Warcraft Weekly - Full 'Zine, Now in One Place!

Warcraft Weekly

A ‘zine by Jeff Deetman

Mission Statement

I write this magazine to share my passion for World of Warcraft with fellow players, casual and fanatical.

Letter from the Editor

     I’ve been playing Warcraft for eleven years now.  It was a cornerstone of my teenage years and continues to play a massive role in my adult life, and I’m not alone.  Millions of people all over the world have Warcraft accounts, and they all play for their own reasons.  The main feature of this issue will explore some of the reasons people have for sinking so much of their time into just one video game.  We’ll also look at the new dungeon Siege of Boralus, check out some gamer gear, answer questions from fans and more!

-Jeff Deetman, Editor-In-Chief

Advice Column

“I just started playing and I have no idea what class to play.  There are so many choices!  I think I’d like to play a damage dealing class because the responsibility of healing and tanking are intimidating.”

-Kirk Vanderblurg, Sacramento CA

At twelve classes with three specializations per class (four for druids), there is a total of thirty-seven possible ways to play Warcraft!  I was just like you when I first started playing: overwhelmed by so many choices.  If I were you Kirk, I’d play a Druid.  The Druid class is the jack-of-all-trades in Warcraft.  While most classes are relegated to either damage and tanking, damage and healing, or just damage, Druid can do all three.  Druids are unique, however, because they can do both ranged magic damage and close-up melee damage.  It will give you a taste of all four roles in the game and allow you to switch between them at will!

Announcing: September Art Contest!

     Gather your pens, pencils and paints because Warcraft Weekly’s bi-annual art contest is upon us!  To commemorate the release of the new expansion Battle for Azeroth, we invite readers to create their best fanart depicting each faction’s new alliances.  Whoever can best capture the spirit of the Zandalari trolls or Kul Tiran humans will win a fabulous prize of $5,000 and a trip to Blizzard HQ in Irvine, California.  Second and third place will receive a limited-edition Warcraft gaming mouse and keyboard.  All entries must be received by September 14^th.  Contest winners will be announced in the October issue!

Send your art to:

warcraftweekly@email.address

(Digital Submissions)

123 Magazine Street,

Magazine Land, US, 54321

(Physical Submissions)

Battle for Azeroth – Siege of Boralus: Dungeon Review

            The dramatic tale of betrayal and redemption unraveled by alliance players during their adventures in Kul Tiras culminates in the Ashvane company attacking Boralus, the capital city.  Players fight through the burning city streets, ultimately driving off the kraken Viq’Goth.  As a mythic-difficulty-only dungeon, Siege is controversial among players as this marks the first time Blizzard has gated the end of a narrative behind hardcore content.  Many casual players dread the merciless difficulty of mythic, and feel like their story efforts have led up to nothing, as they are unwilling to attempt it.  However, those who step outside their comfort zone will be rewarded as they overcome one of the most difficult and satisfying five-man challenges this player has ever completed.

Gamer Gear Recommendation: Razer Naga Mouse

     If you’ve played Warcraft, you know you’ve got more spells and abilities than you 

can shake a stick at.  The tiny square icons seem to overwhelm your screen and you 

waste critical seconds scrolling your mouse over to each one during a tense boss 

fight, or perhaps you hit the number 4 instead of the number 3 and that mistake is 

the difference between life and death.  With Razer’s Naga mouse, you have 12 

buttons easily accessible to your thumb.  Combined with the Bartender addon’s 

customizable action bars, you can map your abilities to the mouse, dramatically 

cutting down on input time and mistakes.  Utilizing shift and control click functions 

as well puts 36 spells in the palm of your hand!

Glossary: Common WoW Terms for Outsiders – Dungeons

                 The dungeon is the lowest level of player-versus-environment (PvE) content in World of Warcraft.  The narratives of many zones culminate in one or more dungeons requiring a team of five players.  The monsters in these dungeons are more powerful than those outside, and the boss fights require a level of coordination between players that goes beyond standard fights.  Dungeon groups are comprised of the tank, who ensures that enemies attack him or her to keep the rest of the group safe, the healer, who uses restorative spells to keep the group alive, and the three damage dealers who burn down enemy health bars.

Advertisement – Leave Me A-Clone®!

               Has this ever happened to you?  It’s thirty minutes to raid time, you and your guild are hyped, and your Mom calls down, “It’s time to go to bed, it’s a school night!”  Well we have a revolutionary new service for you!

                Leave Me A-Clone® will send you an identical android body double that folds neatly into your computer desk!  Send your robo-self off to handle all the distractions you can’t be bothered to deal with when there’s loot on the line!  Leave Me A-Clone® isn’t just for kids either.  Are you a parent and your kids won’t stop crying?  Send in the clones!  Is your dog bothering you?  Throw him a clone!  Big deadline at work?  The clone is on the case!  When life gets in the way of Warcraft, tell it Leave Me A-Clone®!

Warcraft Trivia: Show Me the WarFacts

1. At its peak, World of Warcraft enjoyed 12-million unique subscriptions. That’s almost 3.5-million more people than the population of New York City!
2. WoW originally launched in 2004.  At fourteen years old, it is the longest running Massively-Multiplayer-Online-Roleplaying-Game (MMORPG).
3. At launch, players could choose between 9 classes: Druid, Hunter, Mage, Paladin, Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Warlock and Warrior.  Since then, Blizzard has added 3 more classes to the game: Death Knight, Demon Hunter and Monk. 
4. The paladin class was exclusive to the Alliance faction and the shaman was exclusive to the Horde at launch.  This changed in the first expansion which introduced the alien Draenai (Dran-I) to the Alliance and the jaded Blood Elves to the Horde. Each race could play the previously inaccessible class for that faction.

Untwist the Nether! Word Search

     A Warrior, Priest, Warlock and Druid walk into a bar.  Unfortunately, that bar is located in the Twisting Nether: the trans-dimensional glue that holds space-time together in the World of Warcraft.  After taking a drink, the four heroes merge into a transcendental super consciousness.  Neat as that may be, the Warrior needs to be home soon as his wife will give him what-for if he misses dinner again.  Help this higher power sort out the who's who within by finding each hero's class specializations in the Word Search.  Do so, and you will save them from a fate worse than death.  The warrior's wife will appreciate it, too.

Word Search generator: http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/WordSearchSetupForm.html

Untwist the Nether!

D

G

N

P

S

E

R

V

U

Y

G

U

V

D

L

T

E

L

O

Z

H

I

F

X

G

R

Q

I

U

G

W

U

S

B

I

V

A

K

W

W

H

U

O

Z

H

H

C

A

T

J

T

J

D

Y

P

D

R

F

Q

A

C

X

J

Z

R

Y

C

N

O

E

I

E

F

R

U

O

V

N

K

L

U

A

I

M

W

C

S

E

Z

E

J

Q

N

X

A

I

C

O

L

R

S

T

R

R

N

Z

G

Z

I

D

Y

N

T

T

F

I

O

A

W

I

T

J

Q

R

V

O

O

E

I

X

F

R

L

E

L

J

Q

A

B

L

F

W

I

S

O

F

A

I

W

P

K

U

P

O

S

M

R

A

B

C

N

T

W

E

I

G

S

G

B

A

L

A

N

C

E

M

I

H

V

C

V

Y

D

B

N

O

I

T

C

E

T

O

R

P

S

V

F

L

B

F

A

F

J

V

B

L

N

A

U

I

J

B

D

Y

M

J

T

A

T

Y

C

Z

E

F

D

AFFLICTION	ARMS	BALANCE
DEMONOLOGY	DESTRUCTION	DISCIPLINE
FERAL	FURY	GUARDIAN
HOLY	PROTECTION	RESTORATION
SHADOW

Editor's Choice - Glossary: Common WoW Terms for Outsiders 2 – Specialization

            Often shortened to spec, a specialization defines how your class behaves in combat.  Some classes have one spec for tanking, and others for damage.  Some classes have a spec each for tanking, damage and healing.  The monk is one such class.  The Mistweaver spec allows the player to use healing mists to keep the group strong.  Brewmasters use potent alcoholic brews to dampen pain and control enemies.  The graceful Windwalker employs traditional martial arts to dish out devastating combos.  Meanwhile the Warrior has one spec for tanking: Protection.  The other two are both for damage but have different play styles.  Fury emphasizes the Warrior’s rage mechanic to attack recklessly and brutally, while Arms focuses on tactical use of various weapon techniques.

Who Plays Warcraft? An Exposé on Why Players Play

            What do we think of when we imagine people who play games like World of Warcraft?  Most people would probably say the standard issue nerd: either under or overweight, unwashed, acne-ridden and socially awkward.  I’m not going to sugarcoat it. As many of us players know, there are many of those guys and gals out there.  Chances are I just described many of my dear readers to a T.  There isn’t necessarily anything wrong with that character description, so long as the person who meets it is happy, but it is unfair and inaccurate to assume they make up the entire fan base.

                Perhaps it’s arrogant, but I would say I’m reasonably attractive: on the low end of a healthy weight, mostly clear skin and charming when I want to be.  My wife says I have great cheekbones and naturally well-defined eyebrows.   I don’t think anyone would be surprised that I play Warcraft, but I also don’t think anyone would assume it just by looking at me or talking to me, yet I spend a significant amount of time online.  I’ve taken my most recent dive back into the game for different reasons, but for the most part I play because it fills a social need, as it does for most players in some way.

                We can imagine that the stereotype discussed before plays because they’re more comfortable talking through a keyboard and a different identity.  In the game, nobody can see their acne or their stomach, smell their poor hygiene or hear them stutter.   There’s less fear of rejection because they can just block or ignore people who upset them, so they can approach others to socialize with confidence.  Sure, some players use these factors as an excuse to be nasty, and that’s unfortunate.  I’d wager that they are the minority though, despite how noisy they like to be.  Even the socially awkward nerds are mostly good people.

                I was much more socially awkward as a teenager than today, but I didn’t need to play in order to make up for a lack of tangible friends.  I used the game as a means of keeping in touch with and spending time with friends I made in the real world.  Some people have lived in one place their entire lives and can’t relate, but moving as a kid is hard.  The friends I left behind after middle school had been my best buddies for five years.  When I found out my best friend started playing World of Warcraft, I was thrilled to give it a try.  Coincidentally, a kid in my new school had started playing recently as well.  We bonded over that and we’ve been the best of friends ever since.  It’s easy for outsiders to imagine Warcraft nerds as friendless losers, but in my case it made me friends; in the real world, no less.  Through Warcraft and through me, my old best friend and my new best friend got to meet and become good friends themselves.  That never would have happened if we all hadn’t started playing.

                I’ve known others who have used the game to enhance their real relationships as well.  A few of the guild leaders I’ve had over the years have been married couples that play the game together.  Some people even meet in the game and then get married in real life.  When people laugh off Warcraft fans saying, “get a life, make some real friends,” they forget that behind those pixels on the screen are real people, making real connections.  Chatting with people online isn’t that different from chatting up a stranger at a football game or joining other fans’ conversations after a movie.

                Ultimately, what I’m saying is that if you are a World of Warcraft nerd, or any kind of nerd, you’re not alone.  While it is important to get outside to the real world and talk to people face to face, don’t let anyone diminish the very real friendships you’ve made online.  An interesting world takes all kinds of people, and our hobby is just as valid as anyone else's.