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Reminder: Deadline for contributor applications is January 8
WoW Insider is still accepting applications for writer positions, but the deadline for applications is fast approaching! If you enjoy World of Warcraft and think you'd enjoy writing about it as well, be sure to put together your application and submit it by next Tuesday, January 8, 2013. For more information on the application process and full instructions on how to apply, check out our applications page. Currently, we are looking for regular contributors for the site. We are not hiring columnists at this time. However, any contributors we hire may have an opportunity to take on columns that interest them after they've settled into their contributor role. So what does a contributor handle? News posts, essentially -- digging up news from around the web as well as participating in and writing up news from both the PTR servers and any beta cycles that happen to pop up. If you've been hanging onto that application, make sure you turn it in by the deadline. Good luck to all who apply!
Reminder: It came from the Blog's Winter Veil
Ho ho ho! It came from the Blog's Winter Veil 2012 event is tomorrow and all are welcome! When: Tomorrow, Saturday, Dec. 29 at Noon EST (9 a.m. PST, 10 a.m. server) Where: Meet under the Winter Veil Tree in Orgrimmar on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H) Who: Any Horde character level 10 or above How: Ask Tizzi or any It came from the Blog member for an invite, if you are not already part of our family of guilds We will be traveling around via mage portal, which is why you must be level 10 or above to join us -- as you can't join raids at lower levels. You'll also need a Gaudy Winter Veil Sweater and some Snowballs. Both can be purchased from the Smokywood Pastures vendors for mere coppers, but if you are lacking the cash, we'll hook you up. The only other preparations you need to make are to carry your sense of humor and banish your fear of death. So join us tomorrow for holiday festivities guaranteed to jingle your bells! Please join us on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H) in It came from the Blog. All guild ranks can invite, so /whisper Tizzi or any online member. You are all welcome as long as you play by our simple rules -- basically, don't be a funsucker! Visit the guild FAQ for more details.
It came from the Blog: Join us for Winter Veil 2012
This Saturday, join It came from the Blog for some Winter Veil fun. I've planned some non-traditional holiday activities which are guaranteed to include the following: achievements, mortal danger, virtual beer drinking, travel. I'm hoping to avoid nudity this time around, but no promises. Here are the particulars: When: Saturday, Dec. 29 at Noon EST (9 a.m. PST, 10 a.m. server) Where: Meet under the Winter Veil Tree in Orgrimmar on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H) Who: Any Horde character level 10 or above How: Ask Tizzi or any It came from the Blog member for an invite, if you are not already part of our family of guilds If you have snowballs and a Gaudy Winter Veil Sweater, you'll want to bring those. Otherwise, they are available for just a few copper from the Smokywood Pastures vendors. Money will be provided if you don't have enough coins in your pockets. So join us for our last event of the year. We hope to see you there! Please join us on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H) in <It came from the Blog>. Guild ranks of Blog Lurker or above can invite, so /whisper Robiness or any online member. You are all welcome as long as you play by our simple rules -- basically, don't be a funsucker! Visit the guild FAQ for more details.
It came from the Blog: Random dungeon groups LFM again
Last week, level 15 Crikkit ran the Dungeon Finder along with four other It came from the Blog members and another full group. We acquired achievements, completed challenges and leveled to 20. This week, we'd like to be even more successful, and you are welcome to join us. When: Thursday, Dec. 20 (tomorrow) at Noon EST (9 a.m. PST, 10 a.m. server time) Where: Meet at the fishing hole in the Valley of Honor in Orgrimmar on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H) Who: Any Horde character within a couple levels or so of Crikkit, who is level 21 How: Ask Crikkit or any It came from the Blog member for an invite to the guild What: Weekly Dungeon Finder groups Crikkit is a mistweaver and will be healing using her monk-like ways. If you'd like to play a healer, there should be enough other people to form more groups. Last week we only had two groups, but that's because we didn't have enough healers to go around. More details are after the break.
Ask Massively: Why isn't this news?
Welcome back to Ask Massively, the part of Massively where you ask us random things, we give you answers, and you yell incomprehensibly at us. natecantbefound asked: Why are you guys reporting this crap [a League of Legends video] when Darkfall has a new video out? Short answer: Perspective.
It came from the Blog: Random dungeon group LFM
Every month, It came from the Blog hosts an event for fun and sometimes profit, so we'll definitely be having a Feast of Winter Veil romp after the holiday begins. In the meantime, and until further notice, Crikkit the pandaren mistweaver monk is going to be dungeoning up to at least 85 and she wants to do so with friends. Starting tomorrow and every Thursday hereafter, level 15 Crikkit will be randoming dungeons with whomever shows up to join her. When: Thursdays starting Thursday, Dec. 13 (tomorrow) at Noon EST (9 a.m. PST, 10 a.m. server time) Where: Meet at the fishing hole in the Valley of Honor in Orgrimmar on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H) Who: Any Horde character within one or two levels of Crikkit at the time -- this week, levels 15 and 16 How: Ask Crikkit or any It came from the Blog member for an invite to the guild I'll PUG if I have to, but there are already a couple of guildies signed up to attend and I'm hoping we'll have more -- particularly as the weeks go by. If we get too many, I'll choose from those whom I'm comfortable with and where our needs lie. If we have leftovers, we will do what we always do and form more than one group with a common chat channel.
It came from the Blog: Pandamonium snapshots
Once upon a time, there were many, many pandaren. They loved to play and kill and put wild creatures in cages. Then one night, they had an idea. It wasn't an original idea. Everyone has it at one point or another. But it was an important idea that was to shape their destiny forever. And that idea was "Party!" Now, you know what happens when you get a bunch of pandas together to party: you get Pandamonium! First thing they did was get nekkid. Oh did I mention these pandaren were from the It came from the Blog family of guilds? That's an important detail, as those are a rowdy, drunken bunch who like to take their clothes off and/or run into dangerous territory and/or jump off of things. Spoilers. The story continues ...
Reminder: It came from the Blog's Pandamonium is tonight
Crikkit awaits you in Orgrimmar for It came from the Blog's Pandamonium. Actually, she's just parked there until the event, but still, she's waiting somewhere in the great virtual cosmos. When: Tonight, Nov 29 at 10:30 p.m. EST (7:30 p.m. PST, 8:30 p.m. server time) Where: Meet in front of Garrosh's room in Orgrimmar on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H) Who: Any Horde pandaren who is off the island and has already been berated by Garrosh How: Ask Crikkit or any It came from the Blog member for an invite What: Pandamonium What will Pandamonium entail? I'm not telling lest the Alliance decide to ambush us. I will say that a bunch of pandas (no non-pandaren or funsuckers allowed) will be doing something that will likely end in death. You'll just have to join us to find out what's going on. Remember, Crikkit is waiting ... kinda. Please join us on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H) in It came from the Blog. Any guild rank can invite, so /whisper Crikkit or any online member. You are all welcome as long as you play by our simple rules -- basically, don't be a funsucker! Visit the guild FAQ for more details.
It Came From the Blog: Join us for Pandamonium
Pandaren. Many pandaren. Many pandaren running. Many pandaren dying. Many pandaren corpses. Pandaren. When: Thursday, Nov 29 at 10:30 p.m. EST (7:30 p.m. PST, 8:30 p.m. server time) Where: Meet in front of Garrosh's room in Orgrimmar on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H) Who: Any Horde pandaren who is off the island and has already been yelled at by Garrosh How: Ask Crikkit or any It came from the Blog member for an invite What: Pandamonium I (Crikkit) am not saying what exactly we're doing because we know some of you are Alliance spies. Of course, if you were to make a pandaren to infiltrate us, we probably wouldn't notice. You might even have fun. I'm sure your allies will forgive you some enjoyment while you spy on us evil Horde pandas. If you don't already have a pandaren on Zangarmarsh, you should have plenty of time to make one before Thursday. Then you'll have a level 10+ character to join any future events, as they all require the ability to join a raid. So bring your pandas and get ready for some Pandamonium. Please join us on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H) in It came from the Blog. Any guild rank can invite, so /whisper Crikkit or any online member. You are all welcome as long as you play by our simple rules -- basically, don't be a funsucker! Visit the guild FAQ for more details.
Reminder: It came from the Blog's Candy Run is tonight
Candy Run, more like Candy Fun, AMIRITE? The It came from the Blog gang and friends always have a great time Trick or Treating. It's tonight, so if you don't already have a level 10+ character on Zangarmarsh, you need to get moving. When: Tonight, Tuesday, Oct 30 at 10:30 p.m. EDT (7:30 p.m. PDT, 8:30 p.m. server time) Where: Meet at Brill on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H) Who: Any Horde character level 10 and above, but you'll have more fun if you have a character with all the old world flightpaths. What: Candy, fun, running How: Just ask Tizzi or any member of It came from the Blog for an invite. We'll be keeping it slow for the lowbies for the first half of the event, but then anyone without the old world flightpaths will be abandoned mercilessly while the rest of us collect more candy. So if you are new to our events and have time, create a death knight before we begin the event. Come trick or treat with us ... unless you don't like candy and fun. Please join us on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H) in It came from the Blog. All ranks can invite, so /whisper Tizzi or any online member. You are all welcome as long as you play by our simple rules -- basically, don't be a funsucker! Visit the guild FAQ for more details.
It came from the Blog: Join us for Candy Run 2012
Boo! Yeah, It came from the Blog is Trick or Treating again and yeah, we're going to have fun as usual. No, Deathwing won't be joining us this year, since he's dead. But we don't need to die in a dragon-induced inferno in order to have a good time or even get the meta. Here are the details: When: Tuesday, Oct 30 at 10:30 p.m. EDT (7:30 p.m. PDT, 8:30 p.m. server time) Where: Meet at Brill on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H) Who: Any Horde character level 10 and above, but you'll have more fun if you have a character with all the old world flightpaths. What: Candy How: Just ask Tizzi or any member of It came from the Blog for an invite. Even if you normally play Alliance, we hope you will make an exception and join the dark side in order to Trick or Treat with us. We have cookies.* We hope to see you there! *Cookies are not included in this event. Please join us on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H) in It came from the Blog. Al ranks can invite, so /whisper Tizzi or any online member. You are all welcome as long as you play by our simple rules -- basically, don't be a funsucker! Visit the guild FAQ for more details.
World of Warcraft exploiters wipe out entire cities
Imagine logging into your favorite MMO only to find that a previously populated capital city is a barren wasteland devoid of life. This actually happened yesterday to some denizens of World of Warcraft, as mischief-makers used an exploit to kill everyone -- human players and NPCs alike -- in the biggest cities. Stormwind and Orgrimmar were completely wiped out on several servers, with other towns reportedly coming under nefarious attacks. Blizzard leaped into action and quickly hotfixed the game, promising that the exploit cannot happen again. The studio said that it is taking this apocalypse action "very seriously" and has launched an investigation into it.
Reminder: It came from the Blog's Brewfest 2012 is tonight
Drop what you're doing, get on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H), and level a Horde character to at least level 10. Tonight's the night It came from the Blog celebrates Brewfest and we want you to join us. When: Saturday, Sept. 29 at 10:30 p.m. EDT (7:30 p.m. PDT, 8:30 p.m. server time) Where: Meet in front of the gates of Orgrimmar on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H) Who: Any Horde player level 10 and above How: Ask any It came from the Blog member for an invite, if you don't already belong to our family of guilds Beer. We'll be throwing it, drinking it, delivering it, advertising for it, and who knows what else. So get ready. We'll be expecting you. Please join us on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H) in It came from the Blog. All guild ranks can invite, so /whisper Tizzi or any online member. You are all welcome as long as you play by our simple rules -- basically, don't be a funsucker! Visit the guild FAQ for more details.
It came from the Blog: Join us for Brewfest 2012
Tizzi's in her random holiday gear again and that can only mean one thing: it's time for another It came from the Blog event. We will be celebrating Brewfest together, as we usually do, and all are invited. When: Saturday, Sept. 29 at 10:30 p.m. EDT (7:30 p.m. PDT, 8:30 p.m. server time) Where: Meet in front of the gates of Orgrimmar on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H) Who: Any Horde player level 10 and above How: Ask any It came from the Blog member for an invite, if you don't already belong to our family of guilds We'll be completing quests, getting achievements, throwing steins, and other virtual beer-related activities. We hope you'll join us! Please join us on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H) in It came from the Blog. All ranks can invite, so /whisper Tizzi or any online member. You are all welcome as long as you play by our simple rules -- basically, don't be a funsucker! Visit the guild FAQ for more details.
You can always depend on the kindness of strangers
Since I began studying the social and community nature of WoW, was lucky enough to land a job here at WoW Insider, and joined twitter not long after, I've been blown away by the WoW community. Sure, it's not always perfect, sometimes we have our ups and downs, but most of the time this game brings people together in ways that, to this day, continue to surprise me. So, when I received an email from Dtail of Vashj EU, in which he asked about a particular addon, and also mentioned that his server had such a low population that he couldn't find anyone to sign his guild charter to get a guild bank set up, I suddenly thought "hold on a minute, I bet the WoW community could help Dtail out!" When I wrote up the Addon Spotlight, I included a plea for help getting Dtail's guild charter signed, and to my surprise I received a fair few responses! I then took to twitter, thinking that asking there could be a good move, and that I could hopefully communicate with anyone who was interested in helping out. It wasn't a lofty goal, particularly, to get 3 players together, but asking for help from what are essentially strangers is always a little daunting.
World of Warcraft hiding information in screenshots
Like Transformers, there may be more to a World of Warcraft screenshot than meets the eye. Our sister site WoW Insider is reporting that players have discovered hidden watermarks in every in-game screenshot that contains several pieces of information. The watermark is made up of several strips of custom bar codes, which can be decoded to reveal information from the game. While the revealed information isn't extremely personal, it does contain the server IP, player account numbers, and a time stamp. The account number is publically accessable through Blizzard's Armory site and cannot be used to hack accounts. WoW Insider says that this information is most likely used by Blizzard to take down private servers, rogue employees, and cheaters.
It came from the Blog: Join us for a pet collecting party
Account-wide pets are here with patch 5.0.4, so It came from the Blog is having a pet collecting party to fill up our pet journals. Any pets you collect with us will show up on your other characters, so there's no reason not to join us. When: Friday, Aug. 31 at 11 p.m. EDT (8 p.m. PDT, 9 p.m. realm time). Where: The courtyard of the Ruins of Lordaeron on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H). Who: Any level Horde character, but you will be happier with a mount and some cash. How: Ask any member of It came from the Blog for an invite, if you are not already in our family of guilds. Some gold will be provided for those who are low on funds, as usual. We'll be shopping around the world (of Warcraft) and perhaps doing some questing and farming, time permitting. So come pet collecting with us this Friday, even if you've never joined us for anything before. Yay, account-wide pets! Yay, parties! Boo, party poopers. Hope to see you there! Please join us on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H) in It came from the Blog. All guild ranks can invite, so /whisper Tizzi or any online member. You are all welcome as long as you play by our simple rules -- basically, don't be a funsucker! Visit the guild FAQ for more details.
WRUP: Let's get physical
Every week, just at the start of the weekend, we catch up with the WoW Insider staff and ask them, "What are you playing this week?" -- otherwise known as: WRUP. Join us to see what we're up to in and out of game, and catch us in the comments to let us know what you're playing, too! Those of you who have been following my personal life know that I just moved to Southern California a month or two ago. There's been quite a bit of culture shock -- everything in LA is so pretty (minus the architecture) that even I, a relatively good-looking dude, felt a little insecure. But did I wallow in despair? No, I did not, my friend -- I did something about it. I got a gym membership and a personal trainer. I went out and I got physical. I wanted to let them hear my body talk, my body talk. I mean, I've been patient, I've been good, tried to keep my hands on the table. It's gettin' hard this holdin' back, you know what I mean? I'm sure you'll understand my point of view, we know each other mentally. You gotta know that you're bringin' out the animal in me. So strap on your finest leg warmers, and envision this page covered with bright neon colors, unusual moving shapes, and the occasional '80s-style squiggle. After all, it's time to get physical with this week's WRUP!
Reminder: It came from the Blog scavenger hunt tonight
Tonight's the night: Join us for It came from the Blog's scavenger hunt, where you will have the opportunity to win fabulous prizes. The first person to return with the exact items in the list provided at the beginning of the event will have his or her choice of: Over 9,000 gold! (10,000g, to be exact) donated by IcftB's sister guild The Insiders One of three loot codes from Cryptozoic Other prizes to be announced -- probably pets; we like pets Each subsequent winner will be able to choose one of the remaining prizes. Here is the schedule, including the info for the pre-event party with some WoW Insider staff. When: Tonight, Friday, July 27 at 10:30 p.m. EDT (7:30 p.m. PDT, 8:30 p.m. server time) for the pre-event party and 11 p.m. EDT (8 p.m. PDT, 9 p.m. server time) for the Scavenger Hunt Where: The fountain at the Court of the Sun in Silvermoon City on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H) Who: Any level Horde character is invited to join us, but in order to properly compete in the hunt, you should be mounted. There will be no flying, but those who are mounted and can defeat the wildlife easily will have a distinct advantage. How: Just whisper Tizzi or any online It came from the Blog member for an invite. More details including how much bag space and cash you'll need are after the break.
It came from the Blog: Join us for another scavenger hunt
The It came from the Blog family of guilds is having another scavenger hunt this Friday night. There will be the normal amount of the running around and acquiring mostly useless items -- and fun, lots of fun. We'll also be throwing a pre-event party with some WoW Insider staff available to chat. When: Friday, July 27 at 10:30 p.m. EDT (7:30 p.m. PDT, 8:30 p.m. server time) for the pre-event party and 11 p.m. EDT (8 p.m. PDT, 9 p.m. server time) for the Scavenger Hunt Where: The fountain at the Court of the Sun in Silvermoon City on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H) Who: Any level Horde character is invited to join us, but in order to complete the hunt, you should be mounted. There will be no flying, but those who are mounted and can defeat the wildlife easily will have a distinct advantage. How: Just whisper Roblinator or any online It came from the Blog member for an invite. The winners of the scavenger hunt will have prizes to choose from as usual, including loot codes from Cryptozoic. The rest of the prizes will be announced the day of the event, along with how much gold and bag space you'll need. Gold will be provided as necessary. So join us for fun and fabulous prizes this Friday night! Please join us on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H) in It came from the Blog. All guild ranks can invite, so /whisper Roblinator or any online member. You are all welcome as long as you play by our simple rules -- basically, don't be a funsucker! Visit the guild FAQ for more details.
