world-of-warcraft-interviews
Latest
15 Minutes of Fame: Classic raiders keep a different pace
15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft personalities of all shapes and sizes -- from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, from the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about. The old days are long gone, Gramps; take off the rose-colored glasses and play Wrath, where raiding is better than ever. So goes conventional wisdom in the comments whenever anyone espouses a little nostalgia for the old days of vanilla WoW. Raiding was a far different animal back then. Players who raided were still considered hardcore -- "casual raiding" wasn't on the radar yet -- and devoted week after week of angling for a 40-man raid slot in hopes of earning the chance at a purple drop. Even though strategy sites for WoW raids blossomed sooner rather than later, videos and the trustworthy guides remained relatively sparse, and many early guilds developed their own tactics and jealously guarded alternative strategies. Standing at the mailbox in Ironforge with a massive, raid-sized weapon on your back meant wielding a badge of achievement that attracted a small crowd; bearers would be flooded with awed whispers asking where it was from. A thoughtful look back at WoW's 40-man past yields both positives and negatives. It wasn't simply the size of the raids that made them feel so different than today's raids ; it was the interplay of raid size, the inexperience of the raiding player base, the scarcity and difficulty of rewards, the lack of universally accepted tactics and strategies ... A whole host of influences that simply can't be replicated today. But while the era may long cold and dead, the content is still very much alive. Beyond the bored, pre-expansion players who are fending off burnout by sightseeing in vanilla WoW and The Burning Crusade instances lies another layer of players who are attacking old content with level-appropriate characters. These classic raiders aren't fruitlessly attempting to recreate the past; rather, they're enjoying an entirely different pacing for the game.
15 Minutes of Fame: Star Trek's Nog talks with WoW.com
15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft personalities of all shapes and sizes -- from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, from the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about. We continue our conversation this week with battlegrounds fan Aron Eisenberg, who played the youthful Ferengi Nog on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. With five level 80s, two WoW-playing sons and an insatiable appetite for mixing it up in BGs, Aron's a WoW player to the core. "I noticed that people want to say hi or something in BGs," he emailed us after last week's interview, revealing the name of his main level 80, Vasuna. "Maybe we should tell Allies to /salute if they see me -- then let the fighting begin. Might be a fun way to give a nod and let the game begin, so to speak." So here we go: /salute, and let's talk more with Aron about what he's doing professionally these days, plus his thoughts on what lies ahead in Cataclysm. Read Part 1: Deep Space Nine's Nog gets his BG on 15 Minutes of Fame: So we understand you're spending more time behind the camera than in front of it these days, running your own videography company. Tell us about your new emphasis. Aron Eisenberg: Basically, I did that because I wanted to make movies some day. But I couldn't go to film school because I had two boys that I needed to raise. So I thought I would do this so I could learn more about editing and using a camera and going behind the scenes, so when they're older and out of the house, I can then push myself into making films and movies. It's a plan; I don't know how well it'll come to fruition.
15 Minutes of Fame: Deep Space Nine's Nog gets his BG on
15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft personalities of all shapes and sizes -- from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, from the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about. WoW feels more like "Battlegrounds Galactica" when Aron Eisenberg, who played the youthful Ferengi Nog on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, logs in. The battlegrounds aficionado is a huge WoW player and Blizzard games fan, with five level 80 characters, two WoW-playing sons and an easy familiarity with WoW.com's features and content that could possibly rival that of some of our own staff members. The admiration is mutual; we've been known to bring the Ferengi perspective to our articles. Speaking of perspectives, Aron has plenty of his own to share in this two-part 15 Minutes of Fame, as well as an appearance on this week's WoW Insider Show. Beam past the break for part one of our exclusive interview.
15 Minutes of Fame: The Guild's Michele Boyd
15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft personalities of all shapes and sizes -- from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, from the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about. You probably know Michele Boyd as "Riley" of The Guild, the so-called "stupid tall hot girl" who's into FPS and is a ranked Halo player. Now, get to know Michele as a WoW player and gamer in her own right. Does she game with her cast-mates from The Guild? What's she playing right now? What about work? After all that, does she ever feel "gamed" out? WoW.com's 15 Minutes of Fame gives you an inside view with this exclusive interview with Michele, chatting about how she blends The Guild (the show) with her guild (in game). 15 Minutes of Fame: First on everyone's minds -- what's your WoWstyle, Michele? Michele Boyd: I play on Zangarmarsh. I actually started out on Dark Iron, a PvP server -- but I gotta say, I enjoy not worrying about getting ganked every five minutes. Trying to level your way through Stranglethorn when you're watching your back for rogues upped the stress level quite a bit! l like the competitive nature of the quests and getting the best loot/gear. It's fun in raids when you're competing over who's top of the DPS meter, but the friendly atmosphere of a guild means you're genuinely happy for people when they win rolls on a best-in-slot piece of gear. Unless they beat you.
15 Minutes of Fame: Deployed soldier games from Iraq
15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft personalities of all shapes and sizes -- from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, from the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about. Ahh, the life of an Iraqi farmer. According to WoW player FallenWolf, currently deployed in Iraq with the U.S. Army (FSC, 7th Engineer Battalion), farming is about all most U.S. military WoW players there can reliably expect to accomplish. Desert sand and insta-cast DoTs have not proven to be particularly compatible for this former (and soon-to-be returning) raiding warlock. We visited with FallenWolf about how he's managed to adapt to being halfway across the world from his guild and his wife (a frequent WoW partner), plus how he copes with an awkward schedule and ugly latency.
15 Minutes of Fame: Olympic swimmer Megan Jendrick
15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft personalities of all shapes and sizes -- from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, from the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about. There's only so many training hours you can spend in a swimming pool; that's why Olympic medalist Megan Jendrick fills her dry-dock time in World of Warcraft. Surprised to find an Olympian such as Megan in WoW? The very private Jendrick likes it that way. WoW is her private time to destress, let her hair down and turn the laser focus of a champion to something entirely entertaining. "My first main character was a moonkin druid, which I actually started because I thought it was funny that they had aquatic form," she laughs. "Then I started playing a rogue when I got more into PvP, because I didn't want to heal for arena. I had to go with DPS, because I think I'm just a little too competitive to have to rely on someone else to win matches."
The Colosseum: Salinelol, shadow priest of Illidan
The Colosseum takes us inside the world of the gladiator to interview some of the top arena fighters on the battlegroups. Our goal is to bring a better understanding of the strategy, makeup and work that goes into dueling it out for fame, fortune and Frostwyrms. If you'd like to be interviewed for The Colosseum, please feel free to contact us -- be sure to include your armory as a link! This week, The Colosseum had the pleasure of interviewing Salinelol, shadow priest of Illidan. Salinelol is a member of the rank 1 3v3 team on his battlegroup (US Rampage) and one of the world's highest-rated shadow priests. Read on to find out what he has to say about priests, arena strategy and Cataclysm. The Colosseum: Why do you play a shadow priest? What is it about the class's toolbox that appeals to you for competitive arena? Salinelol: I mostly like it because I'm so good at it, I don't really like doing things that I don't excel at. It was between priest and one of the faceroll classes, so I chose this. I pretty much like shadow's ability to off-heal. The ability to off-heal and not run OOM (out of mana) if you're good with your mana is a huge tool. Very interesting. You mentioned that priest isn't a faceroll class. What makes it more difficult to play than other classes? Well, I think that it's harder than some classes because of the priest's need to decide between what to do in any given situation. The priest can do damage, focus on CC or damage reduction, or just out-heal the damage. Each of these come in handy for certain, specific situations. Can you go into detail about your PvP spec?
15 Minutes of Fame: Jace Hall Show producer Todd Roy
15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft personalities of all shapes and sizes -- from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, from the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about. Behind every successful star stands a savvy, creative, inspired producer. In the case of TV and video game producer Jace Hall (The Jace Hall Show), that producer is Todd Roy. Todd pretty much epitomizes today's casual yet completely gung-ho WoW player -- only he does it from a perspective that includes rubbing elbows with some of the most well known figures in gaming and geekdom today. We talked to Todd about finding time for WoW while working a Hollywood-paced schedule, cracking up over Stan Lee's infectious laugh and whether or not Olivia Munn really is that hot in person ... All after the break.
The Colosseum: Bandler, priest of Blackrock
The Colosseum takes us inside the world of the gladiator to interview some of the top arena fighters on the battlegroups. Our goal is to bring a better understanding of the strategy, makeup and work that goes into dueling it out for fame, fortune and Frostwyrms. We're especially focused on the people who play these games, to further shed light on the world of the PvP player. If you'd like to be interviewed for The Colosseum, please feel free to contact us -- be sure to include your armory as a link! This week, The Colosseum had the pleasure of interviewing Bandler, priest of Blackrock. Bandler is on one of the highest rated 5v5s in the world, as well as having exceptionally good "high scores" for arena statistics. Read on to find out what he has to say about priests, arena strategy, and practical advice. The Colosseum: Why do you play priest? What is it about the class's toolbox that appeals to you for competitive arena? Bandler: For me, priests are one of the most versatile classes. We're able to do steady healing, yet we can put out a lot of damage at the same time. What's the coolest thing you've ever done in arena? Don't be modest. I guess Shadow: Word Deathing a Blind is cool.
15 Minutes of Fame: WoW buoys autistic youngster
15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft personalities of all shapes and sizes -- from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, from the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about. Should little kids play World of Warcraft? Players and non-players, parents and childless alike seem to relish pontificating. Ultimately, it all comes down to active parenting -- you have to judge whether your child's development and personality are suited for a dunk in the waters of a massively multiplayer world, and you have to stay plugged in, yourself. For WoW player Tsiva, mother of an 8-year-old with Asperger Syndrome, the decision to bring her son into the game has paid off. "It's helped with his reading, counting, confidence, motor skills and it's provided him with a heck of an incentive to work hard outside of the game," she reports. Tsiva's been blogging since last summer about her son's adventures in Azeroth, in the hopes that their experience will enlighten other players and spread awareness of the ways playing games like World of Warcraft can be a positive force for many children, including those with disabilities.
The Colosseum: Zanso, warrior of Crushridge
The Colosseum takes us inside the world of the gladiator to interview some of the top Arena fighters on the battlegroups. Our goal is to bring a better understanding of the strategy, makeup and work that goes into dueling it out for fame, fortune and Frostwyrms. We're especially focused on the people who play these games, to further shed light on the world of the PvP player. If you'd like to be interviewed for The Colosseum, please feel free to contact us -- be sure to include your Armory as a link! The Colosseum had the pleasure of interviewing gladiator Zanso, warrior of Crushridge. Zanso's 3v3 team, CAN WE BE IN THE TIE, is 2700+ rated, and currently the #3 warrior-priest-druid composition worldwide. Read on to find out what he has to say about warriors, arena strategy, and Cataclysm. The Colosseum: Why do you play a warrior? What is it about the class's toolbox that appeals to you for competitive arena? Zanso: When you think of a warrior, you think of a two-hander, and Mortal Strike, but when I play it, it's more than that. Warriors have so much utility, more than any class in PvP I believe -- to do so much more (Defensive Stance, etc) and thats why it's still appealing to me. What's the coolest thing you've ever done in arena? Don't be modest. Probably the coolest would be when I Intervened my priest partner then cast Spell Reflection. I killed an elemental shaman with his own EMCL (Elemental Mastery + Chain Lightning). That's very cool. Have you ever played any other games competitively? If so, what skills did you learn from them that helped you to be a better arena player? I was always a Counter-Strike player (1.3-Source) -- I have learned to never give up or lose hope if I'm facing skilled, well-known opponents. If you think you're going to lose, you probably are.
15 Minutes of Fame: Actress and GM Michele Morrow
15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft personalities of all shapes and sizes -- from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, from the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about. Actress Michele Morrow makes no secret of the fact that she's a WoW player. In fact, she's let it be known that she's more than a little interested in appearing in Sam Raimi's upcoming WoW movie. You may recognize the raiding guild leader's face from horror and dramas such as "Basement Jack" (2009), "The Seer" (2007) and "Slaughterhouse of the Rising Sun" (2005), as well as small-screen turns on CBS' "The Young and the Restless" and ABC's "Alias." Life and WoW have become inextricably entwined for the 32-year-old actress. "I told my guild (<Neverender>, US Thorium Brotherhood-H) that they aren't allowed excuses in raiding after reading your interview with Quad," Morrow told 15 Minutes of Fame. "I actually cried when I read that story; what an incredibly determined individual. I myself suffered a neck injury a few years back, falling on my head in a stunt accident in a movie ("Basement Jack") after being vaulted in the air 15 feet. I'm lucky I wasn't paralyzed. Really lucky. But being in a neck brace for a year is what got me into WoW. It gave my boyfriend and I something to do together."
The Colosseum: Loinclothz, Hunter of Sargeras
The Colosseum takes us inside the world of the gladiator to interview some of the top Arena fighters on the battlegroups. Our goal is to bring a better understanding of the strategy, makeup and work that goes into dueling it out for fame, fortune and Frostwyrms. We're especially focused on the people who play these games, to further shed light on the world of the PvP player. If you'd like to be interviewed for The Colosseum, please feel free to contact us -- be sure to include your Armory as a link! WoW.com had the pleasure of interviewing Relentless Gladiator Loinclothz, hunter of US Sargeras-A. Loinclothz is currently holding down top-five positions in every bracket on his battlegroup. His fourth-ranked 2v2, fourth-ranked 3v3 and first-ranked 5v5 make Loinclothz one of the top-rated players in the world. His 5v5 is also ranked #2 on U.S. realms. The Colosseum: Why do you play a hunter? What is it about the class's toolbox that appeals to you for competitive arena? Loinclothz: I suppose the reason why I decided to play a hunter in the beginning is because when all my friends picked up WoW for the first time, we all chose different classes, and because I was the last to pick, I got the hunter. Nobody else wanted to play it. I fell in love with the class almost immediately -- I think the reason is because a hunter brings to the arena (and the game in general) a playstyle completely unlike any other class. You can make comparisons between, say, a rogue and a warrior being in melee range and using energy/rage, or a warlock and a mage being spellcaster types. Hunter has its own distinct playstyle which combines an awesome physical DPS but from a ranged perspective. Also, because of the dead zone, the way a hunter moves in arena is completely unique and extremely enjoyable. Do you still play with any of those friends? I don't. This was actually back in vanilla. Out of the group of us that started, only a couple made it to level 60 and raided seriously, and eventually all of them (including myself) quit when The Burning Crusade came out. I started playing again about two months after the release of WotLK, and the only reason was to test out this exciting new thing called "arena."
15 Minutes of Fame: Questing through what Cataclysm will change forever
15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft personalities of all shapes and sizes -- from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, from the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about. Leveling an alt in today's pre-expansion era is an exercise in nostalgia: "Last time we'll ever search for Mankrik's wife" and "Last time we'll have to run back and forth to the red crystal." Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it. The game world will be changed forever, even for players who do not purchase the expansion. Will even Barrens chat survive? (/gasp) Into this volatile atmosphere steps a guild with a purpose: <There and Back Again>. This Alliance-side group of rerollers on US Thorium Brotherhood is devoted to romping through all the content that will be gone, gone, gone come Cataclysm. It's a quest that innumerable alts across Azeroth are undoubtedly pursuing on their own -- but these folks are doing it together in one happy, sprawling effort. "While I'd love to have great numbers of new people come over and join us for our fun little endeavor, I don't want to oversell what it is: we're having a good time and seeing things that some people will miss entirely once the new expansion hits -- not much more than that," notes GM Mistigris modestly. "Still, it's a great group of people and a fairly unique reason for coming together."
The Colosseum: Abni, mage of Mal'Ganis
The Colosseum takes us inside the world of the Gladiator to interview some of the top Arena fighters on the battlegroups. Our goal is to bring a better understanding of the strategy, makeup, and work that goes into dueling it out for fame, fortune, and Frostwyrms. We're especially focused on the people who play these games, to further shed light on the world of the PvP player. If you'd like to be interviewed for The Colosseum, please feel free to contact us -- be sure to include your armory as a link! Today's interviewee is Relentless Gladiator Abni, an arcane mage from Mal'Ganis. Abni is currently on the world's #1 rogue-mage-priest composition. In addition to holding the #1 3v3 spot down on the Stormstrike battlegroup, Abni is also #1 in 2v2. In this week's column, we asked him about rogue-mage-priest, his particular character choices, and the state of arena in general. Read on to see what the Relentless Gladiator mage had to say. WoW.com: In YOUR opinion, which classes are lagging behind right now?
15 Minutes of Fame: "Beating WoW" in sight for world-class achiever
15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft personalities of all shapes and sizes -- from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, from the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about. You'd think that the guy who has the third highest number of achievement points in the world would be a little uptight, a little bookish, maybe even a little anal retentive ... You'd be wrong. Caspi of EU Terrordar is so laid back, so friendly, so enthusiastic about the game that we had to break the rules and leave in all the smilie emoticons he peppered throughout our e-mail interview. They were just that infectious. A solid guild, a tight group of friends who enjoy spending time together, and an abundant sense of adventure have boosted Caspi to an astounding 11,495 achievement points. The only achievements he lacks are for Icecrown Citadel accomplishments that his guild is currently still working through. How'd he do it? Does he have a life? With gusto, and absolutely -- and we'll show you how, after the break.
The Colosseum: Jeebeez, restoration shaman of Hyjal
The Colosseum takes us inside the world of the Gladiator to interview some of the top Arena fighters on the battlegroups. Our goal is to bring a better understanding of the strategy, makeup, and work that goes into dueling it out for fame, fortune, and Frostwyrms. We're especially focused on the people who play these games, to further shed light on the world of the PvP player. If you'd like to be interviewed for The Colosseum, please feel free to contact us -- be sure to include your armory as a link! Today's interviewee is Jeebeez, current holder of 1st place in US-Whirlwind's 3v3 bracket. He plays a somewhat unusual composition of restoration shaman-frost mage-shadow priest. We thought it'd be interesting to ask him a few questions about arena and his 3v3 team. WoW.com: What's the most impressive thing you've ever done as a restoration shaman in arena? Don't be modest. Jeebeez: I 2v3'd Worlds team back in season 6 playing restoration shaman/rogue. Also, we just recently had a pretty sick kill on a warlock (playing WLD). We killed the pet, switched to warlock. I shocked Fel Domination, blanket silence into another shock on Fel Domination into death of the warlock. That was when I had about 30 ms though (almost no lag). Restoration shamans are about consistency more than anything, so its probably more important to be consistent with shocks/grounds/heals/Purges than it is to pull something crazy off. WoW.com: Why did you choose to play your 3v3 team makeup over other possible compositions? Jeebeez: Well, I've tried comps like RLS (rogue-warlock-shaman) and warlock/mage/restoration shaman (wizard cleave or spell cleave) and have found the skill cap on wizard cleave just isn't that high on live. RLS has a steeper learning curve than shatterplay (frost mage-shadow priest-restoration shaman) but I lacked the people to play with. I guess I play shatterplay because I enjoy the switch coordination and the high damage output it does.
15 Minutes of Fame: 76-year-old player relies on strategy
15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft personalities of all shapes and sizes -- from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, from the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about. Who's the oldest player you know? WoW's player base is so immense today that most of us know someone over age 50 who plays. These older folks most often turn out to be friends-and-family style players, tucked away among other family members -- grown sons and daughters, grandchildren, nieces and nephews -- using World of Warcraft to connect with family members across the generations and the miles. Finding an older player who's come to the game on his own terms can be like looking for a needle in a haystack. When we finally got wind of septuagenarian player Loyal Leitgen, we knew we'd found a player who could give us a fresh perspective on the older player's point of view. He hadn't been introduced to the game by the younger generation -- in fact, he'd been the one to usher his grown sons into the game. The problem was, we couldn't interview him until we could catch up with him. When we fired off our first e-mail, he'd just left the United States and was bound for Switzerland. We finally tracked down the energetic retiree in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he was visiting one of his sons who was working on an international business venture. We chatted with him on Skype to learn why the 76-year-old gamer thinks WoW offers something for everyone.
The Colosseum: Athlete, paladin of Mug'thol
The Colosseum takes us inside the world of the Gladiator to interview some of the top Arena fighters on the battlegroups. Our goal is to bring a better understanding of the strategy, makeup, and work that goes into dueling it out for fame, fortune, and Frostwyrms. We're especially focused on the people who play these games, to further shed light on the world of the PvP player. If you'd like to be interviewed for The Colosseum, please feel free to contact us -- be sure to include your armory as a link! This week, we interviewed a four-time rank one gladiator, Athlete of Mug'thol. The Merciless, Deadly, Furious, Relentless Gladiator talked to us about his very interesting and uncommon 3v3 composition of mage-warrior-holy paladin, as well as some basic arena advice for new PvPers. WoW.com: You have four rank one titles! It's probably safe to say you know what it takes to be successful in arena. What's your advice to players who want to start playing arenas for the first time? Athlete: My best advice would be to register an account on ArenaJunkies.com and read it often. There are many kinds of people on that website that would gladly go out of their way to help you out. They also have a really good recruitment tool to find teammates. Find some players that are on your skill level and build up a good friendship and some synergy with them. Make sure your setup can work and play often. WoW.com: What do you think about warriors getting Disarmed while Bladestorming?
15 Minutes of Fame: The Syndicate's 14 years of gaming
15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft personalities of all shapes and sizes -- from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, from the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about. The Syndicate first came to our attention a couple of weeks ago, when we noted the meta-guild's 14th anniversary in The Classifieds. Its 600+ members (across both World of Warcraft and Ultima Online) enjoy ties to all sorts of intriguing gaming and charitable projects: writing strategy guides, beta testing, games consulting, raising support for military troops through gaming. A visit to their web site yields pages and pages on the group's history and projects. Considering such massive numbers inside such a sprawling organization, you might be tempted to conclude that these gamers must be very, very "hardcore." Not so fast. In fact, The Syndicate's in-game philosophy uplifts long-standing, person-to-person relationships and group fun above all else. Outside projects such as games consulting and strategy guides focus on material for the typical gamer – that's right, not the bleeding edge. We dug up what's going on inside this gargantuan guild in an interview with Dragons, its founding GM, president and CEO.
