This installment of All the World's a Stage is the third in a series of roleplaying guides in which we find out all the background information you need to roleplay a particular race or class well, without embarrassing yourself.
Trolls are based on the "wild savages" you've seen in the movies or on TV, from King Kong to Discovery channel. If you've seen people hunting with spears, walking around in the forest without many clothes on, or dancing around in costumes and face paint in some kind of ritual you've never heard of, you've seen the apparent inspiration for trolls in World of Warcraft. The culture of Warcraft trolls are a mishmash of all the different myths and rumors that have grown up about some of the earth's indigenous peoples that live outside modern society: Strange voodoo beliefs and rituals? Check. Bloodthirsty headhunters with a taste for cannibalism? Check. Witch doctors, shrunken heads, human sacrifice, and rampant superstition? Check on all counts.
It's important to note here that troll culture is based on the myths about some indigenous people, not on their reality. Cannibalism, for instance, has been rare among human societies, nearly always viewed as anathema, but among the trolls of Azeroth, it appears to be the rule rather than the exception. Unbiased study of the world's primal religions has shown them to be far more sophisticated than early (and prejudiced) Western explorers ever imagined. Don't listen to the Jamaican accent trolls have in the game and assume that trolls are based on real life Jamaicans. There is nowhere near the correlation here that we might find with the dwarves and the Scots, or even the draenei and the eastern Europeans that they sound like. Indeed, one could argue that the choice of a Jamaican accent to represent the trolls and their culture reveals a great deal of ignorance we Americans have regarding Caribbean islanders -- but that's a discussion I'll not go into today.
Suffice it to say that as a member of the Darkspear tribe, the only tribe of trolls to join the Horde, your character living in a time of great change for your people. Your tribe is the first to embrace the more modern values promoted by Thrall, to take up the spiritual practices of shamanism, and to integrate itself with other races. Although the Darkspears have officially given up human sacrifice, cannibalism, and now tell you to "stay away from the voodoo," these practices are all elements of religion and superstition that your character would have grown up with, and may find it hard to let go of completely.
At one point in time or another, most guilds face at least a little bit of drama, from loot distribution, to relationships, to guild bank robbery.Zeida of Tichondrius has created an list of guild member archetypes for folks she does not want in her guild.The list of stereotypes covers the first four posts in the thread so there is a considerable amount of reading.The list includes newbs, n00bs, trolls, elitists, and many more.
The original poster went into detail on each of these archetypes.Here's the short version:
Check this out human! Griftah be takin' over dis post today.
Ya know what ya be needin'? One of these necklaces right outta the ruins of Zul'Aman. But ya don't want to be riskin' yerself in a dungeon, do ya? Nah, I show ya how to make one of the most marvelous amulets right here! Here is what you will need:
I don't get to play World of Warcraft very often anymore. Real life comes up and gets in the way all the time, and then you have to sit back and listen to your friends talk about how much fun they've had in the past few weeks you've been away. So you sit, and you wait, and eventually you get time to log on again, run around, and have a jolly old time. Especially when you get to hang out with good people.
I've never had Ventrilo or any other sort of microphone attachment that would broadcast my voice across the Internet. For one point, I'd have to break down and buy a headset of some sort. Knowing me I'd likely break it within a week, so I'd actually need to buy two, but that's alright. The other reason is, I'm not entirely sure I want the ability to hear other absent minded people like me babbling to themselves, forgetting the rest of the world can hear them.
First of all, a huge thank you to Mike Schramm last week for covering my rear with his hunter comic. And it wasn't so much "kindly accepted" as it was "oh thank goodness, I'm saved" for the record, Mike. Thank you Turpster, also!
Now, back to business (or tomfoolery, I haven't decided which it actually is yet). This week brings us a comic that actually took place in the Barrens. Crossroads to be specific. So once again for those of you who complained commented that the comics should take place in the barrens, your wish has been granted.
I don't like to call attention to trolls on the internet; I think they're vile little beasts who need to be put out old-school DnD style with a roll of a six sided die and a cast of a flaming arrow. But one thing in particular some trolls are doing has caught my attention: a fake WoW guild being as annoying as possible on the forums.
I won't name this guild's name, or tell you where they're from, since I don't need them tracking me down in game or getting a bigger head. What they do to annoy the frack out of everyone (and that was my obligatory Battlestar Galactica reference for the week) is pretty lame - they post updates to bosses they haven't killed. For instance, right now they're claiming they've downed Brutallus. They even have a clearly photoshopd kill picture to prove it. However they haven't, and if you look at their armory profiles no one in the guild is above Kara level gear.
This guild will go and post in progression threads, taking up page after page of space. Eventually these threads have to be closed since they become full, and new ones started. However the trolls are right there to start everything again. 99% of the people on the realm ignore them, however there is always the 1% that gives them the attention they desire.
More politicians are coming out of the WoW closet. Jeanne Stevens is a WoW player -- with a 70 Orc Hunter, a 58 Troll Shaman, and a 53 Blood Elf Rogue -- and a Republican running for the Connecticut state legislature. And she freely admits it in a new interview with Wandering Goblin, as covered by our sister site, Massively. Her hunter is balanced between marksman and survival, her shaman specs elemental (close to my heart!), and her rogue climbs the assassination talent tree. Will she be able to master the beasts in her political race? (Okay, you go ahead and insert your own shaman or rogue wordplay here.) Maybe she'll hold some in-game speeches or rallies. She could hold forth on top of Orgrimmar's bank, or maybe lead a raid to Stormwind as a metaphor.
Is it surprising that a Republican chooses Horde? I think you could make a case for either faction going with either political party. Personally, I love to see that she's middle-aged and a woman, which defies Blizzard's assumptions about the majority of WoW gamers. She also chooses pirates over ninjas. I'm not sure there's a political comment there, but I'm sure someone will show me the light.
Well Fed Buff serves up tasty dishes to boost your HP, stats and appetite – with that special WoW twist, of course.
Those Trolls from Yojamba Isle were on to something. Before The Burning crusade, one of the cool foods that players could get were Essence Mangoes, a quest reward that could be obtained by handing in a Zandalar Honor Token. These weren't actually any better than Alterac Manna Biscuits, and back when Zul'gurub was still in vogue, the tokens weren't quite worth turning in for an average food that didn't give any buffs. But the quest describes mangoes as luscious fruits from the South Seas, and it couldn't be more true.
Mangoes are significant fruits in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and the Philippines. In the Philippines, where I live, mangoes are an everyday treat and I think we have the best mangoes in the world. Today on Well Fed Buff, we'll put a new spin on the Essence Mango (which is essentially just a fruit) by making a simple, healthy drink that is sure to restore your health and mana as well as tickle your taste buds.
Ubarjabula, a Troll Shadow Priest on the Uther server took advantage of his Merciless Gladiator's Satin Hood, Shadowform's effects on a mount and the shaft of light courtesy of Shattrath's Naru. Together they make for quite a chilling effect. Death from above never looked so imminent.
Do you have any unusual World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? Because we'd love to see it on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wowinsider.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next!
Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. We prefer full screen shots without the UI showing. And please, no more sunsets. No, really. Ok, only if it's a sunrise in new Patch 2.4 lands. We'll take those anytime. Oh, and no more shots of Omen killed in Ogrimmar. It's cool, we get it. A lot of it.
Apparently this has been wandering around the forums for a while, but I haven't seen it before-- Zami the forum troll (and we mean that in a good way) has put together a dictionary of sorts for those browsing the forums. Not quite sure what people mean by QQ or "weaksauce"? Zami's got you covered. Well, he doesn't so much have you covered (we actually have a post for that), but at least he's entertaining.
"Watch out, the Lion King" was probably my favorite, but Taz'dingo was pretty informative too-- I never knew exactly what that meant. Zami's guide is definitely good for a laugh.
This guy is either a clueless newb or an obvious troll (I lean towards a bit of trolling-- it's too perfectly designed to provoke a response), but either way, he claims that he didn't just forget to use his talents, he actively chose not to. That's right-- he claims he can go all the way to 70 without using talents at all.
Even if he is kidding (and he must be, right? the talents you choose are based on your own "skill and merits"), what would that be like? Could you imagine going to 70 without Nature's Swiftness or Vampiric Embrace or Tactical Mastery? I guess it's possible, but unless you just wanted to prove you could do it (hey, people have done crazier things), how hard would the game really be without talents? By definition, no talent is necessary for the core gameplay-- the whole point of having three trees is that you can go without the other two you don't choose. But is it possible to build a viable character using no talents at all?
Troll away, talentless player. But thanks for making me consider something I'd never thought of before: just how much do the talents you choose govern your gameplay? And if you didn't have any of the talents that you have, how much would your game player differ, or suffer?
I don't know why this is so fascinating, but it really is. Tulvar posted this on the forums-- it's him using the Rocket Boots Xtreme (and the Filled Festive Mug from New Year's Eve, which grants multi-use slowfall) to fly from the top of Netherstorm all the way across the abyss to the tip of Hellfire Peninsula. And he survives, which is what surprised me most of all-- I would have thought that a fall like that would kill a man (err, a troll), but I guess he nabbed a Mug just in time.
Xtreme sports, Outland style. Which makes me wonder: what's the highest point in Azeroth and Outland? Surely it's Blackrock Mountain, right? The top of Ironforge Mountain? Or Mount Hyjal? If it didn't exist officially only the Caverns of Time at this point, that is. And surely Molten Core is the lowest point in the land, but what's the lowest non-instanced point? Un'goro?
They say fishing is a relaxing pastime (I'd say sleep-inducing pastime, but that could just be me) -- so where better to enjoy it than the peaceful shores of Darnassus? Jorrak of Nordrassil (EU) tells us, "the relaxing melody of Darnassus is great to unwind and fish to." However, for some reason the Darnassians seem biased against naked Troll fishermen. So if you want to join Jorrak, be prepared for trouble.
Do you have any unusual World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? Because we'd love to see your idea of the best looking instance on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wowinsider.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next!
"Ghost wolf" is usually a term you associate with shamans, but now it might just become the keyword for the newest, rarest, most difficult to tame, and most visually unique hunter pet in the game. As the Mistress of Pets Mania's Arcania reports, some of the new Dustwallow Marsh content in Patch 2.3 involves some Grimtotem shamans who summon tamable ghost wolves. For most hunters, however, these ghost wolves will be impossible to tame, because a few seconds after they appear, they just die, regardless of how much damage they take. The only way to tame them involves using various items or abilities which can shorten the casting time of your "Tame Beast" spell down to a fraction of its original 20 seconds. Here's a list of what you might find useful, listed in approximate order of how important they are to your success:
[Mystical Skyfire Diamond] -- This metagem can cut the time it takes to cast Tame Beast in half, and you can't tame this beast without it. You have to repeatedly cast various aspects until its special proc goes off.
Heroism or Bloodlust -- The same ability with different names for Alliance and Horde shamans; having a friend in your party use this will further reduce your taming time by 30%. If your latency is good, this should make your taming just barely fast enough to succeed.
Mind Control -- Bring a priest friend along too, and he or she willl be able to take control of one of the Grimtotem NPCs to summon the ghost wolf whenever you're ready.
A handy macro -- To save time in getting your casting going, just type "/target grimtotem spirit guide;" on the first line of a macro, and "/cast tame beast" on the second. Then drag it to your action bar so you can hit it repeatedly just as you ask your priest friend to summon the wolf. [Thanks Grunde!]
[Drums of Battle] -- It's also very helpful to either be a Leatherworker, or have one in your party who will use this for you just before you start your taming, in order to shave a few more moments off your taming time.
Be a troll -- Trolls get a Berserking ability, which might just be the final little bit you need in order to cut down the taming time enough to snatch this ghostly wolf pet. A lot of non-trolls have succeeded in taming this pet, too, of course; but if you happen to be a troll, feel free to use this ability to make it a bit easier.
After all that, you need a macro or something to immediately target the wolf and start taming the very moment it appears. Then, you can pray for a few seconds and hope everything works. It may be very hard, but it has been done before -- though one person on Mania's site said that her new ghost pet died a second after she tamed it, possibly as a residual effect of its otherwise very limited lifespan. So if you want to try it, be patient, and don't get your hopes too high don't worry -- even if your pet dies, once it's tamed, it's yours. Just revive pet, and proceed. Oh, and get ready for an extremely long leveling grind to get it up from 30 to 70 (though it's soon to get a bit faster). Hunter alts passing through Dustwallow as you level up: Don't even dream about it.
[Update]: I've edited this post to include some of the other helpful information from commenters and other sources that came out after we originally published it. Be sure to check out our other resources on the Ghost Wolf pet, including a video showing the taming in action, a story about how Matthew Rossi helped his wife get one, and proof that the Grimtotem Sririt Guide will remain tamable in the future.
The arrival of a new patch used to be noted with a simple entry on the update page of the WoW's site. Now, it's heralded with its own movie trailer. Blizzard has released a short trailer exploring the story behind Patch 2.3's Zul'Aman and challenging the players with: "This is our land. You wanna stay? You stay here forever. We gonna bury you here."
It's a well done trailer, especially the camera moves, sound design and music composition. But am I the only one who thought the montage of the Zul'Aman gods at the end was a little...Power Rangerseque?
EDIT: Oops, this was already featured yesterday on our site. Ah well, for those of you who missed it, here it is. For those of you who saw it yesterday, see it again for the first time. And I still stand by my Power Rangers comment.
This installment of All the World's a Stage is the third in a series of roleplaying guides in which we find out all the background information you need to roleplay a particular race or class well, without embarrassing yourself.
At one point in time or another, most guilds face at least 
I don't like to call attention to trolls on the internet; I think they're vile little beasts who need to be put out old-school DnD style with a roll of a six sided die and a cast of a flaming arrow. But one thing in particular some trolls are doing has caught my attention: a fake WoW 
Apparently this has been wandering around the forums for a while, but I haven't seen it before-- Zami the forum troll (and we mean that in a good way) has 
This guy is either
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