I was just sitting down to write an intro for this week's WRUP, but then, oops, I seem to have been distracted by puppies. The puppies above are mine, because, well, I'm writing this post and it's my privilege to show off how gosh-darn adorable the little scamps are. (Of course, they're a couple of years older now -- less cute, and boy can they bark.) For this week's WRUP, we have the usual assortment of weekend plans as well as -- you guessed it -- puppies. Also kittens. And just for variety, a snake.

• Allison Robert (@AllisonRobert): Probably just hanging around with the guildies, and the usual ICC-10 heroic on Sunday night. And I keep saying I'll level my shaman's jewelcrafting, but it's just such a pain in the ass ...
• Anne Stickney (@Shadesogrey): Working on the Lich King, writing and dealing with Sudden Surprise Invasion of Relatives -- thankfully, they're cooking so I don't have to worry about it! Favorite pet, well, I don't have any pets anymore at the moment, but I love my sister's dog Scurvy. He's a little Shih Tzu with an attitude, and she enjoys giving him mohawks. Bright yellow mohawks. Man that dog is awesome.
• Amy Schley (@wowlawbringer): Leveling exam notes, maybe running a few more heroics to get an awesome set of heirloom gear for an Alliance pally I want to start to tour post-Cata Kalimdor. Also, I should be at the meet and greet on Patent. I may even *gasp* get some house and yard work done.
• Basil Berntsen (@outdps): I'll be taking my hunter into a BG marathon this weekend. Attached is a picture of my favorite pet.
• Chase Christian (@madsushi): I found a decent StarCraft 2 partner for 2v2 so I'll be playing quite a bit of that this weekend, hoping that we can make a push for Platinum. Also doing more mercenary work in Ulduar, a lot of rich benefactors on my realm still need their Rusted Proto-Drakes.
• Dan O'Halloran: In addition to the usual LotRO run through of Sword Halls and WoW heroic PUGs, I'll be squeezing in some DDO as well as more time with the new iPhone MMO Pocket Legends. Pic attached is unhappy dog who has discovered a fence he can't chew through ... yet.
• Daniel Whitcomb (@danielwhitcomb): I'm heading out of town next weekend to party with some friends, so this weekend will primarily be spent getting as much work as possible done ahead of time. But I fully plan to spend some time in game to enjoy my new sparklepony. Yes, I purchased one and I am proud of it. I will love him and hug him and squeeze him and name him George. For real-world pets, this is Diamond. I had to leave her behind in Sacramento when I moved to Washington, but she is still my favorite Puppy. Yes she is. Yes she is! Who's a good puppy?
• Elizabeth Harper (@faience): New Doctor Who this weekend! And maybe other stuff, too.
• Elizabeth Wachowski (@leeatwaterlives): I've gotten sucked back into the maw that is Fallout 3, so I'll probably be playing that. Otherwise ... eh, maybe Final Fantasy 13, although it's failed to capture my attention so far. Or something with zombies. I like killing zombies.
• Gregg Reece: Well, I don't have any pets, but I do have some epic cuteness at my house. Otherwise, I'm hoping to get the crib assembled and move the little one from the bassinet to it. I think I'm going to hit the Wii Fit a bit over the weekend and I'll be raiding ICC and other miscellaneous things. I may even play my druid a little bit and try to get him up to somewhere near 80 before Cataclysm comes out.
• Joe Perez (@Lodurzj): Following our kill and confirmation kill of Sindragosa (25) my guild is gearing up to take on the Lich King (25). Also going to spend some time with Shatter which is fun and all kinds of addicting, and hopefully get some more SC2 time in. This is Luna, my WoW-playing cat. Whenever I play, she sits in my lap. If I'm not paying attention she'll bat at the spacebar to make my character jump! While her sisters are huge, she is the runt and has decided that I'm her human.
• Kelly Aarons (@Cadistra): The usual combo of WoW, Torchlight, and Zeno Clash. Also will be working like mad to get a slew of other things done. Finally gave in and am shelving Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor, and am now finally going onto Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box. The pic is of mah new kitteh, Alfrado. He is lovely, except when he decides that putting a claw in my nostril is a good way to wake me up.
• Lisa Poisso (@emused): AFK all weekend for several birthday celebrations, including the baking of this Delicious Chocolate Cake. Most people wouldn't call this cake a pet. I think I just might.
• Matt Low (@matticus): Watchin' me some playoff hockey! Some more alt ICC is on the schedule as well. Also have to fight the exam boss at 830 AM on a Sunday. Seriously, who the heck schedules an 8:30 exam on a Sunday?
• Mathew McCurley (@gomatgo): More ICC hardmodes and some quality time with friends. Uncharacteristically tired this week. Happily reading all the horse-outrage this week.
• Michael Sacco (@mikesacco): Seeing my friend's college's production of Clue, which uses the stage adaptation I wrote. Playing Pokemon HeartGold. Trying desperately not to hate Final Fantasy XIII. [Editor's note: Mike breaks us away from the standard kitten and puppy pics.]
• Rich Maloy (@stoneybaby): I'll be in my hometown of Pittsburgh, PA for my grandmother's 90th birthday. I'll be golfing with the Maloy boys at some point in the 'burgh. Unfortunately I'll miss 2 raid nights with our fledgling guild, but I think they'll be just fine without me as they go for hard modes and our 2nd LK25 kill.
• Robin Torres (@cosmiclaurel): I'll be going to the Zoo on Saturday and Gurubashi Beatdown II on Sunday. Both of my cats are my favorite pet, but pictures of the two of them just like a mound of black fur with four eyes. So here is Thor, doing his cat yoga. This is the bearskin-rug pose.
• Tyler Caraway (@Murmurs): Not doing too much in the game world this weekend. Mostly I'll be trolling around for a date. Anyone available? I lack a pet currently. I've been trying to get a new husky, but that requires me building a fence and I suck at building things.
• Zach Yonzon (@Battlemasters): Playing the daddy game where I just obtained the Change 50 Nappies and Bathe a Newborn With One Forearm achievements. Will not be logging on to WoW because everyone will be flying around in their sparkly ponies and I won't be. Because, as you know, tiny new babies tend to nomnom all your sparklepony moneys.

Now tell us -- what are you playing this weekend? (Pet inclusion is, of course, optional.)

Tags: distracted-by-puppies, facebookfeed, kitten, kittens, puppies, puppy, weekend, weekend-gaming, what-are-you-playing, wow.com, wrup

Filed under: WoW Insider Business