Ragnar’s Realms

Admin wrote: 

Filed under: Virtual selves, Guilds, Humor, Raiding, Guildwatch, Factions

You guys doing anything special for Halloween in your guilds? On the one hand, a Halloween raid of the old content might be kind of fun– candy and costumes for everyone! (And plus, you could probably get some good costume shots for our contest.) But on the other hand, it’s Halloween– who wants to be raiding when there’s candy to be given out in the real world? If you do end up doing something as a guild tomorrow night, be sure to send us pics and news about it next week.

And in the meantime, send us anything else you got– downed, drama, or recruiting news is all welcome at wowguildwatch@gmail.com. This week’s GW starts right after the jump.

DRAMA

• I sense lots of fake drama in the tip box this evening, but I’m posting this nugget anyway, just because I like the quotes: The GM of Reforged on Runetotem did something a little unprecedented when he saw a hunter getting a heal– he /gkicked all the hunters from the guild and replaced them with warlocks. Gotta be fake, right? Nevertheless, here’s our tipster’s punchline: “Harakas, the GM, is not entirely anti-hunter: ‘We’d love to have the hunter pets with us in the raid, it’s just the actual hunters are a wasted raid spot.’” Ha ha.
• An update about last week’s Dragonhawk drama from Nerz’hul: The GM of the new Horde guild has apparently decided that “Horde is boring,” and allegedly told all guildies to go back to The Venture Co. and their old guild. Lots of people haven’t, however, so the new Dragonhawk on Nerz’hul is staying, under a new GM.
• The tipster for this one didn’t actually tell us the guild’s name (only that it was a guild over on Dunemaul’s Horde side), but it’s a good story. The guild’s been having a little trouble with Gruul, and the one time they downed him, the Magus Blade went to a Mage who was actually a guild newbie. This led to a little drama, the original GM stepped down and then got in a big argument with the replacement GM, and the original GM got kicked. This didn’t make some veterans very happy, so they jumped ship, too, including our tipster’s real-life friend who originally got him involved in the guild. So now, his question: should he /gquit just to stand by his friend, and be left without a guild to help him progress in gear, or should he stay in the guild until his friends form a new one? You guys can answer that. His other point is that most drama in guilds is caused by bad management, and to that I say: sounds about right. A guild is only as good as its leader, and if the leader doesn’t know how to keep things together, they won’t stay that way by themselves.
• Forum drama from Bliss on Gnomeregan: It’s not us, it’s you. Also: either move on or make it better. Actually, as officer rants go, these aren’t too bad– they’re pretty reasonable. But they do have a little too much “WoW is serious business” in them for my taste.
• Guildwatch-inspired drama! (maybe). After being featured on GW last week, apparently HooperBandP dot com on Thunderhorn-H was forced to rename! Something about how guilds can’t be used to promote websites. Sorry, guys, if we brought the feds to you– if anyone asks us where you were on the night of the 26th, we’ll say you were just out bowling with us. They’ve reformed as three guilds apparently, and all are recruiting casual players– look up The Watchers, The Ministry, and Flat Earth Society in game to join.
• Essence of Mercy on EU Doomhammer showed up in a Super Healing Pot recruiting thread complaining that SHP was trying to ninja their tanks from EoM, and apparently SHP has been whispering quite a few guilds to try and recruit their members. Is that wrong? You decide. In other news, SHP is recruiting tanks and healers. Who knew?!

DOWNED

• Remnants of Twilight on Feathermoon-A poured salt all over Hydross for a guild first.
• Rolling With My Gnomies has cleared Karazhan over on Suramar, and they say Gruul is on notice (with the help of Full Circle). He’s at 74% so far, and they want Mag to know he’s next, but guys– only one boss on notice at a time!
• Kung Foo Monkey Badgers wants you to know where their website is, so click on their name to find out. And no, they still didn’t win the Best Guild Name award this week. Sorry guys!
  
• Alliance Bravehearts are a casual, family guild on EU Aszune-A dropped Moroes and the Big Bad Wolf to boot. Maiden of Virtue is on notice!
• Whoops, made a mistake last week: Dominion, who’s been progressing nicely, is on the Tanaris server, not Terenas. My heartfelt bad.
• Ambiguous Raiders on Khaz Modan have finally dropped Gruul like so many rocks loosened by that Shatter. Pic above. They’re also recruiting a few healers and other dedicated raiders for their 25mans.
• Drachefaust (winner of this week’s Best Guild Name award) on Garona-A finished off both Al’ar and Leotheras the Blind. Solarian, guess what buddy? We got a message for you the other day, and wrote it on a post-it note, but we can’t seem to find it. Wait, we’ll check the other room. No, it’s not in here either– you haven’t seen a little orange post-it note somewhere, have you? Oh maybe it’s by the computer. Yeah, here it is. Your message was… YOU’RE ON NOTICE!
• Shadow on Firetree kilt (that’s how they say it in the South) Morogrim and Void Reaver. Grats!
• Demons Down Under on Cenarius killed off Gruul, and they’re also recruiting active players for some good raiding.
• Modus Operandi on Sentinels-A killed off Doomwalker for a server first, and apparently it was a surprise to everyone– even the raid, who learned they were going for him when the GM said their first boss of the night wasn’t Lurker. That sounds fun.
• Ruin and Mediocrity on Anatheron-H have both dropped Kael’thas.
• Crimson Halo on Shadow Council-A finally “gave Void Reaver the kicking he deserved.” But did he really deserve it? What if he went through some terrible tragedy as a young Void child? Maybe, just maybe, he’s just misunderstood. Did you ever think of that? Oh and Mags is on notice, they say, and they’re right: that “my blood is my own” bastard deserves what’s coming to him.
• KVN of Laughing Skull also downed Void Reaver, not realizing that they might be the real boss encounter, not him.
• Highborne of Exodar-H dropped both Solarian and Morogrim for two guild firsts in one week. Grats!
• Cat’s Game on Gorefiend-A dropped the Illidari Council for an Alliance first and server second. Now it’s a horse race between them and Limbo (the rival Horde guild) to drop Illidan. Who is most prepared?
• Hegemony on Argent Dawn-A killed off Void Reaver, on their very first attempt of the night. Meanwhile, they’re still recruiting more for their raiding base. Get in now while you still can!

RECRUITING

• Vindictive on Skullcrusher-A is recruiting a boomkin, feral druid, and elemental shammy, as well as two shadow priests. They’re working on phase 4 of Kael’thas, so be good and well geared.
• Insomnia is a late night guild over on Baelgun– they’re recruiting new players to help out with Mag, and they raid Tues-Thurs and Sundays from 9:30pm to 1:30am PST.
• Legends Reborn is a Horde guild (server?) recruiting feral druids, mages, paladins, warlocks, and resto shammys to raid Kael’thas and go into BT and Hyjal.
• After clearing out Karazhan, Diurne on Ravenholdt is recruiting for Gruul’s and beyond. More info on their website.
• Slayers of the Majestic on Kalecgos is recruiting mature, experienced players who jump on for roughly two hours at a time (so, casual players). They’ve got about 20 60+ toons right now and are headed to the endgame.
• Legion of the Eternals on Malfurion-A is a mature, friendly guild looking for mature, friendly players for Karazhan and Gruul, especially Mages. Please be attuned for Karazhan, and have some nice pre-Epic gear on.
• The No Timers on EU Shadowsong-H is looking for casual players who are interested in running 5 mans and Heroics, and just generally having fun. They haven’t had a lot of luck with recruiting yet, so if you’re interested, be sure to contact them post-haste (that means fast).
• Escapism (woohoo my old Alliance guild– they’re good people! Shouts out to Beril, Creepy, Ishtro, Millrats and all the old gang– Jesse still with you all?) on Zangarmarsh-A is recruiting mature players to fill out their second Kara team and 25 man raid roster. Seriously, join them, they’re fun.
• Bind on Archimonde-H only has Nightbane left in Karazhan, so now is the perfect time to join their guild (all of the Kara loot, none of the wiping!). They’re looking for friendly and active players to continue progression with.

That’s it for this week’s GW! As always, please send us your tips at wowguildwatch@gmail.com– they’re what we use to feed this seemingly insatiable entertaining piece of writing every week. Until next time, happy raiding, and may everyone in the raid get an Epic of their own!

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Today,  

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Rhythm

We already knew the team behind South Park had proclivity for Guitar Hero, and this Wednesday we’ll get to see that interest translated on our TV screens. According to the South Park Studios web site, this Wednesday’s episode, aptly titled “Guitar Queer-o” will see Kyle jealous over Stan’s superior skills at the game. Wait, someone named Kyle isn’t good at Guitar Hero? This will not stand!

When South Park delves into gaming topics, the results tend to be good — as in the Emmy-award-winning “Make Love, Not WarCraft.” As for when (a hacked version of) Guitar Hero delves into South Park … well … judge for yourself after the break.

Continue reading Tivo Alert: South Park takes on Guitar Hero Wednesday

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Admin wrote: 

Filed under: Engineering, Leatherworking, Patches, Items, Jewelcrafting, Guides

Nearly every patch includes new items for players to farm up. While these additions are typically new tradeskill recipes, occasionally other goodies are thrown into the mix. The upcoming patch 2.3 contains both of these types of items for your farming pleasure (or annoyance). I’ll quickly cover the items, where they’re dropping and the creatures that drop them in order to create a consolidated resource to help plan your farming once the patch hits the live realms.

First off is the new leatherworking bag. The pattern for the Bag of Many Hides can be found through the mass slaughter of the Gordunni ogres in the Barrier Hills above Aldor Rise in Shattrath. This recipe will allow a leatherworker to create a 24 slot bag to hold the essential tools and materials of their trade.

Next up, a new jewelcrafting meta gem design will be available. The recipe for the Chaotic Skyfire Diamond is being held by the Coilskar Sirens in Shadowmoon Valley. Undoubtedly, this new gem will be very popular with PvE DPS casters who have been awaiting its arrival for awhile now, ever since spell criticals were excluded from the damage boost of the Relentless Earthstorm Diamond. While these things are difficult to predict, I’d expect this to be one of the most heavily farmed areas after the patch is released.

Thirdly, a new repair bot schematic will be found in Blade’s Edge Mountains. The Field Repair Bot 110G has 5 charges, making it a better investment of materials than the old bots. In addition to repairing damaged weapons and armor, this model also sells reagents and ammunition. Kill a few extra Gan’arg Analyzers while doing your Ogri’la daily quests for a chance at this item.

Tune in tomorrow for the rest of the list.

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Admin wrote: 

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PSP, Action, Adventure

Got a crazy craving for that sweet ADAM flavor that all the kids are talking about, but only own a PS3? According to 1UP’s Quartermann’s Nostradamian prediction you might be able to get your BioShock fix soon. In the latest rotation of EGM’s rumor mill, the exclusivity of the underseas fiasco has been brought into question, and PS3 owners could find themselves frolicking through Rapture sometime in 2008. However, this report contradicts the statement of BioShock’s lead designer Ken Levine that the game is not PS3 bound. 2K Games, would you kindly confirm or deny this rumor?

Quartermann also has great news for the feverish fans of FOXHOUND who were upset by the recent MGS4 delay - a new Metal Gear game for the PSP is on it’s way, ready to heal those wounds. Reportedly, Kojima Productions is working on the title right now, which will “take Snake back to the early days of his career.” Not his career as a master of espionage, mind you, but his first career as a pastry chef in a small Rhode Island bistro.

Also rumored: Sega isn’t letting the lukewarm reception of their two first next-gen Sonic games break their stride, as they’re apparently hard at work on a new, “real” Sonic game. We don’t know whether “real” means a return to the game’s classic platforming roots, or if we can expect more creepy interspecies make-out sessions.

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Admin wrote: 

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, News items, Guides, Forums

Kirkburn from the great WoWWiki (I like their one line description of us, and yes we do link to them all the time) writes to tell us that they have cracked 45,000 articles on their site as of last night. From Arathi Basin to Zul’jin, they now have over 45,000 articles on everything having to do with World of Warcraft. Congrats to them!

I’ve only ever created one over there (and it was for a joke), but all of us here at WoW Insider have nothing but respect for all the diligent archivists over at the Wiki. They have a terrific resource over there, and it is as clear an authority as they come, especially on a lot of the lore and background information on the game. Great job, all, on 45,000 articles, and keep up the good work.

Kirkburn also tells there are updates due over there as well– sometime before the end of the year, they’re planning an update to MediaWiki 1.11. And they’re also going to incorporate more with the Wikia network, which runs all kinds of niche wikis like this one, by creating a single logon across all the sites. Sounds like things are jumping over at WoWWiki, and we’re glad to hear it.

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Today,  

Filed under: Metal Gear: Portable Ops

A recent Sony newsletter revealed a mysterious title: Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops: Infinite War. Could this be the US title of Portable Ops Plus? But, the ESRB has already rated a game named Portable Ops Plus — surely, this can’t be a different game! Is this a mistake, or is MGS getting a title change for the US?

[Update: Ryan Patton responds: “Infinite War” was the codename I gave to the project before “MPO+” was decided on. Funny how things find their ways to retailers. Thanks, Random!]

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Today,  

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, RPGs, Video

“Close your eyes and relax, Commander,” utters the blue-skinned humanoid as she brushes her fingertips against Ms. Shepard’s cheek. Of course, your eyes are wide open as you hunch down in your chair and angle the monitor away from your coworker’s potential gaze, curious to see how this issue of ‘lesbain alien sex’ plays out in BioWare’s Mass Effect. Don’t worry, you won’t be spilling any hot coffee over this tastefully “steamy” scene.

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Admin wrote: 

Filed under: Hunter, How-tos, Bosses, Big Red Kitty

Each week, Daniel Howell contributes BigRedKitty, a column with strategies, tips and tricks for and about the hunter class sprinkled with a healthy dose of completely improper, sometimes libelous, personal commentary.

We’d like to present for your entertainment pleasure a short movie of a hunter’s perspective of the Moroes pull in Karazhan. The concept behind this project was to give hunters a visual guide for what their roles and responsibilities are, and the skill-set they can bring to a raid.

Your feedback will be most appreciated.

Daniel Howell continues his quest to become the WoW-Scorsese as the hunter-pet duo extraordinaire known to lore as BigRedKitty. More of his theorycrafting and slanderous belittling of the lesser classes can be found at bigredkitty.blogspot.com.

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Admin wrote: 

Filed under: Retro

The man behind Atari and founding father of the video game industry Nolan Bushnell has shared with electronic design just how unhappy he is with the industry he helped to usher in, saying, “Video games today are a race to the bottom. They are pure, unadulterated trash and I’m sad for that.” Wow, he’s sounding more like our real dad every day.

As sorry as we are to hear Bushnell’s displeasure with gaming’s behavior since it sprang from his intellectual loins, we do have to say that we think he’s generalizing just a bit and coming off a tad — dare we say it? — curmudgeonly? We know the guy plays plenty of 360 and loves his Wii, so why all the anger? Gaming has its share of crap, but there are also plenty of bright spots, even if they aren’t the sort of game that packs ‘em in to a Chuck E. Cheese.

[Via Gamasutra]

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Today,  

Filed under: News

Despite a very hard company line that HD DVD will never be used as a gaming format on the Xbox 360, and that there are no plans to integrate an HD DVD drive into the 360, the rumors just keep popping up. From the Xbox 360 Ultimate to the Frankensteinian Toshiba nightmare with every media connection, dock, port, and function imaginable, it just won’t go away. It’s probably about time to heap a fresh reiteration of the company line onto the pile then.

Speaking to Home Media Magazine, Microsoft’s Kevin Collins rehashed that there were no plans to bundle an HD-DVD drive with the Xbox 360. Collins noted that Microsoft “believes that gamers are first and foremost gamers,” and that market statistics bear out that gamers use their consoles for gaming, not movies. He says that including an HD drive would inflate the Xbox price, making it too expensive. He takes this opportunity to jab Sony saying, “If bundling an HD optical drive in a game console is such a smart idea, then why is the PS3 so far behind on sales targets?” Finally, he notes that UMD sales for the PSP declined as more compelling games were released, and he expects a similar chain of events for the Playstation 3. In other words, Playstation 3 owners are purchasing Blu-Ray movies because there aren’t enough quality games available, no necessarily because they are crazy about Blu-Ray.

So, in brief, no HD-DVD 360 for you.

[Via High-Def Digest]

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