Posts with tag gifts

There's been scattered reports on places like Reddit and Twitter of players getting random gifts in the mail from "The WoW Dev Team." @Skarn_ on Twitter reported getting a Flawless Aquatic Battle-Stone along with instructions on how to use it. The poster on Reddit received 4 Warforged Seals.

I've checked the mail of my max level characters and found no gifts waiting for me. There's been some speculation on what the criteria is for getting a gift. The person who received the Warforged Seals identifies themselves as a PvP player who has only used Warforged Seals a couple of times in the past. One recipient of the Battle-Stone claims they've barely done any pet battles, another says they've been active in the past but not as of late. Perhaps it's something to entice inactive players back into the game? Or try an element of the game they otherwise would have not? Or maybe it's just random.

Have you received any unexpected gifts in the mail lately?

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Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook.

The holiday season is all about giving. It's the perfect time of year to hold contests and giveaways. Doing so can be a great way to build morale in your community or attract new players. Giving gifts to your officers as a guild leader is also a heartfelt way to show appreciation for their hard work throughout the year.

However, many of the most desired items can cost a fortune in gold. For officers, manpower is often much easier to come by than raw currency. Here are eight items that make great gifts or prizes without bankrupting your gbank.

8. Discombobulator Ray

Where to get it: An engineer can learn the schematic in Gnomeregan. Wowpedia has a walkthrough. It also has a small chance (0.5%) to drop from Mekgineer Thermaplugg, the last boss of the dungeon.

What it costs: A small amount of gold for materials: bronze bars, silk and wool cloth, and jade.

Why it's a good gift: Many players don't even know this vanilla-era item exists. It has a unique and hilarious effect, and you don't have to be an engineer to use it. It's also a devastating item for low level players to unleash in PvP.

The world's a busy place and grabbing time to go shopping can be difficult. But the nice thing about straddling your life between the real world and Azeroth is that there are plenty of opportunities for virtual gifts. Here's 5 last minute gifts you can grab to delight Mom without resorting to in-game trinkets. (Don't get me wrong: in-game gifts are awesome, but that list could get gigantic.)

5. StarCraft Anthology
If Mom hasn't spent time blowing up zerg and getting caught up on Blizzard's other Craft game, now's the time to look at the StarCraft Anthology. Boasting hours of gameplay and that nurturing-with-lasers aspect every gaming Mom loves, you can even enhance this gift with a few hours of alone time to make it even better.

Would you call me a bad person if I confessed I couldn't actually recall the best gift I've ever been given in game? It was actually a whole set of items, though, and there's a reason I can't remember them either singly or as a unit. They're the quirky, humble gray and white items my daughter would wrap up and send me for the sheer delight of it when she first started playing confidently on her own. I have a whole row of these mementos in somebody or other's bank vault -- flowers, low-level dresses, and odd gray drops that tickled her fancy when she came across them.

I would know she had discovered something she loved when she would forbid me to walk behind her when she was at the keyboard, and I could clearly see that she was in town. She wrapped each gift with care, usually sending it along with a vendor-bought sweet treat if she had enough silver. None of these gifts were remarkable in and of themselves, but they were all so full of her joy of discovery and anticipation of sharing that nothing else I've ever been given can ever match them.

Of course, some players get more substantial gifts. The mount or rare drop that goes to the hard-working GM or guild officer -- that's a pretty commonplace but heartfelt gift. And what about all the players who get married both in-game and out? Their in-game wedding rings often seem almost as meaningful to them as the ones they wear on their hands. Or the practically anonymous leg-up packages that kind high-level players sometimes bequeath on random newbies -- that's sheer awesomesauce right there.

What's the best gift you've ever received in game? Did it commemorate a special occasion? Was it a reward for something you'd done? Was the giver a friend or guildmate, or was it perhaps someone you didn't even know?

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It's that time of year again -- if you (like me) haven't gotten gifts for everyone on your list, it's time to start scrambling to find something nice to get under the tree this year. Fortunately, you don't have to worry about finding something good for the World of Warcraft fan in your life: we've got you covered there. In the gallery below, we've got a nice bunch of gift ideas for everything Warcraft, from the cheap to the expensive, from the silly to the practical, from in-game presents you can wrap with shiny paper, to out-of-game classics that you can... also wrap with shiny paper. If you need to give a gift to a WoW player this year, you'll find it below for sure.

And if you happen to be a Warcraft player, faced with the annual awkward question of "What do you want me to give you this year?", just feel free to drop this link surreptitiously as a reply, maybe even with a hint or two towards a specific item. We've included links to everything and kept it easy to understand even for someone who hasn't visited Azeroth before. That's our gift to you. Happy holidays, and good gift hunting!

Our good friends over at Azeroth United have announced their charity drive for the year, and while it's still getting underway, you can now head over and start giving donations, of either money or items to be offered as prizes for sponsorships. The drive doesn't officially start until November 1st, but especially if you have a site that has WoW-related items or services to offer, AU could use your help putting together gifts for people who donate. Additionally, they've put together mp3 promos of various AU members, so if you have a podcast in the community or any other audio outlet, you can run promotions of your own to help out the cause.

Said cause is an excellent one, of course: they're aiming to get at least $5,000 to donate to Child's Play, the charity started by the Penny Arcade folks that helps get video games together for children in hospital. The drive, we're told, will run through December 13th, so they've got a long way to go, but right now they're working hard at getting sponsor items together and getting the community revved up for the event. Stay tuned for more -- this seems like an excellent opportunity for the Warcraft community to do good and help out the world outside of Azeroth.

This was so cute we had to share -- that future Alliance kid at right is Cara's son Riley, no doubt owning it up on Daddy's Death Knight in the battlegrounds. That's right -- the DK who rolled over you with Howling Blast in Wintergrasp yesterday was actually played by a 9.5 month old baby. How's that burn feel? Cara tells us, and the pic was part of a "WoW you're a great father" theme for Riley's first Father's Day.

From all of us here at WoW.com, here's a shout out to all of the fathers out there, both Dads of players and Dads who are players themselves. Take a break from taking down Ulduar or grinding out those Argent Tournament quests and make sure to give your Dad a call (and/or the usual tie or socks) today. Or just send him an in-game email for those of you who play with your pops.

Happy Father's Day!

World of WarCrafts returns to WoW Insider with a broadened focus to spotlight art and creativity by WoW players and fans, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music, fan fiction – and yes, (War)crafts. Share your creativity: tip us off via the tips line (attention: World of WarCrafts).

Welcome back to World of WarCrafts, where we highlight the creative side of life as WoW player. Whereas previously this feature has focused on arts and crafts, we'll now be talking about a broader range of creative efforts: fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music, fan fiction – and yes, crafts. Got something worth showing off? Shoot us a note on our tips line (attention: World of WarCrafts).

This week's artist is a professional jeweler who hails from the United Kingdom. His recent inspiration to combine his profession with his hobby have produced some of the most exquisite World of Warcraft jewelry we've yet seen. Join us behind the scenes for a warm, entertaining conversation with jeweler and WoW fan John Love (aka Amun, Terenas-EU) of World of Warcraft Gifts.

This seems like a strange deal, but in fact it's business as usual -- Blizzard says they won't tell you what's in the BlizzCon bags this year until all of the tickets are sold out. Seems weird, right? Wouldn't knowing what you'll get with the bag encourage you to buy tickets? But apparently not -- they've always announced the goodies post ticket sales and pre-event, so we'll just have to wait and see what comes up this year.

That won't stop us from guessing what's in it it. Our guess: a lot of stuff. Last year's bag was huge, as you can see in the gallery below, and this year's will probably be even bigger. There will definitely be some silly items, like the QQ noob tissues and the Diablo III mints from last year. There'll be promotional stuff for sure, maybe a pack of TCG cards, a few licensing partner ads, and/or a sample mini (last year they gave out Voidwalkers). And of course there'll be an ingame item card, maybe a sweet mount or a vehicle. Personally, I'd love to see a special edition novel, either a reprint of something like War of the Ancients or even a special collection of short stories just for the event.

Whatever's in the bag, you can rest assured that we'll be one of the first few folks sifting through the goodies again. And it's not outside the realm of possibility that, yet again, you'll have a chance to win one. Stay tuned.

Welcome to Scattered Shots, the other WoW Insider Hunter column. This week, we break from the gear guides for a little bit of holiday spirit. And nothing says holiday spirit quite like presents. Or at least that's what I tell people if they don't appear to be planning to give me a present.

I'm not saying this week's column isn't for Hunters. That would be silly, what with this being a Hunter column and all. But this column goes out primarily to the Hunters' friends, guildmates, family members, spouses, significant others, and the like, who may be thinking, man, here it is, Christmas day, and I still don't have the proper gift. This column aims to help them find that gift. But hey, if you're a Hunter who wants to get something special for yourself too, you should still read on. You might just find an idea here.

Yeah, I suppose if you wanted to get your Christmas shopping done for your special Hunter EARLY, this guide is a little bit late. But hey, there's 12 days of Christmas, and where I come from, The first day is the 25th of December. Besides, this is a Holiday Guide, and the Holidays, all told, extend to at least mid-January, right? So yeah, we're totally good. Anyway, if you have a Hunter on your gift list this season, here's some in-game gift ideas from various professions, dungeon drops, and elsewhere that just might woo your special Hunter, or appease them until next year, or whatever it is you may need to do.

Happy Holidays, everybody! All this week, people will be traveling around and taking off work to be with their families, enjoying holiday traditions and celebrations, and giving presents to one another all over the world. And WoW Insider has some presents for you as well -- all this week, we'll be giving away TCG loot cards every single day, thanks to our good friends over at WoWTCGLoot.com. So make sure to come back every single day this week (you can duck away from your family for just a little bit to win something, right?) to see what's under the tree that day.

Today we've got not one, not two, but six different loot card codes to give away: four Slashdance P.A.R.T.Y. grenades, and two Papa Hummel's Pet Biscuits, for six random winners total. The grenades will get your party dancing like it's New Year's Eve already, and the Pet Biscuits, handmade by "Papa" Mike Hummel, will grow your noncombat pet to huge sizes. The cards are useable on EU or US realms, so no matter where you are in the world, as long as your characters are on those realms, you can win. To enter, just leave a comment on this post in the next 24 hours (and please use a real email address that you check often, so we can send you the code if you win).

Good luck! And be sure to come back tomorrow to check what's under the tree then -- every day this week, we'll have new presents for random winners to pick up. Big thanks to WoWTCGLoot.com for their help with this one -- if you need loot cards or information about them (including how to get the best price if you want to pick one up yourself), hit them up.

Winter Veil is here. The cities are decorated, snowballs are flying, and everyone will be waking up early in a few days to see what Great Father Winter has left under the Christmas tree. We recognize the holidays as a time to share with family and friends.

Outside of services, parties, and shopping you're probably still spending a considerable amount of time with your cohorts online. I'd like to know if anyone is planning on sending gifts to their guildies and other WoW buddies. It's unnecessary but still thoughtful to recognize these folks we spend so much time with. I think it might be fun, but I'm not sure what to get.

Yes, it's that time of year again -- the lights are up around town, the weather is cold and snowy, and you've got a long list of nice (and maybe even some naughty) people who will need gifts this year. But what will you get? If anyone on your list is a Warcraft player, worry not: WoW Insider has compiled a list of ten Nintendo Sixtyfoooooooour-level gifts for the Warcraft player in your life, five out-of-game and five in-game.

Whether they're level 10 or level 80, odds are that they'll love any of this stuff, and whether you've got just a little bit of time and/or money to put in or want no expense spared, there's something on this list for you. Click into the gallery below to check out all of the gifts, and be sure to have a happy holiday season -- here's hoping there will be a little something more exciting than coal in that stocking!

Looking for non-Warcraft related gamer gifts? Joystiq has up-to-the-minute news on the best holiday deals and tips around for Holidaze 2008. And our friends at Big Download have a nice set of guides up as well, featuring anything and everything you might need for a PC gamer.



Winter's Veil is almost here. Watch the 12 Days again, wonder what might be new this year, or settle down with some cocoa and some tasty... bark?

Just a reminder that Mother's Day is coming up on Sunday, May 11. If you're planning on sending a gift, flowers, or a card, it's about time to get them in the mail. For the record, I have never met a Mom that didn't treasure a pretty bracelet given to her by her son. All of these things are positively fantastic for a traditional Mom, but we've got a lot of WoW Moms that might like something a little different.

Even as I get older, I've found that my Mom, and other Moms around me still enjoy homemade gifts. Our Thursday column, World of Warcrafts, has given us some excellent ideas on some very special gifts. Last week Shelbi showed us how to make a lovely Basket of Flowers. I'm also fond of her wonderful guide for making Super potions. I'm pretty sure my Mom would like these (even more than the paperclip necklace she treasured for years.)

You may also consider World of Warcraft T-shirts, or even paid play time. If you don't have a lot of money to dedicate to Mother's Day Shopping, you can give your WoW Mom the gift of playtime or even something special in-game. For those of you with less fantasy-oriented Mom's, here are some easy links to get gifts online:

Flowers

• 1-800-Flowers
• FTD
• Teleflora

Food:

• Ethem M Chocolates
• Harry and David
• Godiva

Remember, you only get one Mom (ok, so in modern families, you may have 2 or 3), and Mother's Day only comes once a year. Make it count! What's your plan for your mom? (I can't tell you, my mom reads WoW Insider.)

* This public service announcement was brought to you by gamers who love their moms.

I don't know if I quite buy this one, but it's an interesting idea: Jias says that this week begins a period of time in the World of Warcraft known as "noob season": all of the folks who found WoW under their tree, or decided to use their gift cards to try out "the Shatner game" are going to be rolling their first character over the next couple of weeks, and will probably have lots of questions and very little learned etiquette.

Jias sees it as a bad thing (we have to deal with noobs), but I tend to go a little more toward Neth's side of the argument: it's a chance to be veterans of the game, and to help players who haven't seen all this stuff before figure it out. Just last night, I was leveling my Hunter and decided to join a PUG in Blackrock Depths out of the blue-- for some reason, only one of them had ever been in the instance before. But being an old hand, I led them through all the twists and turns down there, and we finished all the quests through the Attunement rock (The Lyceum gave us a little trouble, but it was late, so we called it).

Will there be a few more players asking for gold or not quite clear that all tanks should be carrying a shield? Probably. But we should probably be as welcoming and patient with these folks as possible-- they'll be the same people listening on the LFG channel when you ask "LFM for Utgarde Keep."