John McWhorter's Ted Talk

     I believe John made great points during his Ted Talk.  His analogy about how if speech had been around for 24 hours, then writing didn't appear until 11:07 PM is remarkable.  Just as writing didn't eviscerate spoken language, I don't believe casual writing will be the death of formal writing. 

     The millennial generation is the first one for which "kids these days" sentiment isn't relegated to elders sitting on their porch watching local hooligans scuff up the street their tax dollars worked so hard to make nice.  As a millennial, it can be exhausting hearing about how I'm apparently killing a new industry every week, how mine is apparently the first generation with no respect for my elders (as if the seventies--when they were teens--was a time of such profound respect for authority.) Unfortunately, as boomers discover the internet, it feels like an epidemic has arisen of trash-tier journalism that panders to their pearl-clutching over the death of some imagined bygone era of formality and discipline.

     If only we could take a break from our avocado toast and our industry killing to write sensibly!  Some of the most amusing things I've seen are local news pieces that will display a list of acronyms "kids these days" are allegedly using to engage in debauchery and disrespect their elders in secret.  I'm not going to bring up examples but from the ones I've seen I can attest that most of them are either inaccurate or completely fabricated.  These televised pieces are the progenitors of modern fear-mongering internet articles mourning the death of culinary staples like Applebees, murdered before its time by a generation with less money and the capability to aggregate opinions about awful restaurants quickly. Disregard the fact that Applebees is in fact still around. No offense is intended to Applebees fans.

     The final point, as was John's, is that things like texting and scary new acronyms aren't the death of language, they're an evolution.

     

     

Untwist the Nether! Word Search

Untwist the Nether!

 
     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

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

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.

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.

Gamer Gear Recommendation: Razer Naga Mouse

   

Razer Naga

     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!

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.  Siege is a mythic-difficulty-only dungeon, controversial among players as this is the first time Blizzard has gated the end of a narrative behind hardcore content.  Many casual players who dread the merciless difficulty of Mythic feel like their story efforts have led up to nothing, as they are unwilling to attempt the dungeon.  Those who step outside their comfort zone, however, will be rewarded as they overcome one of the most difficult and satisfying five-man missions this player has ever completed.

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, readers are invited to create their best fanart depicting each faction’s new alliances.  Whoever can best capture the spirit of the Zandalari trolls or the 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)