Each week, Robin Torres writes WoW, Casually for the player who has 2 hours or less to play at a time.
I hope everyone's holidays have been relatively drama-free and that you are enjoying some downtime before the new year.
Speaking of New Year's, along with the continuation of the Feast of Winter Veil, Blizzard is hosting New Year's festivities on December 31st and January 1st. There will be fireworks, booze and revelers to blow kisses at right along side the remains of the Winter Veil activities.
Have you picked up your presents yet? The trees in Ironforge and Orgrimmar have gifts with exclamation points over them for you to take and open. They range from meh to awesome and some are even BOU for your reselling profits if you aren't into keeping the fun stuff. I was hoping to find a Dragon Kite, but that was before I discovered that it is from the TCG and not something from Greatfather Winter. Dragons are cool.
Blizzard has been updating the artwork on the official website again, and that means new wallpapers and shiny new fan art!
The wallpaper features artwork from the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game, so if you play, or are simply a fan of WoW-themed depictions, it might be time to update your desktop background.
They would like to see depictions of the architecture and the scenery, in addition to combat. If your screenshots are selected, as always, they will appear in the World of Warcraft Guide, along with your character's name. For a list of banned subject matter, screenshot-taking tips, and a drop-down menu featuring every area of which Blizz is needing screenshots, visit the Screenshot Submission Form.
While you're in the mood to snap some great shots, don't forget to take some holiday-themed ones, and enter Blizzard's latest holiday contest, to win some decent prizes!
It's the time of year for goodies and cheer, and all of Azeroth is celebrating Winter's Veil. The good folks at Blizzard have kicked off two contests that will let you tap into your creative and festive self, as well as giving you a chance at some nifty prizes.
The Royal Photographic Society of Azeroth has hereby declared that they are in need of top notch screenshots featuring your WoW holiday celebrations. If you would like to brush up on the fundamentals and technicalities of in-game photography, check out our tips for taking screenshots, or read through Blizzard's guidelines.
If cooking and baking are more your style, then whip up a batch of something delicious and festive, take a photograph (or have a friend do it for you) and submit it.
As I will be preparing holiday goodies this year, I would send in my own photographs, except that the contest is only open to (most of) the United States. I will have to settle for merely munching on them, and perhaps posting one or two Well Fed Buffs, instead. Make the jump to learn about the prizes you could win, and what sorts of entries are likely to be picked.
Check your in-game mailboxes today. Greatfather Winter may have sent you a recipe. Deacon sent us a tip this morning saying that he got a Tailoring recipe for "some fine green winter clothes", so I ran and checked Freja's mailbox to find that she had received a recipe for Hot Apple Cider.
It looks like if you have previously completed Greatfather Winter's quest, he may have sent you a recipe that was added in Patch 2.3, just for the Feast of Winter Veil. You do not need the required skill or level to receive the recipe. Here are the possible goodies you could have waiting for you in your mailbox:
Late tonight (or early tomorrow morning, depending how you look at it) the decorations on your server should roll out and the Feast of Winter Veil will begin in Azeroth once again. We've already seen previews of some of the new toys we'll be getting this year. We've also pondered what other changes may be unannounced this year, and we'll be able to experience everything first-hand soon.
Just as a reminder, there is one item in particular that always sells well the first few days of the holiday: Small Eggs. Today's your last chance to head out to one of the lower level zones and kill a few thousand birds (or bird-like oviparous creatures) in order to make your fortune. Remember that you'll need at least five eggs yourself in order to complete the quest that creates the clamor for these items in the first place, so even if you don't wish to make a killing on the auction house, it would probably be wise to grab some eggs before the farming gets out of control. Check out Robin's earlier article for a good tip on a farming spot as well.
Each week, Robin Torres writes WoW, Casually for the player who has 2 hours or less to play at a time.
The weather outside may be frightful, but the Feast of Winter Veil begins Saturday which is always delightful. Well, the weather isn't frightful where I live, but I used to live where there are those season-things, so I feel for you in my high 60s and sunny. Really, I do.
Of course, the seasons don't change in Azeroth either, but the weekly Call to Arms bonus weekends do. This week it's Eye of the Storm. My EotS tip for this week is: let the Wookiee win. Er, let the Droods run with the flag. Otherwise, they're going to spend all their time whining in BG chat about how slow Ghostwolf form is, etc. Seriously, life's too short to listen to all that bellyaching -- though I suppose there's not much else to whine about in EotS. I mean, this is a Battleground where standing around doing nothing (as long as you're at a tower) watching everyone else fight in the middle is actually a good thing. So take advantage of extra honor and shorter queues while getting your marks this weekend.
The Feast of Winter Veil will be upon us in less than a week and we already know that there will be new elements added to WoW's biggest holiday. Item database and news sites have been publishing information about this year's festivities for quite awhile now, but nonetheless there are still two mysteries that are pestering me.
First of all, as you are probably aware, there is a Winter Veil quest to kill the Abominable Greench and retrieve the stolen Smokywood Pastures' treats in the Alterac Mountains. Upon completion of the quest, you're rewarded with a box that can contain a special profession recipe. Alchemy, Engineering, Enchanting, Leatherworking, Blacksmithing and Tailoring have all been represented in the possible rewards. This brings us down to my burning question: Will jewelcrafters have a new design added to the gift box this year? If so, what could it possibly be?
The holiday-themed collector's edition TCG set that we've been anticipating since our August meeting with some folks from Upper Deck is now available for purchase, and will be shipped as early as November 14th.
Modeled after the in-game holiday of Winter's Veil, each set will include the following exclusive content:
Ten cards, usable in any deck, all featuring new content.
Three booster packs! One Heroes of Azeroth, one Dark Portal, and one Fires of Outland pack.
Although there are no online loot cards to be had, this collector's set will still make an excellent Christmas gift, even if you're buying it for yourself! If you're still not convinced, head on over and check out a preview of some of the cards, as well as the original artwork.
The holiday-themed collector's edition TCG set that we've been anticipating since our August 
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