    The WoW Insider Show landed at its new home, our new Ustream channel, last Saturday, and things went pretty darn well. We had a nice turnout of listeners from all over, and we had Adam Holisky and Turpster on, along with our guest Patrick Beja (of Azeroth.fr, How I WoW, and all of the other podcasts and features at his site Frenchspin). We had a few contests (one of which is still ongoing for you non-live listeners, so make sure to listen for the details if you haven't heard them yet), and we took some of the new features over at Ustream for a spin, including some fun polls.I'm told our new iTunes feed isn't quite up and running yet, but in the future you'll see an iTunes link here as well. Show notes are after the break.[iTunes] Subscribe to the WoW Insider Show in iTunes.[Ustream] Listen to the unedited recording in Ustream.[RSS] Add the WoW Insider Show to your RSS aggregator.[MP3] Download the MP3 directly.Or listen to Episode 60 right here:

  • WoW Insider Show live on the air

    by 
    Mike Schramm
    Mike Schramm
    10.18.2008

    Our weekly podcast will be going on the airwaves at 3:30pm Eastern (for about an hour and a half or so), and since we've recently uprooted to a new venue, we're trying something new today -- after the jump, we've put an embedded stream of the podcast, which you can listen to right here on WoW Insider.If you like, you can also just go over to the Ustream page itself, and there'll you'll be able to jump into the chat room, and answer some live polls and other things during the podcast. Plus, we'll be giving away some loot codes during the show as well. Patrick Beja will be on with us to talk about his experiences at BlizzCon, and Turpster and Adam Holisky will join us as well. If you're around this afternoon (maybe playing the new patch or just reading up on our latest posts), click the link below to check it out.

  • WoW Insider Show goes live on Ustream tomorrow

    by 
    Mike Schramm
    Mike Schramm
    10.17.2008

    Yes, it's a time of change for the WoW Insider Show -- just a little over a year ago, we started out as a partnership with WoW Radio, but time has passed, we've grown bigger and bigger, and now it's time to move out on our own. What does this mean for you? Nothing much -- it only means that tomorrow afternoon at 3:30pm Eastern, instead of joining us on WoW Radio, you'll be joining us on our brand new Ustream channel, where you'll be able to listen to our podcast live, chat with everyone else listening to the show (no IRC required), and even try out some fun new features we've baked into the festivities. Other than that, nothing else has changed -- we're still providing news and views on the World of Warcraft, and yes, Turpster is still along for the ride. Tomorrow on the show, we'll ask him why he couldn't find a ship captain to carry him across the ocean to BlizzCon, and we'll welcome WoW Insider blogger Adam Holisky (who was at BlizzCon), and our good friend Patrick Beja, who not only attended nearly every panel at last weekend's BlizzCon, but has actually been inside Blizzard HQ as well. Plus, we don't know if you've heard of a little thing called patch 3.0.2, but we'll take a look at what Echoes of Doom has given us, including achievements, glyphs, and all the strange things you've been discovering this week. And we'll even look at what it hasn't given us quite yet.Oh, and did we mention the giveaways? We'll be giving away not one or two but three different loot card codes to live listeners, which is more than we've ever given out before. Remember, instead of WoW Radio, come visit us at our new Ustream channel, tomorrow afternoon at 3:30pm Eastern, for the revamped WoW Insider Show. Same time, same people, same fun, different URL. See you there.

  • WoW Insider Show Episode 59: Rogues gallery

    by 
    Mike Schramm
    Mike Schramm
    10.15.2008

    We've got a lot of WoW Insider Show to cover -- last week, we were so embroiled in the BlizzCon run-up that I didn't have a chance to post about episode 58, and episode 59 was actually taped right in the front entrance of the Anaheim Convention Center on Friday evening. Episode 58 featured our newest columnist, Chase Christian, and we talked about Rogues (obviously -- that's what he writes about), Blizzard's big win against MMO Glider, and the reasons why you still have your honor points and tokens. And in episode 59, we talked BlizzCon, because we were right there -- Gnomewise and Duncor joined me inside the convention center, and we had short cameos from both WoW Radio folks (Maxspeed was around to talk to us), Starman from World of Warcast, and we were able to talk to some fans, too. It was really fun, too -- we should do that more often.So you've got two shows to listen to if you haven't been keeping up -- episode 58 and episode 59 are both over on WoW Radio right now for your listening pleasure. That's a lot of WoW Insider Show, but hey, you can listen in while you're running around doing all of these new achievements in the game. And don't forget, if you want to nab the show even without seeing it posted here, you can always subscribe in iTunes, and you'll automatically downlload it as soon as it's out.And don't forget -- we do this live every Saturday at 3:30pm Eastern -- this week, we'll be back in the virtual studio, Turpster should be back on with us (although lots of people asked me at BlizzCon, no, unfortunately, he didn't find a ship captain willing to give him a ride to BlizzCon), and it should be a lot of fun as always.Listen to Episode 58 here on the page:

  • TurpsterVision: WAR, What is it good for?

    by 
    Mark Turpin
    Mark Turpin
    10.14.2008

    I wont bore you all with words and phrases strung together to create some form of coherence, instead I will jump right back in! I am extremely proud to invite you once more to join in with the fun right here at Massively that is TurpsterVision! "Oi Git face! Wot'z dis? Da same game twice? Dis is an outrage! WAAGHH"It is true folks, we are having a look at Warhammer Online once again here at TurpsterVision, but this time we are looking at the game as a whole and trying to answer that age old question of; is it actually fun to play? Well if I told you here that would ruin all the fun, 'ow about you join me afta da break an' we'll see wot I make of a life at WAR...sorry, been playing Greenskins just a little bit too much recently. Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out our Warhammer guides: Massively's Character Creation Guide and our WoW Player's Guide to Warhammer. Plus, don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!

  • Tomorrow's WoW Insider Show has your chance to win a monkey

    by 
    Mike Schramm
    Mike Schramm
    10.03.2008

    Our weekly podcast is back again this Saturday (as it is every weekend, at 3:30pm Eastern on WoW Radio), and this week's show promises to be a good one. Not only is Turpster going to be on with us, and not only are we welcoming our new columnist Chase Christian to the show for the first time, but we're going to give away probably the best prize we've ever passed out on the WoW Insider Show: a Bananas pet monkey, straight from Turpster's WoW TCG collection.Come for the giveaway, but stay for the discussion, because we'll be chatting about the raid tweaking coming in 3.0.2, the non-Honor wipe, Blizzard's big win in the Glider case, and AoE Tanking and why the devs seem to be passing it out like Hallow's End candy. And as usual, we'll answer your emails and questions -- drop us a note at theshow@wow.com, or join us live during the show on IRC at irc.mmoirc.com in the #wowradio channel.Should be a great time, and hey, if you come listen, you might walk away with your own pet monkey! He'll clean and cook and do all kinds of things for your character in-game.* And his name is Bananas! What a great name for a monkey!*Note: Monkey comes untrained. And it might be hard to train a noncombat pet. But look how cute!

  • WoW Insider Show Episode 57: The return of the Turp

    by 
    Mike Schramm
    Mike Schramm
    10.01.2008

    Our latest podcast is now available for your listening pleasure over on WoW Radio (and in iTunes), and we've got a few familiar faces returning to the fold -- Amanda Dean and Turpster are on this week, and we haven't talked with them in a while. Turpster is back from his trip to the US, and Amanda is back with a whole new character and a new PvE outlook. We hit on: Brewfest, how it's going, and whether it's safe for minors (or miners, as Turpster may have heard) to celebrate a holiday that revolves around drinking and riding rams fast right afterwards. The upcoming Honor reset that we didn't really have a problem with but that didn't happen after all. The Bejeweled addon and some other possibilities for official third-party addons And as usual we answered your emails, including where to get started with WoW Lore and whether Mages or Shamans cry more (I think Shamans probably cry more, but Mages do more unnecessary crying). Plus, we did a giveaway! One lucky listener picked up a code for a Papa Hummel's Old Fashioned Pet Biscuit (boy they're delicious, made from real pets!). And if you didn't win, don't worry -- I hear next week we'll have an even better prize to give away. And yes, speaking of next week, we do this every Saturday at 3:30pm Eastern right there on WoW Radio -- if you've never listened to the show live, it's a hoot. Definitely give the show a listen this week (or subscribe to us in iTunes if you haven't yet), and we'll be back next Saturday as usual with lots more WoW news, views, and fun in tow.Listen here on the page:

  • TurpsterVision : Warhammer proves you don't need a hoe to grow

    by 
    Mark Turpin
    Mark Turpin
    09.24.2008

    I wont bore you all with words and phrases strung together to create some form of coherence, instead I will jump right back in! I am extremely proud to invite you once more to join in with the fun right here at Massively that is TurpsterVision!As you are undoubtedly aware, Warhammer Online hit the shelves last week; and with it brought a whole new level of awesome to the MMO playing field. Right here on the site we have spoken of the joys of Public Quests, Realm Vs. Realm and a whole host of other goodies.I have chosen to just focus on a couple of elements that caught my eye this week and I guess we'll have a more in-depth look at the game in the near future. But for now, grab your Spade or Garden Fork and join me in what could quite possibly be the most bloody battle yet...Cultivating!

  • WoW Insider Show Episode 56: Mage madness

    by 
    Mike Schramm
    Mike Schramm
    09.23.2008

    Just because this last week's WoW Insider Show was prerecorded doesn't make it any less good -- we finally had some excellent Mage talk (Aurdon of ISheepThings.com came on to chat with us), and John "BigBearButt" Patricelli and Duncor and I also talked about lots of other stuff, including (but not limited to): Wrath's release date and how that came about That tough mount achievement and whether it's even possible. Why it's OK for motorcyles to be in a fantasy game. And lots of other things -- we answered your emails, including talking about the First to 80 titles that got removed from the game and how things are going in the beta, both for Mages and everyone else. In fact, Aurdon showed us all up this week -- he's got a nice summary transcript up of everything he said in the show, including some great links to all the stuff we talked about. As usual, the show is up for listening right now over on WoW Radio, and in iTunes as well.Next weekend, we'll be back live on Saturday afternoon, and Turpster, at long last, should be returning to the studio as well. Enjoy the show this week and we'll see you then.Listen here on the page:

  • WoW Insider Show live this afternoon on WoW Radio

    by 
    Mike Schramm
    Mike Schramm
    09.13.2008

    Yes, our weekly podcast will be live in a few hours on WoW Radio (starting up at 3:30pm Eastern), and it'll be a doozy -- Zach Yonzon will join us from his home in the Philippines to talk about PvP to PvE transfers, what's up with the nerfs in the latest beta build, and what other updates Blizzard has for racial abilities. Duncor will be back on (Turpster is, unfortunately, still in Florida), so we'll talk to him to see what he thinks about Mirror Image, Heirloom items, and whether he has any good insights about the AH.Plus, we'll have your emails and insights from the IRC chat -- you can join us in IRC at irc.mmoirc.com in the #wowradio channel during the show, or just click "chat" on the top of the WoW Radio site. And even if you can't make it, you can definitely email us -- just drop a note to theshow@wow.com, and you might even hear it on the air.Should be a good time as always, and I'm very curious to hear how the PvE to PvP transfers discussion goes -- while I'm sure Zach is a big fan, not everyone is, so we'll see what can be said about that. See you at 3:30 this afternoon on WoW Radio!

  • WoW Insider Show Episode 53: A dragon the size of your house

    by 
    Mike Schramm
    Mike Schramm
    09.02.2008

    Just as it does every Saturday, our weekly podcast went live over the weekend, and the recording of the show is now up on the WoW Radio website for listening. Michael Gray joined us for the first time on the show, and Turpster was aboard for the ride as usual. We chatted about a lot of the most popular stories from the last week in Warcraft, including: Answering lots of emails -- during the show, some kind folks started up a We Love Turpster group on Facebook (and WoW Insider is on there as well), and we also tried yet again to eradicate the legendary missing show, episode 23. Downranking also got a revisit, with a look at how healers use it specifically. We talked about the pre-Wrath content patch 3.0.2, and what surprises we saw in there that we thought would be in the expansion release. Michael spoke with us about Bambi showing up in Northrend, and why people were so fascinated by this critter's story. He also talked with us about his series of interviews with high-end Arena players, and the trends he's seeing among the high level Arena play. And finally we talked a little bit about the tech of the game, including the new phasing technology, and how/if we'll see graphical updates come to the game in the future. It was a pretty packed show -- if you listened to the live feed, you know we had a little streaming problem in the beginning, but don't worry, because the recording is complete, so anything you missed then you can hear now. Additionally, if you hear anything that inspire you to write to us, please do: the email is theshow@wow.com. Additionally, you can also look us up in iTunes -- if you haven't written a review of the show there yet, please do, as we're always hungry for feedback.Enjoy the show, and we'll see you next week.

  • WoW Insider Show live Saturday afternoon at 3:30pm Eastern

    by 
    Mike Schramm
    Mike Schramm
    08.29.2008

    Yes, our world famous world class worldwide podcast goes live yet again tomorrow afternoon at WoW Radio, and even though every week in this space, I usually say, "it's going to be a good one," trust me, it always is. Turpster and I will be on as usual, and we'll also welcome blogger Michael Gray from right here at WoW Insider on with us. On the plate you'll find lots of talk about Wrath and the expansion patch, including the new tech and graphics Blizzard is bringing to bear, the scariest raid boss in the game since Hogger, and all the other most popular stories from the World of Warcraft in the past week. And since Mr. Gray will be on (Turpster has to be "Mr. Pink"), we'll also chat about his work here at WI, and his popular Arena interview column.If you've got something you want us to talk about on the show, the email address is theshow@wow.com, and of course we'll be live chatting on IRC during the broadcast at irc.mmoirc.com in the #wowradio channel (or if that means nothing to you, you can just click "Chat" on the WoW Radio homepage).I can guarantee you that if you listen to the show for the first time, two things will happen: 1) you will smile at least once, if not laugh outright, and 2) you will hear something about the World of Warcraft that you didn't know before. Of course, that thing you learn may be something personal about Turpster and what he thinks of Lady Vashj, but hey, we never said we were "world class."

  • WoW Insider Show Episode 51: Downranking no more

    by 
    Mike Schramm
    Mike Schramm
    08.19.2008

    I didn't realize until right now that that was Radiohead's National Anthem sneaking into the WoW Insider Show's theme song -- shows how much I listen to the cool mix of Warcraft sounds that Duncor put into our intro. But yes, if you listen to this week's WoW Insider Show, now available on WoW Radio's website and over in iTunes, not only do you get the dulcet tons of my voice, Turpster's accented vocalizations, and the stylings of WoW Insider's Amanda Dean, but you also get to hear a little bit of Thom Yorke's band as well. And, you'll hear us talking about: The whole BlizzCon deal, specifically if the apology from Mike Morhaime smoothed things over (we mostly think it did). What's up with potion sickness, and whether it'll stay until Wrath goes live. How the downranking changes might affect both PvE and PvP, among a number of other changes coming in the beta And lots of other stuff, including Turpster's appearance on How I WoW, and all kinds of emails from listeners, including a tip about a mobile Armory app, and whether I'm still a Shaman fan or not (I am, but frankly I'm slipping a bit -- Hunters are just so much more fun). If you'd like to email us about something you hear on the show, please do: the address is theshow@wow.com. Enjoy the show this week, and we'll see you next Saturday as always over on WoW Radio for the WoW Insider Show.

  • WoW Insider Show's Turpster on How I Wow

    by 
    Mike Schramm
    Mike Schramm
    08.15.2008

    Somehow, our good friend Turpster has scammed his way was invited on to another podcast, Patrick and Shawn from How I WoW -- a podcast that interviews "interesting people from all walks of life" -- wrangled him into their virtual studio for a long chat about what he's working lately, including our little show, his work with Turpstervision, his musical makings, and his upcoming movie and book, Why I Are teh Best (strangely, they didn't touch on his new fashion line, but that's not coming out 'till the fall anyway). It's a long podcast, and they hit on all kinds of things (from the issues over the leaked Wrath alpha to what kinds of games Turpster's girlfriend beats him at), so definitely give it a listen.How I WoW (both Patrick and Shawn are regulars on The Instance, another popular WoW podcast) has been doing a lot of good stuff so far -- they chatted with our friend Veronica Belmont a little while ago, as well as Felicia Day from The Guild, and they sat down with Curt Schilling a while back to talk Warcraft (and a little bit about the WoW Insider Show, I understand, even if not by name). They've offered a lot of fun indepth looks at people around the WoW community, and not surprisingly, Turpster turns out to be no exception. It's definitely cool to get a look at the man behind the T.

  • TurpsterVision : Bricking It

    by 
    Mark Turpin
    Mark Turpin
    08.12.2008

    First up, great to be back! I wont bore you all with words and phrases strung together to create some form of coherence, instead I will jump right back in! I am extremely proud to invite you once more to join in with the fun right here at Massively that is TurpsterVision!Howdy Folks! I have returned! When we last left our hero I was battling off legions of lowbies on my quest to become a raid boss of Epic proportions. I have so much to tell you all, as I recently discovered the existence of 'T-chlorians' in all living things (They continually speak to us, telling us the will of the T. When you learn to quiet your mind, you'll hear them speaking to you). I have also proven once and for all that 'Jaffa Cakes' are indeed cakes - so everyone's a winner!To mark my return I have chosen a controversial game; Aurora Feint The Beginning. An MMO in the making? Or just the reason that I now have RSI and haven't showered in four weeks? There is only one way to find out ... click through below the cut.

  • WoW Insider Show: The 50th episode

    by 
    Mike Schramm
    Mike Schramm
    08.12.2008

    It was our 50th show this past week on the WoW Insider Show, so you'll have to forgive us for doing a little more backpatting than usual -- we promise that next week we'll be back to form for sure. But in the second half of the show, we did get down to talking WoW business, and the results are now posted online for your listening pleasure. When we weren't looking back at our favorite moments in the show's history so far (and giving away stuff to people who tuned in live), we also hit on: A live version of Ask a Beta Tester, where we answered listeners' questions about the Wrath beta in real time, including how professions work with Death Knights, what we're not so excited about in the beta, and whether there are any grind quests to be found. We devoted some time to discussing the Vicarious incident, and why it's wrong (or, in Adam's view, right) to give a Legendary ranged bow to a Rogue. And we answered emails about Hero classes and the possibility of another expansion announced at BlizzCon, as well as the fact that I dinged 70 last week, and the terrific Nethack, supposedly the first game with Achievements in it. Lots of fun stuff in the show. If you have questions or concerns to share with us, please do so by sending an email along to theshow@wow.com, and you might even hear it on next week's show. And as always stay tuned to WoW Radio on Saturday afternoons at 3:30pm Eastern to hear the show live, or hit us up on iTunes to download each show automatically. Until next time, have a great week.

  • WoW Insider Show Episode 50 live tomorrow afternoon

    by 
    Mike Schramm
    Mike Schramm
    08.08.2008

    Can you believe it's been almost a year since we started our podcast? Since it began, we've welcomed a few guests, joked around plenty, and done a lot (a lot) of what we do best: talking about all the top news from the last week in Warcraft. This week, we're hitting episode number 50, and since it's our quinquagenary, we're going all out: we'll have a review of some of our favorite moments from previous shows, we'll have a few giveaways just for listeners of the live show, and we may even break out the champagne.Oh, and we'll still do all the things we normally do on the podcast -- Adam Holisky with join Turpster and I, and we'll do a live version of our popular Ask a Beta Tester feature (so bring your questions to the IRC channel at irc.mmoirc.com in #wowradio). And we've got to talk about the first player to wield three legendaries at the same time, right? We'll also see what people think of the new hairstyles, and we'll answer your emails (send them to theshow@wow.com).It's gonna be a blowout for sure. Tune in tomorrow afternoon on WoW Radio at 3:30pm Eastern for the fiftieth episode of the WoW Insider Show.

  • WoW Insider Show Episode 48: We just can't wait for Lich King

    by 
    Mike Schramm
    Mike Schramm
    07.30.2008

    Our latest podcast is now up for your listening enjoyment, but beware: there's an aural bomb hidden inside it -- as we suggested last week, if you listen to the show, you just may hear not only Turpster's famous singing voice, but mine and John Patricelli's as well. Please note: WoW Insider can not be held responsible for any trauma caused by hearing our "Just Can't Wait for Lich King" song. It is scary. We also chatted about achievements and why I can't wait for them. And I forgot to mention: the best thing about achievements? Blizzard is giving us another ding graphic for them, this time white! I love that graphic! We talked about the Authenticator, and how it's not quite as secure as everything thought. We all agreed that the mounts and small pets getting out of our bags was a great change. Turpster told us about his experience playing the Wrath beta so far and what he thinks of Death Knights and the new zones. And we answered a lot of emails: we talked about /played time and why it shouldn't be completely embarrassing, and why raiding isn't quite yet done before the next expansion. Oh, and we did give away a beta key, direct from Turpster's goodie bag at WWI. We've selected a winner in our contest already, so if you didn't enter, time is up (that's why we said to listen to the show last week!), and if you did enter, check your email.And finally, Turpster has not yet posted the mp3 of our song (though I'm not sure why you'd want to listen to it any more than you have to), but dotOrion on the WoW Radio forums has cut it directly out of the podcast recording, so if you really want an MP3 of the tune (for blackmail purposes or anything else you need it for), there you go.

  • WoW Insider Show served fresh tomorrow afternoon

    by 
    Amanda Dean
    Amanda Dean
    07.11.2008

    Do you know what's brewing in World of Warcraft this week? Come dish with us on the WoW Insider Show live on the air tomorrow. We've got reservations at 3:30 Eastern on WoW Radio. As always we'll be taking on some of the spiciest topics from the past week. We're still simmering in the wake of WWI announcements, so it's certain that we'll have plenty to talk about. With our intrepid co-lead out of town, the bloggers have cooked up quite a show. I've giggled and flirted my way to acting host for the day (or something like that). I'll be joined by piping-hot Daniel Whitcomb, the sizzling Robin Torres, and the ever-tasteful Turpster this week. What's on the menu? We'll start with a Broken Mage salad with a side of Conjured Manna Biscuits. The meat of the show will be a juicy discussion of what's happened in the past and what we expect for the future. For dessert, temp your taste buds with an array of Beta delicacies with a dash of Paladin Hope. We'll also serve up some reader emails (theshow@wow.com). And we'll cater to the live IRC crowd (at irc.mmoirc.com in the #wowradio channel). Tune in tomorrow, the discussion should be delicious!