The prince formerly known as Arthas obviously has issues. Even as the Big Bad Lich King, he’s playing second fiddle to Deathwing in the recent WoW buzz about Cataclysm. (I mean, really, which is cooler, a dragon the size of a skyscraper who can crack the earth itself, or a fallen undeadish prince with identity issues and virtual feuds with Ozzy Osbourne?) Is it any wonder why he might be feeling a little lonely and ignored?
Arthas needs some TLC.
As you might remember, I got my grubby little hands on a copy of his biography, Arthas, Rise of the Lich King, which wound up bring a pretty good read, even though the titular character isn’t my cup of tea. So, it’s far past time I pass it along to someone else who might want to give it a whirl. I’m sure the prince himself would approve of spreading his message of death, doom and destruction, at any rate.
So, in the fine tradition of bloggish contests established by none other than the one and only Big Bear, I’m going to try a little something other than drawing a name out of a hat to find a new home for this lovely, er, brooding hardbound novel.
If you’re interested in getting your hands on this very lightly used book (I read it once and have taken very good care of it), all you have to do is engage in a little exercise and cross your fingers.
I want you to convert me.
Show me what class and race I should play World of Warcraft with.
With a hundred words or less and at least one screenshot (and up to three), or concept art, as the case may be, make your case about what I should be playing when Cataclysm comes knocking. Whether it’s a Worgen Druid, a Blood Elf Warrior or plain old Gnome Warlock, anything goes. What do you think I should play as? (Assume I’d be starting it from scratch, with no fairy godmother twinking me.)
Pretty much anything goes, from snarky “you should be a Human Mage because you’re a bloviating windbag” to thoughtful “you like X so you should play as Y”. A caveat, though: sex doesn’t sell around here, and neither does profanity.
Please send your text and graphics to my bloggish email, silverwings.art at gmail. I’ll take entries for the next, oh… two weeks or so, so if you get your entries in before 11:59 PM (Blizzard standard time) on September 8th, you’re set. I’ll run things through my Judging Grinder of Doom and post a winner hopefully by the end of that week. (I’ll contact the lucky one for mailing information at that time, so don’t sweat sending any of that sort of thing with your entry.)
I reserve the right to do something nice for any entry that I find particularly notable. (Which usually means doing some sort of art, as might be noted in my Mini Portfolio.) It’s not guaranteed, and it may take a lower priority after other art projects I have going, but I do enjoy crafting the occasional bit of WoW fan art.
I also reserve the right to post the winners and notable entries, but if you object to public display of your brilliance, just let me know in your entry and I’ll keep your work under wraps. (It won’t affect the judging.)
Tally ho, then, and good luck!
Oh, and if nobody enters, well… I’ll find a way to break the news to Arthas. (And in fact, if you don’t want the book, feel free to send along a consolation note to the prince. I’m sure it’ll brighten his day.)
Edited to add:
Mama Druid asked a good question down there in the comments:
Would you play if the winning argument, well, wins you over?
To which I answered:
To answer the question, well… how about a solid “maybe”. I would *like* to, but finances might get in the way. If I have to buy the original WoW, TBC, Wrath *and* Cataclysm to get to play the winner’s suggestion, well, that’s an uphill battle. If I can just buy the base game and go to town, well, maybe $20 is worth playing WoW for a month to get a couple of articles and loads of screenshots out of it, right?
That said, whether or not I will actually wind up playing the winner’s suggestion is completely irrelevant for the judging. It might make for some fun articles, to be sure, watching me struggle with something I’m unfamiliar with, but for the sake of getting this Arthas novel a new home, let’s just leave it at “that would be a fun follow up”.
So don’t sweat it; this contest is all about the entries. Make your case for what I should play, and that will be enough. Though, if I do wind up playing it later, I’ll be sure to credit you and write some articles on it.
It’s been awhile since I’ve stopped by. Would you play if the winning argument, well, wins you over? 
Since I haven’t the time to compose an appropriate entry, I’ll quickly suggest to you a male Troll Druid. • Trolls are the least played race. Why, I do not know. Their lore is fascinating. Don’t let them become extinct! • Male trolls are very entertaining. Their laugh, their dance, their myriad of hair/face paint/tusk combos… the male troll is just a fun loving guy. Besides, something’s gone wrong with the creation process for female trolls. Somehow 95% of them end up with the same face! I would stay away from that voodoo if I were you. • Druid. I might be a bit biased, but with the druid class you can experience any component of the holy trinity with a mere respec and gear change. An added bonus is you have options with the dps third: melee or spellcaster. No other class can make the same claim. I think I just talked myself into making a male Troll Druid of my own! It’s been awhile since I’ve stopped by. Would you play if the winning argument, well, wins you over? 🙂 Since I haven’t the time to compose an appropriate entry, I’ll quickly suggest to you a male Troll Druid. • Trolls are the least played race. Why, I do not know. Their lore is fascinating. Don’t let them become extinct! • Male trolls are very entertaining. Their laugh, their dance, their myriad of hair/face paint/tusk combos… the male troll is just a fun loving guy. Besides, something’s gone wrong with the creation process for female trolls. Somehow 95% of them end up with the same face! I would stay away from that voodoo if I were you. • Druid. I might be a bit biased, but with the druid class you can experience any component of the holy trinity with a mere respec and gear change. An added bonus is you have options with the dps third: melee or spellcaster. No other class can make the same claim. I think I just talked myself into making a male Troll Druid of my own!
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 Teshtae6h@hotmail.com 166.70.188.25 |
Submitted on 2009/08/26 at 3:39pm
Wait, the Mama Druid? The one who had such awesome naming articles, but whose blog fell off the ‘net? If so, good to see you! If not, well… hello! To answer the question, well… how about a solid “maybe”. I would *like* to, but finances might get in the way. If I have to buy the original WoW, TBC, Wrath *and* Cataclysm to get to play the winner’s suggestion, well, that’s an uphill battle. If I can just buy the base game and go to town, well, maybe $20 is worth playing WoW for a month to get a couple of articles and loads of screenshots out of it, right? That said, whether or not I will actually wind up playing the winner’s suggestion is completely irrelevant for the judging. It might make for some fun articles, to be sure, watching me struggle with something I’m unfamiliar with, but for the sake of getting this Arthas novel a new home, let’s just leave it at “that would be a fun follow up” |
Tish Tosh Tesh 
At the moment you will have trouble with the Blood Elf Warrior. 😉
As no sex is not allowed here and you do not dig dark and evil things, you definitely must become a Warlock and seduce your personal Succubus! It is always an exciting moment which name they get. My snuggly one is named “Kalthea”, my blue garbage bag “Hukgore”, my trusty Imp “Geltog” and my Felguard is named “Jhuughun” or something similar.
Another reason is that Dusty Monk just started an Azeroth Tour with a mage. I want you to prove that Warlocks eat Wizards, because they cannot summon food or drink. 🙂
The next reason is that Richard Bartle prefered the Warlock class for his WoW playthrough for “credentials”. One more reason is that my Warlock could be your guiding light, shining example… oh my. 🙂
I prefer hot female Warlocks, of course, but you are allowed to make a male human Warlock if you promise to get your Succubus as soon as possible.
Playing a bald gnomish Warlock is just bad style. They have a totally twisted world view and are too small to take proper screenshots.
P.S.: I do not want to participate, just my suggestions. It is definitely not worth it to send a novel about Ozzy Osbourne’s fellow Arthas to Europe! 🙂
Worgen Rogue… because you know it’s going to be misspelled all over the place.
“Wogren Rouge”
Longasc, I was wondering how long it would take to get a delightfully subversive suggestion. You didn’t disappoint. 🙂 One thing, though… a bald Gnome? Who makes bald Gnomes when they have all those wild hairstyle options? When you’ve got a race that almost begs to put their fingers in light sockets, wild hair is almost a requisite for character definition.
Smak, now you’ve got me wondering if any Worgen will have red fur. And if there’s anything in French close to Wogren (or Worgen). Hrm…
I will go for a classic: The Tauren Druid (also my main)
We already know everyone will make a goblin and a puppy to see the new content, just like we all made a DK and most never took it beyond talking to thrall…so I will not worry with those races.
Outside of this- Tauren are going to/or should have one of the most lore changing delimas in the game- should in fact Cairne bite the big one at the hands of Garrosh. It already has most of us whom choose to be of the horned variety in an anxious gut-twist having to wait a year(ish) to find out the truth and exactly how the story will revolve around our place in the horde. Assuming you are like myself, really got into the quest chains in Thrall coming to Nagrand and giving the Taunka the oath of the horde, this should be a very deep and emotional bit of lore crafting.
Tauren mounts are EPIC. Ever see a tauren on a mammoth after a giant feast, a firewater and get bloodlust…
Classwise- its a druid…simply put, we are awesome. We can tank, melee dps, spell dps and heal. We can solo our entire way through our levels should we choose while only bag space determines when we go back to town to turn in the quests. We shapeshift… which also means we are the few taurens who can go through a major city and not be /moo’d. We will be able to use flightform all over azeroth, with our “seal” form- we will probably not need an underwater mount and travel form is still FTW for all your flag carrying needs in the BGs.
Tauren cat form is beast! …and we can only hope the trees and laserchickens will be getting some much needed love. moonkins are the best dancers while a bear dancing with midsummers vest on is a hoot.
Obviously, I love my druid and have always been a big supporter of getting more people to try them out…go for it, try it. Hug a tree, pet a cat, feed the bear, just don’t carve the chicken!
Don’t you remember the WoW ads on TV? They featured the bald “Mini Me” from the Austin Powers movies, Verne Troyer, as a gnome:
http://www.wowwiki.com/Videos#Verne_Troyer
My friend combined the look with that of a Ferengi:
http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Ferengi
It is possible to create really ugly gnomes…!
[…] you’re waiting, why not go visit Tish Tosh Tesh? He’s got a contest going […]
Longasc, I fixed your links. Whatever they were linked to before, it wasn’t working. I *do* remember that Verne Troyer thing, and I’m a Trek fan, so yes… I see where you’re coming from. Ugly indeed. (Who says that the Alliance doesn’t have an ugly race, eh?)
I already have a copy of the book, so…
Dear Arthas,
Sorry you got upstaged at Blizzcon this year by mondo-nutso dragon aspect, how does it feel not to be the baddest thing around anymore? Yeah, sorry, but your time is coming to an end whether you like it or not, since all the living forces of Azeroth are coming to stomp you into snail-snot.
I mean, was all this really necessary just because your horse died in what actually WAS a stupid accident? Come on, dude, stuff happens and you get over it and go on. We’ve all lost things we’ve loved, and we didn’t let it turn us into sorta undead megalomaniacs with big, nasty soul-sucking swords, right??
So come here, I’ll give you the hug you needed back then, and then I’ll go join in on the snail-snot-stomping.
Sorry, dude, no one lives forever!
Sincerely,
Kayeri’s driver
(Kayeri, as a healer, is a nicer, more compassionate person than I am. I had to add her driver on there because she wouldn’t ever put it like that. ::chuckle::)
Tauren Paladin
So you can be called a Tauradin. Plus you’re big and beefy. Wrapped in huge, shiny plate armour. The only thing better than beef wrapped in plate armour would be beef wrapped in bacon. So if you do the reforging, maybe you can add +bacon stats to your plate…
It’s been awhile since I’ve stopped by. Would you play if the winning argument, well, wins you over? 🙂
Since I haven’t the time to compose an appropriate entry, I’ll quickly suggest to you a male Troll Druid.
• Trolls are the least played race. Why, I do not know. Their lore is fascinating. Don’t let them become extinct!
• Male trolls are very entertaining. Their laugh, their dance, their myriad of hair/face paint/tusk combos… the male troll is just a fun loving guy. Besides, something’s gone wrong with the creation process for female trolls. Somehow 95% of them end up with the same face! I would stay away from that voodoo if I were you.
• Druid. I might be a bit biased, but with the druid class you can experience any component of the holy trinity with a mere respec and gear change. An added bonus is you have options with the dps third: melee or spellcaster. No other class can make the same claim.
I think I just talked myself into making a male Troll Druid of my own!
Wait, the Mama Druid? The one who had such awesome naming articles, but whose blog fell off the ‘net? If so, good to see you! If not, well… hello!
To answer the question, well… how about a solid “maybe”. I would *like* to, but finances might get in the way. If I have to buy the original WoW, TBC, Wrath *and* Cataclysm to get to play the winner’s suggestion, well, that’s an uphill battle. If I can just buy the base game and go to town, well, maybe $20 is worth playing WoW for a month to get a couple of articles and loads of screenshots out of it, right?
That said, whether or not I will actually wind up playing the winner’s suggestion is completely irrelevant for the judging. It might make for some fun articles, to be sure, watching me struggle with something I’m unfamiliar with, but for the sake of getting this Arthas novel a new home, let’s just leave it at “that would be a fun follow up”. 🙂
Yep, that’s me. Happy First Birthday to your blog!
A solid “maybe” sounds good! Your $20 would be worth it for your readers.
I would say the ultimate class/race combo to play would be Worgen Druid. Why, you ask? Seven (7!) different dances on the same character! You’ll get caster dance, worgen dance, kitty dance, bear dance, sea lion form “dance”, and, if you spec right, boomkin dance and tree dance! No one will be able to stop you. Seriously. You’re getting ganked. You shift between forms and /dance. Your gankees are overwhelmed by your awesomeness and spare your life.
Here is my < 100 words.
You should NOT try it.
There are tons of other games out there that are more deserving of your subscriber dollars.
Thanks, Mama Druid!
Muckbeast, you know me well enough to know that I don’t consider *any* game worth a subscription. 😉 If I jump into Cataclysm, it’s to look around for the month included in the box purchase, get some screenshots, and write some articles. As much as I’ve called for Blizzard to do just this sort of Old World revitalization, I want to see how their execution lines up. (And in fact, it might be fun to do a “before and after” comparison by going through another ten day trial to grab some screenies and try to get those from the exact same place in Cataclysm.) I call it research more than anything. I can live with throwing in $20 for that, and it leaves WoW installed on my machine so that I can dig into the Model Viewer and Map Viewer for when I get the itch. It’s less about the *game* of WoW, more about the *game design* of WoW.
Letting the contest winner get the book *and* see their recommendation through my eyes is just part of the fun. Of course, since I *do* have a bit of an… unusual perspective, it’s not going to be a fanboy experience. Count on some quirks. 🙂
[…] 31, 2009 by Tesh We’re one week in on the great Arthas Novel Giveaway contest, and there is one week left! Hundreds of article hits thanks to what I’ll call the […]
I’m with Muckbeast above. There are a lot of other interesting games out there. If you’re going to throw money at a game, even one that doesn’t deserve it, you could probably find one that’s more deserving and that isn’t already getting all the free publicity they can handle from the announcement.
—-
Assuming that the advice of two independent MMO developers doesn’t sway you, I’ll buck the trend and not recommend a Druid, even though that’s what I played as a main. I’ll recommend an Undead Hunter for a few reasons:
1. That race/class combo newly available with Cataclysm.
2. Role-playing wise, the Undead already know what a ravaged land is like. The cataclysm shouldn’t be too hard for them to take in stride.
3. Hunters are still one of the best classes to solo with.
4. Undead Hunters? I mean, WTF? Humor built right into it. Perhaps you can get some screenshots of you and your pet eating the same corpse!
No screenshot. I can draw some programmer art if you want your sensibilities offended, though.
Programmer art? That’s totally worth the submission. Bring it on. 🙂
For what it’s worth, I’d forgotten that the Cataclysm hits *everyone*. If that’s true, and trial accounts show the same new art assets, well then, problem solved. I’ll just fire up another ten day trial.
*wicked subversive grin*
Based on what I know of you, I’ll suggest Worgen Druid:
First off, I chose Druid for you because of 2 things: first, you can do everything in the game you need to with a druid. You can DPS, Tank, Spell Cast, do Melee Damage, all with the press of a button (and obviously some gear switching). You can fill any role (and well) and thusly playing the game alone is just as easy as playing with a group.
The second thing is a bit more subversive, but Druids don’t have to worry about the gear they have, looks-wise. I know you’re not one to chase all kinds of shinies in the game, but for a druid you ARE your chosen animal shape. Your armor / weapons don’t show up as a bear, kitty, moonkin or tree. You’re free from the bounds of crappy looking gear 😉
I chose the Worgen as a race simply because I think you’d be able to relate to their being misunderstood. I’m sure you feel that way sometimes trying to uphold your beliefs in this crazy net-world 😛
I’ve heard that they are going to open up some strange race/class combos. One of those that I’ve heard of is the undead hunter. Oh man, having an undead hunter with one of those decaying bears for a pet would be about the most awesome thing EVA! That’s a story in the making . . . one that Arthas couldn’t even hope to pen.
http://db.mmo-champion.com/c/36586/undead-hunter/
[…] thanks to all who entered my contest for the Arthas novel a couple of weeks ago. There were fun entries and serious ones, but the one that I settled on was this one from […]
[…] digital and photography), so that’s probably what I’ll get into a bit more. If I do get into Cataclysm as a result of the Arthas contest, I’ll probably have fun with it for that month, and I really do want to look around at the […]