WRUP: Twitter, sparklelions, and Nutsy Bolts, oh my
by Fox Van Allen 
Mar 26th 2011 at 2:00PM
Ever wonder what your favorite WoW Insider writers are up to when they're not writing for WoW Insider? Well, thanks to the technological marvel known as Twitter, you can now e-stalk our writers and absorb our infinite wisdom 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! (That's right, even on Fridays.)
What did you miss this week by not following your favorite WoW Insider editors? Well, for starters, yours truly talked about a new Dispersion glitch and lustful cries of "zug zug;" Mat McCurley bragged about his prescience on the Winged Guardian mount and spammed more pictures of his cat; Tyler Caraway (who will heretofore be named "little nugget") surrendered to his crippling devotion to Fox Van Allen and begged to be "taken;" Mike Sacco created a WoW-themed game of Nutsy Bolts and invited all his followers to join in; and Alex Ziebart played some Atari 2600, gave away a loot card, and then freaked the hell out over a bug. All in a week's work for the WoW Insider crew.
What will happen next week? You should follow us all and find out. Whatever we say, it's likely to be entertaining, if only because we don't have paid editors on hand in our personal lives to stop us from saying something really, really stupid.
But enough shameless plugging of ourselves on Twitter -- it's time to get back to shameless plugging of ourselves on WoW Insider via WRUP. This week's bonus question lands our editors in a bit of déjà-vu-like controversy: "What do you think of the winged lion (Winged Guardian) mount? If you hated the sparklepony, do you hate this? Or have you come to terms with microtransactions?"
Adam Holisky (@AdamHolisky) This weekend I'll be mixing various flavors of Raman Noodles to create a SUPER FLAVOR that will sustain humanity for the next billion years. After that, people will buy me a winged lion mount because they love me so much. As far as the sparkepony goes, I like it, and I think it's fine if people like it or hate it -- I just don't get why some parts of the community are so up in arms about it. It's a mount on a computer screen. Not a big deal.
Allison Robert (@AllisonRobert) More ZA and ZG on the PTR, and some organizational work on an upcoming Shifting examining some problems with the restoration talent tree. Microtransactions don't bother me as long as they're restricted to cosmetic stuff, but I'm descended from a long line of cheapskates and nothing in Blizzard's "pet store" has really caught my eye yet. To the extent that the pet store bothers me, it's painful to see high-quality models like the Celestial Steed and Winged Lion while models like the wyvern languish without updates/improvements.
Anne Stickney (@Shadesogrey) THIS weekend will be cake weekend. I will be making cake oh yes I will. Something outrageously chocolate. There may be ganache. Other than that and being mobbed by nephews, not a whole lot! As for the KITTY I am so excited about the KITTY he is a KITTYKITTYKITTY with GLOWY PAWSKITTYKITTYKITTY
Chase Christian (@madsushi) I am going to be packing this weekend, as I am moving next weekend. There will be boxes. Bonus: I am all for vanity items, as I get to buy them for my wife to easily stock up brownie points.
Christian Belt (@ihatewarlocks) I finally picked up the original Dragon Age, in its uber ultimate complete champions hyper fighting collector's edition, what comes with all the DLC and expansions and such. I'll apparently be playing it until they pry my mouse from my cold dead hands. Oh, and I have zero problem with the new mount. It looks awesome, provides no actual in-game benefit other than the whole "look at me I have 15 disposable dollars" thing, and I will absolutely be dropping unsubtle hints to everyone I know that it would make a great Birthday/Easter/Tuesday gift.
Daniel Whitcomb (@danielwhitcomb) I have a relatively slow weekend for once, and I am tempted to take a weekend off from gaming to catch up on sleep. As far as store mounts go, it's obvious that microtransactions are to stay. As long as WoW keeps them cosmetic and unique and doesn't try to sell us reskins or stuff that gives a huge advantage in game, I can deal with them. Hell, I own more than one purchased pet. I think I'll need to see the lion in motion before I decide if it's worth buying.
Dawn Moore (@dawnwow) I'll be catching up on work and plotting out raid starts with the guild for our next heroics. As for the winged lion, I wasn't too impressed with it as a concept so I don't care too much, though I still don't think much of microtransactions that aren't for charities.
Fox Van Allen (@foxvanallen) I'm absolutely torn on this weekend -- I will either be attending an all-expenses-paid poetry reading on Nantucket, or going to a NOH8 photo shoot here in Boston. As for the "Winged Lion," I guess I just don't see the allure. I mean, it's a cool mount and all, but I just can't bring myself to buying an in-game item. But hey, if that's your thing, knock yourself out and buy a million of the damn things.
Joe Perez (@Lodurzj) Leveling my alt worgen warrior, PeterBarker, a little bit more and trying to actually fill my pokédex in Pokémon White. As far as sparkleponies and winged lions, stuff like that is OK in my book as far as microtransactions go. They are purely cosmetic, and don't have an impact on gameplay. If you don't like it, simply don't buy it. Easy as that. Now, if we get to a point where you're purchasing things like bag space then we'll have a problem and I'll have to put on my fighting trousers. My only real gripe with the winged lion is I want it to come in five different colors so I can fly around pretending I'm a member of Voltron with four of my friends.
Josh Myers (@Elamqt) I've got a very boring weekend ahead of me. Possibly some more arena on my unholy death knight, probably some more Pokémon Black. Beyond that, not too much is going down. As for the bonus question -- I wasn't a fan of the sparklepony based on its looks, but I'm all for microtransactions. I'm not sure I'll be buying the winged lion myself, but I'll be jealous of everyone who does!
Kelly Aarons (@Cadistra) This weekend I will be inching ever-so-slowly to the Salty title. As for the sparklepony/winged lion? Welcome to digital gaming. Microtransactions aren't going anywhere, and it's not like either the pony or the lion make you a stronger player; they're purely cosmetic. I wish people would just chill out about it.
Lisa Poisso (@emused) I'll be traveling, so no gaming for me. As for the new microtransaction, well, I don't have much use for mounts; I'm more the flying carpet type. Now, if this winged whatever were a vanity pet, we might be talking ...
Mathew McCurley (@gomatgo) I'll be leveling my hunter, working on some writing, and having a bad movie night on Saturday. I love the winged lion, and am surprised that the pet store isn't chock full of mounts for people to buy. People obviously want them, so make them available!
Robin Torres (@cosmiclaurel) I'll be playing war games with the gang in It came from the Blog. Do come! The winged lion mount looks lovely, but I prefer my sparklepony. I think Blizzard does microtransactions correctly: we can buy stuff from them that's cute and fun, but that don't affect gameplay. More plushies that are also in-game pets, please.
Tyler Caraway (@murmursofadruid) I think I'll probably be taking a bit of a WoW-break weekend to get various things done around the apartment to prepare for moving. It's still months away, but I don't want to wait for the last minute. In pony news, I have no feelings on the issue. You want to buy a pretty horse or cat, then go buy one; so long as it doesn't impact gameplay, I'm not bothered by it.
The weekend is the perfect time to kick back, relax and enjoy some game time. Are you an achievement junkie? Can't get enough raiding? Rolling a new alt? Considering taking the leap into roleplaying? Whatever your favorite way to play World of Warcraft, let us know in the comments what you're playing this weekend!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Eberron Mar 26th 2011 2:15PM
I'm just pissed that Blizzard will take my money for something as stupid as a mount but won't let me buy more character slots or a third/forth spec.
Stupid Blizzard. Get your crap sorted! D:
Trandom Kaggus Mar 26th 2011 2:37PM
It is (and I hope it continues to be) Blizzard's way that they only offer cosmetic items on the Blizzard store for cash. None of it is needed to become a better player (unless you're going for achievements).
I don't want to have to buy a third spec. That is an upgrade that feels manditory to play the game better. "Hey Joe, switch to your tanking spec!" "Uh sorry, I only have Holy/Ret. :(" ">:/"
Udderpowered Mar 26th 2011 2:33PM
So far Blizzard are only selling vanity things, selling extra specs and character slots would be an in-game advantage, and will the top of a very slippery slope. Not that I put it past them, mind.
If one good thing came of Friday, it's the various amazing parodies.
Knob Mar 26th 2011 2:56PM
The only Friday version you need: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzfQwXEqYaI
Swifteye Mar 26th 2011 2:58PM
The sparkle pony never won me over (dammit, I love sparkly things and I love ponies, but OMG those stupid stumpy-looking legs!!!1), but I'll almost definitely be getting the Winged Guardian. Why? Simple, two reasons:
1. I adore cats, and the lack of cat mounts for us Hordies is disheartening.
2. I hate stupidly large mounts, which for me rules out nearly any sort of drake. Blizz has yet to fix the disorienting camera issues with my dear Nether Rays, I *detest* the running animation for the regular Wyverns (*bobbobbobbobbobthiscannotbegoodformyspine*) and, as much as my pally loves his Hippogryph, I don't have the patience to do the same rep grind for all eight of my toons who are of flying level.
This fella looks small (or at least not SUPER-HUGE) enough for my liking... I'll wait to see some animations before I make my final decision, but as long as his run isn't as nauseating as the Wyvern's, I'm sold.
Josho Mar 26th 2011 3:09PM
This weekend I'll be running around on TF2 public servers spamming GOTTAM and POOTIS. Oh, I love my life.
Boocat Mar 26th 2011 3:30PM
Best version of this dumb song so far.
Eberron Mar 26th 2011 4:27PM
Don't get me wrong, I'm just saying I'd pay a one-time fee to have one more spec then everyone else. Not that I particularly want to have to pay it. XD
Gracandrea Mar 26th 2011 4:59PM
No way. No Triple spec.
My guild actually has a metric ton of tanks and I'm MT. I am asked to heal sometimes when we're with our sister guild.
But if I had to have ret too?
*curls up and DIES*
Henri Poincaré Mar 26th 2011 5:04PM
Can you imagine triple-spec, loot-wise? It's bad enough now ("But I need it for my off-spec!") even in guild runs. \shudder
Dreyja Mar 26th 2011 5:38PM
You know I listen to All Things Azeroth WAY too much when I can totally hear Anne's voice doing the, "KITTYKITTYKITTY, it's a KITTY" thing. ;D
I squeed more than a little when I saw glow-kitty.
Tyler Caraway Mar 26th 2011 10:24PM
Oh, now imagine having to hear it EVERYTIME someone brings up the lion in vent during our raids. -_-
Anne Stickney Mar 27th 2011 12:25AM
Only if you show up on time for a raid, Tyler
wackydavo Mar 26th 2011 10:03PM
Heretofore needs to be changed to hereafter.
Tyler Caraway Mar 26th 2011 10:29PM
I feel the need to point out that my tweet is being taken completely out of context.
Low blow Mr. Allen, low blow. I won't forget this!
BoB Mar 26th 2011 11:19PM
I love this version of Friday. There is emotion, and strange backrounds. Also, no 13 year old drivers.
Nathanyel Mar 27th 2011 1:37PM
Gosh, I hope he didn't hurt his hand in the breaking mirror!
datgrl Mar 29th 2011 7:11AM
One benefit of the store mounts - you no longer have to buy a mount for your alts and you only have to buy training. If you are a casual player with a lot of alts, farming gold so you can afford everything your alt needs is hard. It makes it one less thing to have to save for. If you haven't been lucky enough to get a mount drop from the dungeons/raids, it's one more step in the mount achievement. The real life cost can be a detriment for someone with limited income but as Christian and Chase point out, they can be gifted. I think it would make a great present.