Dell announces machinima contest to win a XPS M1730 WoW Edition laptop

Posted Aug 28th 2008 6:40PM by Moo Money
Filed under: Machinima, Contests

Earlier today, I posted a huge roundup of links to get you started on your first machinima, or just polish your current work. The reason behind that post was to announce the incredible contest that Dell is having! They're offering up not one, but two systems as prizes, but I'm getting ahead of myself. WoW Insider is lucky enough to have two of their staffers, Dan O'Halloran and myself, as judges for this event.

How to enter:

• Download the Dell XPS asset package from their site.
  
• Create a World of Warcraft machinima under 3 minutes long that features their system.
• Upload the video to YouTube and put it in this post on their forum.
• The submission deadline is September 23rd, 2008 by 11:59pm EST.

The prizes:

• Grand Prize: Dell XPS M1730 World of Warcraft Edition laptop
• Second Prize: Alienware desktop, Dell monitor, and Logitech gaming mouse, keyboard, and surround sound system
• Third Prize: Complete first series of World of Warcraft action figures, plus a Logitech gaming mouse and keyboard

Read on for the fine print and some things you should know before entering ...

Continue reading Dell announces machinima contest to win a XPS M1730 WoW Edition laptop

WoW Insider is at E3 this week

Posted Jul 14th 2008 9:30AM by Mike Schramm
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Events, Blizzard

We're not expecting very much WoW news out of E3 this week (especially since Blizzard has taken a pass on the event), but nevertheless, my co-lead Dan O'Halloran and I are here in Los Angeles for the week (and we brought all of our coolest stuff), to see what we can see. And of course if we see anything related to Azeroth at all, you'll see it, too.

Activision Blizzard is planning a press conference on Tuesday evening, and we'll be there for sure, so keep an eye out for that. And we'll be paying attention to WoW competitors as well (Warhammer Online is set to make a big splash at E3, though the recent news that Mythic is cutting the game back a bit may overshadow any other announcements) -- our sister site Massively will have coverage of any and all MMOs at the show this year. And on Thursday, I'm getting a hands-on demo with the Novint Falcon, so we'll see if it controls WoW as well as they say it does. And if you're one of those who wants to see the big picture, Joystiq's E3 page has all the E3 news you need and then some.

It won't be all work there -- we'll also be at the big Joystiq meetup on Thursday, so if you're in LA and want to come by and say hi, please do (I'll try to wear my BlizzCon t-shirt so you can find me). For us WoW fans, the big events of the year are the Worldwide Invitational and BlizzCon, of course, but WoW Insider's got you covered at E3, too.

WoW Insider Show Episode 28: Lifetap, Lifebloom and online antics

Posted Mar 11th 2008 9:20AM by Dan O'Halloran
Filed under: Druid, Shaman, Warlock, Patches, Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, WoW Insider Show

The 28th episode of the WoW Insider Show included myself, blogger Amanda Dean, Druid columnist John Patricelli and Turpster in an hour of lively discussion on this week's hot topics. Stories covered included:

• The debate raged on over when, or even if, is it acceptable to go afk without notice?
  
• The latest rollbacks on the PTR for Warlocks and Shaman and why players shouldn't be ready to quit over temporary tests on that server Blizzard so cleverly dubbed the Test server.
• The effects of the Lifebloom nerf and how Blizzard may have not seen the results they were looking for.
• Amanda Dean talks about introducing her Mom (hi Amanda's Mom!) to WoW and how she is handling her first few levels in Azeroth
• Each participant on the show gave their personal opinion on what playable race they would choose if a new one were introduced to the game.

If you missed the show, there are plenty of ways for you to listen today including the Flash player on the WoW Radio site, free iTunes download or mp3 file. And you can listen in live every Saturday at 3:30p ET on WoW Radio.

[Listen] to this week's show.
[iTunes] Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.
[RSS] Get your favorite reader in on the fun.

WoW Insider Show live this afternoon

Posted Mar 8th 2008 7:30AM by Dan O'Halloran
Filed under: Druid, Warlock, WoW Insider Show

The WoW Insider Show is live this afternoon at 3:30pm ET on WC Radio. I'll be leading the hour along with Druid columnist John Patricelli (aka Big Bear Butt Blogger), Amanda Dean and the always-inappropriate Turpster. We'll be talking about the hot issues surrounding WoW this week including the recent rollbacks of the Warlock Lifetap nerf on the PTR, the back and forth on Druid Lifebloom and more.

Join us live for all that plus reader mail (you can send it in right now at theshow@wowinsider.com). You can also participate through the IRC channel #wowradio on irc.mmoirc.com. It all starts at 3:30pm ET and doesn't end until we've alienated half the listeners!

About the Bloggers: Dan O'Halloran

Posted Jan 17th 2008 3:00PM by Dan O'Halloran
Filed under: Druid, WoW Insider Business, Virtual selves, Interviews, About the Bloggers

What do you do for WoW Insider?

I'm one of the Lead Writers of the site. Which is fancy talk for a lot of behind the scenes administrative work. But the fun part is I get to hire writers as well as oversee a staff of exceptionally talented people who not only are passionate about the game, but who also know how to put words together in a coherent and entertaining fashion. And occasionally I get to test drive $5k laptops for a few brief, but glorious weeks. Not a bad gig if you can swing it.

What's your main right now?

My main is my very first character in the game, a Druid. I was Resto for the first 60 levels. Hey, don't knock it, Feral wasn't really an option pre-BC. But with the arrival of Burning Crusade (which, yes, I stood in line at midnight for) I went Feral and never looked back except for a brief flirtation with Moonkin spec in my mid-60s. I can currently be found switching specs between Feral and Resto as needed by my group, but I mainly like to be in cat form.

For the Horde or Glory to the Alliance?

Alliance, thanks.

Favorite thing to do in Azeroth?

Run a 5-man with my friends. I've been playing MMOs with this group on a regular basis after we met in EverQuest 8 years ago (taking out the trash in Unrest!). They are a joy to work with. Not because they are particularly talented players, but because they don't care if we wipe, accidentally pull the whole room or forget to bring a much needed reagent. We take gaming for what it is: fun. But, boy, they're hell on my repair bill.

Continue reading About the Bloggers: Dan O'Halloran

WoW Insider Show Episode 18: New Year's resolutions

Posted Dec 31st 2007 6:00PM by Mike Schramm
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Podcasts, Podcasting, Fan stuff, WoW Insider Business, Humor, WoW Insider Show

Dan O'Halloran, Turpster, and I all sat down for the 18th episode of the WoW Insider Show (and we got circular for the end of the year, since we had the same cast on the very first show), and it is now available for listening over on WoW Radio's website. We chatted about:

• Marcie's new raid healing column, and our new hardcore raiding content
• The big Ron Paul rally scheduled for tomorrow afternoon
  
• If summoning stones need neutral guards (they do not) and how mining will get easier

We also talked about our suggested battle cries for the Alliance (my favorite is still "Grab Your Sword and Fight the Horde," and finally someone made a Tshirt for me-- thanks, Arek!-- but we found a lot of support for "You No Take Candle!" so I guess it's up to the Alliance what they like best). And we shared our New Year's resolutions for 2008-- Turpster's resolution is 1680x1050 (funny guy), Dan resolved to try some PvP, I resolved to play my good old Night Elf Hunter more, and see if I can't have a look at some high level content from the Alliance side.

Definitely check out the show if you're bored while off work tomorrow, and don't forget-- we do this show live on WoW Radio every Saturday afternoon, so be sure to listen in again this coming Saturday at 3:30pm EST.

WoW Insider Show goes live this afternoon

Posted Dec 29th 2007 8:30AM by Mike Schramm
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Podcasting, WoW Insider Business, Features

Yes, it seems like the week flew by, but it's that time again-- the WoW Insider Show is going live on WoW Radio this afternoon at 3:30pm EST. This week, myself and Dan O'Halloran from WoW Insider are at the helm from our side, and from WoW Radio... well, we're not sure if Turpster's going to be on or not. No matter who shows up, it's sure to be a good time-- we'll be chatting about political figures making appearances in Azeroth, how to make mining and other gathering easier, and what's going on during the New Year's holiday next week (not to mention our own personal New Year's resolutions).

So join us this afternoon, won't you? You can listen live at 3:30pm EST on WoW Radio, and be sure to fire up your IRC client as well to join us in #wowradio at irc.mmoirc.org. See you there.

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