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.

What can be done about this?

15 Minutes of Fame is our look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes – from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about at 15minutesoffame (at) wowinsider (dot) com.

For all the WoW players who sink into Azeroth to escape the travails of the world outside are others who seem set ablaze by the ideas, energy and connections sparked during their gaming. Among the inspired: Aislinana of Cenarion Circle, whose casual interest in assembling a sweet character portrait of a guildmate has morphed into a growing passion, with a growing fan base clamoring for their own portraits.

15 Minutes of Fame: Tell us how you got started doing character portraits – because you're not actually a professional artist or long-time hobbyist, are you?
Aislinana: Well, we were hanging around in Black Temple after a raid finished up, so I snapped a screen cap of my friend's priest, Kallindril, and said I'd spruce it up in Photoshop. Little did I know that it was going to turn into an obsession for me. I mean, I've always loved taking screenshots. I take them all the time to capture something awesome looking, much like I do with my own digital camera. So I've had an eye for this stuff. I just started to retouch/edit and then eventually started painting in effects in Photoshop.

There's no easier way to introduce the subject of this week's 15 Minutes of Fame than this: If you enjoyed the movie Kill Bill, you'll love Gank Frank: A Raging Rumble of Retribution. Fenrix of Bloodhoof has crafted a quirky graphic novel that somehow blends Gnomes, Kill Bill, World of Warcraft and even a sprinkling of The Simpsons. Like most creative types, Fenrix has a lot to say. Here at WoW Insider, he lets fly on art, gaming and the World of Warcraft.

15 Minutes of Fame: What inspired you to create Gank Frank?
Fenrix: My inspirations come from a lot of different sources: movies, novels, comic books, other video games, internet fads, etc. This all forms into a huge, hodgepodge clusterfuck of material swirling around in my brain. I love telling and reading stories, especially those dealing with revenge. There's plenty of classic literature out there dealing with the subject of revenge, something that has always fascinated me, so it kind of felt natural to me when I decided to tell a story based around that idea. Revenge is one of the most primal forms of justice; it's something that we're all familiar with.

I can't believe it hasn't been done before (and I'm not sure how old the pic is), but there you go-- Cordell Walker as a WoW character.. My favorite: The chief export of Chuck Norris is Pain. More here, or just visit a local Barrens chat near you.

Chuck Norris is no stranger to gaming, but my hunch is that as funny as this is, it's actually photoshopped. In all my Azerothian travels, I've never seen a sleeveless, unbuttoned denim shirt. But you never know-- if Col. James Braddock called up Blizzard and told them he was going to be in the game, they'd have no choice but to comply.

[ via Digg ]

We were duly impressed by your l33t Photoshop wizardry, and would like to thank all who entered the day 3 Photoshop contest (peep the original photo here). It was a very close call, but we've chosen the winner, who will receive all three books of the original Warcraft trilogy: grats to Wraith Martinek, whose entry appears above (click the image for a full-size version). The very close runner-up is Roy Unij, whose entry is shown below. Great job, everyone -- for a look at the honorable mentions just join us after the break.

As ever, don't forget to get your entries in for the three grand prize contests, and join us later today for another episode of the Countdown to Burning Crusade.



Join us after the jump for the honorable mentions.

Welcome to day 3 of our Countdown to Burning Crusade! You have a precious short few minutes to enter the day 2 caption contest, so head over there for a chance to win a 60-day game card. For today's contest, we're going to stretch you even further -- it's going to require some Photoshop-fu (or The Gimp, or whatever you use to do that thing you do) to take home today's prize, which is the complete original Warcraft book trilogy: Day of the Dragon, Lord of the Clans and The Last Guardian.

In the venerable tradition of Fark, you'll need to apply your creativity and your Photoshop skills to the above image (just right-click to download a copy). You can do whatever you like -- add caption bubbles, drop in a new background, graft on real human heads, whatever you want -- the only rule is your result cannot be NSFW. To submit your entry, send a JPG version of your image to us at countdowntobc AT wowinsider.com, and make sure to include "Countdown day 3" in the subject. Your file size must be under 5MB and it must be received by us no later than 3:30pm EST tomorrow, Thursday January 4. We'll choose one lucky winner to receive the original Warcraft Universe trilogy and publish the best of the bunch tomorrow. Good luck!

[Image courtesy of Games Suche]