Flickr’d
And who said World of Warcraft was a waste of time? Turns out you can win a couple of ducats if you’re good enough.
Starting in April, Blizzard will start a contest where players will compete for a grad prize of $75,000. It’ll be a 3v3 Arena contest where players will try to out-PVP each other. To make things intersting, the contest will be held on servers where you can automatically create level 70 characters with the best gear available—the contest is about skill and guile rather than who has the most time to raid and raid and obtain gear the hard way. An even playing filed. Much appreciated, Blizzard. (Not that I’ll enter; my PVP skills can be best described as “atrocious.”
The contest ain’t free, though, with Blizzard charging $20 for North American entrants, and around the same amount in your local currency.
Contest Info [Blizzard via WOW Insider]
If we believe the numbers that came out yesterday showing that Facebook makes $150 million in total revenue, then we’ll have to question that $15B rating the site has earned. Analysts are now starting to realize what we’ve been saying for quite some time, that people on social networks aren’t there to buy stuff, but to screw around with their friends. Makes you wonder, then, why Facebook is worth some much then. Having information on people’s likes and dislikes is all well and good, but if no one’s willing to buy anything, then what’s the point?
A thoroughly nerdy WoW Web site spun the numbers in an interesting direction. If Blizzard makes $15 per subscriber, then it’s pulling in $150 million per month.
Blizzard makes as much money in a month as Facebook does in a year.
The more you know.
World of Warcraft Makes as Much Money in a Month as Facebook Does in a Year [Negatainment]
Like the Final Fantasy potion before it, this World of Warcraft-inspired Mana drink is silly and only for uberfans. $7 (plus s/h) will get you two, 40mL bottles of Mana Energy Potion, which promises to give you 5-8 hours of “jitter-free” energy. It’s essentially citrus-flavored caffeine: there’s approximately two Red Bulls worth of caffeine per serving. Your wings will be epic.
U.S. only for now.
Mana Energy Potion via Wow Insider
We can close YouTube now. This is the best video that will ever be uploaded to it.
(It’s a parody of the recent WoW ad campaign, in case you’re lucky enough to have a life.)
WoW Moviewatch: Belated pimp parody of WoW commercials [WoW Insider]
Not a lot of info on this one, but you have to see it to believe it. The thing is about as thick as a laptop screen, and the picture is stunning. It’s sharp as hell and the contrast was excellent. Considering the little ones (as opposed to this ~24-in. guy) are going to cost $2,500, though, I don’t even want to think about the dent this one is going to make in your bank account. Click below for the profile view.
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At least, I imagine this is what Nicholas will do when he reaches level 60.
via Krunker
Today’s a big day for World of Warcraft fans. Once the servers come back online at around 1:00 pm EST, users will experience the ecstasy that is Patch 2.3. This is one of the bigger patches of late, with several changes and additions, including Guild Banks, easier leveling from levels 1-60 (increased XP, less XP required to level up, etc.), changes to pre-level 60 dungeons and the introduction of The Gods of Zulman, a level 70+ instance. Being only level 35, it’ll be a while before I’m able to mess around in there, but I’m sure my friends will tell me what’s up.
An incredible amount of information, as always, can be found at Wowwiki. It’s going to be long and lonely weekend, that’s for sure.
Official Patch News [Blizzard]
More Patch 2.3 Info [WoWWiki]
Are you a leatherworker? Doesn’t matter, because even if you can’t stitch a baseball cap together, you can always play a video game. One Queens resident in NYC is looking for someone to help him level his leatherworking in World of Warcraft from 356 to 375. The job pays $20 and if you get him the materials for the hawt epic lewtz, you get $40 of cold, hard cash out of the deal. Dorky? Yes, but it is profitable and a quick way for a teenager to make a buck.
Check it out if you fancy yourself a decent WoW player and are strapped for cash.
Level my Leatherworking in World of Wacraft 19 points [Craigslist]
To jailbreak your 1.1.1 firmware iPhone or Touch, begin by gathering the following tools:
A screwdriver
A putty knife
That blue stuff barbers put their combs in
Pop Rocks
A couple in 18th-century ball garb
2 cans of Lestoil
A sense of wonder
The tail of a gilded Tibetan Wombeast
Step 1 – Point your Safari browser on the Touch or iPhone to http://www.jailbreakme.com.
Step 2 – Wait.
Step 3 – Run third-party apps on your newly jailbroken iPhone or Touch. If this works, skip Step 4 and 5.
Step 4 – Remove clothing. Cover self in Lestoil (warning: may sting). Place Wombeast tail between buttocks. Marvel at couple with sense of wonder. Eat Pop Rocks. Drink blue stuff. Throw putty knife into the mouth of the Hudson River. Eat screwdriver.
Step 5 – Repeat.
Instant Jailbreak for iPhone and iPod touch [TUAW]
Looks like the impossible — should I say Kim-possible — is possible. With the help of a patched DVD, you can now install Leopard on any PC, young or old, fancy or non-fancy. This means two things for Apple — they will sell more iPhones and copies of Leopard than they ever thought possible — and the world will soon see the might of a complete and fully operational Mac-Intel world.
Hack Attack : Install Leopard on your PC in 3 easy steps! [DailyApps]
I just came across these beauties on ThinkGeek and boy am I ticked off. Looks like ThinkGeek is completely sold out of the World of Warcraft action figure set. For $49.99, you get an Orc Shaman, a Blood Elf, a Dwarf Warrior and an Undead Warlock. Each figurine is around 7-inches tall (minus the Dwarf) and is incredibly detailed, much like a Games Workshop piece.
The first shipment of these figures will be shipped in a few days, so look for a re-stock very soon hopefully. If you really want the geeky details on each figurine, hit the jump below.
Product Page [ThinkGeek]
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Someone over at BoingBoing is on a rant again (go figure). This time, it’s about America’s lack of farmers. Did you know that there are 4 million active World of Warcraft players though? That’s more than the 3 million farmers we have in this country. BoingBoing recreates Anderson Cooper from CNN interviewing someone about Warcraft:
ANDERSON: We stopped by the gates of Ogrimmar in Durotar, on the east coast of Kalimdor, where one local told us Hollywood just can’t relate to the level-grinding life.
UNIDENTIFIED ORC: They’ve never been back here, questing Razormane or Drygulch Ravine, y’know … or farming for Peacebloom and Silverleaf. They’re out of touch.
Don’t get it? Have some coffee then read again.
More US Warcraft players than farmers [BoingBoing]
Toyota Tacoma ads have been pretty funny and creative, but this one takes the cake. World of Warcraft + Toyota Tacoma = brilliant. Well done, ad wizards. Well done.
World of Warcraft…wha huh?
Before today, I never understood why people played as Paladins in World of Warcraft. They’re boring, get absolutely zero respect and are made to heal and heal some more. So when I fired up Digg and came across “The best reason to play a paladin”, I was skeptical as to what I’d be reading.
Luckily, it was just what I needed to make this Columbus Day extra special. The image is too big for our site, so hit the link below to view the glorious masterpiece written by “Genkaku”.
Just click it
Oktoberfest time! Even the trolls and undead skeletons in WoW celebrate Oktoberfest, only there it’s called “Brewfest.”
Will this video make you any smarter? Will it improve your lifestyle? No, probably not. But—but!—it may put a smile on your face and convince you to login to your character for a little while. Nothing wrong with that.
WoW Brewfest Trailer [Kotaku]
Since 1998, wow.com has been owned by AOL. Nothing has really been done with it, until rumors started spreading the other day. Apparently, AOL is set on turning the defunct domain into a World of Warcraft social networking site. This is a great move for AOL, who has been turning web properties into exciting, popular sites that people actually want to visit (TMZ, anyone?)
Now gamers will be able to log on to wow.com and talk about their class, raids, guilds, etc. You’ll most likely be able to post pictures of your character and of loot you’ve gotten. A gear search is probably inevitable, so keep an eye out to see if AOL creates its own Thottbot or Armory. No word yet on a launch date.
AOL Finds An Obvious Use For WOW.com: A World Of Warcraft Social Network [TechCrunch]
Merciless Cake of the Gladiator
The miracle of time known as Digg gives us yet another reason to laugh at our peers. This time, it’s wedding cakes that feature extremely geeky themes. From Homestar Runner to C++ code to THE FRICKIN’ ALLIANCE CREST from World of Warcraft, these cakes couldn’t possibly embarrass you any more than your wedding already did. Hit the jump for more pics.
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Any of you hardcore WoW fans will recall the “Corrupted Blood” plague that was introduced in the world of WoW a couple of years ago. It was essentially a spell cast by a high-level boss that caused afflicted players to lose a certain number of hitpoints every few seconds until dead. The thing is, the spell was viral: if a player got too close to another player, that second player would become infected, too, and so on.
It was a neat idea, and the game makers most certainly did it as an experiment in gameplay. The scientific implications were likely beyond what they were thinking, but that doesn’t mean they’re not there. The Lancet Infectious Diseases will be publishing a paper on the virtual effects of the virtual plague in the September issue as a virtual example of how people transmit, handle, and escape epidemics.
It’ll make for an interesting read, and it makes us glad our subscription to The Lancet Infectious Diseases hasn’t lapsed, as our subscription to Big’Uns has.
Scientists Studying Warcraft Plague [kotaku]
Mia Rose is one hell of a World of Warcraft player. She’s also one hell of a whore. You see, Mia played a horny night elf in a few episodes of World of Whorecraft, which was basically porno styled in the liked of WoW. This past weekend, Mia’s account was suspended because someone posted the link to miarosexxx.com in the game’s chat channels.
10 minutes later, a GM told her she was suspended and that’s it. She hasn’t been able to get a clear response from Blizzard yet, which is no surprise. Word is that she’ll be changing servers and re-rolling a new character soon to avoid having to deal with the constant spam in her inbox. It’s a shame too. Judging by the above screenshot, it looks like she was geared to all hell and back.
Whorecraft Starlet Kicked from WoW [Kotaku]
I’m going to tell you a very special secret. I missed the South Park episode “Make Love, Not Warcraft” during its original air time. I was devastated and determined to see the episode; so determined that when it came on again, it was in the middle of making love and I actually stopped and watched it. Sorry babe, but Stan just got the Sword of 1000 Truths and I’m horny for this shit.
I laughed and really enjoyed how the episode stayed so true to the game. Apparently a lot of other people loved it too, because now the episode has been nominated for an Emmy TV award. There’s tough competition from shows like The Simpsons, but I think South Park is going to come out on top for this one. People love them some World of Warcraft.
South Park’s Warcraft Episode Up For Emmy [Up to date feed]
