Once again MMO Champion comes through with more size changes on the PTR. It's the Night Elves taking the biggest hit this time, not just in their shoulders: now their weapons and shields have also shrunk noticeably. Orc shoulders are back up to their previous sizes and their shields have actually gotten even larger, which I frankly don't think was necessary.

Wow, my night elf is going to be one unhappy dude when he sees how much smaller his weapon just got. Cue the legions of jokes about night elf genitalia, but don't blame me for not playing along, as I am one of the ones stricken by this malady. Luckily, so far my tauren and human haven't been affected by this scourge, but it's really only a matter of time until you see a great white tauren sobbing inconsolably on the steps of the Lower City, his once majestic shoulders and massive sword now itty bitty.

Druids have some of the best lore in the Warcraft universe. Unlike any other class, this lore is often a binding area of common ground between Alliance and Horde druids, and many druids say that they will help each other regardless of their faction. Certainly this is partly because the Cenarion Circle is the official druid organization in which both tauren and night elves work together peacefully, but also this has to do with the spirit of loving nature -- a sense we bring from our real life experience that nature requires her champions to put aside other differences in order to keep the balance. Many of us who play druids in the game share a genuine concern for the environment of the earth, and the symbols used for druids in the game have a real meaning to us.

I'm a roleplayer, so learning background information about druid lore and visualizing what my character's life might have been life is useful to me. But for any player, whether you roleplay or not, it can help you get a more immersive feeling out of your game if you can really imagine yourself in your character's skin,... or fur, as the case may be.

So, if you were a druid in Azeroth, what would your life be like? The one certainty would be that a strong connection to nature would have been your primary concern from a very young age, whether as a night elf or as a tauren, but your path to becoming a druid would have been very different depending on which race you were, with great changes coming to you and your people in the very recent past.

I've talked to Alliance players, read WoW comics, surfed the forums, and seen raids on Darnassus, and one thing is clear: Pretty much everyone hates Fandral Staghelm. He's rude, snotty, argumentative and dismissive. In other words, perfect for a Know Your Lore feature! I'm sick of the generic faction leaders that have no flaws whatsoever, like the saintly Uther or the noble Thrall. It's like all the Warcraft politicians are Lincolns -- we need an occasional Nixon in there to spice things up.

So here's the guy you love to hate, the guy that Alliance encourages Horde to kill, the guy that greets you by making fun of his co-leader -- Arch Druid Fandral Staghelm!

Who: Arch Druid Fandral Staghelm.

What: Night elf druid.

History: Fandral Staghelm is 9,000 years old, which oddly enough makes him one of the younger night elf lore figures. He was born after the War of the Ancients, so he's significantly younger than Malfurion, Illidan and Tyrande, and didn't have to witness the terrors of the first Burning Legion invasion. Nevertheless, when Malfurion called for a new generation of night elves to learn the ways of the druids, Staghelm answered and rose to become one of Malfurion's top students. But he was more impetuous and easy to anger than the night elf leader, and they often quarreled. Luckily, Malfurion chose not to solve this disagreement in the manner to which he was accustomed. ("Hey! Let's blow up the world again!") The druids slept through the millenia, guarding the Emerald Dream and occasionally waking to help the night elves and possibly spend time with their angry, angry wives.

As Children's Week approaches, we turn our attention to the needy of Azeroth. The poor orphans, only looking for some companionship and a nice vacation, who end up dragged into Magtheridon's Lair. The elderly, who disappear somewhere once they're too old to fight. The homeless, the gnomeless, the disenfrancished and the disemboweled. But today, I ask you to think of a different kind of need. I ask you to think of the female elves.

The poor paladin pictured above was a perfectly happy blacksmith until she hit level 40 and started wearing plate. Then, suddenly, her chestpieces started losing arms. Then necklines. Then midriffs. Then other areas of the breastplate that should probably be there to protect against swords and stuff. Today, she is only clothed in two pieces of metal attached together with what appears to be duct tape. And the mail pants ... well, I bought the pants for emphasis because there weren't any plate pants I could wear on the AH at the time. Still, they appear to be a fur loincloth with two mudflaps on the side. Considering where the blood elf's hands are placed when riding a horse, it looks pretty NC-17. And the frostbite ... oh, God, the frostbite. Especially the ears.

But my elf is not the only victim. Read on, if you dare ...

The uncanny valley is a longtime hypothesis about human reaction to robots and computer-generated images. The basic gist is that people like robots/CGI figures that aren't made to imitate humans --- thus the cartoonish style of WoW. We notice the humanlike characteristics of the non-humans and empathize with them. But as the robots get closer and closer to looking like humans, we become strongly repulsed and tend to notice the small things that set them apart from real people. Eventually, though, someday someone will make a figure that looks exactly like a human, and the uncanny valley will disappear.

And it looks like we're pretty close to that point, at least going by the CGSociety article going around the European WoW Forums. If it weren't for the step-by-step tutorial, I would have sworn that this picture of a night elf -- made by artist Max Kor for a Blizzard fan art competition -- was of an actual woman in night elf makeup. The eyes, which are usually the big thing that catches people in CG, look totally normal. Forumgoers are also pretty impressed; Megg of Scarshield Legion says, "In 15 years, that's what WoW4 will look like."

What do you think about this art?

I agree with myrch over on Livejournal-- there's been a spec creeping up in the DPS charts lately that we might not have expected to get there. Slowly but surely, these players have been finding a niche of gear, talents, and class choice and exploiting it to the fullest. While their class is known for the other two specs, a third is definitely coming to light as one of the best DPSers in the game. The class is druid, and the spec... is moonkin.

Laugh if you want (and I certainly do when I see that dance), but moonkin (or Balance-specced) druids are doing well for themselves lately. Druid tanks have been getting all the press because of the new feral gear in Outland (and more recently, a few solid nerfs), but moonkin have been slowly building up their buffs, and using the best gear in both cloth and leather to max out their DPS. While the spec is really meant for PvP, it seems, they can definitely shine in PvE-- everyone loves Innervate, of course, but moonkin give that great crit bonus that adds a lot to any DPS raid group (definitely useful for Shaman, too, despite the Clearcasting nerf). They've got a nice armor bonus, so while they have to really be careful about managing aggro (they so far have no threat-reducing abilities), they can still take a few hits, and they have a few nice roots (Cyclone and the Tauren War Stomp, and Entangling Roots if they happen to be outside) that can hold things down until the tank intercepts. Not to mention that if need be, they're just a gear change and a shapechange away from becoming respectable offhealers, if not main healers.

Myrch lays out what moonkin need to do to really shine-- they've got to really concentrate their focus and load up on the spell damage gear (a guildie of mine, a moonkin who routinely fights mages and hunters for the top DPS spot, often wears cloth just for the spell damage), add a little mp5 to the stuff they wear, and of course watch that aggro. But more and more, we're seeing that a well-geared, well-played moonkin is a really great class to have along in almost any situation.

The people have spoken, and they've said they want to hear more about Alliance heroes that don't turn evil. So today, we're featuring an Alliance-side ruler who's nicer than 50-percent-off Peeps the day after Easter, despite his troublesome brother. Meet Malfurion Stormrage, the first night elf druid and the Jimmy Carter of Azeroth.

Who: Malfurion Stormrage, aka Furion, aka Shan'do (honored teacher) Stormrage.

What: Night elf through and through, baby.

History: Malfurion and Illidan Stormrage were fairly happy, carefree young night elves, or younger night elves, or however you refer to immortal races. They enjoyed hanging out with their close friend Tyrande Whisperwind. As the trio grew older, they had to choose their paths in life. Malfurion and Illidan went to study the druidic magics under the demigod Cenarius, while Tyrande joined the priesthood of the Sisters of Elune. Illidan soon "failed out" of Cenarius's teachings and decided to study arcane magic instead, but Malfurion proved to be really good at druidism and became a noted scholar.

During his studies, Malfurion noted that Queen Azshara was becoming secretive and elusive. He saw in the Emerald Dream (the dreamstate of the Green Dragonflight) that the night elves' use of magic would lead them to destruction, which turned out to be correct. The evil titan Sargeras had noticed that the elves were messing around with powerful magics in the Well of Eternity, and corrupted the Highborne and their Queen, Azshara. It was time for the War of the Ancients!

Kermras of Khadgar wonders what I'm sure a lot of players have: what exactly is behind that boat in the Caverns of Time? Along with Escape from Durnholde, the Black Morass, and the currently unfinished Mount Hyjal instances in there, there's also a huge pirate-looking ship in there, with a portal that is "perhaps" (according to Drysc) going to be a future instance. Yup, one word. That's all he gave us.

Fortunately for you, we're better at speculation than that. The Keepers of Time in front of the portal say the ship is a "Kaldorei vessel," which points directly to the Night Elves. Now, the Night Elves are not exactly a seagoing civilization, but there is one time in which lots of them perished at sea, and that's during the War of the Ancients and the ensuing fight over the Well of Eternity. I'll let Elizabeth give you the details in one of her great Know Your Lore features, but suffice it to say that Malfurion Stormrage (the greatest druid ever and Illidan's brother) stormed the old continent of Kalimdor to fight against the insane Aszhara and close the Well for good. In the process, the Well of Eternity was destroyed, Illidan did some evil stuff and escaped away, and lots of elves drowned (in fact, some of them became the Naga, and the Well itself became what we know of as the Maelstrom). So while we're not sure exactly what event the portal revolves around, it very well could be somewhere in there-- either fighting alongside Malfurion, helping Illidan escape (so we can fight him in the Black Temple), or helping the Kaldorei find their way out of the war to their current stomping grounds.

Still other guesses from players (about this and other upcoming instances in CoT) have to do with Illidan's treachery (any of it), the Theramore invasion fleet, or even a visit to the past of the Deadmines (lots of players want to see a pirate instance, I guess). Of course, there's always the chance that the Instance is just a placeholder, and that the boat is a red herring. Either way, Blizz has made it clear that the CoT is going to see a lot more action, wherever (and whenever) it takes place.

Our old friend the Naked Troll has a new fellow nudist (or a rival, I guess, depending on whether you play PVE or PVP). AntiTweak is a Night Elf Druid who's leveling her way up completely naked ("without weapons or armor," she says), and livejournalling the whole thing.

First, I'll get the formalities out of the way, and say it's an accomplishment for both of them to do it, and that both are taking on (and succeeding at) pretty impressive feats. They're great, good for them, and so on.

But more importantly, let's decide: which is harder? A Druid definitely seems harder to level naked than a Hunter (the class Juffowup was leveling with), but then again, Druids can heal and Hunters can't. But Juffowup definitely used weapons, and AntiTweak isn't using any. But AntiTweak seems like she's getting a lot of help from her boyfriend and guildies, and I think Juffowup mostly played with only his pet. And let's not forget, Juffowup plays Horde, and Alliance is EZ mode...

Whoops, did I say that last one out loud?

AntiTweak's latest debate is whether potions count as "armor and weapons" or not. I say no, but then again some PVP duelers consider potions cheating, while other PVPers drink pots in battlegrounds like their life depends on it. Whatever she decides, grats again to AntiTweak. I'm kind of glad she's doing it, just so I don't have to.

We've made it to the last of our grand prize contests in the Countdown to Burning Crusade, and it's high time to announce the prize winners. The runner-up, who will take home a JINX World of Warcraft hoodie for her efforts, is Myssiing on Stonemaul, aka photochik02, who sent in the following video pitting night elf versus blood elf in an Annie Get Your Gun-style sing-off to the death (no, to the pain!). Grats to Myssiing, and stay tuned for our first place machinima winner!

Here's a simple question to start your morning off right: which is more attractive, Blood Elves or Night Elves? Personally, I'd have to go with the blood elves (though that's probably because they look more human). I believe this male Blood Elf is from before the models were beefed up; be sure to take that into account.

So how about it? Would you hit that, and if so, which one(s)?

Today's breakfast topic is for hunters, all other classes can take the day off. My hunter is 55, and needs a new pet (I accidentally dismissed my last one, it's why I haven't played my hunter in a while). I know there's a lot of good, new pets out since 2.0 (I've heard Snakes are awesome), but I haven't been a hunter in so long, I have no clue what's out there for me to choose, or what I (or a hunter at any other level) should pick. I'll be leveling for a little while, but to tell the truth I'd rather have a nice pet for PVP, since I'll probably just farm some honor at 59 or so.

Sure, I could just go over and browse through Petopia. But I'd rather make your morning interesting, and hear your intelligent discussion on the subject: what pet should I get for my hunter and why?

You've got to have a favorite. Maybe they have a racial you just can't live without, or perhaps you particularly fancy one of their hairstyle options. (And, hey, with as long as you're likely to be stuck with the character, it had best have a look you like!) I have a fondness for Trolls, myself -- though I think that may be just a way of rooting for the underdog, with the Troll's less appealing racials. (If I were thinking practically, how could I turn away from the immensely helpful racial skills the Undead have?) So, tell us -- do you have a favorite, and why?

This is the first in a series of levelling guides, aimed at new and experienced players as an answer to the eternal question "Where do I go next?". It's aimed at a questing player who will mainly play solo, although people levelling with buddies will find much of it relevant.

Levels 1-5

This is the most straightforward stage of the game. At level 1 you arrive in a newbie zone, complete with everything you will need for the next five levels or so. The zones are dependent on your race:

While out hunting with my undead rogue on the WoW Insider server today, I came across a Night Elf Warrior, several levels higher than me, in the process of ganking a lowly level 10 Priest, and his friend, who had already fallen. They had put up a good fight, taking about half the warrior's health, but the fight was almost over when I decided to step in at the last minute to see if I could do any good.

I figured that, even with half his health, he would take me down as well without much trouble, but to my surprise, I got a couple of lucky criticals in, and with the help of a handy health potion, actually brought him down. I can't tell you how richly satisfying that kill was was, and it got me to wondering...

Have you ever had any PvP moments in the game that were memorable for one reason or another? Ones that made you want to stand up & cheer, or ones so embarrassi! ng (like being killed by a rogue 10 levels lower than you) that you wanted to cringe? Let us hear about 'em; everybody loves a good adventure story...or a good tragedy.