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Anne Stickney

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The Queue: Rise, mountains

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 been a long time since we've seen anything from MrVoletron, but man I would love to see some kind of something done with Tectus and the continual drone of Rise, Mountains. Wouldn't you?

Puntable1 asked:

How do you guys handle Seal of Tempered Fate missions? I always grab my 3 weekly allotted Seals on Tuesday, then if I get a mission for a Seal, it goes to waste unless I can time it to complete on the next Tuesday before it expires.

The Seal you get from the follower mission does not count towards your 3 per week cap. It's essentially a bonus. So if you see that mission pop up, feel free to complete it whenever you want -- it's not going to go to waste unless you happen to already be at the cap of 10 total Seals for your character.

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Filed under: The Queue

Breakfast Topic: What kind of transmog items would you like to see?

As a self-proclaimed transmog addict, there are three major things I'd like to see from Warlords of Draenor's transmog offerings -- first, more draenei-themed items. We have a lot of orc clan stuff available, but the only real transmog set for draenei is locked behind one particular garrison building and a rep grind. The draenei have great fashion sense, why not have more of that style of gear available? Second, I really love the standard gear the Frostwolves run around in -- the designs are pretty, evocative, and unique. If the Frostwolves are Horde allies, why can't we dress like them?

Lastly, though, is something I thought we were going to see with this expansion, but seems to have been pulled -- back banners. I love blademaster orcs, and the idea of being able to run around with one of those signature banners on my back all the time was really cool. But although we've got a follower who dutifully carts one around on her back, we don't really have any of our own. Wouldn't it be cool to have, especially given the theme of this expansion?

What do you guys think? Are there particular items you'd like to see made available for transmog? Are there certain NPCs that made you take a step back and ask yourself where you could get their clothes? Is there a particular armor set you'd love to see added to the War Mill for transmog purposes? Or is how your character dresses the furthest thing from your mind while you play?


Filed under: Breakfast Topics

World of Warcraft 10 Year Anniversary gift arrives

The 10 year anniversary of World of Warcraft decided to wrap up in style with a special gift mailed to players that have been with the game since the very beginning. Players who created an account within 60 days of World of Warcraft's original launch and have maintained their subscription for all ten years have been mailed a very special physical gift -- a miniature recreation of the orc statue that graces the courtyard of Blizzard Entertainment's home in Irvine, CA. If you are eligible for the gift, you should receive an email indicating your gift is on the way at your registered Battle.net email address.

This is probably one of the nicer statues I've gotten from Blizzard. It looks very much like cast bronze, but I believe it's the same resin material used for their deluxe line of action figures. And although I say it's a miniature recreation, it's not that small -- the statue measures roughly 9" from base to tip of the taller axe. The base includes a message on the bottom that reads "The orc statue is a constant presence in our life at Blizzard Entertainment. It's where we meet to talk, to eat, to celebrate. As we celebrate ten years of World of Warcraft, we present this token of appreciation to you, stalwart adventurer. Thank you for being a constant presence in our lives as we adventure together."

Head to Battle.net for more information regarding eligibility for the gift, and be sure to check out our gallery for shots of both statue and box.


Filed under: Blizzard, News items

Know Your Lore: Highmaul and the Gorian Empire

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.

"Why Highmaul?" is one of the most frequently asked questions I get these days. It does seem a little strange that we are raiding the capital of ogre civilization when one would think we should be facing down the leaders of all of the Iron Horde we've been fighting against throughout the leveling process. But there's method and reasoning as to why we're invading the ogre stronghold, and it absolutely ties back into the Iron Horde.

When one thinks of ogres, one hardly thinks of things like intelligence or cunning -- it's usually the complete opposite. But the ogres of Azeroth are a far, far cry from what they once were, not so long before the events that opened the Dark Portal and began the First War. The Draenor we're currently visiting may be a slightly altered universe, but the history remains by and large the same. And in both instances, there was a point in time where the ogre race ruled supreme.

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Filed under: Lore, Know your Lore

WoW Moviewatch: Primetime Draenor

It's not often that I'm caught by surprise, but Youtuber and machinima creator Nora Sunstrider managed to slip completely under my nose. For a very, very long time -- she's been quietly creating some pretty funny original content for about a year now. Primetime Draenor is simply the latest in a lengthy machinima library, and although we've seen the premise before -- television clips in Azeroth -- she does a good job with throwing a Warlords spin on things.

The voice acting is well delivered, the punchlines are good, and it's a solid little short. More importantly, there's a ton of other films on her Youtube channel, all totally worth watching as well. If you like this machinima, be sure to go check out her full library for more.

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.



Filed under: Machinima, WoW Moviewatch

The Queue: Deadmines serenade

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 liked Westfall's new storyline and the Heroic Deadmines revamp, but man, sometimes I wonder what it would have looked like if it were in fact turned into a musical extravaganza. But having the boss sing at you while you were fighting would be admittedly distracting. It'd probably feel like raiding the Small World attraction at Disneyland.

Jorsha asked:

Q4tQ: with the notice yesterday of the patch 6.1 build heading to the PTR, I have to ask, what is the difference between a PTR and a Beta?

A PTR is usually the term used for a patch. A beta is a term used for something larger, like an expansion or a new game. They both mean the same thing -- it's a realm created for the specific purpose of testing new content/features/mechanics, but a beta is usually much larger scale. In addition, PTR realms are open to everyone from day one, while beta realms usually require an invitation or code to get in, at least in the earliest stages.

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Filed under: The Queue

Breakfast Topic: How do you view your followers?

Greatmother Geyah is a total name-dropper. Every time I run into her, she asks how her son is doing, and just has to point out that she's talking about Durotan, just in case I wasn't aware that she was the mother of the Frostwolf chieftain. Meanwhile, Phylarch the Evergreen is some sort of meditative genius, as he spends a lot of his time sitting in midair, when he isn't making my other followers cry. Botani, right? Meanwhile, I'm not sure about Aeda Brightdawn, because despite her name she's a warlock and she's taken to speaking in demonic when she thinks I'm not paying attention.

I tend to think of my followers like people, because the AI for them is pretty good -- they notice when I walk by, they'll make a comment in my direction every now and again, and they even talk to each other, sometimes with disastrous results. Milhouse Manastorm spends a lot of his time laughing at my peons and making them feel bad, for example. It's interesting because it's so lively, but it's also interesting because I've noticed other people doing the same thing -- they'll send certain followers on missions together because, in their heads, those two followers totally belong together. They'd hit it off. They'd be best friends.

This humanizing of what is essentially a decent AI system and a bit of random dialogue is kind of fascinating to me. I like making up stories, I like writing stories, so making up personalities and stories in my head is pretty much right up my alley. I'm kind of delighted to see that I'm not the only one that does so -- and I'm also curious, just how widespread is this habit? Do you guys view your followers with different personalities? Do you make up stories for them? Do you treat them any differently for how they act in your garrison? Do you tend to group the same followers together? Or are they all just mechanical minions to be sent out at your whim?


Filed under: Breakfast Topics

WoW Moviewatch: Ganking in a Nutshell

Ganking in a Nutshell is the latest release from Nixxiom Machinima, and tells the relatively straightforward story of what goes on between ganker and gank-ee in a typical ganking encounter. On its own, that might not sound like much, but what I love about this particular piece is that the new male tauren model is highlighted so effectively here. You almost have to stop and watch it again, because the difference between old and new is so, so pronounced -- expression and emotion are conveyed so much more effectively that I kind of hope we see a lot more tauren movies in the future.

Beyond that is Mr. Flowers, who manages to effectively hammer home the reason I never, ever use the Singing Sunflower for anything. I'm not saying he's creepy ... wait. Yes. Yes I am. He's one of the creepiest pets out there. If you like the movie, be sure to check out Nixxiom's Youtube channel to see more.

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.


Filed under: Machinima, WoW Moviewatch

Patch 6.1 PTR: New Battle Pets and achievement

Battle Pet collectors have something to look forward to with Patch 6.1 -- new Battle Pets and a new achievement are being added, according to information Wowhead has datamined from the 6.1 PTR. New Battle Pets have been added to bosses in Sunwell Plateau, Black Temple, and Hyjal Summit, and another tier has been added to the raid-collecting achievement, Raiding With Leashes III: Drinkin' From the Sunwell. A dozen new pets have been added to the raids.
Completing the raid collection achievement awards the Battle Pet K'ute, a mini-naaru. Thankfully, at this point in the game, all three of the Burning Crusade raids are easily soloable -- no unusual tricks that would require a second or third person, unless you want to bring a friend along. For Pet Battle enthusiasts, Patch 6.1 is already shaping up to be pretty sweet.


Filed under: News items, Warlords of Draenor

Patch 6.0.3 Hotfixes for January 9

The weekend brought another small release of hotfixes for Patch 6.0.3. The list may be short, but there are a few different notes in there that players should take note of. On the list are a few PvP battleground changes, an adjustment to Ashran, and a few fixes and changes to various creatures around the world as well. Also, while it's not specifically mentioned in this round of hotfixes, it appears as though a hotfix was applied to allow Big Crates of Salvage to stack.
  • Players camping Poundfist take note: Poundfist is now immune to crowd-control effects.
  • Trapping will now award a caged beast for each nearby party member with an appropriate level barn -- this hotfix requires a realm restart.
  • The northern track switch in Silvershard Mines should now work correctly.
Read on for the full list of hotfixes.

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Filed under: Hotfixes, Warlords of Draenor