Posts Tagged ‘lich king’

WoW: Memories – The Best Raider Leader

14 May 2013 | 3 Comments » | iTZKooPA

WoW: Memories features wacky, entertaining and enduring stories from the world’s most popular subscription-based MMOG.

In 2009 I ended my hardcore raiding ways in World of Warcraft. My gaming career during that can easily be summed up in two words, guild hopping.  Since the Year of the Ox began I had been through a raiding member of four guilds, and another while everyone was still leveling.  To me, the act of switching that often is sacrilege, but fleeting guild experiences have become the norm.  With Wrath of the Lich King’s introduction of 10- and 25-man raids, an easier badge system, and then the Dungeon Finder, guilds had become neigh replaceable by PUGs.  The changes lead me to experience the gauntlet of raid leader types since the Alliance and the Horde decided to take the Lich King’s threat head on.  From the best-friend to the belittling asshole, I dealt with them all in 2009.  The main concern is that the best, and who is the most fun to play with tend to be two different answers.

Without question the most productive guild I had been a part during 2009 was the last of them.  We cleared ICC 25-man the second day, the guild dropped ToGC like it was Naxxramas and TotT was defeated with alts. Everyone was geared out the wazoo – I recall only being invited because two members vouched for me – with the best enchants, full epic gems and Rawr checking all required.  By required I don’t mean you would be sat, but kicked.  The GM and officers are nowhere near lenient, opting to outright kick players who fall behind in the slightest.  The guild demands perfection, something I actually prefer, but the raid leader I’ve largely dealt with wore on me. Quickly. I hadn’t screwed up, but the constant stream of swears, belittling of other members and his power complex wore on me. I knew it was burning me out.  My only enjoyment became the competitive nature among the rogues and the progression itself. Not from the guild atmosphere. Continue Reading

WoW Trading Card Game: Dungeoneering with BFK, DM & SM

6 January 2012 | No Comments » | Randy Denosha

Ever wanted to raid Shadowfang Keep? Wanted to show Scarlet Commander Mograine who is the boss? Thought it would be awesome to play against The Deadmines? Then the three newest dungeon decks for the WoW TCG are here to help you!

On 15 November Cryptozoic released three new dungeon decks – Shadowfang Keep, Scarlet Monastery and The Deadmines. All of them offer an original twist to the group efforts that players may have been familiar with when the game was still run by Upperdeck. Where the older raids were completely controlled by one of the players, these new dungeons are played by a player who also still controls a deck of his own. Making the meat requirement that much smaller. Continue Reading

Azeroth’s Beauty Contest: Top 10 Hottest WoW Characters (Part 2)

22 April 2011 | 6 Comments » | pixiestixy

Here we are, back with the continuation of Azeroth’s Beauty Contest. Last time, we revealed our #10 to #6 picks for the Hottest WoW Characters, and now were back for the top 5. As with last time, we’re aiming to keep this conversation as classy as we can, given the subject. Now onward to the winners:

5. Jaina Proudmoore –Stong, independent, beautiful, not to mention being one of the most powerful sorceresses in all of Azeroth, it’s no surprise that Jaina claims a spot on the list.

Perhaps what makes her even more appealing is her strong belief in peace and welcoming nature to all who share that vision. She dreams of uniting the forces of both the Horde and the Alliance, and has at certain times in the past succeeded in that mission when working toward a common goal or in aiming to kill a shared enemy. Too bad she has poor taste in men.

At least WoW developers have seen it fit to continue to update her character model to best show off her womanly assets.

4. Sylvanas Windrunner — In both life and undeath, Sylvanas remains one of the most dangerously lovely characters in the World of Warcraft universe. A military genius, she was Ranger-General of Silvermoon before getting murdered at the hand of Arthas and then being brought back as one of his minions.

But she fought back and regained her free will, even leading the Forsaken in their fight against the Scourge. I find it an interesting twist of fate that both her and the #5 hottie have had their futures shaped largely by the next one up on the list…

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Azeroth’s Beauty Contest: Top 10 Hottest WoW Characters (Part 1)

14 April 2011 | 5 Comments » | pixiestixy

A while back, I undertook the great burden of documenting who I thought fall into the category of Top 10 Ugliest Creatures in WoW. You all seemed to enjoy it.

I’ve been hesitating to flip that coin and rate the top 10 hottest characters. Mostly because that phrase alone leaves me with the feeling that trashyness is about to ensue. But fear not, dear readers! Yes, the hotness is based mostly on appearances, but we’ll also explore a little bit of lore that goes along to emphasize “inner beauty.” Let’s try to keep this little beauty pageant of sorts classy.

And as an FYI to any of you who happened across this site and are not familiar with my writing — yes, I am a girl. And while female hotness (in my opinion) greatly outweighs male hotness in World of Warcraft, it is not on its own. Both sexes are proudly represented in this fun little list. So let’s get on to the judging!

10. Blood-Queen Lana’thel – Hers is a story of battle and tragedy fueled by the wish of revenge against the scourge who had destroyed her homeland. While still a blood elf, Lana’thel came across the powerful blade, Quel’Delar, and sought to use it to strike against the Lich King. But all who stood against the Lich King fell, and Lana’thel was no exception.

She was, however, one of those chosen to serve the Lich King in undeath. So she became blood-queen of the San’layn, and she carried out these duties in Icecrown obediently. But a part of her remembered her past life and grew maddened — perhaps even a bit insane — leading her to destroy Quel’Delar and scatter its fractured pieces far and wide.

While certainly not one of the greatest heroes of her race, Lana’thel’s complexity contributes to her beauty, even in undeath.

9. Garona Halforcen –Another beautifully complicated character, Garona herself has even been confused at times about her heritage. As a half-orc, half-dranei assassin, Garona had for much of her life believed that she was half-human. But while raised among orcs, she was not accepted as one because of her small frame and was even thought to be ugly and deformed. Thankfully, we know better.

Although Garona may have lacked respect — even self-respect — she masterfully learned to take care of herself and as a result excelled in other areas, which others sought to take advantage of. An assassin and master spy, she became emissary to Medivh and even had his son before discovering his betrayal. She is perhaps most known for reluctantly carrying out orders to assassinate King Llane Wrynn, who also was her trusted friend.

She may be confused at times, but Garona certainly never lacks passion, which is part of what brings that sexy spark of mischief to her appearance. Continue Reading

PAX East 2011 Contest: Win WoW TCG Decks (Worldbreaker Epic Collection and More!) UPDATE

30 March 2011 | 1 Comment » | LHStaff

UPDATE: We’ve extended the contest til Saturday, April 2nd. We’ve also reduced the number of questions, and every question you answer gains you more entries!. Get on it folks!

Cryptozoic was kind enough to provide us with some prizes to giveaway to promote the WoW TCG. Here is all the stuff we are getting away:

  1. Worldbreaker Epic Collection, which contains:
      5 random foil hero cards from Worldbreaker
      Worldbreaker visual pocket guide
      Worldbreaker Playmat
      Reusable storage box with card dividers
  2. Alliance Rogue Starter Deck
  3. Horde Priest Starter Deck

The starter decks are complete decks that contains a full 60 card deck, ready to play.

If you are interested in winning one of these, copy/paste the following scavenger hunt quiz into an email to admin_AT_LoreHound_DOT_com. We’ll randomly select three winners from the best responses, who will have the choice of which reward they want of the remaining prizes. Every question you answer gains you another entry, so you don’t need to answer all the questions or get them all right to win! US and Canada only. Entries are due by Saturday, April 2nd, at midnight EST.

To find answers, check out our PAX coverage – both our videos and posts. For a couple of the questions, you may need to poke around some other sites.

Click through for the quiz.
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Assault on Icecrown Citadel Raid Deck Impressions

15 March 2011 | 3 Comments » | Heartbourne

I had the pleasure of trying out the new Assault on Icecrown Citadel raid set at PAX East. Cryptozoic was nice enough to lend us a set to take for a test run. The game comes with four decks: the raid boss, The Lich King, and three opposing heroes, Jaina Proudmoore, Sylvanas Windrunner, and Highlord Tirion Fordring. Players with their own decks or cards can modify their decks or play with their own setups against Arthas, but the box set contains everything you’ll need to get started.

Since the game requires four players, we rounded up some of our friends from other sites. I, Heartbourne, took on Sylvanas’ role, while Michael Sacco from WoW Insider played Jaina Proudmoore and Thespius from Raid Warning played Tirion. Seven from Raid Warning stepped up as the Lich King, and Joe Perez from WoW Insider and Raid Warning helped him out. Neither me nor Seven had played the WoW TCG before, so the guidance of Sacco and Perez were well appreciated.

Read about my experiences after the break.

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Choosing What You Play: Hard Decisions, and Then Some

5 October 2010 | 4 Comments » | Mordil

Durability taken from this will be very expensive.

At the peak hours of Friday night, I had acquired much-needed money. Much-needed funds in a discretionary way.  I used the greenbacks to accommodate what I’ve been after, Star Trek Online. Sadly, I realized that I don’t have enough to pay for both WoW and STO. With the classic dilemma that iTZKooPA managed to explain, I needed to make a serious decision, and fast. Fantasy or sci-i, orcs or klingons, daggers or phasers – an ever-lasting discussion. Before I get into the specifics of the scenario, let me educate you on the background of what has happened in my “fragile” MMO life.

  • Raiding has died.

Around four months ago, I had begun to actually experience what raid progression was like. With a guild of four close friends, we created a raiding guild and recruited others to join us. Week after week, we downed each wing and mastered the previous. Week 3 is where it all went down hill. Sindragosa, not only wiped the raid, but the entire guild! Eleven attempts in, we could only ever get her down to 25%.  **shakes heads in shame**

We wiped every time because people were falling asleep, losing focus, probably both. I, having engagements the next day, and seeing that we were not progressing, said “After the next two attempts, if we don’t get her past 25%, I’m out for the night.”

My raid leader (who was also my close friend, and guild master) threw a gasket. “None of this three attempts BS. If you’re out, you’re out.” So I dropped the group. He soon whispered me with “Don’t bother coming to the raid next week, you’re not going.” (Side note: I was the one who always scheduled the raids, made the group, and then gave him raid lead when he asked.)

Taking what was rightfully mine (stuff that I put in the guild bank), I /gquit. Soon later, he took the rest of the guild and convinced them to faction transfer to Horde on Archimonde, save my three real-close friends. They caught other flak of their own nature and decided to say “Snuff you.” Continue Reading

Billy the Hero Vs. the Lich King

20 September 2010 | 7 Comments » | Amatera

Turns out Arthas isn’t the only “Lich King” in town (spoiler alert: I’m not talking about Bolvar, either). No, it turns out that the twisted, post-apocalyptic Land of Ooo has its own evil sack of bones to contend with. Except that he’s no match for the most mathematical hero in the universe, Billy! Seriously, who needs the help of Tirion Fordring or the Ashbringer, when Billy can just kick him in the face? He has a better theme song, too!

I admit, this is a bit of a stealth PSA to get more people watching Adventure Time (which is probably the best cartoon to hit the air since… forever), but I got a chuckle out of it and I hope you do, too. The show is certainly no stranger to lampooning role-playing and fantasy tropes.