For those of you who asked to have all your WoW news from one source, you'll be happy to know that we now provide one RSS feed that combines both WoW Insider and all WoW-related Massively stories. You can find information on that feed in our special announcement post.
Also, a few of you have requested a different format for this weekly posting that is more than link and description. So we now present to you: image, link and description! Ta da! Who loves ya baby?
Now on to the good stuff: "Peace on earth goodwill to men" started with players this season Eric Vice wanders the MMO lands in search of the Yuletide spirit. From Santa's sudden appearance in Middle-earth to a voice behind the Ironforge Christmas tree promising a seasonal surprise, join Eric on his quest for the spirit of the holidays.
Did you grab your Clockwork Robot Bot from under the tree this Winter's Veil? I did, and I was thrilled to find that the little wind-up robot is more or less what we asked for a while back-- when two of these guys are summoned next to each other, they'll battle it out. Now, they only have a few HP, so really, just one hit from one usually takes the other out.
Unless you can buff them, that is. A few people found that you could cast Power Word: Shield and Power Word: Fortitude on the bots when they first came out, which meant that you could give them more health and make them invincible for a few seconds. Unfortunately, Max Bliss found out that's not the case any more-- Blizzard has performed a clockwork nerf, and the bots are now unbuffable. Lame.
Sure it may be imbalanced that some people can buff their bots and make them live longer, but this is hardly an instance of life or death. Let the bots be buffed, Blizzard!
Every Thursday, Well Fed Buff will be serving up the tastiest dishes to boost your HP and stats, just in time for your weekend gaming.
Winter Veil is over for the year, but it's still frosty outside – and everyone wants something to make 'em feel as warm and cozy as a bedbug in an Ironforge inn. Reader Lenny sent us his solution, in the form of a Warcraft-inspired drink he concocted on New Year's Eve.
Over half a glass of ice, add 3/4 shot of Hpnotiq® and 3/4 shot of vanilla vodka. Stir a bit, and pour in Sprite® to fill.
Lenny advises us that you can leave the Sideways Snowman relatively unstirred for a stronger effect as you drink it down, or mix it thoroughly for a more consistent flavor. Either way, we think this sounds worthy of a Winterspring frost!
Insider Trader is your weekly inside line on making, selling and using player-made items.
The experienced gatherers among us know something we don't know – they know where to find stuff. The real old hands know where the nodes are based on years (yeah, literally) of experience. They've collected so much for so long that they've developed time-tested, favorite routes for every zone. And then there are the tech-savvy gatherers who let technology map things out for them. We all know there are mods out there that show you where the nodes that you've gathered are, and most of us even know that you can download data packs that show where other players have found nodes.
There's yet another tool out there that puts all that information together. This mod maps out the easiest route from node to node, connecting the dots in a single, efficient path. All you do is follow the path! Find out how after the break, as well as how to nab a pattern for Green Winter Clothes or Red Winter Clothes if you didn't receive one in the mail at the start of the Winter's Veil season.
While we're waiting for Oxhorn to release a Christmas CD of WoW songs, the guys over at Dirt Dog Gaming made up some of their own! When a forum member created a thread with a silly carol, the rest of the guild joined in. Then two of the braver members, Barenger and Mirabell, sang them. You can find the lyrics in the thread.
Here is the song list:
Oh Karazhan, by Barenger
Silenced Mage, by Mirabell
Pew pew WIPE, by Barenger
Orcs infesting LBRS, by Brendan
Oh Holy Knight, by Jashoo
Winters Veil, by Mirabell
Halt, The Harried raid leader screams, by Datchery
This is a season of holidays for many people around the world, and indeed many of you may be faced with the peculiar situation of logging on to WoW only to discover that your entire guild is off with the family instead of playing online. So there you are, thinking of what to do, not entirely excited about joining a PuG with some random elf, and suddenly the idea comes to you: why not roleplay the holidays away? Even if your friends are online during their vacation time -- do you really want to just kill the same old monsters? Why not roleplay as a form of celebration?
In this edition of All the World's a Stage, we bring to you the Holiday Roleplay Top Ten. Some are serious and some are silly; some are great for spontaneous fun with random strangers, while others can be a bit more theatrical and planned out with trusted friends. Read and discuss them all, then add any of your own ideas in the comments!
Let the countdown begin:
10. Have a friendly snowball fight: Any snowy region in the game has these handy [Snowball]s just lying around for you to pick up and throw at each other. I myself have enjoyed running around trying to hit my friends with these things while at the same time dodging their tosses by hiding behind walls. You can count hits if you're feeling competitive, or else just toss recklessly and have a blast. Be sure to express your playful glee with /giggle and /rofl, and say things like "Ha ha! Gotcha!"
If you haven't visited the forums or the official site in a while, you'll probably not have noticed that the ice we'd seen before on the logo has now overtaken it. Not too surprising-- the background on the forums and the homepage has changed as well, and considering that Winter's Veil is here, odds are that Blizzard is just getting a little seasonal with their graphics.
Or are they? The original ice showed up more than a month ago-- way back, according to our readers, when Wrath of the Lich King was announced in August. And so, despite the candy canes, it's hard not to wonder if this signals a turning point in the WoW universe. We've still got the Sunwell coming before the expansion, but is there a chance that this icy winter could be here to stay? Northrend ahoy?
Every Thursday, Well Fed Buff will be serving up the tastiest dishes to boost your HP and stats, just in time for your weekend gaming.
To kick off the first edition of Well Fed Buff, and because we're launching right before Winter's Veil 2007, what better way to fill up than on holiday goodies?
Winter's Veil bark is a decadent, mint-chocolate treat that is both decorative and extremely easy to make. This no-bake dessert snack also has quite a few ways that it can be customized, few ingredients, and is inexpensive. Perhaps the best part of this recipe is that it is extremely kid-friendly, so if you have kids or younger siblings, earn some brownie points and include them! Just follow me through the jump to get the details on how to whip up a plate! If you're still weary, note that you can do it all using your microwave.
Brad spoke with us about how he got started in the card game, the best and worst cards to use during play, and how Upper Deck's TCG has changed over the last year or so since it began. He gave us interesting insight on how sets like Fires of Outland and the holiday Winter's Veil set have affected tournament play, and we even asked him about what average TCG players think of the loot cards that online gamers seem to go crazy over.
Our interview with Brad Watson starts right after the jump. Stay tuned later this week for more news from Upper Deck's World Championships in San Diego.
Reader MindTwiser sends in this festive, pre-holiday shot taken in Blade's Edge Mountains. Apparently while waiiting for some friends to help on a quest, MindTwister saw this firey circle --- which, obviously, stood out as the best place for a lovely holiday shot.
Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth or Outland that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing a copy to aroundazeroth@wowinsider.com, with as much or as little detail as you'd like to share with the world!
We didn't have anyone on hand to head out to the WoW TCG Darkmoon Faire in Philly this past weekend (although I was able to make the Chicago stop earlier this year), but worry not if you didn't make it, because the web guys over at Upper Deck's official site did a bang up job of covering all the activities over the weekend. From player tournaments to all the different decks that were played with, they've got the whole thing online, top to bottom. This was apparently the first event where the Fires of Outland set was playable, so they have a good piece up about that. And they even showed off some new cards, including a Dreamstate card from the March of the Legion set due in November.
Upper Deck has also posted a preview of the cards coming in the special Feast of Winter's Veil giftset, and it is kind of funny to see that the (once-)dreaded AV snowball has received a card of its own. And Mistletoe is in the game as well, taking two player heroes out of their turns for a little "let it snow" action (while giving them both a new card to play with). Fun stuff from the TCG, whether you're a diehard collector or not.
Eric Vice wanders the MMO lands in search of the Yuletide spirit. From Santa's sudden appearance in Middle-earth to a voice behind the Ironforge Christmas tree promising a seasonal surprise, join Eric on his quest for the spirit of the holidays.
Michael Zenke compiles a list of sites, forums, blogs and guides that are essential reading for anyone playing a Priest. Highlights include Elitist Jerks' Holy Raiding Compendium, Ten Ton Hammer's forum guide to What The MT Expects From The MH and a few of his favorite Priest blogs. He didn't mention our new Raid Healing column, Raid Rx, so I'll have to spam his e-mail box with articles until he adds to the list.
As we mentioned the other day, 
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