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Jens "Little Evil" Pulver chats about World of Warcraft
Jens "Little Evil" Pulver is no stranger to the world of fighting -- he was the first UFC lightweight champion back in 2001 and coached on The Ultimate Fighter 5 reality show for Spike TV. But Jens also has a passion for World of Warcraft and gaming in general. We interviewed Jens back in 2010 for 15 Minutes of Fame, in which he discussed balancing gaming with a busy life and the history of his many, many characters. Jens pointed out he was on a light WoW schedule at the end of the interview, just because real life was ramping up to being incredibly busy. However, in the above video shot by MiddleEasy TV, it's clear that Jens is still enjoying WoW and enjoying chatting about WoW. Not only that, he's picked up Diablo III as well. While I don't know much about fighting, I do know my WoW, and it's fascinating to hear tales of the days of vanilla, of exploits that have long since been fixed, and to hear from a guy who quite simply just loves playing the game -- a guy who's been playing as long as I have. Give the interview a listen; it's a fascinating glimpse into the history of WoW and an all-around nice chat.
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."
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."
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.
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.
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.
15 Minutes of Fame: Making the RP-LARP connection
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. Those silly LARPers ... Everyone loves to poke fun at a guy in costume, right? We uncovered a group of WoW roleplayers who have been dipping into LARP (Live Action Role Play) on the side -- and we have to say, the only fun being poked is the excellent variety on the blades of their weapons at their local events. If you're not familiar with the concept, LARPing is a form of roleplaying in which players physically act out their characters' actions. With elaborate costumes, weaponry and character histories, players engage not only in combat but also diplomacy, scouting and simple in-character socializing over a good drink. While fantasy is by far the most common genre of LARPers, historical, western and sci-fi groups get their fair share of attention, too. "I find LARP both a relaxing and strenuous past-time which stretches me physically and creatively," says Skulleater of EU The Venture Co, leader of roleplaying guild The Shatterskull Marauders and experienced LARPer. "This in turn was to have a distinct impact on my roleplaying in World of Warcraft, and Live Action Role Playing has helped create a solid foundation for ideas and rules for events in which members of my guild have had the chance to participate in. People who began roleplaying in WoW have found enjoyment in participating in Live Action Role Playing with us, while many LARPers I know of have begun roleplaying in WoW as a result of their enjoyable experiences at LARP." It seems other players would agree. "In a small community, it's very easy for things to become stale, but because of his unconventional inspirations from other forms of RP (DnD, LARP, etc.), Skulleater has become something of a breath of fresh air," wrote tipster Samuel. "I met Skully through WoW and have since met him in real life. He's a great bloke and would have convinced me to try LARP if it weren't for a recent surgery that prevented such activities. I'll definitely be trying it next year."
15 Minutes of Fame: Getting strict about 10-man content
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. Ten-man raids represent the easy mode of endgame raiding -- true or false? Answer: It depends. Savvy players recognize that 10-man content is easier as a whole only when undertaken by players decked out in 25-man raid gear. Even a few key 25-man pieces among several raiders can tip the power balance of a 10-man encounter. But in today's 25-man world, keeping 10-man gear and power pools pure is quite the challenge. Those who succeed see their efforts go unrewarded when 25-man groups snatch away progression achievements after overpowering the content with 25-man gear. A growing number of small guilds are working out player-friendly solutions to these dilemma in the so-called "10-man strict" movement. Why bother? We visited with 10-man strict raider Ghengie of <Amicus> (transferred to EU Haomarush as of this weekend; Armory update pending) to examine the challenges and rewards of endgame raiding on the smallest scale.
15 Minutes of Fame: The Frag Dolls' Valkyrie
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. "I can't handle it when people say, "It's only a game,'" says Amy "Valkyrie" Brady, a WoW-playing, card-carrying member of Ubisoft's well known Frag Dolls all-female gaming team. This all-business gamer has helped create and lead the a multi-platform clan of more than 300 gun-toting women who compete across five FPS (First Person Shooter) games in 10 separate divisions. In December 2006, Valkyrie was part of the four-member Frag Doll team that took first place in the Rainbow Six Vegas tournament at CPL in Dallas. Rainbow Six 3, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Halo 2, Final Fantasy XI ... On top of considerable hours spent on weekly practice for the Frag Dolls, she puts in some 50 to 60 more in personal game play -- and among those games is World of Warcraft.
15 Minutes of Fame: Master of add-ons
15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft players 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. If James Whitehead II knocked on my door right now, I might not recognize him -- but once I realized who he was, I'd throw my arms around his neck in gleeful gratitude. You see, Jim is the brains behind Clique, the popular click-casting add-on that's saved the aching fingers of healers across the globe. (That's worth a little gleeful gratitude, yes sir. And probably a little foot-washing and maybe even a little toe-sucking, too, truth be told. Not to descend into TMI right here in the intro or anything. Ahem.) He's also the creator of mods like PerfectRaid and TomTom and the author of Hacking World of Warcraft and World of Warcraft Programming: A Guide and Reference for Creating WoW Add-ons, now going into its second edition. He's working on a Ph.D. at Oxford University. He rows competitively, he mods, he knits and crochets, he raids ... Ok, ok, let's invite him in for a chat, shall we? Meanwhile, be sure to enter to win our giveaway of six copies of the new, updated edition of World of Warcraft Programming.
15 Minutes of Fame: The solo artist
15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft players 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. DKs are OP -- there, we said it. Now then, we can move on with our discussion of ... well, of an OP death knight. This particular DK, however, brings more to the plate than the sheer muscle of his class. Raegwyn of EU Zuluhed-H brings a wealth of raiding experience, class skill and game savvy to bear in his continuing campaign to conquer as many bosses and instances of WoW as possible, completely solo. We get a lot of "check me out soloing X" videos submitted here at WoW.com, but Raegwyn caught our eye with his video of a solo kill of Al'ar from Burning Crusade's 25-man Tempest Keep instance The Eye. He's made masterful headway in heroic Pit of Saron and most recently polished off an instance that still catches level-appropriate groups off guard: heroic Ahn'Kahet. We talked to this Austrian death machine about why gear is nice but timing is everything when it comes to taking down bosses on your own.
15 Minutes of Fame: Wasting no time gaming
15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft players 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. David French is a busy guy. Take a glance over his bio: A graduate of Harvard Law School and David Lipscomb University, French serves as senior counsel and director of the university litigation project for a large non-profit legal organization. He is also a captain in the United States Army Reserve and recently returned from a year-long deployment to Iraq with the 2d Squadron, 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment, where he earned a Bronze Star. The former president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, he also taught at Cornell Law School and served as a partner in a large law firm. He is the author of four books and numerous op-eds. Regularly interviewed by both print and broadcast media, David has a guest on The O'Reilly Factor, ABC World News Tonight, The Fox Report with Shepard Smith, Special Report with Brit Hume, and Your World with Neil Cavuto, among others. He has been profiled in several magazines and appears regularly on dozens of radio programs, including National Public Radio. He is a married father of two. There's one more thing that David French's bio doesn't mention: He's cleared the first wing of ICC-10 on two toons, ICC-25 on one and still found time to wipe for hours on Festergut. ("Good times.") This is the story of how (and why) he does it all.
15 Minutes of Fame: Pulverizing the World of Warcraft
15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft players 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. If the tank in your last pickup group seemed more than a little evil to you, perhaps you're closer to home than you realize. Perhaps that death knight was actually World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight and dedicated WoW fan Jens "Little Evil" Pulver. The former UFC lightweight champion blows off steam after a hard day of training with a well developed roster of WoW characters, some well known to his fans and others known only to close friends and guildmates. The former The Ultimate Fighter 5 reality show coach has always been a gamer. His passion for gaming was recognized recently when he was immortalized as an NPC in Vogster Entertainment's CrimeCraft. He's been a devoted WoW player from the very start. His rogue, Lilevil, earned Grand Marshal status back in the days when grinding the ultimate PvP title was a grind of almost unimaginably enormous proportions. Back in the ring (and after a heartbreaking stretch of losses), Pulver is slated to face Javier Vazquez on March 6 at WEC 47. We chatted with him by phone last week during a break in his pre-fight training regimen.
15 Minutes of Fame: Philosophically speaking
15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft players 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. Whoa ... Was that a book on WoW and philosophy on that display rack? Why yes, it was. World of Warcraft and Philosophy, edited by Luke Cuddy and John Nordlinger, has been attracting double-takes in bookstores since last fall. With selections by philosophers from all over the globe, the book covers issues topics such as ethics, economics, gender identity and metaphysics through WoW-tinted lenses. But this is no dusty, academic tome. Roleplaying, cybersex and the infamous Corrupted Blood plague are all on the menu in this lively, readable tome targeted at fans of WoW. Editor John Nordlinger is just the sort of guy you'd expect to find behind such an eclectic project. The former senior research program manager at Microsoft is California-bound, moving from work in high-tech education to studying film production at USC. We visited with John while he was in transition about some of the realities behind World of Warcraft and Philosophy.
15 Minutes of Fame: A year's worth of WoW personalities
15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes -- from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about. It's easy to assume that the players behind the avatars around us in game are very much like ourselves. After all, we're all united in a love of WoW, aren't we? In practice, there may be a world of difference (both literally and figuratively) between you and that guy topping the charts in your raid or the nattily attired banker rummaging through the mailbox next to you. With something like 11 to 12 million WoW players worldwide, it stands to reason that you'll run into players who live and play the game from a very different perspective. From virtual world designers to disabled players, from dancers to authors, 15 Minutes of Fame brings you a sampling of the personalities and passions behind the avatars that shared your screen in 2009. Click into our gallery, below, for a fresh look at the players we profiled over the past year. %Gallery-81518% "I never thought of playing WoW like that!" - neither did we, until we talked with these players. From an Oscar-winning 3-D effects director to a rising pop singer ... from a quadriplegic player to a bunch of guys who get together for dinner and group raiding in person every week ... Catch it all on 15 Minutes of Fame.
15 Minutes of Fame: The Pi Guy
15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes -- from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about. Sorry, no typos in the headline. It's not the pie meme that's the topic of today's 15 Minutes of Fame. (You'll have to turn elsewhere for your just desserts.) We really do mean pi -- you know, 3.14159 ... We're not quite sure how pi and WoW go together. And frankly, neither are players on US Llane, where the mysterious Pi Guy holds court in Trade. "He's in Trade chat spamming pi and other fascinating formulas, like how 99.9 = 1," writes our tipster, "which makes sense after he shows you the steps ... which he does. He's got top-of-the-line gear, which in itself is a nice thing. But on top of that, he's a math genius. A very mysterious math genius." We suppose community fascinations have formed up around more bizarre memes than pi. But a mysterious mathematician lurking in Trade? How could we allow this stone to remain unturned? Without further delay, we offer up for your consideration the curious tale of Gauss, the Pi Guy.
15 Minutes of Fame: Retirement home
15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes -- from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about. Is there such a thing as retirement guilds for burned-out players? When Sharaya and Boltac of Vanguard of Norrath spotted that innocuous question on the Blackwater Raiders realm forums, they recognized a familiar face: their very own guild. A collection of former hardcore gamers from the EverQuest era, VoN has become home base for a more casual approach. "We've all done the hardcore raiding thing, which comes with wanting to see everything and do everything in a high-content mass online game," explains VoN officer Sharaya. "We all have had our stints with guilds sporting the usual raid schedules, leveling needs, gear requirements and members constantly preening about scores from tertiary web sites with convoluted ranking systems. In the beginning, we all did this as a choice. It let us see everything, and let's face it -- it was fun. "But as in most games with such demands, many good players get burnout," he continues. "They don't tire of the game; they tire of the routine. They tire of 'having' to log in to make events or risk /gkick. They tire of the constant fighting over drops and arguing about who gets invited to what. The game ceases to be a game and becomes a chore. It truly is a 'daily.' What we realized is this is not a fault of the game; it's a fault of the guild you're in." So they created Vanguard of Norrath to offer a refuge from the grind, a place to indulge what Sharaya calls "the ability and know-how to blitz most anything we wanted but ... on our schedule, at our pace and without any pressure." The big surprise? How many other players have been attracted to VoN for exactly the same reasons.
15 Minutes of Fame: Making Child's Play of WoW
15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes -- from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about. Kristin Lindsay makes child's play of WoW. In fact, she makes child's play of gaming in general and even of her work. That's because Child's Play, the charitable organization that brings games, books and cash to sick kids in children's hospitals across North America, is her work. As project manager at Child's Play, Kristin helps the organization raise millions of dollars worth of toys and cash for children's hospitals and put a positive face on gamers and gaming. Child's Play was created by Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins of the online comic strip Penny Arcade. This year, the group has raised $1,302,367, shooting to surpass last year's $1.5 million total. We dove into a niche in Kristin's busy season to visit with her about her WoW habit, her work with Child's Play and how we WoW players can help Child's Play achieve a record-breaking year for hospitalized kids.
15 Minutes of Fame: The high-agility rogue
15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes -- from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about. Talk about art imitating life: Justin Kenney, aka Ninny the rogue, is a high-agility kind of guy. Those droplets on your screen are back spray from the splash Justin's been making in the dance world, after coming back from a nasty automobile accident this fall. Recovery stunlocked him long enough that he became determined to dive more deeply than ever into his dancing. His no-holds-barred followup has carried him through a trip into the So You Think You Can Dance semi-finals (video after the break), an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show (see his clip, above), and a virtual Fan of Knives of opportunities. Find out why you'll be seeing much more of Justin on both the big and little screens as well as more of Ninny in your Arenas, after the break.
15 Minutes of Fame: Amazon grace, how sweet these guilds
15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes -- from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about. Why would players want to play only with others just like themselves? Members of special interest guilds tell us their groups allow them to play away from others who either inadvertently or purposely seek to harass or offend. GLBT guilds, Christian guilds (scroll down to Recruiting) and similar groups offer a haven for players seeking a peaceful place to hang out with like-minded souls. This week, we look at a new group that offers not one, not two, but three special interest guilds. The Goddess guilds of Nesingwary and Winterhoof, along with a brother guild also on Nesingwary, welcomes females - actual, physical females, not female characters - with a friendly, events-focused environment. We visited with long-time gamer and Goddess guilds founder Myredd to find out why so many women appreciate playing in a females-only environment.
