As of midnight tonight the new Warcraft expansion “The Wrath of the Lich King” goes live and millions of players all over the globe will embark on playing the latest installment of Blizzards long awaited sequel to their last expansion for the World of Warcraft.

It may surprise you to know that If you walk through a crowded town centre the statistics predict that you will never be more than 10 feet away from a World of Warcraft (WoW) player…. that’s quite a scary stat too!
I used to play this game regularly and am at a point now where I only dabble for a few hours a week. I have friends who have racked up over A YEAR in time spent in front of their screen playing WoW! While this is not uncommon around the globe I’m surprised that Blizzard Entertainment are not doing anything to tackle the problem of Warcraft addiction…. and it is an addiction.

I still play the game but the fact is I only do it to maintain the social aspect which I like. In truth the game is pointless. The only fun I have in it now is within the conversations with the players. I’m not really having any fun anymore playing the game cos it’s become repetitive, a constant goal of more epics… no real achievements, plenty of purple gear but nothing really gained…. and to make matters worse the new expansion negates all progress you’ve made by raising the bar to level 80 and rendering all your hard earned gear obsolete. I’ll play the new expansion cos it’ll be fun to explore the new aspects of the game they have introduced… but once I’m lvl 80 I can imagine i’ll not play much.

The real fact is Blizzard need to face up to the issue that they are destroying peoples lives by not setting play limits on the game. There are groups everywhere for people who have lost everything through WoW addiction. Check out a few:

http://www.wowdetox.com/

Yahoo.com WOW Widows

http://gamingsucks.com/

Here’s a vid to help people quit too! - How to Quit Playing WoW!

Remember peeps… everything in moderation!

Anyone who knows anything about the gaming community knows that the masters of cinematic trailers are Blizzard Entertainment. Last week they released the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion’s cinematic trailer and yet again I’m blown away by it. These guys know how to make a good game trailer.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yQsuIay6bA&hl=en&fs=1]

Things look to be on track for “Wrath of the Lich King” to be released by the end of Q4 - 2008……. guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

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So I heard an inkling that the female nightelf dance in warcraft is based on the french singer Alizee’s dance in a song of hers…!

Who would win in a celebrityscrap!!!

Check it out!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsKGRAX4KRM&rel=1]

Ok…. so after seeing what various friends of mine have done of their blogs I’ve decided to throw down a Christmas competition! Last month one of my friends quit Warcraft and gave me a free game-card which i still haven’t used!!!

So in the spirit of Xmas I’ve decided to pass this freebie onto all of my celebrityscraps fans!!

It’s very simple…. entrants my post a LINK to a “funny WoW screenshot” that THEY TOOK in the comment section of this post….. the winner is the one that i deem to be the funniest!

Here are the rules!

1.) Winner will be chosen by me

2.) My decision is final

3.) Arrangements for collection of the prize will be made between myself and the winner

So get taking those screenshots and win yourself and extra Xmas pressie!!!!!

Lol… check this out.. for all Leeroy Jenkins Fans!!!

Leeroy Jenkins Sound Keyboard

Utgard Keep

Utgarde Keep is a must see for players arriving in Howling Fjord. It will more than likely be the first dungeon experience most players partake within Northrend.

An article by the developers on wow-europe.com says:

“When we started working on Utgarde Keep, we knew from the start that we wanted some sort of ‘impenetrable fortress in the side of a mountain.’ In considering the continent of Northrend’s history and geography, we pretty quickly found a source of inspiration for Utgarde Keep, and to an extent the entire region of Howling Fjord, in a combination of elements from Norse mythology. One of our goals was to make the starting areas feel more “human.” The presence of the Vrykul, the imposing half-giant warrior race native to the region, and the architecture connected to them helped achieve exactly that. ”

Areas like ‘the Forge’ and the ‘Dragon Pens’ will no doubt provide new and interesting boss encounters to tax the most seasoned players.

The Vrykul (basically bis angry Vikings) have made Utgarde Keep their staging ground for attacks against nearby Horde and Alliance settlements, including Valgarde. According to wow-europe when you arrive in Daggercap Bay, you will experience regular Vrykul attacks and they will rain fire down on the buildings from above while riding their proto-dragon mounts. They want you to feel deeply involved in the expansion’s overall plot from the moment you step off the boat, and like in the Burning Crusade there’s really no better way to achieve this than to have a Vrykul giant chase you around with an axe that’s easily twice your own size. This was achieved the moment people went through the dark portal and I’m sure it will be achieved it Wrath of the Lich King.

Gods of Zul’Aman

The next major content patch for World of Warcraft, The Gods of Zul’Aman, will add an impressive array of new challenges, features, changes, and rewards to World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade.

What we know so far is that Zul’Aman is a 10-person raid dungeon located in the Ghostlands, with enemies and spoils that pick up where Karazhan leaves off. This outdoor raid dungeon (much like Zul’Gurub) is home to the vicious Amani forest trolls and their leader, the infamous Zul’jin. You and your band of heroes will battle the dungeon’s six bosses, including four avatars of Zul’Aman, each bearing the aspect of a different ferocious creature (Zul’Gurub de-ja-vu again?). Zul’Aman also features a challenging bonus reward structure based on completing certain objectives within a time limit, which will provide an extra level of challenge – and thrills – for seasoned raid groups. This idea of a time limited run… much like the “45 minute Baron run” introduced prior to the Burning Crusade will defiantly provide players with an extra level of dynamic gameplay, with loot being better the quicker you kill things.

The other defining characteristic of The Gods of Zul’Aman is the bounty of rewards, both material and intangible, that it offers many types of players. The powerful epic items found in Zul’Aman are just the beginning. There is a host of new purchasable rewards as well, from the gladiator rewards of Arena Season 3, to the dozens of new Badge of Justice rewards and the full set of new Honor rewards. There are also more useful and fun items such as the new Flying Machine flying mounts, which can be built and operated by skilled engineers (people will no doubt be re-rolling engineering soon .. hehe). Among the more abstract benefits to players are faster leveling to 60, the revamping of Dustwallow Marsh with new quests, new daily quests for dungeons and battlegrounds, and many class balance changes. T

Gods of Zul’Aman New Features

• • The Guild Bank is a shared repository for an entire guild and will be accessible through Guild Vault objects near existing banks. The Guild Bank will allow players with the appropriate permissions to store items and money for use by the rest of the guild.
  • An all-new assortment of epic rewards is available from G’eras in Shattrath City. In addition, Badges of Justice will now drop from bosses within Karazhan and Zul’Aman.
  • Now leveling from character levels 20-60 is faster, with less experience needed per level in that range as well as higher quest experience rewards for quests levels 30-60.
  • Battlegrounds, normal dungeons, and Heroic dungeons all have new daily quests. The particular battleground or dungeon in which the quest takes place is randomly selected each day.
  • New flying mounts can be found in this patch, including the first ever player-craftable mount: Flying Machines! Engineers of sufficient skill can now create these fantastic contraptions in both normal and epic varieties.
  • The Auction House has been revamped with a more streamlined user interface and smarter functionality.
  • This new statistic reduces the chance that your attacks will be blocked, dodged, or parried. Expertise rating replaces weapon skill rating on current items.
  • Bonus healing effects now convey a percentage of its value towards spell damage. Both previously existing and new items will reflect this on their tooltips, and the amount granted is approximately 1/3 of the bonus healing amount.
  • Additional design elements have been introduced into the battleground to improve its gameplay with higher levels of competition and fun.
  • Many new quests have been added to Dustwallow Marsh to provide more leveling options for mid-level characters.

This isn’t exactly a scrap but as i’ve been following the development of Warcraft I though I’d post this picture and some of the exclusive comments on the upcoming expansion!

The basic story is that Arthas the once Paladin turned Death Knight who became the Lich King at the end of Warcraft 3 is sending out his undead minions on the land of Azeroth to unleash a big can of whoopass… YOU as the player are charged with stopping this!!!

So Blizzard are now gonna raise the lvl cap from 70 to 80 which seems a bit of a sell out to me, as it’s only been about 14 months since the Burning Crusade came out and that expansion will effectively negate a large proportion of players achievements. People may remeber the way T2 items got replaced withing minutes of entering the dark portal… I expect Blizz will have implemented the same frustration in the Lich King Expansion!

New spells and abilities are planned, new trade-skills like “inscribing” and there will be and epic stylee quest that will enable you to unlock the Death night class. This itself seems a bit of a cop out as death knights fought for the scourge…. but apparently you can become one and fight for the alliance.

Judging by the above screenshot out old friends the Murlocs will appear in WotLK!!!! Everyone who did a Murloc impression just now PLEASE leave the room!!

So to quickly run down the confirmed list of extras. Wrath of the Lich King will add a host of epic content to the existing game world. Players can now achieve an AWESOOOOME level of power, explore a vast new continent (Northrend), and battle other high-level heroes to determine the fate of Azeroth. As you battle against the dangers of the north (i’m getting a flashback to my university days in Sheffield) prepare to:

Features

* Master the necromantic powers of the Death Knight - World of Warcraft’s first Hero class.
* Quest to level 80, gaining potent new abilities and talents along the way.
* Learn the craft of spell augmentation with the new Inscription profession.
* Brave the harsh new continent of Northrend, the icy domain of the Lich King.
* Engage in epic siege warfare, deploying mighty siege engines to lay waste to destructible buildings in your path.
* Transform your hero’s look with new character-customization options, including new hairstyles and dances.
* Explore perilous new dungeons filled with some of the deadliest creatures — and greatest treasures — on Azeroth.
* And much, much more… like Epic food and stupid dancing Murloc pets etc

Please don’t say…. “You are not prepared!!!”…… ?

After a long battle Warcraft is victorious… although i suspect the 9 million players would have been reduced to about 900 by the rock hard dudes and monsters from the land of Norrath (EQ/EQ2). My reasoning behind the Warcraft vicotry is it has a much bigger community and caters for most type of game player.

But please remeber to not go overboard with it….! Gaming can be addictive. Only last week a chinese guy died in an internet cafe after playing an “unnamed” MMORPG for 3 days solid… hmmmm i wonder what that could have been.

Remember peeps….. Everything in moderation…………………………………..Except Alcohol!

All bosses in Warcraft require each class of character to know what thier individual role is in the fight. Some summon extra dudes to annoy you. Some heal themselves they are all very tactical fights.

Illidan Stormrage is a major character in the fictional Warcraft universe. He was featured prominently in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and its expansion The Frozen Throne, and has more recently reappeared in the World of Warcraft expansion, The Burning Crusade
He was, at a time, a member of the Night Elf race and is one of their most ancient, influential and infamous figures. He has also become one of the most popular characters in the Warcraft universe.

llidan is a transformed corrupted Night Elf.

He began life as a relatively normal male of his species, tall and muscular with sharp features, glowing eyes, purple skin and long, pointed ears. The only abnormality was the color of his eyes, which were a golden amber instead of the silver eyes more commonly found among Night Elves. Amber colored eyes were said to prophesize greatness, which is one reason Illidan felt pressured to succeed. When Illidan was in alliance with Sargeras, the titan burned out his eyes and replaced them with glowing green flames, which Illidan hides behind a blindfold. The new orbs allowed Illidan to see magical energies in the environment as well as allowing him to see minute details in his surroundings. The Skull of Gul’dan eventually imbued him with demonic power (as well as some of the essence of the dead Orc warlock), granting him an entirely new form. Illidan now resembles one of the Nathrezim more than one of his own race, although his skin remains purple and his ears are still long and pointed. He has wings, horns and talons and his skin is covered in green, glowing arcane runes, the latter also a gift from Sargeras. He wields 2 crescent-shaped weapons known as the Twin Blades of Azzinoth.

Ragnaros the Firelord is an incredibly powerful Elemental Lord, and master of all fire elementals. He rules over his minions from deep inside the fiery core of Blackrock Mountain.

The Firelord and his brethren once held sway over the entire world. As Ragnaros was a servant of the Old Gods. The Titans eventually banished him to the Elemental Plane - there to remain imprisoned until the end of time.

In the center of a vast lake of fire in the Elemental Plane stands Sulfuron Keep, the home of Ragnaros. Until comparatively recently, he ruled his underground land with a molten iron fist.

Three hundred years ago, the ambitious and ruthless Dark Iron Clan initiated a war against their dwarven brethren, the Bronzebeard Clan and Wildhammer Clan. During this War of the Three Hammers, the Dark Iron Dwarf leader named Thaurissan lay siege to the Wildhammers’ capital city of Grim Batol, destroying it. Despite this victory, the united Wildhammers and Bronzebeards were ultimately able to push the Dark Iron dwarves back to Blackrock Mountain. Thaurissan, seeking to summon a supernatural minion that would turn the tide of the war back to his favor, called upon the ancient powers sleeping beneath the world. To Thaurissan’s surprise, and ultimately his doom, the creature that emerged was more terrible than any nightmare he could have imagined.

Now, freed by Thaurissan’s call, Ragnaros erupted into being once again. Ragnaros’ apocalyptic rebirth into Azeroth shattered the Redridge Mountains and created a raging volcano at the center of the devastation. The volcano, known as Blackrock Mountain, was bordered by what is now known as the Searing Gorge, to the north, and the Burning Steppes, to the south. Though Thaurissan was killed by the forces he had unleashed, his surviving Dark Iron Clan brethren were ultimately enslaved by Ragnaros and his elementals.

Kerafyrm (also called “The Sleeper”) is a boss character in the fantasy MMORPG EverQuest.

Originally intended to be unkillable, the character caused a stir in the EverQuest community when the developers of the game (Sony Online Entertainment) intervened and prevented a group of nearly 200 players from killing him, in November of 2003. Sony later apologized for interfering, and allowed the same group of players to retry the encounter. After a nearly three-hour battle, Kerafyrm was defeated.

Kerafyrm is guarded by four ancient dragons in a zone called The Sleeper’s Tomb. If all four dragons are dead at the same time, The Sleeper is awoken, and begins a rampage of death across the game’s land of Norrath. This event is particularly unique in EverQuest, because it can only ever be completed once on each game server. Once The Sleeper is triggered, he and his four guardian dragons (with their highly prized “Primal” loot) will never appear again.

Quarm - While not a “true deity”, Quarm is a massive four headed dragon, which is in actuality a manifestation of the four elemental gods (Xegony, Coirnav, The Rathe Council, and Fennin Ro). They manifest themselves in this “ultimate” form in a final attempt to stop adventurers from freeing Zebuxoruk (an impisoned god) in the Plane of Time, for what was to be his prison for all eternity.

So……

The fact that the EQ bosses seem about 10,000 harder to kill than the WoW bosses makes me think that which the Pros and Cons of WoW/EQ weighed up it will be a very close fight!

WARCRAFT

Warcraft has it’s fair share of Weapons… the range from:

1. Grey (crappy blunt and old)
2. Green (uncommen and useful)
3. Blue (Rare and highly sought after)
4. Purple (Epic quality a must have for a serious player)
5. Orange (Legendary - very few players obtain these)
6. Red (Artifact - only available to Games Masters)

The dynamic of Warcraft is based around kit and how you play your class. The main focus being on the buffs and bonuses each item gives you. So most of the WoW weapons are pretty nice and shiny!

EVERQUEST

The weapon dynamic seems to be very different in EQ/EQ2 and there is more focus on trained skills and teamwork rather than the brute force used in other games. There are multiple types of weapon and different quality of weapons also, which is comparable to WoW.

The concept of gaining loot of dungeon bosses remains the same however, with groups of players banding together to take down big nasties.