Posts with tag featured

Around Azeroth: Which of us is the evil twin again?

by Elizabeth Wachowski Jan 27th 2015 at 10:00AM

Today's submitter writes, "My gnomish warrior Pie was perusing the various transmog gear vendors when suddenly a strange sensation came over her ... a chill that crawled up her spine like a malfunctioning clockwork gnome hopped up on too much Deeprock Salt. Cautiously she turned around, expecting trouble, and instead she found a tiny death knight, comparing the fluffiness their pigtails. Naturally, Pie won."

Want to see your own screenshot here? Send it to aroundazeroth@wowinsider.com. We strongly prefer full-sized pictures with no UI or names showing. Include "Azeroth" in the subject line to ensure your submission dodges email spam filters; if you'd like to be credited, also include your name, guild and realm.

Filed under: Around Azeroth

Breakfast Topic: How much farming is too much farming?

by Elizabeth Harper Jan 27th 2015 at 9:00AM

There's no MMO -- or game in general, really -- that doesn't have some grinding built in. After all, you need some reason to keep logging in after you've run out of quest rewards and dungeons to clear. But sometimes the grind you go through for achievements and collectables is just too much. So when do you decide that it's time to throw in the towel on your own grinds?

Right now, I'm working on safari achievements, and I'm down to one pet left to catch in Eastern Kingdoms and one more in Kalimdor. Two more pets when I've already managed to pick up 360 unique pets shouldn't be that hard, right? Wrong. Right now I have alts camped to watch for rare spawns, and I log in now and then to sit and stare at my mini-map as if that will make them spawn faster. But this isn't exactly compelling gameplay -- in fact, this kind of tedium is the dead opposite of compelling. But I've gotten so close... I shouldn't give up with only a couple of pets to go, should I?

So today let's talk grinds. How long have you ever spent farming or grinding for a particular bauble or achievement in-game? And just when do you decide that enough is enough?

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Breakfast Topics

WoW Moviewatch: ROFLMAO!

by Elizabeth Harper Jan 26th 2015 at 7:00PM

Monday is upon us once again, and since we're all in need of some workweek cheer, we dug into the Moviewatch archives to find this classic from Oxhorn. Sure, this 2007 machinima looks a bit dated, especially when compared with the new models that rolled out in Warlords of Draenor, but it's still darned funny. (Much like the even older Muppet Show skit this machinima is parodying.)

Go on, we dare you not to laugh. Happy Monday, everyone!

Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.

The Queue: Lightning round

by Alex Ziebart Jan 26th 2015 at 12:00PM

Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.

Anne had everyone entranced with her tinfoil hat in yesterday's Queue and left us with a serious lack of questions. Today is going to be a simple rapid-fire day.

Make with the asking!

xeraphax asked:

With the changes coming to salvaging, should I keep my crates till 6.1 or use them now?

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, The Queue

Around Azeroth: I just wanna fly

by Elizabeth Wachowski Jan 26th 2015 at 10:00AM

"All other ogron make fun of Thunk at Broken Precipice," submitter Kashume of Legends of Poker on Staghelm (US-A) translates from the original series of thumping noises that constitutes the ogron language. "They said, 'Silly Thunk, you no can fly. Ogron no have wings.' Thunk know better. Thunk up in clouds where he belongs with windrocs. Now only thing Thunk not figured out; how to get down?"

Filed under: Around Azeroth

Know Your Lore, Tinfoil Hat Edition: The ordering of Draenor and Azeroth

by Anne Stickney Jan 25th 2015 at 8:00PM

The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft.

According to various accounts, the Titans have had their hands on almost every inhabitable world in the universe. Certainly Algalon had to keep an eye on more than one planet in his impossibly-long life -- he says as much when we stop him from sending the signal that would re-originate our world. This fact alone is enough to indicate that in the Warcraft universe, worlds aren't quite as unique as we'd expect them to be. If the Titans had a hand in their ordering, they're likely going to have at least some similarities.

But it doesn't mean that every world we come across is going to be just like Azeroth. We've been presented with the idea, time and time again, that Azeroth is unique in the universe. It's special. There's something about it that sets it apart from every other world. And yet, when you hold Azeroth and Draenor next to each other and take a good long look at what they are, you can see the bare bones of what was once upon a time, a blueprint shared between the two. Unfortunately, the comparison raises more questions that it seems to answer -- but those questions are pretty important.

Today's Know Your Lore is a Tinfoil Hat edition. The following contains speculation based on known material. These speculations are merely theories and shouldn't be taken as fact or official lore.

Filed under: Lore, Know your Lore

WoW Moviewatch: Like Froot

by Anne Stickney Jan 25th 2015 at 6:00PM

Look, I'm going to be perfectly honest here: I have absolutely no idea what's going on in this machinima. I'm not sure if it's telling a story or not, or what that story happens to be. But Like Froot, the latest music video from Youtuber Killercookie, still manages to be hypnotically entertaining, story or no. The bright visuals mix well with the song, which I've never heard before -- but it's now thoroughly stuck in my head. As always, Killercookie knows exactly what to do with model placement, animation, and cuts. I guess the lesson here is that sometimes you don't really need a story for a machinima, a pleasant tune and some colorful visuals are more than enough to entertain. If you liked this short, don't forget to check out Killercookie's Youtube channel for plenty more.

Filed under: Machinima, WoW Moviewatch

The Queue: Anne's Story Hour

by Anne Stickney Jan 25th 2015 at 2:00PM

Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Anne Stickney (@Shadesogrey) is answering all kinds of questions today!

It's Sunday, the day of rest and apparently of rambling on about stories in my head, and as such I'll go ahead and indulge the few people that asked the question below. Don't worry, I've also got plenty of other far more pertinent questions to answer as well!

Ligkvaern asked:

I made an account just to ask this, damn you! ...What happens in Kharazhan, in your head?

robertjamesftw also commented:

Anne. ANNE. You may NOT tease us with hints about your head-canon and/or the stories you create in there and not share them! C'mon! Give!!

I can take a hint. Please note -- none of this is actually what's going to happen in the next expansion. I have no idea what's coming in the next expansion. This is just stuff I made up in my head that seemed to make sense given what we already know. Okay? Moving on, and continuing from where I left off on Wednesday:

Filed under: The Queue

Sunday Morning Funnies: Muzzled

by Amanda Miller Jan 25th 2015 at 12:00PM

Sunday Morning Funnies is your weekly list of WoW-related web comics.

This week, in comics: A flamingo. Droppin' coin. Adorable lowbies. Crafting doohickies (doohickeys?). Plus: Dodging dinos!

In comic news this week, From Draenor With Love has posted the cover for Chapter 5! So glad it's back. If you missed earlier news, and are wondering where some of your favorites are, well, Sara & Kleeyo is on a more sporadic posting schedule, and both Contested Territory and Best in Slot are on a hiatus while new content is produced and post-holiday breaks are had.

On Gratz Solace, Lackinganame will be posting extra information and discussion points at the bottoms of each post, so keep an eye out! And if you missed last week's discussion section, but have been thinking about getting into digital art via a tablet, you should check out the comments.

Finally, you may notice something new on the list this week! If you like it, I encourage you to check out the other artwork posted at Bear Comics and Assorted Art, and I will link to more in future.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Humor, Comics, Sunday Morning Funnies

Breakfast Topic: Do you stack traits on missions?

by Anne Stickney Jan 25th 2015 at 10:00AM

I have a method for follower missions, one that seems to have worked out mostly in my favor -- during the day, I'll complete as many of the shorter missions as I can, logging in to cycle through them once or twice. Before I turn in for the night, I'll queue up all the longer missions, because I know they'll be waiting for me at whatever point I log on the next day. Sometimes, though, I get impatient or I want the rewards offered by a mission right away -- which is when I start stacking traits.

I have a lot of followers with the Epic Mount trait. I also have a lot of followers with the Scavenger trait. Used to their full potential, I can easily nab over 1k garrison resources in a single mission -- or I can whittle a mission down to 15 minutes or less. In 6.1, the Scavenger trait is getting a nerf from a 200% bonus down to 100%, and frankly I can see why -- with a 10k character garrison resource limit and the potential of capping that limit in 10 missions or less, it's a little overpowered. Thankfully, the Epic Mount trait is being left untouched, which means I can still speed along missions as I see fit when the new patch is released.

I'm sure I'm not the only person that does this, but I'm curious just for curiosity's sake -- do you guys stack your follower traits on missions? Is it something you go out of your way to try and accomplish, or is it something you tend to ignore? What do you think of the Scavenger change in patch 6.1 -- was it needed, or unnecessary in your mind? What traits do you like the most?

Filed under: Breakfast Topics

WoW Moviewatch: Yellow Flicker Beat

by Anne Stickney Jan 24th 2015 at 6:00PM

Death knights are inherently kind of creepy. And even with the revamp in Cataclysm, the Eastern Plaguelands are still pretty creepy as well, along with the death knight starting area on the eastern coast. Put that together with a little bit of Lorde and you've got Yellow Flicker Beat, a machinima music video from Time-Lost Productions. Time-Lost Productions has been doing these kinds of music videos for years, and it shows -- the production quality is good, the cuts are sharp, and the only minor critique I can make is that really I think the video would have stood on its own without the text that was added for emphasis. It totally didn't need it! If you liked the video, be sure to check out Time-Lost Productions' Youtube channel for more.

Filed under: Machinima, WoW Moviewatch

The Queue: I still miss Karazhan

by Anne Stickney Jan 24th 2015 at 12:00PM

Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Anne Stickney (@Shadesogrey) is answering all kinds of questions today!

I'm glad so many people liked the fill in job I did with Wednesday's Queue. Fun fact: I've actually given way more thought to the whole tie-in idea than absolutely necessary over the past couple of months. For those that thought the answer was interesting, it's what happens next in Karazhan that is really interesting.

Or would be. If it were, you know, real and not made up in my head.

I miss Karazhan.

adidast05 asked:

Did I read that follower upgrades will no longer drop from salvage ?

Follower armor set pieces will no longer drop from salvage crates -- the items that equip your follower with an ilvl 615/630 weapon or armor. Weapon Enhancements (the items that simply upgrade your weapon or armor ilvl by a certain number), are still dropping from Big Crates of Salvage as it stands on the PTR.

Filed under: The Queue

Breakfast Topic: Have you caught 'em all?

by Elizabeth Harper Jan 24th 2015 at 10:00AM

I've been on a recent pet-hunting binge in World of Warcraft. Though I've always been a fan of collecting games, I'd avoided getting into this one because it seemed like once I got started started, I would feel compelled to catch everything... and that seemed like a tall order. Now that I'm actively working on WoW's safari achievements, I can tell I was right. In between rare spawn pets, pets that only spawn during certain weather conditions or certain times of day, and my horrible habit of accidentally killing pets I mean to catch (my Terrible Turnip isn't very high level yet), I'm pretty sure this is going to take approximately forever to finish.

So I ask you, readers: are you, too, compelled to try to catch 'em all? And if so, how is your personal safari quest going?

A note to anyone who hasn't started this crazy quest to catch every pet: don't start! Your sanity will thank you.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Breakfast Topics

WoW Moviewatch: How to Rig a Pet Battle

by Elizabeth Harper Jan 23rd 2015 at 5:00PM

Pet battling isn't easy. Sometimes you come up against the perfect team, all of your attacks seem to miss, and you're left floundering. And sometimes, like in the video above, you try to rig things in your favor. (Though the active word is definitely try.)

Yes, Mooclucking clearly understands all of our battle pet frustrations. Unfortunately, this doesn't seem like a good solution for them. We'll just have to do our best to keep forging through even the toughest pet battles... and maybe steer clear of the pug while we're at it.

Filed under: Machinima, WoW Moviewatch

Around Azeroth: Laid your bones by a shallow stream

by Elizabeth Wachowski Jan 23rd 2015 at 2:00PM

"So while wandering around Shadowmoon Valley and getting in fights to test out my wide-range of dwarves taunts and insults in SpeakinSpell (and probably traumatizing a whole generation of players to boot) I stumbled across an odd gathering of draenei on the shore," writes submitter Arugadh of The Brotherhood of Iron on Wyrmrest Accord (US-A). "Three small girls and their fathers were gathered around a skeleton that they'd unearthed on the beach. At least, I think they unearthed it. Judging from the expression on that one child's face as she turned and looked at me ... well, I'm not ashamed to say that I scrambled back onto my golden charger and hightailed it out of there before they decided to unearth my skeleton right out of my flesh."

Filed under: Around Azeroth

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