Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period.
A player decided to take a school assignment and turn it into a World of Warcraft machinima piece. In it, he explains what an MMOG is, as well as various aspects of WoW. Just like the title of the film states, it's a good introduction to Warcraft.
It's very well done with lots of music, humor, good editing and beautiful 1 minute intro showcasing various zones in Azeroth. Don't miss the Leeroy Jenkins reference, the examples of the perils of Voice Chat or the Village People music under the credits.
This 48 second clip from an upcoming episode of Stargate: Atlantis shows a little nod to World of Warcraft. I'm not going to give away the reference. You'll have to click on it and hear it for yourself.
Apparently this is the second time WoW is mentioned in Stargate. I can't find a clip of the first reference, so if someone knows where it lives, let me know!
It's not new, but this short film by The Widget still has a valid point to make. World of Warcraft is all good fun -- but don't take it to extremes! Think this situation is completely unrealistic? Let's get a show of hands from all of you who know someone like this -- I'll even start it out, /raise hand. (Note: contains some unsafe for work type language -- so be careful where you watch!) Previously, on Moviewatch...
Who out there isn't enjoying some of the Brewfest events right now? In addition to the simple pleasure of free booze, the Brewfest offers some interesting rewards -- one of which, the beer goggles, is showcased above. However, in this case I really feel like the Horde have the short end of the stick. If you play Horde and put on your beer goggles, everyone turns into an Orc. If you play Alliance and put on your beer goggles, everyone turns into a Gnome. And though the above video is amusing, I can only think of how more amusing it would have been with a more Gnomish theme.
I have to admit, when I saw this particular video come up on the WoW LJ community, I couldn't believe my eyes. But sure enough, it appears that Toyota has figured out that World of Warcraft is a good way to attract the attention of tons of folks. Anyone who has ever seen the original Leeroy Jenkins video knows what they're trying to draw a correlation to. I'd also be willing to bet whoever designed this plays WoW themselves.
In any case, I would bet that it won't be long before we hear "Four wheels of FURY!" and "I am the LAWGIVER!" all over the place.
This movie is the sequel to Rocket Boots, with improved stunts and multiple songs (including a Bill Cosby-esque Pokemon gag I always love)! It's kind of funny to watch the orc jump off of various ledges with his rocket boots and wonder where exactly he'll land -- as well as if he'll live through the landing.
When it's my own character, I find falling to be very suspenseful. Whenever I accidentally leap off Aldor spire, for example, my heart skips a beat and I hold my breath. I straighten up in my chair and and instinctively look for a parachute cloak or something something I can use to prevent my death, even though I know in my head that this character doesn't have any slow-fall items or spells. There have been times when, on an engineer alt, I was similarly tempted to jump off huge ledges just to see where I would end up; at the time I told myself that the prospect of having to retrieve my body from who-knows-where was just too painful -- but now I wonder if I just find falling a bit too scary, like one of those dreams where you fall and fall, sure that you're going to die, only to wake up just before you hit the ground.
"World of Warcraft Raid Bosses" dramatizes life on the other side of the screen for Arthas, Lady Vashj and Sylvanas Windrunner. Performed live at San Diego Comic Con last August, this WoW skit won the Judge's Choice award.
Unfortunately, the video posted on YouTube was shot by someone in the audience and very little of the actors can be heard. I found a clean MP3 of the dialogue, replaced much of the bad audio of the original and reposted the video. My apologies to the original posters, but this play was far too entertaining to be ignored due to audio problems.
This music video by Baron Soosdon is for all those who ever wondered what it might be like to participate in the races held between gnomes and goblins at the Mirage raceway in the Shimmering Flats. It's particularly timely in light of the new Engineering flying mount that will be coming out soon. Is this about what it will look like? Surely some players would be interested in the Goblin-engineered land mount featured here as well, if only they were making that for players too.
For those who are interested in a higher-quality version (which I recommend), this video is also available on Stage 6.
Were you a fan of Never Stay Tuned? So was this machinimist. Inspired by NST comes this parody of commercials using Warcraft characters. From Maury Povich promos to faux movie trailers to Family Guy clips to the most excellent PS3 vs. Wii parody ad, this clipfest has a little bit for everyone.
Update: There is a bit of NSFW language here, so be careful where you watch it!
Baron Soosdon has outdone himself this time. And that's saying alot. Using the WoW Model Viewer, some amazing editing tricks and a song from the "Resident Evil: Extinction" soundtrack, he has created a music video that looks better than 99% of the professionally made crud you see on MTV.
For a wider screen, higher resolution version, use the Stage 6 link. I would embed that version here if it didn't break the blog format. But it's definitely worth clicking over to appreciate the beauty of the visuals.
For a behind the scenes explanation of how the video came together, check out Baron Soosdon's blog.
Perhaps you've heard of Gutrot? If not, now's as good a time as any to get to know him. He's a Troll Warrior playing on Aerie Peak (EU). But he's not just any Troll -- Gutrot spent his journey through Azeroth and Outland without armor or weapons, equipping himself only with a loincloth. This weekend, Gutrot made it to level 70 and decided to celebrate with, what else, a naked Troll party! I wasn't there, but at least I can enjoy the fun vicariously with this video.
In the newest video from Nyhm, creator of Can't PuG KZ and Death Knight Spree, we're treated to his newest spin on things going on in WoW. This time around Nyhm actually decided to jump from his beloved Warlock and give us the skinny from another caster class -- the Mage! This one features a parody of a 50 cent song and some pretty witty observations about Mage group utility and abilities. We all know Mages are the best snack machines in game, but you have to admit that Nyhm's served this tasty Mage treat up with style.
Ah, this video makes me nostalgic for those pre-Burning Crusade days when getting to level 60 was a big deal and soloing the elites in this video was a real accomplishment. Don't laugh -- I'm serious! Soloing big elites was slow and not always terribly profitable, but it served as a test of skill and helped occupy the time waiting for the next content update. And though this video isn't new, it's still an excellent introduction to kiting for any young mage eager to learn how to take down creatures twice his size.
Sure, we've seen video of the ultra-rare Spectral Tiger Mount before. So why am I showing you new footage? Because as of patch 2.2, the Spectral Tiger's graphics have changed. And a lot of people who have had the luck (or money!) to acquire their own Spectral Tiger, the change, which altered the look of the mount's armor, is not an improvement. Blizzard, on the other hand, maintains that the change is actually a bug-fix and makes the tiger look like their initial promotional screenshots. And, tiger-owners or not, what do you think? Is the new look for the better or worse?
There's something about the people who play Gnomes... perhaps it's their diminutive stature or the fact that other races commonly joke about punting them, but they often seem to feel the need to prove themselves, as in this level 1, all-Gnome raid on Hogger (though they seemed to have picked up some friends by the end). Though it's a bit long at 7 minutes, this video documents the perilous journey from the Gnomish starting area all the way to Hogger's domain in Elwynn forest. (Warning: some not-entirely-safe for work language over voice chat when the raid starts the Hogger encounter.)
