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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBreakfast Topic: Does WoW light your creative fires?
by Stephanie Drury 
Jan 21st 2011 at 8:00AM
On this fine snowy morning of -12 degrees, I find myself writing an article for WoW Insider. If you had asked me a year or two before, I would have told you that's preposterous: I didn't think I had much in common with other players, and I certainly didn't have the confidence to put anything in front of the masses. I was learning the ropes, leveling, asking questions, not sure what I was supposed to do when the game was "over." I didn't utilize sites such as this; back then, I didn't venture much further than Thottbot.
Yet here I am today, with a few high-level characters, raiding, and I am writing this article. I've dabbled in a few other games since first playing WoW, and each of them has sparked my imagination and opened various creative passage ways. I found myself wanting to start a fan-fiction, which then grew into something even bigger. I always loved writing but never thought I would go anywhere with it. I guess I just needed the right inspiration.
There is a whole feature on WoW Insider (World of WarCrafts) about people who have been inspired by WoW to do great things. How about you? Have you started writing a comic strip, fan-fiction, a novel, created videos, or furthered another hobby? Have you done something you never thought possible because you were inspired by WoW or another game?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Jamie Jan 21st 2011 8:06AM
While in Stormwind yesterday, I saw a lot of dragons in the Trade District. I thought to myself "Wow.. that's a lot of dragons!". After a while of admiring the blue ones, the green ones and those dedicated people who had the time losts or pink ones. I was inspired to go out and hunt dragons.
Not in game of course. In real life! Day 2: Still not seen any dragons.
Baba Jan 21st 2011 10:14AM
That's because I had the same idea last week :/
What can I say... I work fast.
Nawaf Jan 21st 2011 11:24AM
Here's a tip: go to Komodo island.
neogramps Jan 21st 2011 8:08AM
Yup, WoW inspires me to draw, and I spend my downtime trying to improve my pencil skills.
I took a month off wow last year to get some practice on my colouring - and the first thing i did was this: http://grampsart.deviantart.com/art/Wow-Lich-King-142304128 (I'm a colourist, lineart by Eddie Nunez (http://miacabrera.deviantart.com/).
Josin Jan 21st 2011 8:09AM
Dude, NICE color work!
MusedMoose Jan 21st 2011 8:16AM
Seconded, man. Your color work is seriously good. Keep it up!
Jarett Jan 21st 2011 9:29AM
Excellent colors! WoW has inspired me to do a lot of artwork too. I keep meaning to get back into coloring, but I'm still just doing lots of line work. Couple of my favorites that I've done:
http://jarwastudios.com/2010/09/25/56-alexstrazaaaaaaaaaaa/
http://jarwastudios.com/2010/11/15/107-shaman-trained-and-badass/
http://jarwastudios.com/2010/11/11/103-the-captive-night-elf/
Kylenne Jan 21st 2011 12:56PM
I totally just favorited that LK piece. Awesome stuff!
Josin Jan 21st 2011 8:08AM
I've designed new armor sets to replace some of the terrible ones. So far, the only one that is (mostly) complete is my hunter design, which feels far more like a hunter than the "OMGIGotEatedByAMurloc" Tier 11 set, IMO.
Maybe I'll post up the drawing if people are interested.
Scomparsa Jan 21st 2011 9:08AM
Do it!
Ilya Jan 21st 2011 9:17AM
Doooo eeeeet...
I, too, am sick of the murloc look for hunters. It's just... we spend most of our game-time HATING murlocs (granted, we help 'em in a couple places, but not the point!), and then you're suddenly expected to WEAR one?
Congrats, you've become the thing most players loathe for one reason or another.
Josin Jan 21st 2011 9:35AM
Okay, this is the most complete version I have currently scanned. (I'm at work, sketchbook's at home.)
http://i.imgur.com/s2hvO.jpg
Ilya Jan 21st 2011 9:48AM
It has a bit of an explorer feel to it, I think. I like it what I see, more so than the murloc suit!
What I've seen is just /win. Nicely done, Josin! (and clever use of the Hunter's Mark, too)
Noyou Jan 21st 2011 9:49AM
@Josin
Dude, that is bad ass. Sorry for using such an old term to describe it. But man! Please keep at your work. You put a lot of detail into that. and look, the shoulder pads are not $%!@$% enormous! See now stuff like that is very inspiring. Was there a specific class you had that intended for? It looks kind of like a hybrid mage/rogue type deal. Very very cool. :)
Josin Jan 21st 2011 9:53AM
Yeah. My whole concept behind my redesigns is to try and capture the feel of what the class is about. Hunters should be woodsmen of a sort, living out in the wilderness, hunting. Hunters got my attention first because their gear has been horrible in the past few tiers, IMO.
Between the dildo-head tier and the murloc tier... they needed some love.
Next up is probably going to be rogues, though I think I'll be hard-pressed to top the Dungeon Set 3 from Burning Crusade. I hate the current rogue Tier 11 stuff. A turban and phosphorescent-glowing shoulders? Kinda hard to sneak around with those.
Noyou Jan 21st 2011 10:51AM
Yeah. The armor keeps getting bigger. I think less is more. Even for plate wearers. The only thing I can say is they have been doing this for a while so maybe they just get bored/run out of ideas. I don't want to hate on these guys but it makes me wonder at times how many still play the game.
musichatesfrst Jan 22nd 2011 4:43AM
Metal bands, ftw!
Jeroen Jan 21st 2011 8:14AM
I just love to spend time online and see how other creative minds go wild with WoW related stuff!
MusedMoose Jan 21st 2011 8:15AM
As a writer, I occasionally find little bits and pieces of WoW slipping into my work. In a novel I finished last year, one of the otherworldly races was based off of the draenei's appearance - I pretty much started with what they look like, then changed things based on what I wanted my race to be.
That same book originally included a character who was a real WoW buff, but I realized that I didn't want to include a bunch of jokes and references that only a certain group would get, so I ended up making him a movie buff instead. *shrug*
Ilya Jan 21st 2011 9:20AM
Exact thoughts:
'Huh, okay, he HAS a real WoW buff. Maybe Power Word: Fortitude? Or maybe even... Arcane-' *skims 'movie buff'* '...Watching moves gives you a buff? Since when? Last time I- oh, THAT kinda buff!'
Yes, I'm still waking up. And yes, WoW has really ingrained itself in my mind since I started playing in '07.