I normally try to keep most of my posts connected to WoW in some way, but this spoken poem is amazing. I kind of want to do a Machinima of it, using Tauren instead. I might have a go, in fact. Please read the full text (at the bottom of this post) The video was created by a student, Samantha Figueroa, as part of an assignment to taken two different forms of media/art and create a piece that would inspire a critical perspective.  Source:  Socialogical Images The full text of Slip of the Tongue by Adriel Luis...
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Arctic & Black Wolf When I first saw the first ever Shaman cosmetic minor glyph, Arctic Wolf, I was very happy. And then I spotted Glyph of the Black Wolf , and I was even happier. And then MMO Champ posted a picture of the Arctic Glyph, and I was distinctly underwhelmed. Black Wolf aside, the difference is extremely minor when you’re already a ghost, and it sort of highlights how OLD these models look compared to all the shiny spirit beasts. I’m not sure I’d really noticed that I’d glyphed to make my form different. I am sure...
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This is part of an ongoing series that reviews and attempts to deconstruct common tropes in the Blizzard Fanart Gallery. This is not a critique of the choices of individual artists, but a look at the choices Blizzard and those artists have made. For reasons of time/expendiency I am limiting this series to what is currently in the Blizzard Fan Art Gallery, but please feel free to share your favourites from elsewhere in the comments. Just please try to make sure they are credited properly and on the theme of the post. Sylvanas is an amazing character. She is both...
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I am currently working on an Illidan and some Sylvanas Fan Art Profiles, I’d be very interested in hearing from anyone who is particularly keen on them as characters, but in the mean time here is some link love (or what I’ve been reading recently.) Being a Woman who Raids – Kurn of Kurn’s Corner shares her experiences in raiding over the past 3 years. I don’t agree with all the conclusions reached, but she has a great many points to make from personal experience, and there are some very intelligent comments from Ophelie, Larisa and Cassandri. (I’ve also...
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Just a couple of things about the blog, which you might have missed if you’ve been reading through subscriptions. Also I just need a break from ‘real’ blog posts. Sorry about the outage a couple of days ago. Last month I just scraped by with my bandwidth allowance, but this month I smashed it and had to purchase some extra to see me through the rest of the month. Everything should be up and back to normal now. I appeared on the ObscureCast with Gazimoff and Stu! Except that Stu’s router broke *sadface* I think I sounded more confident...
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This is part of an ongoing series that reviews and attempts to deconstruct common tropes in the Blizzard Fanart Gallery. This is not a critique of the choices of individual artists, but a look at the choices Blizzard and those artists have made. For reasons of time/expendiency I am limiting this series to what is currently in the Blizzard Fan Art Gallery, but please feel free to share your favourites from elsewhere in the comments. Just please try to make sure they are credited properly and on the theme of the post. This week I have chosen to concentrate...
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This is part of a new series I’m starting that compiles profiles of certain themes within the Fanart that Blizzard chooses to publish in their Fanart Gallery. I was going to start out with Draenei Women, but that post is going to take a long time to compile. Future themes will feature each race, and some profiles will focus on particular characters. Due to the way Blizzard handle their gallery, I have chosen to only display occasional thumbnails rather than try to create a giant comparison pic. I’ll be listing the pictures in the order they were posted, oldest first....
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In lieu of a full post, I’d like to offer up two slide shows for contemplation.  Whenever someone objects to an over-sexualised character, commenters inevitably come out to cry “but that’s the demographic and that’s fine!” For me, however, that only carries us so far, and is only an answer if the gaming market remains static. Time and time again, for the last 2 years, I have seen articles highlighting that this is changing. It may well be 50 years before the social gaming of the facebook populations meets in the middle with the ‘social games for boys’ such...
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For those of you that would like to listen, I will be joining Gaz and Stu on this week’s episode of the ObscureCast. You can listen in live at 8pm GMT Wednesday 25th August (that’s 9pm EU Realm Server Time) on Ustream. The episode will also be available to download from iTunes etc afterward. Please forward any questions you have for me to Gazimoff  by mailing them at obscurecast@manaobscura.com, or by tweeting them at @manaobscura. Alternatively, if you want me to surprise Gaz and Stu with some questions, you can tweet me @mentalshaman or contact me via my email form. Don’t worry...
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Hi everyone, my name is Sassiej from the blogs Blasting Away/Riding the Lightning and I’ll be a guest here today. Pewter made a call out on Twitter for guest posts in August and I immediately took the chance to write one. Stumbling in the realm of Elemental Shamans recently myself, I find it a great honor to write for this blog. My main enjoyment on World of Warcraft is PvP and today I would like to take you into the mind of an Arms Warrior, it’s thoughts, opinions and suggestions to Elemental Shamans that set foot in the Battlegrounds...
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Warning: I don’t know how long this post is going to get. One of the things that inevitably pops up in feminist discussions in general is ‘what about the men’. Either it is a criticism cast at the whole idea of male privilege, or it is a criticism at the feminist tactic of shutting down male commentators, or it’s pointing out that men are hurt by the Kyriarchy too, and are also the recipients of sexism and prejudice. Generally my posts are about the marginalised perspective, so while posts from people outside the marginalised group are welcome, they often...
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Lets have some beta snippets! Build 12759 is out today, and there are a lot of small tweaks and changes for us to look out for. First up is a little table showing you how much hit rating you need per target level. This is a welcome addition to the game if it is a permenant one. There was something similar for spell coefficients earlier in the beta, but it has since been removed. For Elemental Shaman this will be invaluable. And yes, that is my character name on the beta. Next up, we are able to train a new totem!...
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It’s a big word. It is, as per usual, a big subject. It’s long and rambling, and I’m certainly not an expert on the experiences of gay, lesbian or transexual gamers. This is not about calling anyone homophobic, or anything like that. This post is just about looking at these issues and questioning ourselves and our attitudes. I’m hoping I will have a guest poster soon who will be able to hold forth on this better than me. This post contains spoilers for the Goblin starter area. Edit: It’s also been pointed out to me that ‘Heteronormativity’ is a...
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Just a short and sweet snippet from the Blue Posts today (taken from MMO Champion ?) ( Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents) Healing mechanics I think it’s fair to say that the shaman was probably the closest to the Cataclysm healing style even in Lich King. On the other hand, you are getting some new toys that should change your moment to moment decisions from level 80 upwards. Was Shaman healing a big factor in how you wanted other people to heal because of how fluid Shaman healing is? Yeah that was a big part of it. The other 3...
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I’ve not been able to post partly because the response to the monster post has been somewhat overwhelming. I’ve learned quite a lot, I’ve been told things I already knew a lot, as if I should be surprised that the ‘world is dominated by men and therefore they are going to market to men because that is what sells.’* Also the idea that I go around looking for things to be offended by is kinda old. I don’t do that. I spend most of my time playing and ignoring the nekkid elf on the mail box. However I’m also...
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Updated as of 26/08/2010 – please leave a comment and a link if you think an article deserves to be linked here. There has been such a massive response to the previous post, and there have been a flurry of relevant posts and podcasts.  Most of them were not response to my post at all, but I think many are worth a read or a listen, but please let me know if there is a particularly relevant article I missed. I am planning some posts on questions that came up in the responses to the original post, but if...
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