Posts with tag greatfather-winter

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This week's top stories include:

• Winter Veil is here!
• KIN Raiders defeat Madness of Deathwing heroic, earning a world-first kill.
• The winner of our Nightsaber Cub pet is Ceteacie! Look for a message from us on YouTube soon.

Win a Purple Puffer Fish from WoW Insider! Here's how to enter: Subscribe to the WoW Insider YouTube channel and comment on the video at YouTube for a chance to win! We'll contact our winner via YouTube on Friday, Dec. 30.

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Every week, just at the start of the weekend, we catch up with the WoW Insider staff and ask them, "What are you playing this week?" -- otherwise known as: WRUP. Join us to see what we're up to in and out of game, and catch us in the comments to let us know what you're playing, too!

Happy non-denominational, non-religious, made-up in-game holidays, everyone! It's that magical Winterveil season. All the good boys and girls in Azeroth -- 95% of whom seem to be orphans, go figure -- are sitting on all sorts of strangers' laps asking for Grindgear Gorillas, a sixth season of The A-Team, and whatever else it is kids like nowadays.

In addition to the usual question of What are you playing? this week, I asked our columnists exactly what it is they all want from Greatfather Winter this year.

With the Light as his strength, Gregg Reece of The Light and How to Swing It faces down the demons of the Burning Legion, the undead of the Scourge, and soon an entire flight of black dragons.

Well, here's the problem. I was going to do this whole long article on my predictions and wish-list for the paladin Cataclysm class previews that were coming out Friday. The problem is that they've moved them up to Wednesday which is the same day this column normally goes live. So, I can either write a nice long column with predictions that will end up going live after the real information comes out or we can do a short and sweet prediction article a day early with more time spent on analysis for tomorrow.

I'm going with short and sweet version.

I have a secret to share.

I'm Greatfather Winter.

Nah, just kidding! I don't have the beard long enough to play the part yet.

The Feast of Winter Veil is here! Greatfather Winter is chillin' (get it?) out in Ironforge and is waiting to hear what you guys want this holiday. Winter Veil will last from December 15th, 2009 to January 2nd, 2010. The Winter Veil achievements can be done during this time so be sure to get those finished before it's too late. Otherwise, you'll have to wait another full year before you can finish off the year long What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been achievement for a shiny violet protodrake. Not sure where to start? Check out Allison's OverAchiever: Guide to Winter Veil.

Sadly, this year there are no Crashin' Thrashin' Racers this year (which makes me one sad panda). I'll cheer myself up by picking up massive amounts of snowballs and chucking them at various Horde players (or guildies) in Dalaran. What's the first thing you plan on doing when Winter Veil starts up?

'Tis the season to start revelling in the glory of Winter's Veil. To help create some classic music for us all to enjoy during the holiday, Cranius wrote and produced GreatFather Winter. While this video was originally created a year ago, it remains fresh and vibrant even today. I think that Cranius nailed his goal perfectly.

Cranius has a nice story about the final creation of this film. There were fierce snow storms where Cranius lives. He obviously wanted to get his Winter's Veil classic complete by Christmas, but was very concerned about losing power due to the snow. He was rightly concerned, as his electricity went out just as he was near finished. But, thankfully, it turned out to be a very short outage -- he was without power just long enough to get a few more inspirations for some final tweaks.

Let the holiday season begin!

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Surprise! It's December already, which means the winter holidays are just around the corner. According to Blizzard's calendar, Winter's Veil will be upon us in just two short weeks, and if patch 3.3 does drop next week as expected, it'll seem even shorter than that (I'm sure that the new Dungeon Finder system will make the time fly by for most of us). So before Greatfather Winter actually appears in Ironforge and Orgrimmar, the Godmother has the right idea: it's time to ask GFW what you want for Winter's Veil. He's delievered some nice ingame presents before, and this year should be no exception.

Personally, 3.3 will grant most of my Warcraft-related wishes, so I'll just wish for world peace. Oh, and 5000g for my newly 80 paladin's epic flying. Actually, I need a chopper, too, so world peace, 5000g for the epic flying, and another few thousand for the chopper mats. Oh, and I need gear to run heroics, so the peace thing, lots of money, and good gear. Wait -- I'll need a good flying mount, too. So let's say Rusted Proto-drake, epic gear, and lots and lots of money. Actually, it's Warcraft, so just forget the peace thing -- I'll just take the money and purples, thanks.

But that's just me and Steve Martin. What would you like to get from Greatfather Winter this year?

So, for those lucky enough to have today off, I'm sort of wondering if anyone's awake yet to read this topic. After all, I'm sure a good portion of us drank so much eggnog and ate so much roast beef, turkey, or your other meat or non-meat of choice, that we're all sort of wishing we could just hibernate for the rest of the winter.

But regardless, life goes on, and here it is the morning after. I'm sort of wondering, then, how many people made time to get a few winter veil traditions in as well. I admit, for my part, first thing in the morning I logged onto WoW, ran to Ironforge, and checked out what Greatfather Winter bought for me. Then I proceeded to run around with my crashing thrashing racer until I got 25 crashes and the Merrymaker title. Which I am not using because my character is a Death Knight. Death Knights do not... make merry. We're dark. And angsty. But we also like Violet Proto-Drakes, so what can we do?

Did anyone else make time to log on and get a little Merrymaking going? Did you just stick to more achievement gathering, or are you making your own WoW Winter Veil traditions?

Looking for our 2010 Winterveil Guide? You'll find it here!

The Feast of Winter Veil is almost upon us. The festivities kick off on December 15th, and will run until January 2nd. There are plenty of achievements to be had, as well as the title "Merrymaker" for completing them all.

If you can complete every achievement from all of the holidays in a year, you will also be eligible for the achievement, What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been, which rewards you with a Violet Proto-Drake.

You can refer to this guide for information about completing each achievement for this holiday, including links to maps and our usual comments section that should not be passed over if you're looking for tips.

Yes folks, it's the first of the month and it is time for your trek to Aeris Landing in western Nagrand. Gezhe will hook you up with a loot bag containing random gems, some of which are quite profitable. Of course, being the swindlers that they are, they don't give out something for nothing.

What you get depends partly on chance, and partly on how much they love you. Here's the breakdown:

• At Friendly, you'll be handed a Gem-Stuffed Envelope.
  
• Once Honored, you get upgraded to an Unmarked Bag of Gems. Unmarked bags never contain stolen goods!
• At Revered, you will be awarded with a Bulging Sack of Gems. This one always reminds me of Santa's Greatfather Winter's bag of goodies.
• Once Exalted, you'll receive a Bag of Premium Gems.
  

The higher your freebie is on the scale, the more likely it is to contain valuable rare quality gems that will help offset the cost of gemming your gear, or contribute to your epic flying mount fund. Get out there and get your gems!

"Ho ho hello, everyone! It is I, Greatfather Winter, reminding you that time is running out on your chance to enter WoW Insider's Winter's Veil in July contest. Yes, I and the kind folks at Smokeywood Pastures -- fresh from our farm to your plate, it's Smokeywood Pastures' wholesome goodness -- and Upper Deck are giving away a TCG Winter's Veil Gift set right here on WoW Insider in the middle of summer! Huzzah.

"To enter, I hear you have to go to our contest post, and put a comment there (one per person, must be in the USA or Canada, full rules available here). Please note: you must comment on that post, as putting a comment on this post will get you nothing but on my naughty list -- although that means that you might get some of Smokeywood Pastures' new line of coal products. They'll warm your fire so well, you'll feel just like me on Winter's Veil Eve.

"Wait, what? That makes no sense. Anyway, folks, your Great-father Winter is getting pretty tired here -- unlike the usual Winter's Veil festival, I don't have players bringing me cookies and milk all the time during the summer, so I get a little parched. But do make sure to run back to that post and comment, and have a happy -- what is this? July. From your friends at Smokeywood Pastures. I give up. Where's the Schnapps?"

It looks like if you have previously completed Greatfather Winter's quest, he may have sent you a recipe that was added in Patch 2.3, just for the Feast of Winter Veil. You do not need the required skill or level to receive the recipe. Here are the possible goodies you could have waiting for you in your mailbox:

• Pattern: Green Winter Clothes -- Tailoring, Horde only
• Pattern: Red Winter Clothes -- Tailoring, Alliance only
  
• Pattern: Winter Boots -- Leatherworking
• Recipe: Hot Apple Cider -- Cooking

Did you get a Winter Veil gift from Greatfather Winter today?