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Countdown to Wrath Giveaway: Day 5 - Footprints of Illidan loot card
Here is one of two WoW TCG loot cards we are giving away today as part of our Countdown to Wrath celebration. When redeemed in-game, it grants one character glowing footprints just like the Betrayer of Azeroth.To enter, leave a comment on this post before Sunday, November 9, 2008 at 12pm ET (noon). No age or location restrictions on this giveaway. One winner will be chosen randomly and will receive a "Footprints of Illidan" loot card. Anyone can enter!We have one more giveaway going live later today and more this week where you may have a chance to win a Wrath of the Lich King Collector's Edition box, a 60-day game card or a complete BlizzCon Loot bag.EDIT: Giveaway closed to further entries. We'll be contacting the winner soon. Good luck to all who entered. Be on the lookout for more contests every day until Wrath launch!
WoW minis demos taking place around the country this weekend
We were lucky enough to try out the WoW Minis game at BlizzCon, and I have to say that I really enjoyed it. I've never been much into collecting (I used to play CCGs back when I was a kid, and when, at one point, I spent half my allowance on one pack of cards that didn't have any new ones, I pretty much decided it was over), but the game itself is pretty fun, kind of a mix between an arena match and a turn-based battle. I'd need someone to play with, I think, but if I could convince a friend to sit down and be nerdy with me, I could see getting into it.If you haven't gotten a chance to see the game in action yet, you're in luck. Upper Deck tells us that they've passed out free starter kits to more than 1,500 hobby stores around the country (they didn't provide a list, but if the previous TCG events went down at a store near you, odds are the minis kits will be there as well), so if you have some free time this weekend, stop in and ask if you can see the game and how it works.The game itself launches on November 11th, so if you enjoy playing the game at the store this weekend, you'll be able to pick up a starter set and booster packs then.
WoW TCG Champion announced in Paris
The WoW TCG World Championships wrapped up this weekend, and an American player named Jim Fleckenstein emerged the winner. The World Champs took place in Paris, and there was a fun twist -- apparently last year, a French player won on American soil, and next year, the tournament is going to take place in Austin, Texas, so there's a rivalry building.The WoW TCG site has lots more, including play-by-plays of all the matches if you're interested in how the top players play the game (Jim won with a Shaman -- SHAMAN POWER!), and they've even got video of all the folks throwing down to win the crazy prizes. Looks like lots of fun in Paris for players of the TCG.The 2009 season kicks off with the end of these world champs -- the next event will be a Darkmoon Faire event in Anaheim, CA on November 9th (right before the Wrath release), and of course the Drums of War expansion is due out soon, with those loot cards we've been drooling over.
WoW TCG hosts World Champs in Paris this weekend
The World of Warcraft Trading Card Game World Championships have started up this weekend in Paris, France -- there's some excellent coverage on the official site about all of the CCG gaming going on over there. They've got everything from a roundup of the swag bag to play-by-play on the featured matches and some good commentary on what kinds of decks players are bringing to the tables. All told, the players are fighting for a prize pool of $250,000 -- some serious cash for playing cards.They're in the middle of Day 2 right now, so there's lots more tournament coverage to come from Paris. If you're a fan of the TCG, this weekend's your chance to check out what some of the top players are up to as they battle for the big prize.
Loot within swag: TCG cards that make you smile
I woke up at 7:00 this morning to get ready for the day at BlizzCon. The team is meeting at 8:30 to head over to the convention and start covering all the fun that's happening there. But of course before I finish my morning rituals, I have to peek into the swag bag again. This time it's opening up the packs of WoW TCG - Heroes of Azeroth.Much to my surprise I find a loot card! A Thunderhead Hippogryph, pictured above from the Upper Deck site. Of course the cards are inserted completely random into the packs, and the bags are given out at random too – so no way I bribed someone a million billion dollars for this.
Tomorrow's WoW Insider Show has your chance to win a monkey
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's Winter's Veil in July contest
Hey, everybody, it's Great-father Winter! What's up G-FW?! What's that? You want to give some Winter's Veil swag away right now? But Great-father, it's the middle of summer here in the real world -- the Winter's Veil festival takes place in December! Aw, look at that scraggly beard, we can't say no to you. What the heck, we'll do it!Yes, WoW Insider (and Great-father Winter, along with our our friends at Upper Deck) is giving away a TCG Winter's Veil Collector's Set, featuring all kinds of holiday-themed TCG goodies. To enter, just leave a comment on this post telling G-FW how your summer is going before next Friday, August 1st, at 11:59 PM EST. You may enter only once (please use a real email to comment, so we can get in touch with you afterwards), and one commenter will be selected in a random drawing to get a free Winter's Veil Collector's Set (MSRP $39.99). You must also be a resident of the United States or Canada, and age 18 or older -- all the rest of the contest rules can be read by clicking here.Good luck! Thanks, Great-father Winter, for spreading your holiday cheer even during the offseason!
Breakfast Topic: WoW-related merchandise and spin-offs
I bought my daughter's 'Future Horde' onesie from J!nx long before she was even conceived. I knew when I got my 'For the Horde' shirt that I wanted myself to have a matching outfit with my baby. I love World of Warcraft merchandise... I guess I'm just a real fanboy that way. I have some of the action figures, and I'm looking at getting Vindicator Marrad as soon as I set aside some RL Gold.My brother-in-law gave my wife and I the World of Warcraft board game a couple of years back, and I got more than a few packs of the Trading Card Game (although I was probably just hoping for some cool loot). I love the comic books -- both the ones from Wildstorm and the ones from Tokyopop -- and I enjoy a lot of the Warcraft-based comics online. I gobble up pretty much most anything World of Warcraft.So here's something to chew on this morning: what World of Warcraft merchandise or spin-offs do you like so far? There's the Frostmourne replica, of course. And we've given away cool stuff from Manaprincess, too. The Bronze Kettle / WoW Insider's Shelbi Roach makes those awesome, awesome, awesome chibi items like stickers and keychains. What World of Warcraft-related stuff do you have? Do you make any of your own?
UDE Tabards delayed until August
If you remember way back to the end of June, we told you about the new tabards available for purchase using your UDE points from the WoW Trading Card Game. At the time, Upper Deck said the new tabards would be included with patch 2.4.3. Well, 2.4.3 is here, but the tabards are sadly not. According to UDE_Patrick, the plan for releasing the tabards is now a little different. The first tabard will be available on August 1st, and each additional tabard will be added one at a time over "several months." He doesn't really specify why this change has been made, or even which tabard will be first. Some of us will obviously be disapponted (like tipster Donna, who already has ample points to pick up one for her, and one for her boyfriend). Some of us will have a little more time to pick up more points in before the release, and maybe score some of the cool loot cards from the new set.
Phat Loot Phriday: Perpetual Purple Firework
For the Fourth, we're going with the obvious choice: a hot little infinite fireworks trinket that isn't all that easy to get.Name: Perpetual Purple Firework (Wowhead, Thottbot, TCGLoot)Type: Epic (sometimes Uncommon) TrinketDamage/Speed: N/AAbilities: Use: Shoots a purple fireworks display into the air that explodes into a rain of sparkles. It has infinite uses (hence the "perpetual"), and a 30 second cooldown. The whole display itself lasts about 4 seconds, but it does like pretty purty. No level requirements, so anyone can use it -- provided you can get it. How to Get It: Yes, it's a TCG item, but not one of the normal ones, where you just buy a booster and hope you pick it up. Nope, this fireworks trinket is part of Upper Deck's "points" program, in which points is just a fancy word for "spend more money!" Every booster pack you buy has a certain number of points in it, and when you've collected enough points cards, you can spend them on UDE's website for ingame items like this one. There's about 100 points per booster pack, and this item currently costs 3,000 points (it used to cost 10,000!), so you'd have to buy 30 booster packs (MSRP around $5, though you can find them cheaper and more expensive in different places, so about $150 total) to get enough points for the trinket.Fortunately, we have eBay, where people are selling and buying the UDE points for as cheap as $15. Still not really a great way to get an ingame item (spending real money for virtual stuff, woo!), but if you really want to get your hands on this trinket, there you go. Otherwise, just do a few runs of Scarlet Monastery's Armory, and you'll have all the fireworks you need.Getting Rid of It: You can't! Vendors won't take it, and it'll never run out of charges, so the only way to get rid of it would be to destroy it. And that would be like throwing money down the drain, which is something that TCG buyers would never ever do, right? Right?
WoW TCG hosts an Ogre Smash and Bash this weekend
Upper Deck is hosting a fun little TCG event at various stores around the country this weekend -- the Two-headed Ogre Smash and Bash is a new event they have planned in which two players (so you and a friend) show up and fight together against another team with constructed decks (which means you show up, and they give you cards to make decks with, without having to bring your own). It seems like a lot of fun, and even if you're not a huge WoW TCG fan, if you can bring along someone who knows what they're doing, they can probably carry you (just like real Two-headed Ogres).There's a $40 per team entrance fee, but the good news is that you get to keep all the cards you play with (eight booster packs, and you never know, there might be a loot card in there), and additionally, everyone who turns out for the tournament gets a code for one of those fireworks trinkets (that sets off fireworks at will), and the winner of each tourney gets an Ogre disguise to wear ingame.There's a list of tournament locations over on the website -- the TCG probably isn't for everybody, but we've never really seen a more beginner-friendly event for the card game, since the fact that you've got two players here means that you can back each other up. Seems like fun -- if you go, definitely be sure to tell us how it went.
Catch the new WoW TCG Loot in full video
Our sister site WoW Insider has up a great video highlighting the new loot coming in the next expansion to the World of Warcraft trading card game. The Hunt for Illidan is going to offer up some very different loot cards for treasure-happy players. Never-before seen bits of flair are on offer for the tabletop/MMO enthusiast. WoW Insider has you covered. All in one short piece they cover the disco dance ball, the Path of Illidan particle effect, and the unique Ethereal Soul Trader pet.Click on through below the cut to see the video, or head back to WoW Insider to check out their still-image gallery of these excellent bits of shiny.
Video of the new TCG loot in action
Last week we told you about the new loot Upper Deck was launching a new expansion to WoW TCG. We even showed you pictures of what the cool new stuff will like for Patch 2.4.3. Well, now you can see these juicy tidbits in action with our movie of them. You'll see us testing The Path of Illidan, trailing green felfire from our footsteps while running, jumping and even dancing. We've also got video of a few cross-faction D.I.S.C.O. parties gettin' down and funky, with the music and sparkly lights. It was dance fever! Then it was time to try out the Ethereal Soul-trader. He announces himself as if your life is finally complete and follows you around very dutifully. Enjoy the movie - Adam, Zach, and I sure enjoyed making it for you!
New loot items announced for the WoW TCG
If you're looking forward to Upper Deck's next expansion to the World of Warcraft collectible trading card game, The Hunt for Illidan, as we are, you'll be doubly excited by the new loot cards they've come out with. One card, The Path of Illidan, gives you glowing green footprints wherever you walk. Have party members that just can't seem to keep up with everyone else? Show them where to go (pro tip: leave footprints leading into lava pits, just for them!). Also included, a D.I.S.C.O. ball for when it's time to par-tay, and the nicest of the bunch, an Ethereal Soul-trader who keeps track of what you kill when he's out and rewards you with money you can trade in for a bunch of cool items, including the very clothes off the old guy's back (complete with complementary dry-cleaning, natch).[Via WoWInsider]
Upper Deck announces new loot items, including an Ethereal vendor pet
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/Upper_Deck_announces_new_WoW_loot_cards'; Upper Deck has sent news of the newest loot items in the WoW TCG, and yowza they're neat. These will all come in the new expansion, called The Hunt for Illidan and launching July 1st. The Path of Illidan, which is a super common loot card (like the Pet Biscuits), and will enable players to leave glowing green footprints around Azeroth and Outland as they walk around. D.I.S.C.O., which creates a disco party anywhere, along with a disco ball, lights, and music. And finally, most interesting, the Ethereal Soul-trader, who is a full-size Ethereal as a pet. Additionally, this card is actually a whole slew of items in one -- the Soul-trader will give you currency for creatures killed while summoned, which can then be traded off for other prizes, including special foodstuffs, a special alcoholic drink, a ball of energy (to throw in people's bags and play catch with), and even the Ethereal's outfits as wearable items. Pretty incredible. Upper Deck is hosting a preview of the next expansion on Saturday at various locations around the country, and the cards will be out, as we said, on July 1st. The Spectral Tiger Mount was great, but I think we have a new loot card winner with the Soul-trader. A mobile NPC with their own currency gained from killing mobs? Yes please.%Gallery-25476%
Penny Arcade plays cards at the Darkmoon Faire
As expected, Penny Arcade did show up at the Seattle Darkmoon Faire last weekend, and also as expected, Tycho did bring a raid deck. He also, surprisingly, dressed up for the role -- apparently he worse the cape they'd depicted in the comic while running the Molten Core game (though he couldn't find a skull pin to go with it). Sounds like a lot of fun. Upper Deck has coverage of the event, though we couldn't find any mention of the Penny Arcade guys.Another thing Tycho mentions (and that makes it into the comic today, NSFW) is that even for people familiar but not fanatic about the game like them, entering these tournaments can be really tough -- there are tons of solid decks and strategies out there, and if you haven't done the research, someone who has can very easily trounce you. They even mention a "three card infinite damage combo" that players can use. Unfortunately, that's way too far over my TCG strategy head to actually tell you what it is (maybe commenters can help), but it seems like for new players especially, these formal TCG events might be a little tough to get into.Still, the Darkmoon Faire events are fun, even if you're not playing at the top of the heap. UDE has lots more news about upcoming events on their website.
Penny Arcade to appear at Upper Deck's Darkmoon Faire in Seattle
If you've never been to Upper Deck's Darkmoon Faire event before, it's a pretty good time. It's obviously a lot more fun if you're a fan of the WoW TCG (as they have open-to-close tournaments and events going on), but even online game players will find something to do -- UDE sets up an event realm provided by Blizzard, and they sometimes even have leveling and instance contests as well.Upper Deck is holding a Darkmoon Faire event in Seattle next weekend, June 13-15, and they sent along a note letting us know that the guys from Penny Arcade are going to be there in attendance. Both Gabe and Tycho, you'll know if you're an avid reader of the comic, are fans of the card game, and while Upper Deck isn't clear about what they'll be doing there (all they tell us is that the guys will "partake" of the gaming), it's not hard to expect that at least Tycho will be eventually running a Molten Core raid game.Should be fun -- if you're around Seattle and get to stop by the Seattle Center next weekend (it's free to visit the event, and various tournaments have different costs associated with them), definitely take pictures and let us know how it went.
Upper Deck starts "Road to Worlds"
Upper Deck has announced the series of tournaments that will bring them down the road to the World Championships for the WoW trading card game -- "The Road to Worlds," they're calling them -- and the events began this past weekend. You can check on their website right now to see what's going down where -- odds are that if you're near a metropolitan area, there's something happening near you. These events aren't that big themselves (the prizes are a few art pieces and some extra cards, including this awesome Robotic Chicken quest card), but the big deal here is that the top two from each event move on, and eventually will try for a chance to compete in the World Championships later this year.Good luck if you do go, and as always, bring your camera and let us know if you get pictures of the events. This is the small end of Upper Deck's tournament year (things will get much bigger later on as they move towards the big Championships), but all the same, every time they show up somewhere to play cards, there's a lot of fun to be had.
BlizzCon 2008 announced
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/BlizzCon_2008_Announced_2'; A press release across the newsires has announced an unexpected development: Blizzard will be throwing another BlizzCon this year. BlizzCon 2008 will be the third such event the company has thrown, with last year's BlizzCon 2007 a hugely successful outing. Wisely, the planners of the event have chosen to schedule the convention outside of the summer busy season. We can expect to see the doors to Blizzard's gameworlds thrown wide on the 10th and 11th of October. The release states that the event will run for two full days, and is tentatively planned to have a bevy of familiar-sounding events. Attendees will be able to have play-time with upcoming Blizzard releases, participate in discussion panels with developers, play in a WoW TCG tourney, and (of course) engage in a little cosplay. "Whenever we've been able to meet and interact with Blizzard gamers from around the world, it's been a great experience for us," stated Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "We're looking forward to seeing even more of our players at this year's BlizzCon and delivering another entertaining and informative event for themBetween Massively and sister site WoW Insider you can be sure that the Joystiq network will be all over this event come the fall. Stay tuned for more details as they become available.
Blizzard launches new online store
The new and improved Blizzard store opened recently, and it's definitely worth a look. It has a very clean layout, making finding what you want pretty simple. They carry everything from the Blizzard games to the Warcraft action figures to WoW game time. Their apparel selection isn't very large due to that primarily being handled by Jinx, but the store is still worthwhile.Plus, registering for the Blizzard store comes with another perk. You can register for the Beta Test lottery, which is a chance at being chosen for upcoming beta phases of various games. Wrath? Starcraft II perhaps? All of the above? Who knows! I've been considering getting into the WoW TCG, so if I get a shot at a beta test out of it, too... hey, why not?Edit: The Blizzard EU store is not yet live, but I imagine it will be soon. Sorry, Europe!
