Category Archives: Frivolous Friday

The Traveler’s Logbook, Part I: How to have a blast in Thousand Needles

Exploring is one of my most favoured activities in an MMO. There is nothing sweeter than following down untrodden roads into a brand new world of wonder and mystery. I can still recall my very first day in World of Warcraft, when I walked down the path that leads from Northshire Abbey down into Goldshire. Elwynn Forest unfurled all around me and I felt my heart rise in amazement. Just a moment later, I spotted a lvl 10 warlock and his voidwalker which led me to exclamations of “amagad, that is so cool!” and “amagad, he’s already lvl 10!”.

I love the very first days of an expansion. It’s when I do nothing at all but explore all the corners of the new world, while some of my guild mates already have their leveling strategy laid out carefully or dive into a profession spree. I couldn’t care less about leveling – there will be plenty, PLENTY of time to get those experience points, those reputation points, those skill points and badges. But the feeling of being an adventurer, or a child looking at the world with his brand new eyes, only ever lasts so long. It is a precious time in our lives. You only get one first time in all things.

It is a precious time in an MMO too, one that I intend to make last for as long as possible. Now the Shattering wasn’t quite an expansion yet, but it’s changed the virtual home of WoW gamers of many years in such fundamental ways that we get to adventure and explore the world all over. I can honestly say that I haven’t had as much fun in WoW for many, many months, like the fun I’ve had the past two days – when I set out to explore some of the secrets of Kalimdor and to have a look at Gilneas which I have highly anticipated before on this blog. Therefore I have decided to make this a two-part article, starting off in Thousand Needles where I had an absolute blast and continuing my tale on Gilneas in a follow-up next week. If you haven’t taken the time yet to visit some of these new places, I highly recommend you grab your adventurer’s boots and get going!

The following is a traveler’s log and photo album of things encountered during my adventures in Thousand Needles after the Shattering, the special moments and fun to be had in this zone, without giving away everything. It is a place (among many others) very much worth your attention and it’s where I shall begin this two-part tale. All images are expandable.

Chapter 1 & 2: Adventures of the deep and twilight horrors

Traveler’s logbook, November 24th, the year of the Shattering.
Thousand Needles has probably undergone one of the most dramatic changes in the Shattering as the entire, former dry desert zone has been flooded. I entered the map from Feralas and found myself swimming pretty instantly. I resisted my initial urge to levitate my way through and decided to dive down into the deep below – and what a mysterious world it was that welcomed me there!

Like for other zones and hardly surprising in this case, the flora and fauna around Thousand Needles has changed. I found myself in the company of puffer fish, snails and the more majestic deep sea turtles who were just as surprised at my presence as I was at theirs.

The underwater world is stunningly beautiful and serene. If Vashj’ir is going to be anything like that, I’m sold! I adjusted quickly to the physics of swimming and found it a most rewarding experience – there’s a huge difference between swimming in “quest ponds” and actually traveling through a vibrant underwater world that is designed for you to be there.

…wish I could be part of that world.

At this point I was slowly running out of breath and my diver’s camera EsO-2xT, which the goblins in Booty Bay had assured me was 100% water-proof, started to get wet (I want my money back!). Time to climb one of Thousand Needle’s stone colossi and have a look around the zone from up high!

The hanging bridges provide a spectacular view and not just that, the background music of Thousand Needles has been changed slightly: while the tribal touch of the area prevails, this is a softer and much sadder tune than before.


There is some clan strife going on between the platforms, horde fighting each other or fending off alliance attackers from the borders. I didn’t take the time to inform myself properly about the situation up here, but I met some pretty impressive tauren warchiefs before moving on to investigate the cursed light emanating from the southern border of the zone. Something foul was clearly afoot there…

..The walk from twilight Bulwark to Withering was one of nightmares and horrors. A twilight cult of all the races of Azeroth combined, has put up their camp here, engaging in dark magic experiments and the torture of innocent civilians whom they keep locked up in cages. I was able to free some of my fellows, however in most cases I was too late.

Struck with grief I took revenge on all the alien fiends I encountered on my way, but it did nothing to cheer up my heavy heart. Arriving at the third stage of my journey, I took a headlong plunge into the waters below Fizzle and Pozzik’s Speedbarge where my spirits would be lifted immensely.

Their deaths shall not be forgotten!

Chapter 3: Fish burgers among gnomes’n goblins

Located at the heart of what used to be Shimmering Flats, Fizzle and Pozzik’s Speedbarge is accessible via underwater entry only (without the ability to fly, that is). Once more I had the pleasure of diving into the deep where I found myself surrounded by the ruins of Mirage Raceway and a gang of rather hostile treasure hunters. Lucky for me, I had brought my special Gnomeregan Pride suit along which served me as perfect camouflage!

The innumerable tropical fish of the area are a very curious crowd! I found Nemo!

Soon I found an entry into the swimming oasis that is the home of an ever-busy number of gnomes and goblins who work and live together in seeming peace and amicability. So delightful and awe inspiring was my visit to this bustling place that I shall let a few pictures speak on behalf of my discoveries:

In eager expectation, I made my way up to the barge.
Gnomes and goblins make a fine team. Rarely do you encounter races on Azeroth that work together as well as these two.
Let it be known that these sailors keep their lodgings tidy and themselves clean and washed!
These folk know how to hold their after-work parties. The pub inside the ship’s belly is filled with chatty customers, dancing and drinking – and eating fish burgers!
When nature is calling, there is two lanes: one for gnomes and one for goblins. Not quite sure where I would fit in, I chose to wait my turn with the gnomes.

And thus I conclude my tale on Fizzle and Pozzik’s Speedbarge of which I have shown you but a mere glimpse in this traveler’s log. I shall remember my visit to this delightful place very fondly and have every intention to return in the future. It is a rare find on the face of Kalimdor and a good reason to stop by should your path ever bring you close to the borders of Thousand Needles – a zone well worth exploring after the Shattering!

Stay tuned for next week’s Traveler’s Logbook Part II, “Secrets of Gilneas” – featured exclusively at Raging Monkeys! Until then I wish you all happy exploring!

Dear guild applicant, what’s your weakness?

There I sat at one of my job agencies last Wednesday, feeling horribly out of character. I am looking for a new job at the moment, that is to say for a new new job, one that is hopefully as unlike to my last few jobs as possible, but there’s a desert to cross first, an annoying phase of explaining curricula and dealing with administrative bullshit.
And I notice these job agencies all look the same: gray and impersonal bastions of corporate capitalism, “help us to help you, so we get money from you working”, it’s a modern version of slave-trade really. Nothing to make you feel the ordinary human resource you are quite like job agencies. But to get where I want to go apparently they’re my best shot.

So, I sat in that small cubicle office waiting for my agent, some way-too-young, teeth-bleached sunnyboy in a way-too-expensive suit. Instantly I felt under-dressed. The whole procedure took about 30 minutes, half an hour of jolly good fun trying to explain to Ken why I am looking for a change of scenery and what salary I deem appropriate, given the fact that I lack experience in the field while holding an academic degree that probably surpasses the education of most people I would be working with. There’s something horribly depressing in realizing those 7 years at university were worth so little. Maybe I should mention my epic WoW skills and guild leadership experience? No?

Anyway, halfway through the exercise Ken caught me slightly unawares as I wasn’t actually prepared to do a full job interview, all I expected was some administrative stuff – yeah, call me a noob. So when he got to asking how I see my future or what my strengths and weaknesses are, I actually didn’t know what to reply to the latter straight away. My weaknesses? Errr…right that’s the standard phony question you can expect in every job interview. You know, the one where you’re supposed to display how much of a self-critic you are, oh-so capable of self-reflection. And that’s why everyone answers with some wanna-be weakness that isn’t a weakness at all, but a strength too really, like “I am such a perfectionist” or “I’m overly punctual”.

HA-HA…!

I hate things like that. They’re part of what (the brilliant and ingenious) Billy Connolly calls”beige-ism”. Everyone knows how utterly stupid and empty these questions (and answers) are – as if you were gonna tell your future boss that you’re a messy slob or like to steal cookies from the cafeteria. So I just sat there for a moment contemplating a potential answer vs. my utter disgust for the procedure, before I told him I was a little impatient at times (which is actually true), but in the way that I “really like to get jobs done fast and efficiently” (which is again actually true), ya know! He seemed to be perfectly happy with this answer and the conversation proceeded to other topics from there. Phew.

An exercise in phoniness

On my way home, the whole experience got me thinking about what a hilarious thing it would be to incorporate the more nonsensical parts of job interviews into the standard WoW recruitment procedure. Most guilds, ours included, already run a questionnaire that will touch on matters like playtime, goals and expectations in their application form. What if we included the awkwardness of real interview questionnaires in them, could we expect to get similar cringe-worthy answers? What would we expect our applicants to say?

Question #14: What do you consider your weaknesses as a player?
– Answer 1: “Sometimes I am just so focused on downing a boss, I forget about my CDs or taking a potion.”
– Answer 2: “I’m a total perfectionist. I always want to be the main puller and clear every pack in an instance.”
– Answer 3: “I’m a little impatient. I always want to start raids on time and hate wasting time on bio breaks.”

Question #15: Where do you see yourself 2 years from now?
– Answer 1: “As a valuable member of your raid guild and one of your top DPS”
– Answer 2: “As part of your officer’s team where I can contribute in the guild’s best interests.”
– Answer 3: “I’ll be celebrating our success of having become one of the server’s top 2 progression guilds.”

Question #16: Why should we take you instead of that other applicant?
– Answer 1: “While I don’t know the other person, I assure you I am better than him.”
– Answer 2: “Because nobody can heal like I do.”
– Answer 3: “I am a 100% committed and fit your guild’s profile perfectly. We have a great future together!”


Now wouldn’t that just be a blast? I really think we should include these questions in our guild’s recruitment questionnaire for shits and giggles if nothing else! A lot of players already think that WoW feels like a job rather than a game sometime, so let’s go the whole nine yards I say! =D

P.S. Dear job agents, please don’t be offended. I do not actually dislike you, it’s not like you invented the system. And I like keeping the pen!

This is Halloween, this is Halloween (again)

“It is over, your search is done! Let fate choose now, the righteous one!”

That’s right, the Hallow’s End is taking another round in WoW from this week on, with the same old quests and mobs to farm in order to get minipets and special mounts – if the event isn’t bugging out on you, that is. And once more I find myself wondering if Blizzard will ever bother to update the seasonals because really, it is only fun so many times…Are we going to see the same quests and rewards again in Cataclysm? I hope not!

As you might have noticed if you aren’t accessing this page by reader only, the header of Raging Monkeys has been slightly re-decorated in honor of this great holiday and also, because we really love to dress up – or rather I do and it’s not like the other two can do anything about it! =D Squirrel has withdrawn to live inside a jack-O-lantern for the time being, until hibernation time anyway.

It’s been a busy week full of srs bsns, buggy patches to discuss and new skills to analyze, so it’s high time for another Frivolous Friday topic, before we’ve entirely ruined our blog’s reputation by appearing way too serious and ..informative!

My PVP Pit

I’ve already mentioned in my last post how baffling some of the bugs and imbalances in battlegrounds are at the moment, it’s really not a good time to start PVPing if you’re currently contemplating the option. Nonetheless I am quite a passionate PVPer in WoW, at least as much as times allows me to besides raiding, so when I saw Zelmaru’s call to join the Bee Pit Bingo, I was instantly tempted to contribute with a PVP card of my own.

In case you don’t know what the Bee Pit is about, be sure to visit the page and have a look around – you have probably tossed a lot of players into the pit yourself in the past without knowing!
I have quite some player disdain to share in WoW, I could’ve easily created another PVE card, but there’s so many BG annoyances I have accumulated over the past years that it was great fun to think about my personal tops there. So here’s my contribution, if you’re frequently pvping yourself I’m sure you will know them all too well!

Make sure to check out the other fabulous Bee Pit Bingo cards currently up @ Murloc Parliament. And as always a good weekend everybody!

Boundless inspiration

Derived from good old latin, the word inspiration goes back on the verb inspirare which means “to breathe / blow into” or “infuse”. So if a person is being inspired, he is actually that: being “breathed into”, being animated by some greater spirit, idea or being (whatever you prefer to call it) to do certain things. It’s a beautiful allegory on man’s creativity. Using thousands of words every day, or a million in my case, we often don’t realize the deeper meaning and origin of the words we use.

Of all the games I’ve played in my life, I’ve never encountered any that has inspired so many people around the globe so greatly to all sorts of works of their own, like World of Warcraft has. WoW does obviously have a far greater player base than any other online game, but the impact it’s having in the creative field is quite remarkable and a testimony to the coherence of the fantastic world Blizzard created. The results of WoW’s inspirational potential are nothing short of baffling at times.
The most well-known examples are obviously the masses of people out there writing about WoW, the fanfiction and fanart created, the stunning machinima, the fun community events and regular contests run by Blizzard on their official page; I wonder if there’s going to be more WoW Halloween Pumpkins again this year.

As this is a perfect Frivolous Friday topic, I do want to share the following 3 remarkable examples of fired imagination with the rest of you. I’ve only recently come across them myself – what do you know! The inspiration people can get from WoW knows no limits!

If you’re desperately bored of the game at the moment, it’s time to check this page out. It’s basically Origami for WoW and some of the paper models are just baffling! There’s also a lot of plans available for download, so grab your scissors and glue and get started!

I love cooking and browsing food blogs – well, here’s your dedicated WoW cooking site! The folks over at Nourish got plenty of Azerothian recipes ready for you to test your culinary skills on, nomnom!

It’s no big secret that I love the shinies and I’ve always wondered a little about the lack of WoW merchandise, especially in this particular bracket – after all, which self-respecting WoW priest wouldn’t love to have a silver Benediction necklace dangling from their neck?
In any case, there’s some remarkable craftsmanship to be found on that page, so whether you’re into jewelry or not, it’s worth checking out!

So many ideas, so little time – enjoy your weekend everybody and stay inspired!
Also, if you feel particularly loaded on ideas, head over to Deuwowlity and help Gronthe out with suggestions, because he’s planning a WoW musical!

Gilneas is my hometown!

Ever since Blizzard released the first snapshots of Gilneas, home of the new worgen race in Cataclysm, I have been a little enamored with the place. Shady, dark and spooky, with rooftops looming over the lantern-lit cobblestone streets, Gilneas looks like the proper medieval Jack-the Ripper setting to me, very atmospheric and also very very Fable:

Streets of Gilneas
Fable II Town

I’ve been considering to roll a worgen for fun in the expansion just so I get to see the starting quests in the area. I don’t exactly like the female worgen models though (wtb facial diversity), so I cannot quite make my mind up about what to do!

Then last night while looking for new screenshots, I came across a picture on MMO Champion I had never seen before….

…and it struck me like a bolt of lightning: Oh my God, Gilneas IS my hometown!! That’s why the place feels so strangely familiar and “cosy” to me, it looks exactly like the place I grew up in! And before you roll your eyes thinking “yeah riiiight”, here’s the proof:

Syl’s hometown

How creepy is that?! =O *shudder*

Have a good weekend everybody!

All rise to the Arisen dance!

In case you don’t know who the Arisen are, they’re possibly the greatest race ever to star in an MMO. They’re part of the evil or empire faction in Allods Online, a very polished free MMO I have briefly reviewed in my previous article this week. Now while I don’t play Allods actively, I am utterly in love with the superior air and style of this undead cyborg race –  if you got nothing else to play sometime and are up to dabble with a free game, they’re one good reason to look into Allods!

But this post isn’t about promoting free MMOs: it’s actually about dancing. That’s right, dancing!!

I’ve always loved fan-made MMO dance videos, I am that silly! They’re just another proof of how inspiring games can be to those that love them – whether you blog, write fanfics, draw fanart or make awesome fraps videos, you’re being creative (and it’s actually not so easy to make a good dance video where everything fits!). There’s a few fun WoW dancing videos on youtube which I’m sure most have seen by now.

But I bet you haven’t seen the Arisen do Daftpunk yet, have ya?! Well here’s two clips nobody should miss:

I don’t know if it’s my love for the race or the fact that the creator chose one of my favourite Daftpunk songs to go with it, but I love this video!

  • Arisen Rave  (I’m not much for techno, but it really fits here!)
*dance dance*

Blizzard stoled my idea!

This morning after breakfast I actually managed to put the cottage cheese back on the kitchen board and the bread into the fridge instead. I don’t know if I should be worried, but it’s definitely one of those days.

In other news, I had a browse over at WacraftPets and got all excited over the mass of new minipets announced for Cataclysm (I know they’re out for a while)! That bushchicken is absolutely hillarious and ZOMG there will finally be monkeys! I know at least one other person on this blog that’s gonna get himself one of those.

Not me of course, I’ll want them all. Yes, I do hereby declare that I collect minipets and I’ve collected a fair few of them by now. As you can see I too am still missing the Disgusting Oozeling – I actually tried farming this toxic waste of a pet, but at some point I was ready to drop myself off a cliff rather than opening another of those shitty grey bags, so I quit. I’ve spent quite some time farming recipes in the past but this was too much for me. It is also a really ugly and stupid pet and why would I want it anyway, it doesn’t even look good and kills fluffy bunnies in Elwynn Forest, so I really don’t need to have this really not …Right.

Anyway, while browsing some more I came across this year’s Blizzcon 2010 pet and – now wait a minute! What does this remind me of?!

Blizzcon 2010 “Deathy”   –     Wrathmouse 2006

To the right a picture taken in 2006 of my beloved, passed-away gerbil “Kleiny”.
If I remember correctly I was making fun of Stumps’ tanking abilities on his gnome warrior (or rather his size) in Black Wing Lair at the time. =D

I can’t believe they stoled my idea! Do you see it??
To the left side: small animal with a poor choice for a helmet.
To the right side: small animal with a poor choice for a helmet.
SAME THING!!

I should send them a rant via E-Mail and demand compensation, I hear suing companies for horrendous amounts of cash is kinda big in the US.
Alternatively, I’d also settle for one of those pets…I am that forgiving!