Can't get your World of Warcraft Battlechest fix because Recruit-a-friend has sold out all the copies at Target? Worry not, because Target has got just as great a substitute for you: Paws and Claws Pet Vet 2: Healing Hands. Because when you can't conquer the tower of Medivh or slay beasts in Nagrand, the next best thing is playing a mediocre attempt to grab the money of kids who want to grow up to be vets.
Yeah, it's pretty sad, but then again, Target employees aren't necessarily videogame players. And even more sadly, what exactly does it say about PC gaming when the next best seller to WoW is a vet simulator?
BRK can have his gigantic Rhinos (OK, fine, I'm getting one of those, too), but I'll take this beast -- a slavering, rampaging, murdering... baby polar bear as a Hunter pet. Seriously? How does this thing even attack? The graphics, cute as they are, don't really look like they're done -- kind of just seems like a bear with a baby mask on. But sure enough, the pet is called an Arctic Grizzly Cub, and can be found as early as 69 in Dragonblight. This may not stay tameable on the live realms, of course, but if it does, it could be the cutest thing ever to tear apart the Alliance in Eye of the Storm.
Consider yourself lucky if you've never seen the sight above before -- it's the sign of a former guildleader yanking everything out of the guild bank (including all the stuff above and a good 12,000g) and transferring off to another server. Good times. This is why I usually keep all of my Hearts of Darkness under my mattress at home -- the banks just aren't safe.
This isn't the only guild leader ninja we heard about this week, and it's definitely not the only messy drama -- there's lots more right after you click the link below. Don't forget to send in your tips about drama, downed and recruiting news from around the realms to wowguildwatch@gmail.com. We really appreciate it, and lovers of drama of all kinds do too.
This post contains spoilers about Wrath of the Lich King. Before the cut, the spoilers will be mild. After the cut, the spoilers will be complete, and more powerful than you could possibly imagine. (Well, more than you could imagine if you don't check out behind the cut.)
One of Blizzard's hallmarks in the World of Warcraft has long been the subtle digs and nods to pop culture. These Easter Eggs can bring a lot of fun, though I know some folks feel the little references ruin their immersion. I kind of like them, and still giggle this day about the idea of purchasing Gigantique bags from Haris Pilton while avoiding her spectral friend. This new one, lurking mildly in Northrend, made me giggle a bit in delight, though. One might even say, I muttered a faint "Squee!"
Go behind the cut and see the latest easter egg in Wrath ... if you dare!
We were live on WoW Radio as usual last Saturday with our weekly podcast, and this past week we welcomed Krystalle Voecks of our sister site Massively into the mix, as well as Daniel "BigRedKitty" Howell, and of course the Turpster. Krystalle chatted with us about what's planned for the big DragonCon event in Atlanta this weekend (WoW Insider will be there, even though I unfortunately won't be), and we also talked about:
The pending release of Warhammer Online and what it means for WoW players.
And of course we answered emails, including your questions about our legendary missing show, why female Draenei broken are the only ones who wear hoods, and what exactly private servers are.
It was a fun show -- we wandered around a bit, but don't we always? You can listen to it right now over on WoW Radio's website, and of course in iTunes as well. If you have questions or comments about something we said, send them along to theshow@wowinsider.com and you might even hear them next time around.
And if you missed the live show this past week, we do this every Saturday afternoon at 3:30 Eastern, so tune in live on WoW Radio's website, and you'll even be able to join us in IRC chat. Enjoy the show this week, and have a good one.
Why now? | Alts Ahoy All of a sudden Nasirah enjoys playing a shaman where it was boring before. In this post, she muses on why her mind has changed.
How to annoy NPC's - Keep Clicking on them! | Pugnacious Priest Amusing detective work shows what happens when you annoy an NPC, including quotes on what they'll do to you if you don't stop. To bad you can't back-talk them too.
Canoodle Strudel is a radio show about gaming, hosted on Indiana University's WIUX radio station (they're the ones who put together all of these custom Soul Caliber IV videogame characters), and the guys there have kindly invited WoW Insider on their show tonight. I'll be on the phone with them from Chicago to talk gaming, World of Warcraft, MMOs in general, and all the big news out of Wrath of the Lich King starting tonight at midnight Eastern.
It should be a good time -- even if you're not in Bloomington, Indiana, there is a live stream on their website that plays really well in iTunes, so if you're awake around midnight this evening (finishing up those dailies or farming those last few motes), feel free to tune in and check it out. We're not sure if they can do call-ins, but even if not, you can always send us a tip with a suggestion of what you'd like to hear and I'll do my best to get it on the air.
The show starts around midnight on the East Coast (and goes pretty late, I believe), but if you're up for some late night Sunday Warcraft discussion, definitely tune in.
What happens when a player gets fed up with tactical PvP? Sefearion brings us his interpretation of strategic planning from both sides. While he admits that the portrayals are blown out of proportion, they end up entertaining nonetheless.
The model viewed characters need some work, but the voices and topic matter help make this an instant classic. The Alliance team members are portrayed as whiny and disorganized, while the Horde are prim and proper. He leaves us with a cliffhanger, so we won't know what side wins until later. Given his humorous bias towards the Horde, you can easily figure it out without seeing the battle, though.
Another Sunday is passing, and with it, summer break. Soon, raids will pick back up, we'll see a return to relatively child-free hours on the servers, and the weather will start to cool off. Here are this week's funnies, to help you stay in a summery spirit. Humor
Our weekly podcast will go live at 3:30pm this afternoon over on WoW Radio, and as usual, it's gonna be a humdinger. Krystalle Voecks, of both WoW Insider and our sister site Massively, will be on to talk about what's going down at DragonCon next week (we're going to be there in a huge way), and also about what competitors WoW will be facing this fall on the retail shelves (ever heard of Warhammer? You will). And BigRedKitty will also be on with Turpster and myself, so you know we'll talk Wrath beta, Hunters and their pets, and all the other big news of the past week in WoW, including what we thought of the Wrath cinematic.
Be there at 3:30pm Eastern this afternoon for all the fun, and don't forget you can join us in IRC on irc.mmoirc.com in the #wowradio channel, or just email your questions and comments to theshow@wowinsider.com (and you might even hear us talk about them).
See you this afternoon, it's sure to be a good time.
In the Arena, long matches sometimes happen. The longest I've ever been involved with left me watching my Holy Paladin partner and a Resto Druid chase each other around the Blade's Edge bridge for a half hour. And I thought 30 minutes was pretty long-in-the-tooth for an Arena match. It turns out, that's nothing.
Richard tipped us off to a show-down that ran for 13 hours and 30 minutes. It seems like a long time, but when you check out the discussion thread -- it's revealed that the Warlock and the Druid weren't really fighting no-holds-barred for the entire time. The druid was skilled enough at his LOS and heals that Bandiago, the warlock, couldn't do enough damage to kill him. In return, the resto druid didn't have the DPS to burn down the Siphon-Life/Soul-Link warlock.
The two players started exchanging messages during the match. Bandiago would apparantly get up to go make brownies and post on the official forums. Whenever the druid would try and kill him, the warlock-chef would come back long enough to get in the fight. It eventually wound down, according to Bandiago, when he was able to get a Drain Life to keep channelling through a pillar. At 13.5 hours, Bandiago pulled off a win.
I guess we should offer congratulations, but I don't know. 13 hours is a long time. Many of us have had shorter love affairs. It seems like a long time to chase a bear around an Arena, to me.
Reader comments – ahh, yes, the juicy goodness following a meaty post. [1.Local] ducks past the swinging doors to see what readers have cooked up over the past week. Be sure to dive into the comments area of each thread (not this one!) and add your own thoughts – unlike your mama, we like us some hot, fresh backtalk.
A 12 inch Ornate Triple Pepperoni Blunderbuss When a sharp-eyed WoW fan noticed an "Ornate Triple Pepperoni Blunderbuss" at the local pizza joint, his WoW-lovin' heart leapt for joy – but when WoW Insider posted the shot, the comments began filling up with pooh-poohs from Doubting Thomases. Eden Pizza's owner came out to settle the difference: "I am the owner of Eden Pizza, and while I am not a WoW fan per se (I quit after Warcraft 3), my wife and brother-in-law are quite the WoW fans and they both work here with me," edenpizza says. "My brother-in-law and wife made this particular pizza up. And yes, we got a call today asking about it, so I thought I would check this blog out. The pizza is a popular one, and it's delicious. WoW fans are welcome here.
"Also, we can put a pizza on dry ice and FedEx it to Chicago, or anywhere in the 48 states (sorry, London) ... for a ridiculous price."
On the lack of females among Azeroth's NPC races Quite a few readers seemed to appreciate Keyra's backgrounder notes in this post: "'Of course, there are also Amani mobs called 'Witches,' which is generally a term reserved for females.' Perhaps in-game, but IRL this is not true. Looking back through the persecutions during the last few thousand years, men and women alike were called 'Witches' (the term 'warlock' is actually a misnomer that came about during the height of the persecutions in Scotland, and is a Scots Gaelic term meaning 'traitor'). The Stregheria (Italian Witches, and still in existence today) is both male and female and there is no differing term between them. The religion of Wicca is likewise both male and female with 'Witch' being a term shared between them. Just some food for thought. :-)"
Reader Vid is from Croatia ("the homeland of Niko Bellic from GTA IV," he says), and he sent us this t-shirt he found in his closet. He's had it for a few years, but just recently noticed the emblem sitting on the chest pocket -- if it makes you want to grab your sword and fight the Horde, you're right. It's a slimmed down version of the Human Kingdom of Lordaeron symbol (although most of Lordaeron is now held by the Forsaken, but no mind -- the blue and gold are a widespread symbol of the Alliance).
Of course, how that symbol ended up on a cruise t-shirt, Fordragon knows. If the Lordaeron insignia is a reference to any real symbol in real life, we couldn't find it. Vid says the patch wasn't added by him, and it's been on the shirt since he owned it. Interesting -- either someone at S&A is a Warcraft fan, or there's a real-world link here we're missing. That's a nice t-shirt you got there, cousin!
Have you ever woken up and known you were going to have one of those days? It's been one of those days for going on a week now. Before you say anything, I went outside of the "lines" in a few places on purpose on my elemental there. The lines and I are having a disagreement, perhaps next week we shall come to a resolution of our differences.
This is something I would like to be doing right now. Maybe in a slightly larger facility, not to mention one without its own face. I once saw a screen shot on the World of Warcraft homepage that had a Gnome standing inside of her Voidwalker. So I wondered, you know those giant water elementals found here and there? Yeah, totally on top of that sport.
I thought now would be a good time to use this idea, seeing as how some people are starting school again soon. Missing summer? Try this!
See you next week!
Gallery: Barrens Chat
Barrens Chat is a weekly comic strip that brings to light some of the stranger things in Azeroth. From emo oozes to mooching floozies, nothing is safe from the battered and bruised tablet of doom. Stop in weekly to see a new comic, spy on some old faces, or perhaps meet a new victim.
Here's a nice tidbit from the Games convention at Leipzig, Germany in the form a bundle of Wrath news. Tom Chilton and J. Allen Brack gave a pair of interviews to Getbuffed.de and Gamona.de. In the Getbuffed interview embedded above, they discuss the future of the lore and raids, most notably Icecrown Glacier, the home of Arthas.
We were live on WoW Radio as usual last Saturday with our weekly podcast, and this past week we welcomed Krystalle Voecks of our sister site 
Canoodle Strudel is 
Subscribe
