WotLK Alpha Official Wiki

Clickage. Hat tip Into the Web.

There is a TON of shit there. Pics. Music. Maps.

/drool

Okay this one is just fucking creepy.

When Black and White Goes Grey

To begin this short essay I'm going to posit that there are basically two ways to view morality in life.

1.) Good and Evil exist in concrete and (in the least) humanly definable terms. We have free will to choose between the two and the inevitable conflict which ensues is not only necessary, but progressive and beneficial in and of itself for the sake of all concerned.

2.) Definitions of Good and Evil are entirely relative according your environmental experiences. We have no free will outside of our own ability (or willingness) to accept this fact (or not). Therefore the only "Real" Good in life is the manifestation of peace as a tacit acceptance of this fact and the only "Real" Evil is the manifestation of conflict as generated by an individual (or individuals) who are unable to accept the idea that their particular "Truth" is not absolute.

Now - I'm not here to say which one is right or wrong - but I will say this: Most people in the creative industries (movies, music, video games, T.V., comics etc.) subscribe to the 2nd sort of morality. In many ways they probably have to in order to come up with all the crazy shit they do. On the other hand most people (fishermen, stockboys, waitresses, cashiers, bricklayers, soldiers, taxi drivers etc.) subscribe to the first. Common people (unlike the creative types) don't have time to sit around and second guess themselves. They've got a job to do and they have to focus on the end game.

So let's bring this back around to something a little more blog-relevant. Consider the following question: Why did the original Star Wars movie kick so much ass, and the later Star Wars movies not so much?

Answer: Because the first movie was an exposition on the first type of morality.

And it's funny because it's not really the message George Lucas was trying to communicate to us. We'd only seen a snippet of the whole storyline - one that most dramatically unfolded as a classic morality play. I don't think this was an accident either. When he came up with the storyline you can bet your ass that either a.) he knew it wouldn't fly with the general public and chose to start with Episode IV or b.) the studio execs knew it wouldn't and forced him to make Episode IV first.

People didn't "See" the Jedi the same way Lucas did. They simply saw the classical western model of a Knight in Shining Armor - except with Kung-Fu laser swords and all that shit. They didn't see that they were being drawn from Kurosawa's "The Seven Samurai" - dispassionate "Peace keepers" fighting for "Peace" in a land riddled with "Conflict".

People didn't "See" Darth Vader and the Empire as "Human" either - just pure evil incarnate. Didn't it strike you as odd at the end of Return of the Jedi when Luke and Anakin reconcile? I mean really... for most people. Here was a man who slaughtered literally billions and we're supposed to shed a tear for him when he dies in Luke's arms?! It wasn't just the Ewoks that bothered most people about that film.



But Lucas knew he had everyone by the balls after the original film came out. He made so much damn money and had such an impact on popular culture that he could do anything he wanted with future films and get away with it - and to his credit he has. But it doesn't change the fact that for most people the newer films lack the same lasting impact. One might argue that this is the result of poor storytelling on his part - but lets be perfectly honest - there's no one to admire in the newer films. The only one who isn't totally clueless and/or manipulable in the Clone Wars is the Emperor - and it's not in most people's nature to root for the bad guy.

I'll qualify that: Obi Wan's character is halfway respectable, but only so much in that he seems to be following in the footsteps of Qui Gon Jinn who - right or wrong - had the balls to take a stand for something and put his life on the line for it. Obi Wan (for the most part) just stumbles through the saga like all the rest of the Jedi.

"But they couldn't see what the emperor was doing!!" Yeah... well... get a fucking clue!

Lucas holds out the Emperor as being the only main character after the death of Qui Gon Jinn that seems certain about anything. The Jedi are constantly sitting on their hands studying their navals and Anakin seems to fall to the dark side because of some inbred emotional failing - as if choosing up sides and taking a stand is inherently irrational. Meanwhile we're watching two sets of armies go at each other and we don't really give a damn about either one of them.

And after all of that in the grand scheme of things we get Luke Skywalker who throws down his lightsaber at the end of his fight with Darth Vader and the Emperor. What - he couldn't have taken them both out and called it a day?

Still don't believe me? Han shot first. Lucas was so disturbed by the fact that Episode IV came across as conventional in it's morality that he actually went back and tried to digitally alter the scenes to portray his characters as being a lot less sure of themselves. Like all those poor rebels running around the galaxy weren't doing it because of what they believed in - only that they had no choice at the hands of unwarranted and illegal Imperial aggression!

George Lucas explained the change by stating that he wanted to make clear to children that Han had "no choice" but to shoot Greedo. This justification was unsatisfactory to many long-time and adult fans of the series. The ire of some fans led to an online petition demanding that the changes be retracted. [1] The primary objection to the revision is that it waters down Han's initially morally ambiguous character, thereby making his later transitition from anti-hero to hero less meaningful. The plausibility of Greedo missing from such a short distance is also considered questionable, and criticized as being depicted in awkwardly facile manner.

Well, I don't know what George is telling his children, but I'm telling mine that if I see a strange man trying to get in the house in the middle of the night I'm going to get out the 20 gauge and blow a giant fucking hole out the back of his skull without properly introducing myself.

On a side note – just to reinforce the point I’m making here – the exact same thing happened with The Matrix trilogy. Neo emerges as the “Good Savior” at the end of the first movie (sucking in most movie goers) only to turn out as the guy who “Buys Peace” with the robot empire at the end of the story. Everyone loved the first movie – the last? Not so much.



So why am I bringing this up? Well... apart from it being a good excuse to rant against George Lucas (which I always enjoy doing) I'm using it as an opportunity to point out that the exact same thing is now happening with Chris Metzen.

If you don't know who Chris Metzen is he's basically the guy behind all of the World of Warcraft lore - and you have to admit, the lore for these worlds is pretty black and white. Everything that's bad or "Evil" in Warcraft is the result of the Burning Legion. Even the strife between different factions (Orcs vs. Humans vs. Eredar vs. Draenei vs. Trolls etc.) is the result of manipulation on the part of the Burning Legion. It's the Burning Legion vs. everyone else.

This translates right into the look and feel of the game. When you're asked to go out and "Kill 10 Widgets" you don't think very much about it. You don't stop to take into account the Widgets upbringing or political circumstances. There are widgets in the forest!! THEY MUST BE KILLED!!

So anyways back to the point. He's making his own comic book. This is something completely on his own - totally apart from anything and everything he's done with Blizzard. Let's just take a quick look at the plot synopsis shall we?

The American dream has become a nightmare.

A dramatic rise in terrorist attacks executed on US soil erodes national confidence in the Federal Government’s ability to maintain order and security throughout the country. Extremist militant groups, both foreign and domestic, strike at US holdings with seeming impunity. The Federal Government’s inability to directly counter these threats begins to chip away at the cornerstones of national unity.

The seditious debate over how to respond forcefully to the rising crisis begins to fracture the tentative fraternity between the Federal and State Governments. The increasingly sensationalist media-bloc fans the flames of public paranoia and discontent.

Violence reaches a boiling point on both coasts as various ethnic and special interest groups are blamed for society’s rapid disintegration. The tenuous public conscience finally snaps as race riots, violent anti-Federal demonstrations and outright urban warfare erupt throughout the nation’s major population centers.

Local governments, unable to stem the tide of the growing anarchy, turn to the Federal Government for a final solution. Martial Law is instated across the land as Federal armed forces move in and quickly take control of thirteen eastern states. The massive police action quickly spirals out of control as numerous guerilla militias rise up to spread terror and destruction up and down the East Coast.

Outraged by this unprecedented Federal action, and driven to circumvent similar events in their own territories, a number of central and western states declare their intentions to secede from the union. In a final bid to keep the nation from fracturing any further, the Federal Government sends its troops into the heartland of America to restore order at any cost.

The Second American Civil War has begun….

WHOAH!! That's quite a mouthful isn't it??

If I might be so bold...

Look... I absolutely adore Metzen's work on Warcraft and can say without hesitation I'm a huge fan of his - but this shit is gonna hit the ground at about 1,000 miles an hour and it won't so much as get up and stagger around after it does either.

What's funny is I think he kind of knows this instinctively without consciously recognizing it. Take a look at this quote.

The idea of going out on my own, having done that e-book or doing this comic, it kind of fills me with dread because I'm so used to having a team of super-creative people around me -- either game designers or artists or the other writers I work with -- that my level of confidence is based on the team's identity. We do this together. Even though I might be the creative lead or I might even, on some of these products, be the lead writer, your confidence as an individual creative person is drawn from a bigger well because the ultimate goal is corporate -- we put out a game and that's a hundred people having affected that thing. And while I might have had a big role creatively in it, you can fall back on the fact that it was this group process, and where my weaknesses show up, they were more than compensated for by my buddies' strengths.

He doesn't have anyone to keep him in context on this project. It's basically his own little (warped) take on things that might be well received among his peers in the creative industry - but it's gonna go nowhere on the open market.

The good news however is that - unlike Lucas - he has the safe arms of Blizzard to fall back into when it does fail. We're cursed with crappy Star Wars until Lucas turns into a bluey.

I leave you with these parting thoughts....

Where Am I?

Tropic Thunder - R Rated Trailer

Blackfathom Deeps :: Levels 22 - 24

Blackfathom Deeps @ WoW Wiki
Gold Looted: 6 Gold, 4 Silver, 44 Copper
Herbalism: Bruiseweed, Stranglekelp
Mining: Tin, Silver
Skinning: Light Hides, Medium Leather & Hides, Heavy Leather & Hides

25 BoE Greens Levels 16 - 21 (Auctionable)
Vendor Worth: 3 Gold, 57 Silver, 39 Copper
Disenchant Yield:
- Strange Dust x 65
- Small Glimmering Shard x 3
- Soul Dust x 7
- Lesser Astral Essence x 6
- Greater Astral Essence x 3

12 BoP Blues Levels 20 - 24 (Soulbound)
Vendor Worth: 2 Gold, 84 Silver, 64 Copper
Disenchant Yield:
- Small Glimmering Shard x 2
- Large Glimmering Shard x 8
- Small Glowing Shard x 2

High Value BoE's (Auction Recommended)
None

Cloth Drops:
Linen Cloth x 42
Wool Cloth x 56
Silk Cloth x 2

Miscellaneous Drops:
Crawler Claw x 26
Crawler Meat x 31
Fish Oil x 15
Healing Potion x 3
Iridescent Pearl x 2
Kingsblood x 1
Lesser Mana Potion x 1
Light Leather x 3
Moss Agate x 2
Murloc Eye x 12
Murloc Fin x 21
Shiny Fish Scales x 84
Slimy Murloc Scale x 7
Small Lustrous Pearl x 3
Tangy Clam Meat x 141
Turtle Meat x 6

Incredibly Crude Drawing of New Boat Routes

The WotLK Alpha patch notes got leaked. Nothing fancy here other than they reveal how you'll be getting to Northrend from Azeroth & Kalimdor. You can find out more about these places by going here and here.

NPC Transportation Locations
- Horde
Undercity to Vengeance Landing (Howling Fjord)
Orgrimmar to Warsong Hold (Borean Tundra)
- Alliance
Menethil Harbor to Valgarde (Howling Fjord)
Theramore Valiance Keep (Borean Tundra)

In other WoW News J. Allen Brack says "Meh" to a graphics overhaul (good call!) and Jeff Kaplan runs off at the mouth over at Eurogamer.

Monday Morning

Purple is the New Gold

For the first time in almost a year I'm something other than bright canary yellow.

When Burning Crusade came out I PvP'd like hell and got myself a complete set of Grand Marshal's Redemption armor. It was an outstanding set for playing a Holy Pally - only as I've gotten more and more into raiding Karazhan lately I've learned that it's got one major flaw. It doesn't have any mana regen at all. That and as you can see it makes you look like Big Bird.

Well, as luck would have it there's actually a very nice healing set dispersed throughout the game among the level 70 dungeons and heroics that is basically a recolored version of the old Tier 2 Judgment Armor - except it's purple, grey, and white instead of red, black, and gold. Granted you have to wear a dress - but hey! It's a nice change of pace and I can always pretend it's a kilt.

The whole set is as follows...

Helm -- [Mask of Pennance]
(http://www.wowhead.com/?item=27790)

Shoulder -- [Justice Bearer's Pauldrons]
(http://www.wowhead.com/?item=27539)

Chest -- [Breastplate of Many Graces]
(http://www.wowhead.com/?item=27897)

Belt -- [Girdle of Many Blessings]
(http://www.wowhead.com/?item=27548)

Legs -- [Cassock of the Loyal]
(http://www.wowhead.com/?item=27748)

Boots -- [Boots of the Watchful Heart]
(http://www.wowhead.com/?item=28221)

Bracers -- [Virtue Bearer's Vambraces]
(http://www.wowhead.com/?item=27489)

Gloves -- [Life Bearer's Gauntlets]
(http://www.wowhead.com/?item=27457)

I got lucky last week and the legs dropped for me in Heroic Underbog. I got double lucky yesterday and today when the Helm and the Chest dropped for me in Heroic Steamvaults and Shadow Labs. Whats funny to note is that even though all 3 pieces are only level 68 (required) in terms of healing bonus and mana regen they are actually superior for raiding as compared with my level 70 PvP gear.

I still have the flaming yellow shoulder plates (unfortunately) - but those drop off Omor the Unscarred in Heroic Ramparts. I actually might have a decent shot at them. As for the rest of the set I probably won't bother as they don't really represent an improvement over what I already have.

GTCMS Ep. 10 - Surprise Party

Also... A World Without Wheels.

So That's What Happened to Short Round!

Hat Tip Eye on Everything. Also there's a new Mummy 3 trailer online.

Get a Life Maybe?

The big news today in the WoW-verse seems to be the fact that the famous uber-guild "Death & Taxes" has disbanded. The big reason seems to be lack of content.

A poster called Flux (who is not a DnT member but claims he has talked to some), posting on Nihilum's forum thread on the disbanding, claims that they were having trouble retaining guild members due to the long stretch of time between Illidan's downing and any new content, and that the first week of Sunwell raiding was difficult. After attempts to mass-recruit to fill holes ended in a lower level of raiding ability than they were used to, DnT's leaders decided to disband.

I have to admit I know very, very little of this side of WoW. However - just out of curiosity - I did read up on their list of "Firsts" to see just how far ahead of the rest of the WoW community they were in terms of content progression. As it turns out they killed Illidan for the first time in June of 2007.

WHAT?!

EXSQUEEZE ME?!

MOOOOOOM!! BAFROOM!!!!! BAAAAAFROOOOOM!!!

Look - I'm sure there are plenty of nice people in Death & Taxes - but WTF are these people doing with their lives outside of World of Warcraft?

Answer: Not much of fucking anything!

It would be sad if it weren't so laughable. These people are almost certainly spending more hours playing WoW than they are working at their real life professions. They were effectively "Done" with the game (Burning Crusade) only 5 months after it was released. No wonder Blizzard is moving away from players like that to the more casual player base. Who the hell wants to spend millions of dollars and thousands of man hours creating a gaming masterpiece under the auspices of catering to customers who - by definition - will flush you down the toilet hole the minute their morphine drip runs dry.

Another thing to consider is how Blizzard has changed it's patch pacing in response to locusts like these. In the most recent G4TV interview Kaplan plainly states that - unlike BC - they have all the patch content planned out beforehand in WotLK. Not only that but it's been explicitly stated that the Arthas raid will not occur unil the last patch of the WotLK cycle.

Good job D&T. You've no one to blame but yourselves.

The Guild - Episode 10: Boss Fight

G4TV Previews WotLK

New Gameplay Video for Homestar WiiWare

Homestar Ruiner.

Shadowfang Keep :: Levels 18 - 21

Shadowfang Keep @ WoW Wiki
Gold Looted: 2 Gold, 96 Silver, 38 Copper
Herbalism: None
Mining: None
Skinning: Light Leather & Hides, Medium Leather & Hides, Heavy Leather & Hides

15 BoE Greens Levels 12 - 18 (Auctionable)
Vendor Worth: 87 Silver, 48 Copper
Disenchant Yield:
- Strange Dust x 33
- Greater Magic Essence x 7
- Lesser Astral Essence x 2

16 BoP Blues Levels 15 - 20 (Soulbound)
Vendor Worth: 3 Gold, 91 Silver, 73 Copper
Disenchant Yield:
- Small Glimmering Shard x 5
- Large Glimmering Shard x 11

High Value BoE's (Auction Recommended)
Mindthrust Bracers x 1
Guillotine Axe x 1

Cloth Drops:
Linen Cloth x 25
Wool Cloth x 53
Silk Cloth x 2

Miscellaneous Drops:
8 Slot Bag x 1
Earthroot x 3
Healing Potion x 4
Lean Wolf Flank x 15
Lesser Healing Potion x 5
Lesser Mana Potion x 7
Light Hide x 1
Light Leather x 3
Mageroyal x 2
Minor Mana Potion x 2
Moss Agate x 2
Plans: Runed Copper Breastplate x 1
Shadowgem x 2
Sharp Claw x 2
Tigerseye x 1
Tin Ore x 3

WotLK in Second Half of 2008

Clickage.

Also C|net has a hands of preview of it here.

7S Movie Review: Outpost

This movie can be summed up in one sentence...

It delivers what DOOM should have.

And apparently for a LOT less money.

The film was produced by Scottish couple Arabella Croft and Kieran Parker; they mortgaged their Glasgow home in order to raise £200,000 to finance production. The script is by Rae Brunton, based on Parker's original concept, which he described as "Platoon meets The Sixth Sense".

The monkier "Platoon meets The Sixth Sense" isn't quite right. In terms of plot outline the movie is a lot more traditional than that. If you've seen Aliens or played the DOOM video game it's that basic story all over again - a group of soldiers going into an extremely dangerous situation without any real idea of what they're getting into; carnage ensues.

So what makes this film compelling isn't the storyline (we've all seen this before). Instead it's dramatic reinterpretation of the premise. A forgotten bunker where Nazi's conducted secret experiments to create an undead army of German soldiers; a group of rag tag European mercenaries stumble upon the bunker with the help of a less-than-honest business investor; how can you fuck up with that?

Now, believe me, I know you can fuck up anything if it's put in the hands of the right idiot - but that's not the case with this movie. The script, the special effects, the atmosphere, the acting - it's all pretty solid here.

Especially so is the acting. Much like I said in my Rambo review all the members of the mercenary team are well written and well performed. They are all memorable characters and each one is worth watching. On top of that the films two lead actors - Ray Stevenson and Julian Wadham (the mercenary captain and business investor respectively) - both do outstanding jobs. They bring a real weight and authenticity that might otherwise be missing from this film.

But again, what really makes this film work is that it delivered what DOOM should have. If anyone saw that movie I'd pretty much say it sucked. It wasn't total garbage, but it was close IMO. They took what was originally a very cool premise (crazy scientists opening a portal to hell) and turned it into something softball (genetic experiments gone awry... eek.). Not only that - and this is probably the most important part - everything in the film was entirely predictable, whereas in the video game it was not. Every time you turned the corner you saw a creature you'd never seen before attacking you in ways you'd never imagined before. If you've got enough years under your belt you will understand me when I say "It was the first video game that ever made you jump".

"DOOM the movie" never made you jump - Outpost does.



The only real weakness Outpost has is that at the conclusion of the film they attempt to handle the Nazi zombies in a very logical manner - when all throughout the movie the zombies are seen to be - by definition - entirely unconventional.

That is to say they don't appear to have any discernible weaknesses, methods of attack, or patterns of behavior. Take Aliens for example - they can get the jump on you, but they have certain aspects and weaknesses you can always count on (they have acid for blood, they can be killed with a shotgun, they can't pass magically through walls etc.) The zombies in this film can do it all. They attack during the day as well as night. They attack above ground and below ground. They can appear out of nowhere. They can shoot guns and have amazing strength. There's no real way you should be able pin them down logically.

Of course this probably is the biggest reason this film succeeds where DOOM fails and all in all it's not that big a deal. Everything else about the movie is pretty terrific (even if a bit low budget at times) and it's definitely worth a watch.

5 out of 7 Samurai's.



External Links:
Outpost Official Site
Outpost Official Trailer
Outpost @ IMDB.com
Outpost @ Wikipedia

Stop the Madness!!

Lolstartrek

"So, this is what it's like to be in bed with Captain Kirk!"

Deadmines :: Levels 18 - 22

Deadmines @ WoW Wiki
Gold Looted: 2 Gold, 97 Silver, 47 Copper
Herbalism: None
Mining: Copper, Tin, Silver
Skinning: None

29 BoE Greens Levels 12 - 16 (Auctionable)
Vendor Worth: 1 Gold, 89 Silver, 77 Copper
Disenchant Yield:
- Strange Dust x 44
- Greater Magic Essence x 15
- Lesser Astral Essence x 1

15 BoP Blues Levels 14 - 20 (Soulbound)
Vendor Worth: 2 Gold, 60 Silver, 81 Copper
Disenchant Yield:
- Small Glimmering Shard x 15

High Value BoE's (Auction Recommended)
Blackened Defias Belt x 1
Blackened Defias Boots x 1
Blackened Defias Gloves x 3

Cloth Drops:
Linen Cloth x 207
Bolt of Linen Cloth x 1
Wool Cloth x 138

Miscellaneous Drops:
Briarthorn x 2
Cat Carrier (Siamese) x 1
Clam Meat x 1
Coarse Blasting Powder x 8
Copper Ore x 9
Copper Tube x 1
Flask of Oil x 8
Formula: Enchant Bracer - Lesser Spirit x 1
Formula: Enchant Bracer - Minor Agility x 1
Formula: Enchant Bracer - Minor Spirit x 1
Handful of Copper Bolts x 4
Lesser Healing Potion x 5
Light Leather x 2
Minor Mana Potion x 4
Murloc Eye x 1
Parrot Cage (Green Wing Macaw) x 2
Pattern: Green Woolen Bag x 1
Rough Stone x 4
Shadowgem x 4
Slimy Murloc Scale x 1
Tin Ore x 6

Wailing Caverns :: Levels 17 - 21

Wailing Caverns @ WoW Wiki
Gold Looted: 2 Gold, 11 Silver, 7 Copper
Herbalism: Bruiseweed, Earthroot, Kingsblood, Liferoot
Mining: Copper, Tin, Silver
Skinning: Light Leather & Hides, Medium Leather & Hides, Deviate Scales, Perfect Deviate Scales

47 BoE Greens Levels 11 - 17 (Auctionable)
Vendor Worth: 3 Gold, 15 Silver, 91 Copper
Disenchant Yield:
- Strange Dust x 94
- Greater Magic Essence x 14
- Lesser Astral Essence x 3
- Small Glimmering Shard x 4

16 BoP Blues Levels 15 - 20 (Soulbound)
Vendor Worth: 2 Gold, 0 Silver, 73 Copper
Disenchant Yield:
- Small Glimmering Shard x 14
- Large Glimmering Shard x 2

High Value BoE's (Auction Recommended)
Gloves of the Fang x 1

Cloth Drops:
Linen Cloth x 51
Bolt of Linen Cloth x 4
Wool Cloth x 43

Miscellaneous Drops:
Briarthorn x 5
Bruiseweed x 2
Coarse Stone x 1
Crocolisk Meat x 10
Deviate Scale x 26
Earthroot x 2
Formula: Enchant Bracer - Minor Spirit x 1
Lesser Healing Potion x 3
Light Feather x 17
Light Leather x 3
Minor Mana Potion x 2
Peacebloom x 1
Perfect Deviate Scale x 3
Schematic: EZ-Throw Dynamite x 1
Shadowgem x 8
Sharp Claw x 1
Silver Ore x 2
Silverleaf x 2
Swiftthistle x 3
Thunder Lizard Tail x 1
Tigerseye x 2
Tin Ore x 1

Where Am I? #1 Updated

I posted a new pic, so if the first one totally blew your mind this should be a little easier. I shouldn't make it too hard given it's the very first one! It's the same place as before but in a different spot. A lot more recognizable given the lore...

Where Am I?

Where Am I?

Announcing a 7S daily quest! (of sorts) Starting today I'm adding a new blog feature called "Where Am I?". The rules are pretty simple - I take a screenshot of me standing someplace and you tell me where I'm at!

What I'm looking specifically for is the subregion or instance I'm standing in. For example if I post a shot of me standing in front of the Goldshire Inn in Elwynn Forest the winning answer for that would be "Goldshire", not "Elwynn Forest". On the other hand if I'm standing anywhere in Sunken Temple the answer "Sunken Temple" is perfectly acceptable.

The contests are open to all guild members of Se7en Samurai and each winner will be awarded 10 Gold! I should have one up every week or two and keep a list of them in this post off to the side under "Featured Posts" like my movie reviews and dungeon farming guide.

Also - so I don't go insane having to check them in perpetuity - only the 3 most recent screenshots will be considered "Open" and eligible to win at any given time.

Where Am I? #1
Where Am I? #2

Brad Pitt as Thor?!

Sometimes Hollywood gets it right and sometimes they just don't have a fucking clue. Brad Pitt - as near as I can find out - is 5'10" and roughly 160 pounds. Unless they plan on dressing out the rest of the cast with midgets and pygmies it's not going to work. Besides that his performance in Troy was mediocre at best.

Why they didn't cast Gerard Butler and dye his hair blonde for this one I will never understand. Here's to hoping they'll change their mind.

In other news of Epic Retardedness it's not just "Monopoly" they plan on turning into a movie. Apparently other Hasbro projects in the works are to include Candy Land, Clue, Ouija, Battleship, Magic: The Gathering, and Stretch Armstrong. WTF. FTL.

In more (better) movie news Comic-Con Magazine Spring 2008 Issue is available online, and there are new trailers for X-Files and Clone Wars.

New WotLK Dungeon Preview

The Nexus War Has Begun:

The blue Dragon Aspect, Malygos, was charged ages ago by the titans as the guardian of magic. More than ten millennia ago, he watched in horror as Deathwing all but wiped out the blue flight. Maddened by grief, Malygos withdrew to his lair and paid little heed to the rest of the world, emerging only when it finally seemed possible to avenge Deathwing's terrible crime.

Only in recent times did Malygos fully return to his senses. Upon reviving, he quickly assessed the state of magical affairs in Azeroth and reached the grim conclusion that magic was running amok throughout the world. He blamed this dangerous development on the mortal races and their reckless pursuit of magical power.

Exclusive Preview Video Here...

New Teen Girl Squad

Yearbook Day!

WotLK Preview Movie - Guided Tour

Good minute by minute guide of the WotLK preview movie over at Worldofraids.com

Hookers and Fritos!!

It's what you do after making a big score in a World of Warcraft tournament don't you know!

Things That Are Sticking Out to Me

Random things that look cool in the latest batch of news that came out...

- Allowing enchanters sell their enchantments at the Auction House is still planned.

- Even if you'll be able to meet him as soon as you reach Dragonblight (LVL 71-75), the final encounter against Arthas won't be until the last patch of the Lich King cycle.

- Dragonblight will also let you reunite (violently) with the Scarlet Crusade. (BOOO!! No faction with them!!)

- Arugal has been resurrected and now leads the Worgen Werewolves in Grizzly Hills.

- In Grizzly Hills, you will also find an evil sister city to the Alliance capital, Ironforge. Screenshot?

- The Argent Dawn faction returns in Zul'Drak. (Start grinding today?)

- Players will unlock their flying mounts at level 77

- The Northrend in Wrath of the Lich King is considerably larger than Outland, the area explored by players in Burning Crusade. That means not only are there larger numbers of zones to explore, many of them are so large that they've been divided into "sub-zones," much like Terrokar Forest and the Auchindon Waste in Outland.

- The new "vehicle" system will enable characters to "drive" an object around. One example Blizzard gave them: Players will fly over a human settlement being overrun with the Scourge, lowering a ladder down to pull up and rescue civilians. In one dungeon instance, players will be able to "liberate" some blue dragons that they can mount up and fly around, fighting their way up a massive tower.

- It's quite likely that somewhere for a couple different classes we'll probably make use of the knockback mechanic in Wrath of the Lich King.

Um... Warhammer Online doesn't stand a chance.

World of D&D (4th Edition)

I just got back from my monthly table top game night where I got a chance to play a preview version of Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition.

*Ahem*

It kicks TOTAL ASS.

EVERYTHING has been streamlined significantly. If you're used to 3.5 you probably had to study hard on the rules, and even then when you sat down at the table you felt unsure of yourself. "Easy to Learn, Hard to Master" - thy name is D&D 4th edition. Everything flows like butter off a lobster's ass.

The first big thing that will jump out at you is that the spells and abilities are all on cooldowns now!!! No more of these bullshit rules about memorizing spells (and then losing them). A first level mage has Magic Missle, a Frost Spell, and a Fire spell as "At Will" abilities. You can sit back and cast Magic Missile over and over again the entire fight if you want to!

And everyone has them! I was drooling over my friend's pre-gen character (a Paladin) who had all kinds of cool looking shit. This was no ordinary Retlol. This was the hand of GAWD casting judgement in his wake. He kicked ass and sure as hell took names.

The classes are very, very much like World of Warcraft. That, and the combat rules have been simplified to the point that it very much feels like old school D&D where you didn't have to worry about where you were standing or how many feet left you have to move. You just FOUGHT and it kicked total ass.

Am I stuffing a Frisbee down my throat by now??

They've got all kinds of other cool shit too. There are these things called "Health Surges" - basically free healing pots. You just get them and use them. Just like that! Down to 4 hit points? Use a health surge next round and get back 5! You're allowed to use up to 7 a day (at least my class was).

Other abilities and spells are on longer cooldowns. There are some that you can only use once per encounter, and some only once per day. Obviously they increase with Uberness the longer the cooldown is.

Oh yeah! And they proc too! The cleric and the paladin for instance have all kinds of abilities which grant bonuses to other group members on their next turn. Not only that but some abilities are so awesome that they have damaging effects on your foes even if you miss (for instance enemies get slowed if a sleep spell fails).

And probably best of all - squooshies don't die like bitches right off the bat! To give you an example my 1st level Wizard started out with 23 hit points compared to our Paladin who had 29. Sure, my AC was a lot lower than his... but still! You couple that with the "At Will" spells and it was actually fucking FUN to play a Mage!

Everyone at the table agreed it was The Bomb. Here are some links to visit if you want to.

http://www.enworld.org/
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/welcome
http://dnd4.com/