2012 WoW

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First of all I'd like to apologize to followers for this comic. Its an experiment of mine, I really wanted to increase my Photoshop 'skills' by making a one-off comic with Photoshop, but I didn't anticipate how much jumping into a new program can effect your drawing. So the quality is a bit mixed.

note aside, anybody been to see the movie 2012? I haven't yet but I definitely intend to. Partly for the story, partly for stuff blowing up (at least, that's the exact reason why I watched Day after Tomorrow, similar scenario). It was when my friend asked me if I wanted to go see 2012 sometime that this idea came to mind, for some reason. I thought of Yellowstone park exploding and for some reason that linked me to Fire Plume ridge, and it all went downhill from there.

Cataclysm:

In a way, Cataclysm will resemble the end of the world for some parts of Azeroth. Some places shall be encased in lava, others hit by earthquakes. In a way- even WoW has its own "2012", except in the form of a £25 expansion ;). Its safe to say nowhere is safe from the elements(including new life, nature, in places such as desolace, and the new water animation/graphics look lush!).

I am really looking forward to the new designed environments, but once there here I know I'll miss the memories associated with the old design. I love Wow.com's "Around Azeroth" project. They'll be so many pictures I can go through. So much memory. Nostalgia.

Overall:
I decided to keep it as a movie poster, rather then continue onwards with a bit of a comic strip. I Hope you see this as a movie poster comic, because that is what I intend for it to do, and finally, any comments on this kind of style is welcome, I do intend on continuing as normal for the next installments, but as a student I think its my duty to try different techniques once in a while :).

Most importantly, this blog is for myself and my expression, and I think I benefited a little from it.

RP Servers

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Maybe I over-exagerated a little bit- I mean, I'm sure RP'ers don't go around crying every time they kill somebody in a BG (although, if any race that did it'd be Blood Elves....). What I'm trying to say is, I don't really know what happens on a RP server.

"Don't be silly Kromus, clearly they all talk like this;

Good sir, would you join me for a battle against the evil dragon Onxyia. Let us clear her foul strench from Azeroth with the power of 3 healers 5 powerful heroes and 2 brave knights!"

*Speaking of Onxyia, log in today for your Onxyia Whelpling pet celebrating WoW's 5th anniversary! Happy Anniversary WoW, <3*

But is it that ridiculous? and more importantly, why do we make fun of it so much? I've seen so many people say its for nerds, but frankly I disagree. As much as I love to pretend to RP by talking as ridiculous as the above paragraph, quite frankly I have no idea if that is what happens, because I've never been brave enough to step foot onto a RP server. Its on my to-do list of WoW, definitely. I think RP sounds very interesting. Its a more immersive approach, and I believe from what I've heard already, references to the outside world are forbidden (unless it cannot be avoided) which I think is a new game in itself thus fun.

Are you an active RP'er?:
Or have you had any experience at all? WoW or not, I'm really interested!

What is your world....of Warcraft

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Quite recently with my current transition from full-time raider to pug'ing raids at most, I've began to dabble into the other aspects of the game I've neglected, such as PvP and general exploration.

This week, after realising my current casual play-style within World of Warcraft(Basically, things I have to do keep making me just miss the start of the raid, meaning I have to pass for other members of course, but if there is a spot I am free to join), I decided to start grinding for the frostsaber mount in Winterspring. Yey! Its not too bad, I'm not bored of it yet, just became friendly reputation with them, just not looking forward to the revered to exalted grind--as it'll be such a long time.

I've also started to get more into PvP, its really fun as Destruction Warlock, even though a few hits and you're down, hopefully you can decimate their limbs before they can even get within melee range (and if its a caster, normally its a fairly even fight). I then started to think about what was making me play World of Warcraft. Is it achievements, raiding, Pvp, grinding, exploration?

A few months ago it was raiding, but now its mostly just grinding and exploration, with a little bit of PvP thrown in.

What do you play WoW for? what do you play any MMO for?

Gnome Mercy for Gnomish Crimes

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p.s I know its not great, its quite lame, but It made me laugh doing it 8-)

I'm a big fan of community spotlights; you know the kind- where you stand up and say "I love this person's blog".

Even though this is a Comic website, and Community Spotlight doesn't seem to be very common throughout Comic websites-- I still like to give people a mention- especially those who deserve it. In this post I'd like to talk to you about a gnome's (and any other race too!) retreat in the form of blogging. The Pink Pigtail Inn.

This blog glides out high quality blog posts almost daily, and its contributors is the Innkeeper, Larisa-- a fluffy Pink Gnome of which I've drawn above for fun(don't mock :P) and its bartender Elnia, of which I actually have no idea what he plays. (Theres a question for you Elnia :D ). I thought the Pink Pigtail Inn was definitely worth mentioning as Larisa effectively got me into Blogging, as well as other factors of course, but Larisa gave me the guidance needed- as well as a great blog to read and look up to.

However, just lately Larisa has been a sad little gnome, because of micro-transactions, and Elnia also was annoyed by it- but she has had the all clear, guys. Shes made a post saying shes still the merrymaker shes always been, but shes just hit a bit of a passionate topic. Horrah :D

The above drawing is for you Larisa :D Fellow guildie! Gnome!
(speaking of which, both Blizzard, My Guild and pretty much WoW love to use gnomes as all sorts of silly talk such as gnome catapults, shoes, I wonder why :D?)

Passion for what we Hate:
Can I blame Larisa for passionately writing about what she is passionate about, against, etc? No. I to have subjects that make the very dark foundations of my blood boil. These things include;

-People who spit on a game just because its graphics, EVEN if its game play is amazing.
-Religion

-Bullies

-Nit-Pickers (people who pounce on typos and mistakes)

Luckily, within WoW, only 2 of those can likely come into play. Its not Religion because you don't enter a fantasy world and start bragging about what you do in real-life, that's not the point, that's not immersive at all- its in the real-world it annoys me- woo. Its not People VS graphics because normally they won't touch the game they think "sucks" thus they won't be on World of Warcraft. The only possible one you're likely to come across is Bullies, but even then we're protected by such things as name changes, massive environments etc, but it does still happen. Nit-pickers happens alot in WoW, somebody could make a really good discussion, or say something really intresting, and often people will decide to turn the whole discussion about how much they suck at spelling for accidental spelling "hello" as "helol"-- ruining the whole thing. Or if they make one tiny mistake, despite the fact the main tank is a cloth-wearer, they'll somehow turn the wipe against a innocent lonesome healer who in fact wasn't the problem at all.

That was just a paragraph, but I could write for hours about those subjects, because that's passionate, that's feeling you owe the world an explanation, you owe the world your say, and you owe it to yourself to defend whats right in such a sheepish world.

Recent Up-Roar:

Which is why I've found these recent blog posts interesting. There has been some heated responses and some moral debates but at the end of the day, Blizzard have said they plan on doing more things like this, as they feel its going to be a big part of World of Warcraft in the future, be it vanity or armour, I don't know-- I HIGHLY doubt it'll be anything more.

But enough about that, let us finish with the celebration of The Pink Pigtail Inn, and leave with the message that I love community spotlights, as if not for reading Tobold's interview with Chris from Gamebynight, I wouldn't of come across his website, which Is also an interesting read.

Thanks for reading! My new comic on the way should be interesting! Trying to up the art a little bit.

Comic Off-Topic

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(Wonder if you noticed the disapearing poster)

As the title of the Post states, this really is a off-topic post in relation of World of Warcraft- but not so off-topic in terms of gamer behavior. The above comic is about the late-release of the Left 4 Dead 2 demo, which people were eagerly anticipating-- including myself.

Luckily I am patient, and I sat like a good little Warlock doing' other things whilst I waited. Out of interest, I checked the steam forums and found one thing. RAGE. There were rage posts everywhere, "OMG111 Vlave11 Huw cud you" and "DEMO LATE FFSS" everywhere. In a way it was a compliment to Valve (the creator of Left 4 Dead 2 and the Steam store software) as it meant people were acutally eagerly anticipating the game, which is good news since the possible boycotts.

But it reminded me:
But seeing the forum rage reminded me of the Battlenet rage when we couldn't log on for about 2 hours once-- which again I wouldn't mind, but it was 7:30-9:30 (aproximately depending on the person). This time peroid is right in the middle of common raiding times, so a lot of raids missed out on their ultimate goal, and my guild's raid had to be reduced to a 10 man I beleive, as we've been trying Ulduar Hard modes and it makes them much harder than they need to be with less people.

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This Comic was made for a friend over at WeGame, a gaming community site.

He had just started a new comic about people at WeGame and wanted people to do a "burn" of him. (a burn is a comical joke about somebody with no malicious intent, so putting his face on a squirrel saying "i love nuts"). I decided to make a Comic about it, and thankfully he loved this comic so it went down as intended-- although some of the comics it received were more glad about Kanye being shot then the actual joke itself :P.

Hope you enjoy these off-topic comics!

Public Test Realm 3.3

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With all the possible changes and testing on the PTR- I really couldn't help but make this comic!

There are some big, big changes to come in 3.3, and a lot of maybes. Its a very unpredictable patch, and just as I were getting worried that Blizzard were starting to "copy and paste" textures, items and bosses too much- Icecrown Citadel is really starting to bring out some great boss models.

If you want to see such models and textures, mmo-champion is the place to go, But I won't be displaying them here because its come to my attention that a lot of people want to come across the bosses there and then. I however couldn't wait and must express how awesome and Icecrown like Lord Marrowgar looks-- and what a cool name, too! I think we're in for a huge patch- full of excitement and content-- but it seems like the Paladin class will be getting some nerfs.

"Lay on Hands is now affected by Forbearance and can now be cast on self again - Heals a friendly target for an amount equal to the Paladin's maximum health and restores 1950 of their mana. Once healed, the target cannot be targeted by Divine Shield, Divine Protection, Hand of Protection, or Lay on Hands again for 2 min." -Blue post

Thats not a massive nerf- but I think its quite significant, as Paladin are now losing a "oh shi-" button which a lot of classes have (That's one thing I love about Enhancement shaman, Spirit wolves are good for steady DPS but there taunt abilities and healing make for a great emergency button). Another big change is summoning stones outside of instances will soon be able to be used at any level above 15- meaning if you're level 15 you'll be able to summon your level 80 booster to your very location. Great!

but, of course, who will need summoning once we can fly in Azeroth! I think being able to fly in Azeroth will make it seem smaller, but its quality not quantity after all, right?

Tauren Paladin

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There are many things that WoW:Cataclysm promises to bring. One of those features is level cap raising to 85, of which I am a big supporter of as they can concentrate on other more important things such as balance and content. One of those things also happens to be flying mounts in Azeroth, woo!

But a factor just as big is the upcoming class/race combination extensions due to take place. The list includes;

-Human Hunter
-Orc Mage
-Night Elf Mage
-Blood Elf Warrior
-Dwarf Shaman
-Dwarf Mage
-Undead Hunter
-Tauren Paladin
-Tauren Priest
-Gnome Priest
-Troll Druid

Pretty cool, and really interesting. I've highlighted two combinations in particular that I will come back to, but the matter at hand is how much I wouldn't want to play those other combinations. Not because there rubbish, or because I don't like them, but because I've never really thought about it-- until now.

Now that the opportunity is here, it makes me think more about rolling classes/races, and it also makes me wish I had more character slots, I think Blizzard should definitely consider implementing more, maybe "1 extra slot per expansion owned". Over at The Pink Pigtail Inn both Larisa and Elnia were discussing the recent grants of choice given to us via the race/faction/server change option- here. When Reading this I fully understand why those massive amounts of new combinations were added. I like a certain pair of combinations in that list to, so its highly likely somebody somewhere will want to make one of the others. Its personal preference, and even if we don't really want it, its nice to know the choice is there.

Here is why their highlighted:
For some reason, I really- REALLY want to make a Tauren Paladin. It just appeals to me. My Human Paladin is great, but- dust is beginning to settle on him- cobwebs on his spells- he is disused. Tauren Paladin, however. HOLY COW! (there I said it), what a cool idea! Running around casting judgement on none bovine-like foes just gives me the kinda melee fun I want in a game.

Cover your ears, gnomes- I can't help it, but I just do not like the idea of playing as a Gnome. It almost scares me. I have no Gnome characters at all- I don't know why, Its too strange playing a serious damage dealing class but being all cute and cuddly. Its the perfect dream for my perfect nightmare....

However. Gnome Priest you say? Well, I might just make one. Woah, woah- woah. Wait a minute, Kromus-- you were just saying? and you don't like? What?-

I really like the idea of a Gnome Priest, it seems to make more sense. Healing and helping people seems much more of a Gnome trait(although of course Shadow spec will allow for the melting of faces) but besides that I like the idea. I may, or may not make a Gnome Priest when the time arrives, and I get more character slots.

Hope you liked the Comic!

Happy Halloween!

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Velen is very scary as a pumpkin:
I know its not Halloween as such yet, but as it creeps ever closer and everywhere has either started or starting to launch Halloween events, I thought I'd wish you a very Happy Halloween- Although I don't think Velen is having the best of times....

One of my favorite seasonal events is Halloween. Even though I don't go around knocking on doors for candy(Candy!!!) I do love to make something out of a pumpkin and put a candle in it-- Usually something insignificant like a aberration or a snowman, Because that last one just makes sense, right?

For the WoW community I guess our celebrations will be limited to Killing the Headless Horsemen and a spot of trick or treating in Stormwind (or, If your really, REALLY brave, trick or treat in Exodar, the residents give out money instead but HEY you gotta' find them first!).

How do you feel about "off-topic Halloween".
Is dressing up as a school girl or as a ninja turtle really suitable-- England seems to think so.

I personally think its great- adds a funny element to it, and after all- you can only laugh or cry about things, and I'd rather laugh when I morally can!

Halloween stuff:
Here's a list of funky Halloween stuff you might wanna' read!

Origin of Halloween explained: Here

Pumpkin shaped as a Death Star(awesome!): Here

Blood Elf Pumpkin: Here


Hope this fills you full of delicious Halloween goodness! Don't eat too much candy, don't give away too much candy, and do not feed the Gnome. GNOME!