Arthas is moving to California.
Many 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 Ixobelle***:
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Notably, this is the only one that suggested a tank, but I think it captures the essence of tanking in one delightfully silly LOLWoW screenshot. Oddly enough, it’s also the strongest argument I’ve seen for me to try out a tank, since I have a keen appreciation of the absurd sometimes. I’m not totally sold on the female aspect, but hey, if I’m min-maxing a tank, I hear the Undead racial perks are pretty good, and the whole “I’m a walking skeleton, fear my sturdiness” aspect is another touch of the absurd that I can applaud.
I did see a few other trends in the suggestions. There were some clear commonly suggested options: Wrogen Worgen, Druids and Hunters. (Several Worgen Druids and Worgen Hunters, as well as Undead Hunters.) I suppose that makes sense since Worgen are the new shinies and BBB plays Druids and Hunters (so I’d expect his readers to share some similar tastes). Still, as I’ve noted before, and as Mama Druid and Wiqd aptly noted, Druids are multitalented critters, and I appreciate that quite a bit. That’s a great way to get value out of the game. Also, Hunters offer a lot of game play options, especially to an explorer like me.
I suppose in retrospect, the entry trends aren’t a big surprise. maybe if I’d have posted to the Blizzard WoW forums, I’d have seen more variety. (I didn’t, though; that place scares me.)
So, the book is on its way to California. Keep an eye on Ixo’s blog*** to see if he finds a use for it.
Thanks for the entries, all! As I noted before, I may have to do some art for the fun of it, so I’ll probably be sketching up some Worgen Druidic art. Once I get everything else done, anyway. Oh, and once the Cataclysm comes around, I’ll fire up a ten day trial as an Undead Warrior and see just how much damage I can do as a low level tank, milling around with everyone. I should be able to pick up some groups with the tourists.
(OK, trial accounts don’t technically have a lot of grouping options, but I should be able to tank critters even in informal groups. I’ve seen it done; a player just gets up front and personal with a baddie and uses tankish abilities to keep its attention, while other players DPS the baddie. It’s not the same as a raid, but some of those low level dungeon bosses can still use tanking mechanics. I don’t have the money or stamina to get to the point where I’m raiding with a tank.)
I’ve played a Druid in a trial account before, but if I’m going to pick up a Worgen Druid, that means buying at least the Cataclysm box, from all reports. We’ll see what sort of sales and promotions come up before I go that route, but yes, it sounds like fun.
In the end, Ixobelle’s entry just tickled my judging funnybone while making a good case for tanking, so it narrowly edged out the others. Wiqd and Mama Druid have me pegged pretty well, and if I were to play the game long-term, I would indeed play a Druid, largely for the reasons they suggest. (With a Hunter “main alt”, though I’m not sure if I’d go the Undead route there, funny as it might be, as Psychochild notes.)
*** Ixobelle runs a blog over thisaway, and he’s (yes, Ixobelle’s pilot is a he… it makes pronoun tenses difficult sometimes) made it no secret that he’s a fan of Blizzard’s World of Warcraft. He gave up a job in Japan to move to California to chase his dream of working on the game, which takes guts and a touch of insanity. Of course, none of that really relates to the judging of the contest, but that’s why I can safely say that Arthas is moving to CA (it’s a matter of public record).
Tish Tosh Tesh 
That’s why I rolled a Gnome Tank, although I did cop out and roll a male. I really should have rolled a pink-ponytailed female Gnome though, and made sure Hide Helm was checked 😀
Maybe I’ll make that my next Trial toon 😉
Then again, I hear DDO is now F2P and that sounds very promising.
Nice. A pink pigtail female Gnome would be a great tank. 🙂
DDO is pretty good, actually. (I tinkered with the beta, so they let me play starting last week. I’ve logged about… four hours in it.) It’s different from the WoW mold, which is nice. I’ve enjoyed it so far, and I think they do some things very right, but there are other things that I’m not too fond of. I guess I should write about it, eh?
It’s definitely one that I’ll leave installed for a while, though. The F2P model means I can dabble in it, Puzzle Pirates and Wizard 101 without ponying up recurring fees. That makes me happy.
Excellent choice and a great picture.
Do try an undead female warrior, even if it’s just for the first few levels. You will discover that they have the best combat animations in the game (especially when either fighting with fist weapons/unarmed or with a one hander — they do a cool somersault).
Also undead aren’t really all that strongly gendered. I take the ‘I’m dead. Look down. It’s dead too’ approach.
undead female unarmed (or wearing a fist weapon) is AWESOME. The ‘bear paw’ tanking weap from way back in “running Molten Core for real’ days (Eskhander’s Claw) was mislabeled as Epic, when it was in fact LEGENDARY.
Applying sunders has me spinning and flipping and basically spazzing out, all the time, always.
I’m stoked to read the book, and will make a point to pass it on as well when I’m done, so to anyone bummed they didn’t win *this* time, keep an eye on my spot. I sent 6 of the warcraft paperbacks to Larisa in Sweden when I was done with them, so I intend to follow through on this 😉
Thanks, Tesh!
Yay for the choice of Ixo!!! A very wise one… and yep, I’m the proud owner of Ixo’s books. To me it’s more than a gift – it’s the physical manifestation of the magic invisible ties that connects the WoW blogosphere – which has become my second guild (or even first….)
It would be awesome (if even just for the few who peruse this corner of the blogosphere) if we could construct an activity around what Tesh and Ixo have done here with the books.
Once Ixo is done with the book (and before Tesh sends it) he signs it and notes the state or something where he lives, sends it to Ixo, Ixo reads it and does the same, holds another contest and the book just … travels, gathering signatures from people around the country, or world.
I dunno … might be a dumb thought 😛 It’s early for me.
[…] Some time ago, I agreed to Ixobelle’s curious suggestion (seconded by Spinks) to try out an Undead Warrior for another spin through Azeroth. When I read of a blogger guild, curiously named Single Abstract Noun (SAN), I thought I might poke by abnormally large nose into matters that were little of my business. (Though as Pitrelli and Hatch rightly noted, SAN is a recipe for a wee bit of drama, as might be seen of late, but hey, it’s fascinating either way, even if I’m just on the proverbial sidelines.) It turns out that trial accounts can’t join guilds anyway, but so it goes. […]