Breakfast Topic: Revenge is oh so sweet

The Piccolo of the Flaming Fire used to be one of the most hated trinkets in World of Warcraft. Using it causes everyone around you to spontaneously burst into dance. At the time, there were exactly two auction houses in WoW -- one in Ironforge, and one in Orgrimmar -- so the banks were constantly jammed full of bank alts trying to do a little business. Imagine 85 bank alts spontaneously bursting into dance, and you understand the source of the annoyance. Since then, the game has progressed beyond the magic flute and few remember, care or carry the things in their bags. But the flute's legacy lives on in a rather unique way on my realm.
Gold spammers have gotten a little more creative these days. They don't leave corpses littering the streets; instead they have a fleet of level 1 characters that float in midair in annoying formations, or sleep on the ground and spell out the name of whatever website they happen to be advertising for. I cannot stand these guys, and I don't think there's anyone on my server who finds them remotely amusing.
Which is where my old friend the piccolo comes in. Want to get rid of the gold spammers fast? Stand in the middle of the group and use the trinket. Suddenly, all of the carefully designed formations are broken up as the level 1 orcs proceed to bust a move. The gold spammers hate this and will quickly log out. It's become something that's announced in trade -- the spammers will show up, and someone will pipe up in trade chat, "Spammers in Orgrimmar, bring your piccolos." At least a dozen people will usually show up to break up the gold-selling party.
Want in on this delicious revenge? The piccolo drops off of Hearthsinger Forresten, a rare boss in Stratholme who can spawn in one of three different locations. At level 80, the place is ridiculously easy to solo, so picking up a piccolo of your very own isn't any more difficult than getting it to drop off the boss -- and it's a fairly frequent drop. Do you still carry the piccolo in your pack? Does your server have its own unique way of dealing with gold spammers? Do you hold mammoth parties on the sleeping URLs, or do you just ignore the floating advertisements and carry on with your day?
Gold spammers have gotten a little more creative these days. They don't leave corpses littering the streets; instead they have a fleet of level 1 characters that float in midair in annoying formations, or sleep on the ground and spell out the name of whatever website they happen to be advertising for. I cannot stand these guys, and I don't think there's anyone on my server who finds them remotely amusing.
Which is where my old friend the piccolo comes in. Want to get rid of the gold spammers fast? Stand in the middle of the group and use the trinket. Suddenly, all of the carefully designed formations are broken up as the level 1 orcs proceed to bust a move. The gold spammers hate this and will quickly log out. It's become something that's announced in trade -- the spammers will show up, and someone will pipe up in trade chat, "Spammers in Orgrimmar, bring your piccolos." At least a dozen people will usually show up to break up the gold-selling party.
Want in on this delicious revenge? The piccolo drops off of Hearthsinger Forresten, a rare boss in Stratholme who can spawn in one of three different locations. At level 80, the place is ridiculously easy to solo, so picking up a piccolo of your very own isn't any more difficult than getting it to drop off the boss -- and it's a fairly frequent drop. Do you still carry the piccolo in your pack? Does your server have its own unique way of dealing with gold spammers? Do you hold mammoth parties on the sleeping URLs, or do you just ignore the floating advertisements and carry on with your day?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics






Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
Koma Sep 12th 2010 9:41AM
God only knows how many times I've killed that mob oping for the drop Q_Q
Dreyja Sep 12th 2010 10:33AM
I've been really lucky then becasue I've gotten two of them out of 3 kills. Now, the mount on the other hand... X(
Saruya Sep 15th 2010 7:57PM
Seriously?
6 runs yesterday in Strath and it dropped for me 4 times.
I also got an Orb of Deception! No mount though :/
tulipblossom Sep 12th 2010 4:22PM
Aww. I recently began farming these type of awesome items and another good one to get from Strat is the Cannonball Runner trinket. It's got a cute animation and drops off of Cannon Master Willey.
I've had no luck with the mount, either, though. Here's to hoping!
Fullmetal Salchemist Sep 12th 2010 5:39PM
My main went from friendly to Exalted with the Argent Dawn just farming the piccolo.
He dropped those stupid rainbow pants at least 11 times.
Tokkar Sep 12th 2010 10:08PM
Okay, now THIS is ironic.
On a post about dealing with gold-spammers, and we get spammed by someone selling counterfeit/knock-off brands like "Gold autumn, personality Men's clothing + Shoes" and what-not.
Priceless!
Where's my piccolo?
wscotthinds Sep 12th 2010 8:09AM
How exactly does it break the formation? Does the dancing cause them to fall out of the sky and their floating formation?
Craig R Sep 12th 2010 8:30AM
magic.
relmatos Sep 12th 2010 8:56AM
I'm guessing that any action triggers something in the game that notices that they're not in the ground and brings them down.
Great idea. Gonna start using it as well.
Rai Sep 12th 2010 9:31AM
FYI, party G.R.E.N.A.D.E.S work too. ;)
elstor Sep 12th 2010 10:00AM
I have also participated in a group of about 8 people on mammoths with size increase, we just literally covered up the gold sellers inside of us
Rocksanne Sep 12th 2010 10:31AM
The fact that they're floating in the air implies they're using some kind of hack. The spontaneous dancing probably breaks the hack.
Sei Sep 12th 2010 1:03PM
It just disrupts what they're trying to spell. Honestly, awesome idea.
Personally, I've been using Baby Spice to change some of the 'letters' in their message. (Also works great for griefers trying to cover event npcs).
Toothy Sep 12th 2010 2:21PM
Sei - forgot about the baby spice, thanks.
On my server folks also drop picnics and campfires in their favorite places, sometimes blocks a couple of them.
Darias.Perenolde Sep 14th 2010 9:05PM
Because, they /sleep so that their prone bodies spell out letters. When the dance from the Piccolo starts, they stand and it doesn't produce the desire effect.
Not only do I still carry my Piccolo, but I also carry an Orb of Deception at all times. In Outfitter, it's part of my "Around Town" set. That set also includes the activation of my Twill Set.
You know you're excited ladies. No woman can resist the Twill Set.
Meegan Sep 12th 2010 8:10AM
That is an awesome idea! I knew there was something in game that caused dancing, but wasn't sure what it was.
to strath I go!'
Meegan
BritishBulldog Sep 12th 2010 8:15AM
I love you.
Darky Sep 12th 2010 8:18AM
Too bad it drops in strath, I'm soo sick of that place.
(stupid mount)
Ricohardt Sep 12th 2010 8:31AM
I finally got the mount recently, now I gotta go back? :P
Wuvlycuddles Sep 14th 2010 10:44PM
I have had a piccolo for a very long time and yet i never thought to use it that way...
... i will now!